[UA Fan]

Was talking to some fellows while having lunch at a local watering hole today, and I brought up the subject of the new stadium, and how excited I am about it, and the future of Akron football and athletics generally. Wow. Sometimes I wonder why I live in Akron, a city that just seems to breed negative, pessimistic, pathetic bozos like these jokers, who simply have nothing good to say about anything or anybody.

I not sure why this is bothering me so much, since the majority of people I've talked to are pretty juiced about the new stadium, or at least think it's a good idea and good for the city. But this isn't my first experience like this, and these a-holes have put me in a really crrappy mood.

GO ZIPS!

P.S. And yeah... they were Suckeyes fans. the OSU

I have to relate my recent experience. I met up with a friend I hadn't seen in quite a while to catch up on things. He went elsewhere for his undergrad degree and later went to UA for grad school; now he makes good money in the medical field. His kid went to UA and wasn't eligible for financial aid grants, just loans and as a result came out with more debt than I ever thought a UA student would amass. I expressed my surprise and then he went on to decry the hefty tuition increases of recent years and that UA is spending so much money on amenities unrelated to education (rec center/fieldhouse, new student center, etc.) "just so they can try to attract more students". Then he threw a minor hissy fit over the fact that they're spending "hundreds of millions" on this palace of a stadium which of course is being paid for out of students tuition dollars, and why? "This is UA, they'll never be Ohio State. We're not talking about the Buckeyes, we're talking about the A-k-r-o-n Z-i-p-s" (dripping with sarcasm).

Well, I just listened politely and was more amused than annoyed, knowing what UA is accomplishing and the reactions it's causing among the uninformed. As UA raises its standing people will be confronted with it more and more and become confused->angered. I too am surrounded by tOSU devotees, especially family, who think everyone else should be one too, even if they went to another Ohio school, and equate MAC sports with Div. III. It's a fun time to be a Zip.

[SeeTeeZip]

Your reply to your EX-friend should have included the term "friendo" and an offer to choose heads or tails. F him, in the friendliest and most positive way possible.

STZ

[g-mann17]

I'm always interested in these stories. The "sure I went to Akron and got a degree, but why are they trying to better themselves, they are what they are" deal.

If your school isn't trying to better itself, to make itself more visible, than your alma mater is doing you a disservice. The more notoriety that Akron gets, the better my degrees look. So every alumni should be cheering on the advancements the university is making.