72 Roo

New helmet is a joke. Just somebody's mistaken idea that a gimmicky marketing change will actually matter to anyone. This is just another reason why our detractors will have more ammunition to make fun of us with. There is no basis in tradition for this. No one at Akron calls themselves the Zippers, so having a zipper on the helmet is pathetic. Are we that desperate for attention or does this signal we have no real brand to offer? Is our brand now losing football and desperate marketing schemes. Please spare me. We stand for more than this. This is what I would expect from K.E.N.T. But lately they are taking the high road from us when it comes to football.

Problem is it is out of the 80's and always will be. Replacing the JAR is a huge issue because we need $60 million and that kind of money is not out there. If it was the development dept would have found it. Those men and women are working hard to try to find it.

Zips put up great effort but lose 38-17.

DAMN! I didn't see or talk to him either today. I can't believe how much we all have in common.

I bought three tickets in section 117. Any preferred watering holes that Zip nation will be warming up at? I've got a great feeling about this game. We are confident and have overcome the shock of losing Alex. No excuses! Go Zips!

Jupiter, Nothing but praise for the game Ohio put on. The Convo was magnificent and the fans were totally behind your team. The atmosphere was something we will rarely see in the MAC again. The Zips will not see that type of event until we trade in our high school gym for a true college arena. So far we have had lots of talk but no action. It is a shame that the best team in the MAC plays in a place like the JAR. We can only hope that the success of last night propels our leaders and community supporters to get us an arena equal to a top 25 team. I am jealous of the Convo and what you put on last night. It was first class and worthy of the top two teams in any conference.

Great discussions. I like the 7,000-8,000 minimum. I'd also like to suggest that our architect-in-waiting design future expansion in the arena. If were Prez I'd pay the extra cost to have an arena that can grow with us in the future. This idea would be different, maybe even unusual, but i believe it can be done with a creative enough design. A good architect could do it. Now get going!

Put me solidly behind Frenchy. Despite the times when he doesn't exactly describe the play and just says "Oh my!", I like what he does and the quality of his broadcast. Does anyone else remember Bob Wylie from the Tony Laterza era? He was truly horrible. I once heard him call a TV game in which he mistook Billy Turner (6'8" black guy) for Bobby Smith (5'10" slow white guy) . I thought the guy who replaced Wylie was pretty good though. His name was Jerry Healey. He came to Akron to announce the Akron Vulcans CFL games and stayed to become somewhat of a mainstay on WAKR in the morning. But I support Frenchy and enjoy his calling games. Don't mess with him.

I'm right there with you. That was a magical time. Memorial Hall was packed every night and the Bleacher Bums were fantastic. The introductions, no longer allowed, has our opponents psyched out before play ever started. I hope other young Zips are feeling the same thing about this team. It is exceptional.

Sadly I have heard similar thought is taking hold inside the university regarding Hilltopper's post on the size of any new arena. The higher-ups who I have talked with actually have praised BG for building the Stroh center with only 5,000 seats. It is maddening to settle for so little an arena size. They support their thinking by talking about the traditional lack of attendance wherever we play, the possibility of raising ticket prices (and Z Fund required donations) with high demand for limited seating and the fact several big programs have small arenas ala Duke, Temple, both of which put our top design to shame. Additionally, the lack of any funding seems to be consistent in any conversation about an arena. They would gladly partner with the city if the city money. Putting the arena on the edge of campus or further away is no concern if the city provides money. The problem is that the city has higher aspirations regarding seating (10,000 +) and no money to make it happen. A major or foundational donor was sought. I think First Energy was being worked hard but with their puchasing the naming rights of Brown's Stadium it appears that hope is fading fast. Renovating the JAR is out of the question and is seen as throwing money down the drain because it will take too much to achieve basic improvements. It appears we are stuck for now as DIG has said. Without a big time donor don't expect any betterment of the situation. Especially with layoffs looming if the enrollment doesn't improve and a freeze on new positions, even replacement hires, in effect. What pisses me off is that many in athletic administration are talking about how we could join the Big East if we wanted because they need new membership. Our people are living in a fantasy world when they think we are welcome after going 1-11 three years in a row, having no attendance and a high school gym. Let's get real folks and stop treating the Zip faithful as a bunch of idiots who believe everything you say. End of rant.

Very encouraging. I'd love to see more development on Exchange in this style of architecture. I've always felt a Panera would be perfect for opposite Jackson Field. I hear the franchise fee to open one is very steep. My daughter goes to OSU and the Panera on Lane Avenue, opposite St. John Arena is packed from morning to closing. Regardless, more restaurants are needed on Exchange.

Bottom Line is he got more money, more resources, a greater commitment to soccer and worse weather. WMU does not care about taking its soccer program to a higher level. That also is generally true of WMU athletics. They are quite happy to be a middle of the road MAC program. Good God, I hope the Zips never settle for that.

