72 Roo

Now that's what I am talking about...LOVE for the ZIPS OK, I haven't tossed in my 2c on the rankings till now. I can't see any reason to disagree with the Professor's Top Four -- those four are a good distance above the next group in my opinion. Until they prove themselves undeserving, I have to put last year's top and final two at the top again, though it's to me impossible to separate Akron and Louisville. Then if you look on paper, Jorge Salcedo probably has the best group of players across the field and onto the bench. North Carolina returns most of another really good team. I wouldn't mind penning those four into the College Cup, but the preseason is just a bit premature. Maryland, Indiana, Duke, SMU and Creighton are all more than capable of crashing the party. I also look for improvement from MAC teams, with WMU and BG having excellent recruiting classes. Maybe Western or NIU can sneak into the top 25. Z.I.P. my friend, are you smoking some of that island weed? A MAC team crashing into the top 25 is as common as snow in the islands at beach level. Forget about your mountains. MAC soccer is crap! They play not to get beat too bad by Akron and put 10 behind the ball. I hate the MAC in soccer and Caleb has told me he feels the same. If the rest of the MAC wants to come out and play, that would be great. But most of the MAC coaches are coaching to save their jobs, not to win. Hence they shut down any attack against any good teams. Give up on the MAC having any teams that actually want to attack. Nice thought though. Mahalo.

I have been critical of the size of some of our LB recruits. Daryan's size is more in line with what we need, plus a few more pounds and a lot more strength. Thank you to the coaching staff recruiters who got someone with size to commit to the Zips. This young man is more like it size-wise. Keep it coming and give us something to get excited about this season. Soccer and basketball have already got it, but I want football to be right up there this time of year.

My understanding is that the plan is to expand the grandstand as is now taking place. We will then follow that up with permanent restrooms, concessions and team shop to be placed on the walkway between the softball field and the east end bleachers. Positioning them there will allow soccer, softball. track and baseball to use the facilities meaning they will save us money and space. Control of entry and exit will have to be worked out, but it will be done. It may mean a new configuration of the east end bleachers to gain additional space. Caleb was not sure it will be completed in time for the playoffs and the march to the College Cup. This facility will grow over time. There are more plans for it if we keep the support we have.

It's amazing the difference there is in appearance when Blackledge does not have his TV make-up on.

Try this in your address bar:http://cincinnati.com/blogs/preps/2011/06/...r-james-turner/If he can just lose a couple of inches he will be perfect for us at cornerback.Great! Another small, undersized LB (5'11", 205). Same old, same old. If he can play SS, that's a diiferent situation. SEC schools thrive by playing undersized DE's and LB's that can RUN. 5'11 is not too small. 205 turns into 215 in no time once they get into the strength and conditioning program.Brian Rolle was a 5'10 and 202 pound recruit coming out of high school and that kid was a human missile on the football field in college.The kids who are 5"11 and 205 playing LB in any DI program are the exception rather than the rule. If they are good enough to play LB they go to a big time school not Akron. We have gotten killed the last several years by undersized LB's who give up too much yardage after contact and can't bring any pressure when they blitz. None of them have been able to knock a MAC starting TB or FB backwards. They get run over and hold on to bring the runner down after 3-5 yds. Hoping this recruit can take the quality of our LB's to a higher level is wishful thinking. A 1-11 team doesn't get the cream of the recruiting crop. I'm longing for the day when the best consider Akron. Keep the hope coming Zip01. We both want the best for our football program.

Try this in your address bar:http://cincinnati.com/blogs/preps/2011/06/...r-james-turner/If he can just lose a couple of inches he will be perfect for us at cornerback.Great! Another small, undersized LB (5'11", 205). Same old, same old. If he can play SS, that's a diiferent situation.

What you see in your rear-view mirror is a K.E.N.T. felon chasing your car with a crowbar hopingto mug you or punch out a woman. Old habits die hard.

I would love to see Akron bring in an D-League team and a OHL franchise. Obviously we would be better suited than Canton, and out of all of the lower hockey leagues the OHL is the most interesting. Basically a lot of the NHL's top players get their start there, and the Erie Otters would make a good regional rival. That team has drawn very well during their existence and Akron could have potential to do the same. Better than that would be for the Akron Zips to start up a hockey program, but I highly doubt that will happen. Given a first-class arena even a newly created team would be able to pull in some good recruits...But at the end of the day I want the Zips to be the "main" tenant of the arena. We shouldn't have to settle for second best, like a Villanova or other schools that share arena's with pro teams. To them it's almost like an away game, except for the few logos slapped on top of a generic court.Title IX means you will never see any further expansion of men's sports while we field a football team. No AD in his right mind would do that at our level.

The player who can make the greatest impact on the team, and therefore the one I want to see most, is Clayton Moore. Hands down he can make the biggest difference. In deference to the Captain, the team member who can make the greatest difference is no doubt Ianello. I have been critical of him and still remain doubtful as to his ability. That being said, I still am rooting for him to surprise us all and to succeed. Three wins keeps me rooting for him. Four wins is over-achievement in my book. Five wins or more leaves me ecstatic.Folks I'm easily pleased. Come on coach, give us something to believe in!

