Zip_ME87

Thanks for the pic UAZipsMan. Looks awesome!

See you there, if you make it. I hope you do...it's a fun time. I was there earlier this year to see Chivas (Blair Gavin & Ben Zemanski). My nephew and I are in Section 109, I believe (I don't have the tix in front of me), row 1. I'll be wearing Akron gear and Sounders scarf.

Absolutely, Dr. Z! I wish all of our coaches had Caleb's attitude/approach. Winning begins with a winning approach/attitude. Caleb Porter

Do you mean tOSU? According to this, tOSU Mens Soccer requires a ticket. tOSWho

You forgot Northwestern. (Payback for STEALING home field advantage in 2008)

Can we please stop with the soccer vs football discussions? They're pointless and the attendance will be it will be. You're not going to improve Zips' football by comparing it to Zips' soccer. As far as football attendance, I sent the AD a suggestion yesterday that he should increase the Roo-wards points for football to 20 pts/game (more than any other sport) for the remaining games. Bribing the students to attend is probably the best hope at this point.

I don't really understand what you mean by "attended alone". I drive/travel to Zips games, more often than not, by myself. I arrive alone, and I leave alone. But, I attend all of the games with other Zips fans. I always find someone to talk to, hang out with, etc., whether they're family (i.e., a niece who is a current student), long time friends (alumni with whom I graduated), or other Zips fans I've met at other games or just met. I never feel alone...I'm always with other Zips fans...GREAT PEOPLE/FANS! A couple of examples... Flew from Akron/Canton to N.C. alone on morning of September 5th; met up with 50+ AWESOME Zips fans in the stands of Spry Stadium at WF that evening...also shook hands with several players of the #1 D-1 Mens Soccer Team in the country before and after the game...players who made sure I knew they were happy I was there. NOT ALONE; would not have been happier to be anywhere else that day. Met CK and Mike Rasor at Akron/Canton airport when I was flying "alone" to Portland to see our Zips in the NCAA Mens Bball Tourney. Knew I wouldn't be alone in the arena in Portland, before I left home. Made GREAT friends in both Rasor & CK; Checked out the micro-breweries with CK. (Rasor was actually on a different flight; headed to Louisiana, if I remember correctly.) I'm not sure what the point of this poll is, but my point is Zips' athletes/coaches/staff/etc are awesome people, Zips' fans are awesome people. I may arrive at a game alone; I may go home alone. But, I'm never alone at any of the Zips' sporting events, and I never let "not having anyone to go with" keep me away. My glass is half full, and I've found life to be much more fun that way. GO ZIPS!

Yes, I dedicated hours of my life to watch Zips tournament soccer (vs UNC & Virginia) last year on tv and never saw the Zips score one goal. As a matter of fact, NOBODY scored a goal. I enjoy my weekends too much to suffer through that ever again. Go Zips Soccer! Win it all, if they win and score a goal this time I will watch it on youtube. Thanks. Now, I understand your perspective. I might have found that boring on tv. However, it was not boring (cold & wet, but not boring) inside Wakemed Soccer Park (Cary, NC). Go Zips (all Zips)!

A number of non-Akron fans at the Wake Forest game said they came to the game to see Akron. Go Zips!

Just one question for you Dr. Z...have you watched the Akron Mens Soccer team last year or this year? I find that there is plenty of boring soccer being played throughout the world, but not by our Zips Mens team nor by the top teams in the World. Enough said...I'm not trying to convert you to being a soccer fan; just curious.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tickets for the College Cup went on sale last week. However, there is no need to buy now -- even if you are, like me, going regardless of which four teams play. I'm betting my favorite team WILL be playing, but I found this out -- the best seats, behind the team benches (no more than 2-3000 seats, I think) are reserved for UCSB season ticket holders and the four teams' ticket distribution. Therefore, I can't even get these tix yet, if I wanted. It guarantees that those buying tix through the school will have a perfect viewpoint. I was wondering, where were the teams' tickets located at Cary last December? Not as good as this year, I don't think. Rowdies, better start saving your $$$. All of our tickets were GA in Cary. We were able to sit behind the Zips' bench...no problem. I think there were some high priced seats across from the benches, but I much preferred being behind our bench. GO ZIPS!

Can someone who was at the game estimate how many Zips fans were there? Thanks in advance. EDIT: When GP1 returns from the mountains, I'll bet he'll wish he liked soccer and was in Chapel Hill rather than the Smokies, or whichever mountains he's visiting.

Go Zips!

That article is awesome.

I don't know that I really had anything to do with it, but Tony Zarella was very responsive and supportive all along. Those were only the first & last e-mails I sent to him. There were 2 others, and he assured me they would do a story. Getting him interested in the Zips Mens Soccer team, I think, was easy. Hopefully, he'll continue to at least mention scores throughout the season as long as he knows there's interest.

Link doesn't work. (due to "flush" word conversion on ZN.O) Try this one: http://tinyurl.com/2v5n5so "Forget the former King of Akron, this guy's (Kofie Sarkodi's) a legitimate prince of a village back in Ghana" "Here in championship-starved Northeast Ohio, this team is your best shot." Go Zips!

