New Recruits

[Z.I.P.]

Hello football fans. Have you got your brackets filled out for the little tournament in Deutschland yet? Here's a hint -- Green and yellow will be on the field at the end, that's for sure!In the week preceding my Hawaiian compatriot, Brian Ching's likely 270 minutes of benchwarming duty for coach Arena, I thought I'd alert Zip sports fans to the finish of the futbol 2006 recruiting season -- ended quite a while ago, but as usual there is no overall recruiting announcement on GoZips.com.We have two new limey's coming Akron's way this season. Elliot Bradbrook is the latest in a string of transfers to UA from Ashland -- kind of the opposite of what happened in American football I think, eh? Well, anyhow, Bradbrook should get some playing time off the bench this season for Caleb's troops. Not sure just how big a contributor he'll be in terms of what US audiences consider the bottom line -- putting the ball in the net -- but he should give the starters a run for their PT.Also coming onto the roster from England is freshman Oscar Odoch, who's been playing for Wigan Athletic and I think some other clubs in the EPL junior ensemble. Rumors of his being "The next coming of Wayne Rooney" don't appear to hold up to my research, as he doesn't appear to have been on any international travelling squads for Sven Goren and Company at England Inc. Nonetheless however, it is quite a coup for Akron to secure the services of a top player from the ranks of England's top junior ranks, and Oscar should contribute from Day One. Who knows, he may be a net-ripper from the outset.From the nation's top-ranked youth club, the Chicago Magic comes Rockford Illinois (Guilford HS) scoring machine Vedran Ilic, who put the ball in the net 34 times and assisted on 23 goals in his senior season of high school play. Not sure if his Magic 16s or 17s team was a qualifier for the nationals last year, but he has extensive experience in Super Y League.The fourth recruit is Ben Zemanski of Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. You probably know a lot more about this kid than I do. He was the star of the state HS champions last year, I think?Now for the ones who got away.The Midfielder with the leg of molybdenum, Y'town Cardinal Mooney's Zack Hernan chose to follow his recruiter, our old Chief Ken Lolla to the Louisville Cardinals. A nice get for Ken, and the youngster should see plenty of playing time in Kentucky, while he would have seen a lot of pine early on in a Zip uniform, I suspect.The top two senior fullbacks in NE Ohio, according to many, are headed to Evanston, IL to wear the purple of Northwestern. Lakewood's Mark Blades, an All-Star at Adidas ESP Camp last summer chose the Big Ten's up-and coming squad, along with Chagrin Falls' and Cleveland Force Junior standout Pat Coleman. Blades' Cleveland Soccer Academy teammate Justin Morrow is headed to South Bend to be a Golden Irishman. I think all of these guys could have gotten grants in aid to Akron, and would have eventually been strong players -- especially Blades, a fine student as well as defender. Another who fits under the title is Chris Korb another Force Junior who's headed to Xavier. Interestingly, his freshman teammate with the Muskies will be a player with the closest of ties to the Zips -- forward Slava Ubiparipovic, out of Mentor HS, the brother of Akron's top offensive threat, Ubie Senior.Would anyone please let me know when Westfield Cup shirts are available? I want to keep my collection going.Aloha and mahalo and for reading braddahs and sistas,Go Zips! #1 till the end this year.

[Sloopy]

Big fish for 2007 who had committed to Akron is headed to Louisville. Kenny Walker will play for Lolla. Big loss.

[Z.I.P.]

Walker is the only field player from Ohio to be invited to Adidas ESP (Elite Soccer Players) Camp, the top camp for incoming HS seniors. Yes -- its a big pickup for UL. Looks like Ken's going to have the Cards ready to play in the Big East before very long. But they need more than a couple players. Why not give 'em a game sometime? Oops! That's a Rooney, isn't it?