Zip_ME87

Thanks for another great article Crew8. Caleb Porter is awesome, and I really appreciate reading a player's (Perry Kitchen's) perspective: This year Kitchen is not alone as four other players will also leave Akron early to turn professional and all are expected to be drafted within the top ten picks. When Kitchen and his teammates announced their intention to leave, they found encouragement from Porter who met with each of the players. "Look, he is in it for the players. He's not in it for himself," Kitchen stated frankly. "He's encouraged five underclassmen to go pro. He wants us to do what is best for us. He'll look at our options at the end of the season like he did for me and all the other guys. He told me this was a really good opportunity for my future. He said I did some great things for the school but that it was time to move on. "He's never going to hold any player back if they are ready," he added. "But if they're not ready, he'll say that they may need to come back another year. He wants what's best for the players and that's really important."

Thanks for posting this mes102. I really like this... Zakuani added, “From what I’ve seen since I’ve been here, there’s no team like these guys. It’s going to be fun to see so many guys in the league now and at the same time we hope that they don’t suffer as a team for losing so many guys. They lost me and they got better. They lost Teal Bunbury, Blair Gavin and Ben Zemanski and they got even better. If they get better after losing seven guys, I don’t know what we can do.” I can't get enough of reading quotes from former Zips who are so (vocally) proud of being Zips and who still follow and care about the Zips. Thanks Steve Zakuani.

I like this idea and the dates. It will be after the Hermann presentation, the MLS draft, and other post-season awards. So, all of the accomplishments can be celebrated! GoZips!

Thanks nbs95. I'm also happy to hear Steve is doing well.

Zarek Valentin Interview (January 4, 2011) EDIT: Ampaipitakwong Focused on Next Step

I just hope that they do this at half time and not at a 2 minute timeout. If this is being done at a basketball game, then it should be the entire halftime show so they can show highlights on the video board. They should show highlights from throughout the season as well as the NCAA Tournament games, and the "This is Akron" video or any update they may have produced. Winning the Zips' first team national championship is SIGNIFICANT and deserves more than a 2-minute timeout for celebration.

Perhaps the Athletic Dept. could invest in one of those hand-held credit card machines like all the airlines have to charge you for their boxed lunches.

Nice... MLSsoccer: When you decided to leave Akron, did you have any idea what would be happening for you just one year later? Has all this taken you by surprise at all or did you expect this to happen? Bunbury: After coming out of Akron, I wasn’t necessarily expecting to play with the national team, go on these trips and be pretty successful with all that in my first year. Obviously, I wanted things to happen, help my team play well and be given opportunities like this so I could prove myself. In a sense, it kind of came out of the blue. For the most part, I was just expecting to be able to improve my game as the year went on. MLSsoccer: Speaking of Akron, I’m sure you took a lot of pride in seeing them take the national championship. Bunbury: Without a doubt. Caleb Porter has been amazing there over the last five years and transformed that school into a powerhouse. When I was there, he always talked about dominant soccer. Watching the team, you can just tell how passionate they are when they play, and that comes from Caleb Porter and the other coaches. It’s great to be a part of that, and I’m very happy for the guys to win it. It was very much deserved.

PM the moderators. I think they made the change for Gamechanger44.

Pitt fires new coach Haywood

I saw that. It was great. Thank you Men's Soccer!

They are great guys who did us proud and who are proud to be Zips. If they do like Steve Zakuani has done, they'll continue to spread the word about Akron and how great it was to be a Zip. That could help with recruiting from MLS development teams around the country (and possibly Vancouver & Toronto). It also could get the word out to kids who participate in soccer camps where our guys might show up from the local MLS team. Having at least 5 and up to 7 Zips taken in one draft will provide Coach Porter with substantial evidence as to why a potential recruit should choose Akron, especially if Zips go 1-2-3 in this draft, or if 3 or more spots in the top 10 are Zips. Lastly, it will be noticed in the "soccer world", where it matters as far as future recruiting. I refuse to be negative about this. Next year is going to be more of a challenge for Coach Porter and staff than it would have been had fewer guys left for MLS. But, as I pointed out in another thread, I believe, we had 6 Freshman on the field at one time vs Virginia in the 2009 Championship game and they stayed right with the Cavaliers. It can be done. We have 4 starters remaining...thank you Scott Caldwell, David Meves, Darren Mattocks, and Chad Barson. Add to that Ben Speas who had significant playing time as a Freshman in 2009 (started a number of games, as I remember) and a decent amount of time in 2010 as well as experience in the 2009 and 2010 College Cups. (If you review the footage, I believe you'll see that Speas had a header save at the line of our goal vs Virginia that was as awesome as Chad Barson's save vs Louisville.) Eric Stevenson did a great job in the first game of the season scoring the first goal in 2010 vs North Carolina. Thomas Schmitt, Renaldo Brenes, and Michael Balogun also had significant minutes for us in 2010. Lastly, add in 3 redshirt freshmen and another great recruiting class (which is probably incomplete at this time), and I think our prospects look good for 2011. I'll also give a shoutout to Anthony Ponikvar who looked good subbing for an injured David Meves in the game at Northern Illinois in 2010. Without several great saves by Anthony, the Zips could have easily lost that game. (I'm sure I've forgotten to mention others and I apologize for that.)