That's because the Zips are going to thrash the Flashes in front of a sold-out, standing-room-only crowd at Infocision Stadium November 12. (just had to beat dreal to the punch!)Thanks for the tip. I love your enthusiasm but I gotta ask what drugs are you on? I may need some of them to get through this season.

Our soccer program is a model for others to follow. There's hope that we can raise the profile and performance of all our teams. Sometimes all you need is one program to show the way and the others start looking at why they can excell rather than why not. Success is contagious and even football has hope, although Ianello has yet to show he can coach. Come to think of it he has yet to show he can do much of anything. I'm actually rooting to be proved wrong. I hope you make your nephew into a Zip fan. Thanks for sharing the story.

Z.I.P. don't count me as one of the critics of this hire. I feel he is a very good fit. The only downside would be if the fire doesn't burn anymore in his gut and he is here to get one more gig before he rides into retirement. That's alwways a risk, but I think he probably asked what was the vision for the program. My guess is that TW said he wanted to compete and he would slowly drive more resources into the program to give him the opportunity to win. TW would probably pick up if Coach R was out tp bide his time. So I believe he is here to make a statement with his alma mater's program. This is a good move. Thanks TW. Welcome coach R. Your school needs you. Go to it!

Does it make you feel as wierd as it does to me to be actually rooting for Can't State in this one? Ford will lose and he should.

Yeah, by all means someone has to post what's going on here. I have high hopes for the Lone Ranger and see him winning the QB job. If his head s on straight he will better us at that position, which is sorely needed if we are to win more than 3 games. Please someone fill us in!

I believe we are poised to pass Maryland for the third best venue in collegiate soccer. The recent announcement of a 300 seat expansion of our grandstand and the addition of permanent restrooms, concessions and team spirit shop makes our place fantastic. Also at Maryland the fans are so far away, being outside a track, that they pale in comparison to the atmosphere our AK-Rowdies and other fans create. Keep this in mind too. We are not done with expansion. The grandstand will be further expanded all the way out to the edge of the three rows of chairbacks in front of it as soon as the administration and Caleb are sure those seats will be filled regularly. They are very careful not to delute the pressure atmosphere they have created by adding more seats that may go empty. Our situation is indeed great but I don't think we will ever surpass Creighton or UCSB. I'll settle for that.

ZIP37 ... duly noted Newt deserves to be up their with the other coaches who get it. I have a feeling you made Rifle very happy. Newt does great things with little support for a sport that does not draw much attention. Go Newt!

This is worth your time. What impressed me the most is he set clear expectations that athletes come to Akron to earn a degree and win championships. He is unapologetic about that. He believes in this area, the university and our ability to win the right way. Despite repeated chances to leave, he wants to stay here. I love coaches who want to be here and take us as far as they can. He will leave one day, but only after he has given us more than we have given him. Dambrot and Mitchell get it. let's hope the other coaches are listening.

"We have a coach". That is a statement that is yet to be proven. While I would not hire Tressel, his coaching ability is monumental compared to Ianello.

One of the finest and most insightful analysis of our upcoming year I have seen in a long time. You win the award for saying the most with the fewest words. I'll add this: our talent will be less than last year's altho' we will win more games, at least 2. Now there's a shocker. O-line, wide-outs and coaching still scare the hell out of me. Very little reason to have confidence in any of the three. Can't will be a better team than us again. That really sucks!

I agree that we are a decade away from a new or significantly renovated facility. The problem is that a renovation will cost somewhere near $30 million. So do we renovate or build a new facility that will cost at least as much as the Info. The problem is further compounded by the fact that we do not fill the JAR. You are absolutely dead on with your statement that the JAR was a bad design from the day it was conceived. Dr. Guzetta hired an architect who had never designed or built an arena. He did a horrible job. Shame on the board of trustees for accepting the design. I was a wrier on the Buchelite at the time it was built. Our editor got wind of the design. Several of us reviewed it and the consensus was that it would not meet our needs. I met with Guzetta and told him so. But who listens to students. There is a lot of ignorant talk on this board about a new facility. The facts are that we need to start filling what we now have and the university will not go into deeper debt to float bonds to build a new one now. Our best bet is to renovate the JAR piecemeal and hope to build a huge following that will pay for a new facility. Without new donors it will not get built in the near future. I get a big kick out of how many posters on this board want a new facility, but no one has a real-world plan to finance it. If the money was there we would have it being built now.

Captain .... Go stand in the corner. You deserve a time-out for that one. can you hear the giant groan radiating from Zip Nation?

GZGZ, Thanks for the deeper reporting of our ladies magnificent league championship. Makes all the more proud of them. I hope the university continues to increase the resources made available to them with the kind of commitment to excellence they have given all the Zip faithful. We are proud of you ladies!

Let me add my congratulations to the ladies of out tennis program. It was so cool to see them take on Miami, stay tough and winn it at the end. We are all so proud of you.

When all is said and done I believe Moore will emerge as our signal caller. Nicely does not make good decisions under pressure and that is his greatest liability. Moore, to me, has the ability to make better decisions and execute under pressure. Either way, we will be better at QB than last year.

Well done Zip golfers! More evidence that good things are happening here at Akron. Keep it up guys and kick ass in the MAC tourney!