Trapp, and possibly other Zips, but especially Trapp, are making a mistake. Signing with the Crew is a dead end as long as Warzycha is the coach, Brian Bliss is the technical director and McCulloughs is the President. None of those three know how to develop talent. Just ask Ben Speas or Kurt Grossman, two great talents who are buried on the bench. In the coaching circles I move in Warzycha is considered one dimensional and incapable of handling the creative aspects of the game. Bliss has yet to develop any local talent and has seriously misjudged international talent. McCulloughs is a former stadium manager who does not know soccer or marketing. His main asset is he keeps things running smooth so owner Clark Hunt and Hunt Sports Group can make money elsewhere. They have no plan to invest in the Crew. I live in Columbus and the Crew is slipping in sature every year in MLS. It is not a good place for a young talent, who needs nurturing, to start a career. Trapp and Serna and Yedlin would be better off staying another year. At least Gallego will be under Porter's wing. That's a good thing.

Sarge, So what did TW say he would do? He must have made some comment. What was his reaction to the #5 seed?

I also am shocked. His team did not get any better and lost several games they should have won. Worst of all the team is split on his coming back. He lost far too many to be given the job permanently.

Did we beat out the Akron club football team? I hear they are coming back and Anthony was to be their first recruit.

I'm happy. The beautiful game will continue at Akron and so will the recruiting pipeline. Jared was responsible for many of the recruits we got. Porter's charisma was an important factor but the fact is the recruits came for our style and the chance to go to the pros. We are in good hands and I am stunned that TW went this route. I thought he would go for the big name candidate. I've got to rethink my opinion of TW.

Hate to rain on the love-fest for the Zips in this thread but Ohio is a team we all would love to have at our university. The Zips will get beat no matter how bad the Ohio secondary is. Talk all the smack and bravado you want, but Ohio is the far better team. We have to live for the proverbial next year.

I'm not convinced that the players we now get are coming for Caleb Porter as much as they are coming for the incredible style that we play. Ampai and early classes came for Porter, but they started the beautiful style that drew the rest. Porter himself asserts that there are only a few schools in the country that play the beautiful way we do i.e. Maryland, UCLA, Wake. Wistrcill has a decision to make regarding that style, do you keep it intact or do you try to find a charismatic coach like Caleb who brings his own style. If TW keeps it intact he hires Embick. That keeps the style, current players, best staff of assistants in the country and 2013 recruits. It also lets us get back into the hunt for the 2014 recruits who want to come but they have to know who the coach is soon. TW hasn't named Embick which leads me to believe he is looking elsewhere. If he does pick Embick he has colossally screwed up our future recruiting because of time lost and indecision. Caleb has said many times that recruiting is an ugly dogfight and if you take some time off you lose. If TW goes through the way he is indicating no new coach will be hired until after the season since they can't interview until then. We will lose half our current players, most of the 2013 recruits and find a different style of recruit in 2014, one that suits the new coach's philosophy. Since few coaches play the way we now play I see the end of the beautiful game. The new coach will win but not entertain. It is wishful thinking to hope TW will find another coach who believes in possession soccer. They don't exist because it is so risky to play that way and big time college soccer coaches want to keep their jobs. So the top kids who can play possession go to the elite schools and coaches turn to overseas to bring in talent. When you do that you must play the way the recruits have been brought up. You aren't going to change them so you adopt to their ways and build the team around them. This is the case for many college teams. I also worry that TW wants to use this as an opportunity to show that he can make a big hire after having blown the Ianello hire and damaged his career. If TW makes a splash with the soccer coach hire he can point out that he drew a name coach into the program to continue our tradition. It looks good on his resume but long-term it could set us back because we will become another top 25 program that plays dull, boring soccer. Say goodbye to an elite top 5 program. I will always support the Zips, but I'm worried about this one.

Ianello was not in this last year. It was limited to people who could coach.

Hey I just bought an extra ticket. Is it a sellout now?

Yea, where is Rossi?

I took in the soccer ladies match against Duquesne today and came away feeling coach Pfau has not left this program as good as we would wish. To his credit coach Croft played nearly all his players. We have a serious lack of speed up top and in the outside backs. The Dukes' forwards repeatedly turned the corner on our backs and went to goal. Our speed up top is a problem. We had several opportunities to outrace the defenders and could not get a step on any of them by our forwards or outside mids. I also noticed we lacked anyone who took on a defender with moves when in 1v1 situations. Our goalkeeping was shaky. The one goal was in part due to poor coordination from the keeper and the back line. I do like the way coach Croft seems to have thrown out Pfau's very direct and boring play with long balls that usually end up with us just giving it away to the defense. This team repeatedly built the attack from the back and used the mids out wide to open up the field and find space for our attackers. They lacked the penetrating runs we have seen from the men's team but this style could be quite an improvement if we can find some speed and players capable of penetrating runs. Exhibition games are for working out your problems, but I honestly thought that we would dominate the Dukes. The opposite was true, especially in the second half when the Dukes should have gotten two more wide-open goals. This team has even depth from top to bottom. It lacks however the top level player like Ampai who can pick up the team when needed and pull in other top level talent because of their presence. I hope coach Croft is the guy to put it all together for the ladies.

It appears he wasn't a thug enough to earn Bob Huggins support or qualify to transfer to Can't. Too bad he didn't mug someone, then he surely would have stayed at WVU. I hope his mistake was just a case of a basically good kid doing a stupid, selfish act of theft. If it is more I hope we have him on a short leash.

I wonder what conference the Zips will be in come 2018. Hope it has changed for the better.