As professional sports have become greedier, I have found that I care less and less for specific teams. It was great last season being able to cheer for Blair & Ben with Chivas, Teal with Kansas City, Steve with Seattle, and Sinisa with New York. It was actually more gratifying to cheer for our former players to do well than to root for any one team to win. January 13, 2011 will be a great day, hearing the names of our players and "The University of Akron" called so many times as each of them are drafted. Coach Porter should streak his hair for the occasion.

Yes. A mutual friend of his family confirmed that for me.

I didn't go back and research it, but if I remember correctly, in the 2009 Championship Game, in the 2nd half at one point 6 of our 11 players on the field vs Virginia were Freshman. Ben Speas Scott Caldwell Chad Barson David Meves Zarek Valentin Yoram Mwila I believe Caldwell played most of the 2nd half in place of Ampai, but Mwila wasn't in very long. My point is that Caleb, Jared, Oliver, and Liam have a lot of work to do to make up for losing 7 starters, but it's not impossible to do well with young talent.

Congratulations to Darlington, Kofi, Michael, Zarek, and Perry. The January 13th draft is going to be fun hearing "The University of Akron" called out so often, and watching MLS in 2011 will be awesome. Much better than NBA playoffs and MLB. I would think that this would help Caleb's recruiting, being able to point to all of these players who received GA contracts from his team. Next season may be a little rough compared to 2009 and 2010, but we have a lot of great talent remaining and a great incoming class. Darren and McKauly were added "late" last year, and I look for Caleb to find a few more blue chip players to add to those we've already heard. Where's my season ticket renewal? GO ZIPS!

My wife and I really like the McKnights. My Phil favorite was at BG last year when Phil and the BG fans across the floor engaged in a shout fest. It went on for some time before a loud voice from the BG side told him to shut up. Phil shouted back "you don't know me" back across the court at him. I never heard another word from the BG fans. Keep in mind that this was at BG where Akron fans were out numbered by about 40 to 1. We still laugh about it. GET WELL PHIL !! I was there, too...it was great. Thanks for reminding me. For me, the best was when I first met Phil and his wife in Portland waiting to get in to see the Zips first NCAA Tourney appearance in 23 years. I left the earlier session before it was over because there was only 30 minutes allotted between sessions, and I wanted to be near the front of the line to get back in to see the Zips. That hour+ waiting in line sure went fast talking to the McKnights and Daryll Roberts' family. I wish Phil the best as well.

College Soccer is bigger in the sense that there are far more teams, i can tell you that. Attendance wise, I'm not 100% sure but I have to think Ice Hockey outdraws Soccer easily. I do know that OSU has the largest Arena (Value City, 17,500) but it's not specifically made for hockey and never comes close to full (been to a game that had less people than an Akron Club Hockey match). Though perhaps my fav. arena in college sports is Ralph Englestad Arena in North Dakota. The place is a palace and a good example of how big hockey is in some areas. I also love how the person who funded it said he would stop the funding if the school ever changed their name from the "Fighting Sioux". To make sure they didn't, the arena has the logo engraved in every seat, in marble in various places, and on every possible surface. It's great. But if you look at a few areas (Michigan, New England, Minnesota, etc.) you see how big Hockey is. Soccer has the potential to be bigger though. If this were to happen, Mock Draft (Zips projected as 6 of top 10 picks), Akron would certainly gain more attention.

Wow, what an MLS draft this would be! 6 of the top 10 picks from the Zips.

Phil could be visiting Europe. I believe Chris & Brett have an older brother who coaches basketball in England...can't remember the team. At any rate, I've missed Phil around the JAR as well. I hope to see him now that Brett is playing again.

This can't be halftime of the Michigan semi-final. The score was 1 - 1 at half.

Merry Christmas to all and yes I got everything that I wanted for Christmas on December 12th. Thank you Zips' Men's Soccer...I can't say thank you enough. Looking forward to the spring schedule and all of the additional MLS games that will interest me next season. Nice shoutout by Steve Zakuani and retweet by Teal Bunbury: "stevezakuani11 Shout out to the Akron boys who signed with MLS - D, Kofi, Nanchoff, Zarek - see you in the league! Maybe Seattle? " (http://twitter.com/TealBunB)

Not quite. If you read the link I posted, Proposition 62 allows players to earn up to $2000 working during the academic year (in addition to their ability to work during the summer). All I was noting was that prior to Proposition 62, players were always allowed to work during the summer.

It is against NCAA rules. Proposition 62 has allowed student-athletes to work during the school year since 1998. Furthermore, they have been allowed to work in the summer. "The new Proposition 62 goes into effect on August 1998. It should be made clear that without it, players had the ability to work in the summer which some people may argue was enough. "

20 MLSers called into Bradley's January camp EDIT: From Sporting KC's website