johnnyzip84

I wouldn't be surprised to see the some teams from the GLIAC, which is probably too large for its own good, split off and join forces with these newcomers to D-2. We might even see an ex-Zip bowl (Dennison at Walsh vs. Owens at Ashland).

Tom Gaffney has a timely article on this topic in today's Beacon. Link

The Myers School of Art gets some recognition by the BBC of all people Link

Even though he's not on the mainland, you'd be hard pressed to name a board member who is more informed about the UA's soccer program, past and present, than Z.I.P. I don't think it's clearcut whether or not soccer could ever truly thrive in our area. But those of you who give it no chance to ever happen, I believe, are skewed by either their lack of involvement in the game, or their disdain for the game, or both. Does it surprise anyone here that the Seattle Sounders, with one of the worst records in MLS, still are able to draw over 30,000 fans for each home game? Some of you will cite the eccentric nature of those who live in the Pacific Northwest as the reason for this apparent anomaly. But that's a convenient conclusion to draw for someone who has already made their mind up on the issue. I believe the MLS, while not without it's problems (especially DC United), will experience significant attendance increases with the expansion into Vancouver, Portland, and Montreal over the next two years. As the health of MLS improves, the chances for new successful franchises to be established anywhere in the US will no doubt improve as well. Of course, the expected nasty labor relations foreseen in the "big" pro sports leagues in the coming years wouldn't hurt MLS either. Please don't misinterpret my post. It had nothing to do with whether this gentleman is "knowledgable about UA soccer'. I actually admire his passion for the sport. Secondly, I was simply being informative about our soccer program's success in past decades, not knowing whether he is old enough to have been around when we had all of our other good teams going back 20-30 years. Oh, I understood what you meant. I just found it peculiar that someone as active as you are on this board didn't realize how long Z.I.P. had been following UA soccer and soccer in general. Your attempt to "inform" him of UA's soccer history gave me a little chuckle. That's all. No harm, no foul (foul works in lot's of sports).

Even though he's not on the mainland, you'd be hard pressed to name a board member who is more informed about the UA's soccer program, past and present, than Z.I.P. I don't think it's clearcut whether or not soccer could ever truly thrive in our area. But those of you who give it no chance to ever happen, I believe, are skewed by either their lack of involvement in the game, or their disdain for the game, or both. Does it surprise anyone here that the Seattle Sounders, with one of the worst records in MLS, still are able to draw over 30,000 fans for each home game? Some of you will cite the eccentric nature of those who live in the Pacific Northwest as the reason for this apparent anomaly. But that's a convenient conclusion to draw for someone who has already made their mind up on the issue. I believe the MLS, while not without it's problems (especially DC United), will experience significant attendance increases with the expansion into Vancouver, Portland, and Montreal over the next two years. As the health of MLS improves, the chances for new successful franchises to be established anywhere in the US will no doubt improve as well. Of course, the expected nasty labor relations foreseen in the "big" pro sports leagues in the coming years wouldn't hurt MLS either.

Winnipeg has recently released Jabari, but apparently he's back with the Calgary Stampeders already. Link

Story

In the movie "Best in Show", Cookie (Catherine O'Hara) gets her husband (Eugene Levy) to drive to Florida via Akron just so she can see her old flame who is now "chief hostage negotiator for the tri-county area surrounding Akron" OK, so there's really not a definitive "tri-county" area around here. Link

