fknbuflobo

Very competitive match. And Zips were missing some key players. It was cold. Standout for Zips was (no surprise) Joel Sangwa. Highmark is a beautiful venue. Shoutout to David Egbo for showing! (He will never read this.)

I am rooting for Trialist 2.

Good Call! Zarek Valentin actually could host SportsCenter. He has the gift of ham. I was thinking more along the lines of standup comedy (tough gig), but definitely public speaking of some sort. Great guy is ZV.

Excellent podcast! Thx!

Moutinho played out his GA 5 year deal. He was a free agent.

Grant Wahl was the very voice of American Soccer. He cannot be replaced easily. As always, Steve Zakuani shows personal class when paying tribute to the fallen/departed Grant Wahl. Well done, Steve. We join you in mourning this tremendous loss for American Soccer. Our hearts are very heavy.

Give ‘‘em Hell, Dice!!

Life does not always unfold according to plan. It is very difficult to return to school. Way to persevere! Well done, Adam Najem.

I’ll have the #9, please. To go.

That is indeed unusual, if not strange.

As will I.

That referee decision for the first PK looks even worse on the replay. Budler did precisely what you teach your GK to do: collect the ball.

Special shoutout to Ryan Kingsford! Thanks for choosing to attend University of Akron. You are a class act, Mr. Kingsford. Too bad you are out of eligibility. We hope your foot heals well. Please come back to visit us. Once a Zip; always a Zip.

Assistant Coaches getting cards for dissent I can live with a little bit. It can be argued that it is the AC's job to get the occasional card, from a strategic perspective. But it becomes a HUGE problem when players start following the coaches' examples and dissent every call. Coaches and players do not have the same role. WAY too much mouth from our players! And that shite got to stop right NOW! No card on the field is a good card unless it is earned in a tackle. Malik Henry clubbing the ball across the field after the play? Unacceptable. Not to mention Dumb. We have seen way too much of this lack of discipline recently. Coaches had best come correct on this. Bench mouths off to referee? OK. Fine. Players on field should not complain to ref. Let the bench do that. I expect this to change come Spring. And yes, the entire coaching staff will know my expectations.

The better team won today. The first PK was a rubbish call. Budler got the ball. But the better team won. It would have been more competitive if Zips had Clapier and Shokalook.

Wait. What? There is a match in Akron?

Watching national weather, seems there will enough snow in Syracuse come Sunday. I seem to recall a snowy NCAA Tourney match near Syracuse in 2018….🤔

I HATE PKs!!!

No first round match went to PKs. Hope that is a trend.

Cry me a river for ACC!!!

For anyone filling out a bracket, I have WMU beating Cardinals in Louisville. If I could find a book on it I would bet money.

Taken from my failing memory: Last NCAA Champion to NOT enjoy a top 16 seed was UCSB in 2006. If there was another such occurrence previous to 2006, I am unaware of it, or I have forgotten. That is how important that 1st round bye truly is. It is the most significant advantage in all of NCAA athletics. The Selection Committee granted Zips a Moment Of Grace.

Very good point. MAC POTY is Daniel Nimick, a CB. And GK Hunter Morse is arguably the best in the country. Pitt have a lot of weapons, but they cannot replicate the size and strength of WMU.

…and 2 ejections.

Twelve minutes after Shook was sent off, Mani Diop came in at CB and Will Jackson went to L with Joel Sangwa at R, essentially 3 CBs. Malik Henry moved into Right Wing. Our customary 4-2-3 (down a man) morphed into a 3-3-3 (down a man). That is how it looked to me. I pay close attention to such things, and I watch a barely healthy volume of futbol. This does not necessarily make me correct, but it does mean that my observation is more than merely casual. If only Shook would not have lost his soup! And Dyson Clapier getting two YC in five minutes, the second a wildly reckless slide tackle from behind. C'mon, Dice! How you gonna act? Let's all hope that Monday's draw is good to us.