ZachTheZip

Not sure. It's very possible we hire one of our position coaches and then bring in a local HS coach to coach the vacated position.

Nothing but an ESPN recruiting profile. I put him up on my list of verbals in the 2011 prospects thread. Seems like a good enough player to warrant a page on Scout or Rivals, but there's nothing there.

Good Lord. I had no idea. Is it worth giving up your college career for that? What you're forgetting is that each team can sign three players that can go around the salary cap because of some "Star Rule". So if one of the bigger players like Kitchen/Nagbe/Sarkodie were likely candidates to leave for overseas, they could pay them a million$+ to stay. And yes it is worth giving up your college career when you can just go back to school for free because of GA's contract and because you get to live out your dream as a pro. Well worth it, i know i would have made the same decision as every player this year. Now last year, I wouldn't have left like Gavin did, he had unfinished business (winning a title). Exactly. The GA contract makes it worth it, because it pays all your tuition when you decide to go back to school. So you lose nothing by leaving early.

About time a Chipotle came to town. Put it in an empty shop in Quaker Square and you're opening up a goldmine. Might even entice mroe businesses to move back in. The Downtown Akron scene is great, but the perception is lagging behind the awesome reality.

At last check, we had 6 incoming players for next year. I expect to see at least two added to that.

I with you. The only thing I can hang my hat of hope on now is the fact that the Miamioh coach won one game last year and may very well go to a bowl this season. Patience... "please let these people realize how foolish this impatient mindset is, and convince them to give Ianello a fighting chance to succeed." "Was Ianello really expected to turn things around and compete for a conference championship in his first year?" Yes. Yes he was. At least according to our AD.

As much as I wish they would stay, I can't begrudge them for leaving on top. They accomplished the impossible. If you're virtually guaranteed to go in the first half of the first round (GA signees rarely fall below that) then why not go? If I remember correctly, prior to this Zips team no school has ever has more than 3 GA players in a given year. We have 5. That is insane. Good luck to all of them and may they be wildly successful in their pro careers. The better they do, the better it is for Akron and the more college soccer looks like a legitimate way to develop pro prospects.

Which one will fans talk about for decades to come? Which one will gain us a media firestorm of coverage and help recruiting for the next decade? Which one fundamentally alters the way college football is viewed in our region? I think this is an easy choice.

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. That BG game was a great road trip. I really wish more Zips fans were like the McKnight family.

The Zips appear to have picked up a player by the name of Andrew Martin. I can't find much on him except that he graduated from East Technical High School in Cleveland in 2010, and had previously attended Villa-Angela St. Joseph. He would be a post-graduate. Played WR/DB. Maybe he's a walk-on. I can't find any info on him except for a few scattered references like this old scoutingohio.com profile, this thing from 2008, and his claim to be a Zip on Twitter. Does anybody have any additional information or is anybody willing to dig a little further?

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. Soccer will never break the hockey attendance record set by Michigan this year. They had 110k in attendance for an outdoor game at the Big House. That might be more at one game than all of NCAA soccer combined for the entire season.

TW has done a lot of good things for athletics, and he has also done some questionable things like what happened with Brett McKnight or Reno Ferri. But I think the good outweighs the bad. He was instrumental in getting us an exclusive deal with STO for unprecedented amounts of TV coverage (something people here seem to take for granted). He supports our winning programs in a big-time way. He is making rookie mistakes, but overall I think he has us heading in the right direction.

I always thought about how tough it must be to be a player or coach of another MAC men's soccer team. No matter how hard they work they to be the best with what they are given, we are kind of an anomaly in the MAC and it is unrealistic to knock us off. I almost feel bad for them, almost. I also wonder if this would in some way hurt recruiting to those other schools. Like, if players get offers from other mid-majors where they wouldn't have to struggle trying to beat the best team in the nation, maybe they would chose that school instead. I think our presence might help. We won the national championship as a MAC school. By that alone, the MAC can be regarded as a solid soccer conference. The other schools will get to play us every year, and at home every other. We've also shown that for a relatively cheap (compared to football and basketball) investment, MAC schools can compete at the top of this sport against the big names and get national recognition for it.

This must be the one.

Q&A with Caleb Porter. Is this the one?

That'll stick it to those big government blowhards. Thank goodness those funds are being sent to Illinois. Can you imagine the demand for train rides from Chicago to Springfield? Someone pinch me, I'm dreaming of the possibilities. What about the demand for train rides from NY to Chicago? Without an Ohio rail program, will that ever become a reality? It's really about interstate travel. Nobody's going to ride a train to a place they can get to on one tank of gas. It's about providing an alternative to air travel. There already is train service from NY city to Chicago. The Lakeshore Limited. It had a problem this week. Amtrak Loco Catches fire in Elyria Well, never mind. Just playing devil's advocate for a minute, there. Here's another one. Back when the Interstate highway system was created, there was a huge amount of backlash because it was believed that we were better off throwing our money into the military than worrying about things like that. What looks like the better choice today?

That'll stick it to those big government blowhards. Thank goodness those funds are being sent to Illinois. Can you imagine the demand for train rides from Chicago to Springfield? Someone pinch me, I'm dreaming of the possibilities. What about the demand for train rides from NY to Chicago? Without an Ohio rail program, will that ever become a reality? It's really about interstate travel. Nobody's going to ride a train to a place they can get to on one tank of gas. It's about providing an alternative to air travel.

Maybe. But he's coming here to play the H-back position. We sure could use a Brian Wagner type player on offense.

Because you would ahve boosters paying out exhobbitant amounts of money for crap. Kid needs some spending money? Sell your used gum wrapper for $5k. Want a new car? Have a booster buy your old pair of shoes for $15k. This is why players can't sell things. It would devolve into stupidity.

It looks like he won't be playing by the 8th of January. There was a pretrial hearing today and they pushed things back for 3 weeks in order to conduct an investigation. The next hearing date is 1-14-11. He was released on a $10,000 signature bond. He's not currently behind bars, therefore he is still eligible for Can't State athletics according to Can't State Athletic Department rules. The Can't State athletic department is under new leadership. This is an opportunity for their new AD to show that he won't put up with that kind of crap. This decision will set the tone for his tenure at Can't State.

The lottery is a tax on the stupid. Recruiting players costs time and effort on the part of the coaching staff. Goldman has zero interest in going to Akron. How much effort would be needed to change his mind? Would that effort be better spent recruiting players who would still excel at the MAC level but aren't being turned into head cases by the intensity of the spotlight? If we really are serious about going after him, our recruiting pitch needs to be focused on keeping him grounded. We offer a chance for him to be a standout and play immediately, while not being bombarded by the media and bright lights. He can still get into the NFL from here, but will learn what it's like to play for the underdog and with that chip on your shoulder. If he is level-headed and wants to remain that way and not get caught up in hype, Akron is his best choice.

Thanks for doing this, Dr Z. And thanks to Vinnie for taking the time to answer.

Former UA trustee Jack Morrison's ethics convictions overturned.

UA researchers develpoing conductive polymers. Materials of the future.