I've purposely avoided any comment on this entire story until I felt I had waited long enough to prevent emotions from dominating my thoughts. Admittedly, I would only consider myself a casual Cavs fan and an even more casual NBA fan in general. But like many, LeBron had drawn me in over the last seven years, assisted by the Akron connection and, of course, his relationship with Dru and Rome. My youngest had particularly become fond of LeBron, the player, after following his exploits right from the days at St V/M. It's pretty clear that most fans would have accepted his decision to leave without too much trouble had he handled it in a more reasonable and thoughtful manner. We may never exactly why he chose to do it the way he did, but I believe the naivety of youth is a big factor. He's definitely young enough that he may realize, in time, that his methods were a big mistake. However, I don't see it as a reason for UA or the city to cut ties with him. I really don't see much impact on UA athletics one way or the other, but I simply feel it's better for UA from a PR position to stay out of it. On a side note, I may be crazy for thinking this, but am I the only one who has thought about how Gilbert's letter (much of it perhaps justified) might affect a potential LeBron swan song in Cleveland at the end of his career? Sure it seems absurd now, but who knows how long LBJ will play and who knows how long Gilbert will own the team? I'm sure most would say "never gonna happen" based on the methods LeBron chose to reveal his "decision" and the subsequent reaction of fans throughout the area. But as they say forever is a very long time.

Even though Welker had good numbers against the Bills before he got hurt (paving the way for Julie N. Evilwoman), I thought Reggie covered him pretty well in the game I watched last year. Reggie won't back down from the competition. That's for certain.

True FR Bizarro returns the opening kickoff of the 2010 season 42 yards to the Akron 48. 1st and 10 at the UA 48: 17 yard completion from Patrick Nicely to Jeremy LaFrance over the middle. FIRST DOWNNNNNN A-K-R-O-NNNNN!! 1st and 10 at the SU 35: Alex Allen rushes 4 yards around right end. 2nd and 6 at the SU 31: Patrick Nicely scrambles for 7 yards. FIRST DOWNNNNNN A-K-R-O-NNNNN!! 1st and 10 at the SU 24: Alex Allen rushes for no gain. 2nd and 10 at the SU 24: Patrick Nicely passes 24 yards to Jalil Carter in the left corner of the end zone. TOUCHDOWNNNNN A-K-R-O-NNNNN!!!!

From this link, Patrick is from Mason, Ohio and eventually graduated from Dayton (after a brief basketball career at EKU of the OVC interestingly enough). I'm guessing it's a simple case of mixing up Dayton and Akron. Link

In the meantime, LeBron is apparently still planning to participate in the 5th annual Bike-A-Thon in Akron. ESPN Link

Speaking of his brother Mitchell, for some reason he's not on the GoZips.com roster at this time. If you google his name, however, this GoZips.com page may be found. Link

The first sentence of this piece has me wondering. "It has been nearly nine months since Tri-Valley's Clay Cameron capped a superb high football school career." I’m not sure whether to be happy the kid went to a football school or upset that apparently he was always high. I did learn something new. Had no idea walk-ons cannot start practicing at the same time scholarship players do. Also it sounds like the kid isn't sold on being a linebacker. Maybe the Zips get him to put on 20-25 lbs of muscle and stick him at fullback. We're sort of lead to believe his lack of speed (40 time) prevented the D-1 scholarship. But could he really be any slower than Chris R-o-o-o-o-o-o-n-e-y?

I'm watching the replay of the game now on FSC, and Christopher Sullivan is routinely talking up both Gavin and Zemanski. He specifically mentioned "the midfielders from Akron and UCLA" as being positive developments this year in MLS.

Neither does this guy at CBSSportsline. You have to wonder if he contacted Razor and Razor alone on this Link

If he played six more years, we would only get 12 plays out of him. No thanks. Yeah, I was never quite on that hype train either, I was just wondering if he had attempted to petition the NCAA for a 6th year or if his back was that bad that it wouldn't matter. Perhaps the coaching staff told him he wouldn't have a scholarship for a 6th year. Anybody in the know? I seem to recall someone on the board (Buckzip?) mentioning that Bain already used one RS year while he was at Iowa. That, coupled with the year he sat out here due to the substance infraction/injury/whatever, means he's already used up his 6 years.

Here's the Beacon article on Dylan. Link What's up with all the guys from Green whose last name starts with BR and ends in BAUGH playing for the Zips???