Awesome. Thanks Zach. I've been e-mailing Tony Zarella several times in the past month to do a story on the Zips. I don't know that he did it because of my e-mails, but kudos to 19 Action News ---- "Zarrella wrote: > Definitely > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: ----------- > To: Zarrella, Tony > Sent: Sat Jul 24 19:44:48 2010 Subject: Akron Zips Men's Soccer > > Tony - > > Could you or Chuck please do a story on the Akron Zips Men's Soccer Team and the upcoming season? You remember, the Zips Men's Soccer Team played for the Div 1 National Championship last December and were undefeated throughout the regular season and up to the final game (lost to UVa on PK's). Although, there are no guarantees for this season, Coach Porter appears to have reloaded. He just recently added 2 players from Jamaica in addition to a great recruiting class that was announced in the Spring. Here's an article about one of those Jamaican players, Darren Mattocks, http://jam.live.mediaspanonline.com/sports...cks-leads-Bport > > Thanks for you consideration. From today: ---- "Zarrella wrote: > My pleasure. It's a nice piece, and coach is great. Hopefully there will be access to footage this wknd, but trust me, we'll stay on 'em. It's a great program. > Tony > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: [deleted] > Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2010 03:40 PM To: Zarrella, Tony > Subject: Thank you > > Tony - > > I just learned from gozips.com that you will be featuring a story on the Zips Mens Soccer Team tonight. Thank you for doing so, and I will be tuned it at 6 pm to catch the snippet on the early news and again at 10 pm to catch the full piece on WUAB. > > Thank you for doing this. I respectfully request some coverage, especially this weekend, when the Zips take on 2 ACC soccer powerhouses, N. Carolina and Wake Forest.

Great article! Thanks. Go Zips! Be safe (I'll be feeling a little more at ease once Earl passes N. Carolina)

I really hope you're wrong about the attendance being under 20k. The game is "free" for students. We don't even have Cowlumbus State to compete with for attendance...their game is tomorrow (Thursday) night.

That's good to hear. I think a lot of soccer's popularity with students is due to Coach Porter really getting the Rowdies involved and reiterating how important they and the other fans are to the soccer team. A huge part of the fun of soccer games is watching and hearing the Rowdies give grief to our opponents. The "March to the Match" and the team interaction with the Rowdies at the end of a game help make the students part of the game.

ME87, I am with you. The bickering needs to stop. I also regret that I made a snippy post toward you in the past. I totally understand your golf analogy and I feel the same way about golf as you do. However, I don't have a beef with golf fans. My beef with soccer fans is that it seems as if love for the sport is not enough. A lot of soccer fans feel the need to proselytize, promote their sport and marginalize mine. College football is number one. It is not debatable. Men's Basketball is a distant second. Thing is, no fans of the basketball, baseball, track, volleyball, cross country, softball, swim, field hockey, rifle, or tennis teams make posts on the football board to promote their sport at the expense of football. I think that is part of the huge bias against soccer fans. But let me say that I have a new found respect for you with your post and I hope you can understand my point of view a little bit as well. Let's go zips! No problem Keener. My posts on the football board were in reaction to football fans posting negative items on the soccer board. You may not read the soccer thread, since you're not interested in it, and may not have realized how many negative posts were put there first. Actually, I take very little of these posts personally (unless personally attacked as I was in one post, not yours), but it bothers me that any of our student athletes might read negative posts on this board from people who are supposedly their greatest supporters. BTW...I had a related discussion with George Van Horne...as he said, you can't talk about a sport to a donor who is interested in a different sport. You will quickly lose that donor's interest. Go Zips!

What is to be gained by continuing the pointless bickering between soccer and football. If you don't like soccer, don't go to the games. I hate golf, but I'm not on here saying we should get rid of the golf team or that it's irrelevant. Many people like golf even though I'd rather watch my lawn grow than watch or play golf. I hope the golf team has a great season, when it comes around. I won't be there to witness it, but I hope they are successful. (Yes, I've made comments about the upcoming football season...I regret those; I wish our football team every success, and I'll be there for most of their home games. But, I'll probably go to BGSU to watch our soccer team play a MAC rival as opposed to watching our football team play G-W. My choice; not necessarily a choice others would make.) Go Zips! (All Zips)

The bandwagon jumpers will lose interest and the die hard fans will remain as with any other sport. I have to believe 20k+ will show up for the football game this weekend, or TW should take his talents (read lack thereof) to South Beach where a marketing department is no longer required.

Syracuse isn't the New York flagship university, Buffalo is. I thought it was Army. Since Syracuse and Army are private they can't be a state flagship university. BTW...since the US Military Academy is operated by the US Government, I wouldn't consider it "private". But, yes, it's not a State of New York run university.

Syracuse isn't the New York flagship university, Buffalo is. I thought it was Army. Since Syracuse and Army are private they can't be a state flagship university. Since "Buffalo's in Canada", it can't be a flagship NY university.