I realize this projected starting lineup is shaky at best, but I do find it interesting that rivals handed TJ Marchese the starting spot at PK. Then again, with the Zips' dismal performance here of late, perhaps they're using the logic that anyone has to be an improvement. PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP OFFENSE QB Patrick Nicely (6-4/215, Soph.) RB Alex Allen (6-0/210, Sr.) FB LeVon Morefield (5-9/235, Sr.) WR Jalil Carter (6-0/200, Sr.) WR Jeremy LaFrance (6-1/195, Sr.) TE Kyle Weber (6-4/250, Sr.) T Jake Anderson (6-5/310, Jr.) T Corey Woods (6-5/305, Jr.) G Zac Kasparek (6-5/300, Jr.) G Mike Ward (6-3/300, Sr.) C Paul Simkovich (6-3/295, Jr.) DEFENSE E Hasan Hazime (6-4/270, Jr.) T Almondo Sewell (6-1/285, Sr.) T Dan Marcoux (6-2/275, Jr.) E Shawn Lemon (6-1/245, Sr.) LB Troy Gilmer (6-1/230, So.) LB Mike Thomas (5-11/220, Sr.) LB Brian Wagner (6-2/220, Soph.) CB Manley Waller (5-8/165, Jr.) CB Diamond Weaver (5-9/175, Sr.) FS Kevin Davis (6-1/200, Sr.) SS Doug Richardson (6-0/185, Sr.) SPECIALISTS K T.J. Marchese (5-11/180, Soph.) P Zack Campbell (6-2/190, Jr.) KR Jalil Carter (6-0/200, Sr.) PR Jeremy LaFrance (6-1/195, Sr.)

Great pic, Mama Zeke! The Zips had a football player a few years back......Jason Taylor......another fine Western PA lad.....you may have heard of him ......well as part of a marketing campaign before his senior year (if I recall correctly), he was prominently featured on several area billboards in his football gear, but with his shirt off and his chiseled physique prominently displayed. This was an early indication that JT would have the potential for other careers after (well even DURING) football. Do I see history repeating itself? Thanks for your insight and your CALMING influence!

I agree with CK and GP1 on PN7. Although it's a bit strange to see SN picking him 1st team all-MAC, only a major injury can stop Nicely from having a very good UA career IMHO. I'll even go so far as to say this. Don't be completely shocked if Wagner isn't the standout on defense as he was last year. Oh I still think he'll be good, but I just feel there's a good chance the tackles will be more evenly distributed in the 4-3.

Would an upstart FCS team help them to lose the status? The question for me is: Would anyone go to their games? Plenty of vacant property on the East side to build a stadium, but who would want to venture into that part of town? But what do you do? Build another football stadium right in Browns Town? Try competing for fan interest in the Browns back yard. And talk about a "commuter school". I'm trying to find reasons why this would work. And I can't find any. I'm not saying they wouldn't have many hurdles, but getting a place to play probably isn't the largest of them. Ask Pitt. Or USF. Or Temple, whom I voted for because I do think its upsets the scheduling too much to have 13 teams, they should be in for all sports. They have a decent soccer team so that would help too. I understand why its helpful to have them around to help raise the MAC football profile a little, but that is only a recent occurrence, and as soon as they get good enough consistently enough, the MAC will have just been a stepping stone for them. I was going to vote for CMU, but then realized it wasn't to bring Carnegie Mellon into the league. I think we could beat them. It might be sweet to lay a heavy whipping on those Tartans

Would an upstart FCS team help them to lose the status? The question for me is: Would anyone go to their games? Plenty of vacant property on the East side to build a stadium, but who would want to venture into that part of town? But what do you do? Build another football stadium right in Browns Town? Try competing for fan interest in the Browns back yard. And talk about a "commuter school". I'm trying to find reasons why this would work. And I can't find any. I'm not saying they wouldn't have many hurdles, but getting a place to play probably isn't the largest of them. Ask Pitt.

Wow. These Lot 9 wounds are deeper than I thought I picked CMU because nobody else had so far and I thought Dan LeFevour might be upset with that the next time he stops by.