Why are you a Zips fan?

[ctmjbowes@sbcglobal.net]

I've found myself becoming much more of a "core" Zips fan than ever before. A little background: I graduated from Akron in 1988 and attended games with another board member 3 or 4 times a year while a student. I remember well the days of the OVC, Coach Dennison, Faust coming in, etc. I remember working at a local small business back then when the Zips, under Bob Huggins, played and came close to beating Michigan in the NCAA tournament. They were beating Michigan at half time and the game announcers were stunned. We watched on a little black and white TV, and even the company owner, a Can't grad, was cheering like a teenager. I remember thinking at the time that Akron was sort of small time football and basketball, that the Rubber Bowl and JAR were generally lacking, that it was mildly embarrassing that many of the opponents who came in were from schools I had never heard of before. The games were entertaining, but still I took the whole thing for granted in ways that kids usually do. I got married, moved to the West Coast, was transferred all over the country with my work, turned into a middle aged guy, and moved back to Akron almost 4 years ago.I went to a couple games last year and bought season's tickets this year and for next year at the new stadium. I'm not exactly sure that I can put my finger on why I've become, after all of these years, so "into" Akron sports, but I'm becoming a real fan. I find myself taking great pride in the university having come so far from where it was in those days, and feel hope for what it will become in years to come. I suppose that I feel a combination of "chip on shoulder" about the little-school-that-could coming to roost after all these years, and satisfaction, almost validation, of my own attendance here. Akron has been so hard hit over the years, but has weathered what has been a slow-motion train wreck of regional economic decline spanning more than 35 years, and is hopefully poised for dynamic years ahead. I suppose some of it is age too, but it all makes me wonder what are the common threads that bind Zips fans together. So, enough about me. Why are you a Zips fan?

[zip81]

Because it's my school.Plain and simple.

[bobbyake]

because of the great times I've enjoyed rooting for my school.

[Dr Z]

Alumni, plain and simple.

[Zip Watcher]

Attending Zips hoops games w/ Dad as a kid soon after moving into the area in 1979.1986 OVC championship @ the JAR sealed it forever.

[johnnyzip84]

Attending Zips hoops games w/ Dad as a kid soon after moving into the area in 1979.1986 OVC championship @ the JAR sealed it forever.

I can still hear the "lose some weight" taunts to Kerry Hammonds, the rotund center for Middle Tennessee I grew up in the Pittsburgh area, and rooted for Pitt growing up, although I was actually more of a general "college sports" fan than anything else then. When I came to UA in 1979 I was one of a very small number of "out of state" (2.5X the tuition) students, other than the select athletes on scholly like Vernon Stewart etc. I guess I always felt like you should, as the Beach Boys said, "be true to your school" and I started attending Zip football and basketball games (my Uncle, an OU grad, was friends with long ago hoops coach Ken Cunningham) right from the start. I have followed the sports teams pretty closely ever since. I guess you could say that I'm stuck on them at this point

[Kiel Fleming]

I like misery and having a reason to drink?

[Buckzip]

Grew up in Akron and always went to the Acme Zip game as a kid. Went to UA for part of my college and have always been a Zip.

[zip81]

I like misery and having a reason to drink?

Then you should be an Indians or Browns fan...er...uh...wait...never mind. :D

[ZipAlumn]

I came to "Akron University" in 1964 when it was still a municipal university, with 5,000 students and only 500 in the dorms. With very few cars, most everyone stayed for the weekend and a feeling of comradeship developed. Finals week usually featured a water fight between the men's and women's dorms, and the faculty (including various Deans, Vice Presidents, and once even the President) joined in. You developed a first name basis with all the athletes and often a varsity member joined in the pickup basketball games in Memorial Hall. Since entertainment opportunities were limited, we went to every basketball game and really tried to get to the Rubber Bowl for soccer and football games (no buses then). With a small on-campus number of students we developed a real feeling of family and compete distain for "townies" who we never saw after 5:00 PM anyway. The university became our home and everyone there (even the janitors and campus cops) were our family. When we had suggestions or complaints we knew who to see and the majority of the times we were listened to and actions was taken. Those were simpler times and those feelings have lasted over the years. I made a special effort to hire U of A students and graduates either part time or full time when I could and I still attend lectures, plays, concerts, and athletic events at the University of Akron. My biggest complaint now is how far I have to walk to get across campus as opposed to when it was all contained in one square block. With all the changes one thing does remain constant and that is that .......... :screwks:

[zippyrifle32]

Because I am a former student athlete, alumni, and person who is passionate about sports in general.

[MDZip]

This is sort of like a confessional. I admit Akron was far from my first choice as a school when I went there. I'd done very well and could have been accepted a lot of places (and was), but no one could quite give up enough scholarship money to make it affordable to attend there since I paid for every dime on my own. Akron gave me enough to actually come out of school WITH money. Anyway, I regarded it as sort of Hilltop High, it certainly suffered from "localism" in my eyes, so I wasn't that excited to attend.After moving away (not a lot of jobs in Ohio in the mid-eighties) and really not paying much attention to what was going on there, I eventually realized what a great school it really was. I ended up working at a job where I worked with tons of people from "name" schools, and I used to gleefully point out that even with all the money they paid, we were working at the same job working in the same place. No one had ever heard of Akron then (I used to claim we were the largest unknown university in the United States), but eventually it was sort of like being "embarrassed" by your parents, until you realized just how terrific they really were. So I started really following the teams again around the time we joined the MAC (I thought that was a great move at the time, still do) and it was kind of like a badge of honor rooting for the little school (your school) that could. And the more I saw about the changes at the school, the more I fell in love with it. So it was a combination of having attended, seeing all the great things that were happening and believing that it was a school on the rise (the first year I attended it was still a Division II school, now that we're Division I and have had a little success, people at work here on the East Coast actually know who we are and bring us up when we do well). I might not have been initially, but now I'm really proud to say I'm a Zip. Thank you, Father.

[Valpo Zip]

This is the only school i attended, the only place were i was allowed to attend games for free (with student id), and is therefore the only university i will cheer for.To me, buying a shirt and hat and watching a game on TV does not make you a fan. Attending games in the stadium, traveling with the fans in a bus, and then screaming your lungs out when your team wins and crying your eyes out when your team looses, now that makes you a fan.Being with the ak-rowdies was one of the best things i did in my life. Some of my friends decided to stay home and watch big 10/big east teams on TV, they will never understand what they missed.

[PB1719]

I'm fron NE Ohio, and my entire life I have loathed the buckeyes. I got out of the Army and into the National Guard, and started attending Akron. The rest wa history, I have become a die-hard fan ever since. The only thing that sucks is missing games due to deployments. I'll be back by the bowl games, and maybe the MAC championship though!!

[zippyrifle32]

This is sort of like a confessional. I admit Akron was far from my first choice as a school when I went there. I'd done very well and could have been accepted a lot of places (and was), but no one could quite give up enough scholarship money to make it affordable to attend there...

ditto. My first choice was Xavier and second Dusquene, both of which no longer have rifle teams. I had offers from better shooting schools but between money and the feel of campus I signed to Akron extremely late. It wasn't until I got there that I realized how good of a psychology program they had. Top 5 I/O Psych program and even housed the Archives of the History of American Psychology.

[Buckzip]

I'm fron NE Ohio, and my entire life I have loathed the buckeyes. I got out of the Army and into the National Guard, and started attending Akron. The rest wa history, I have become a die-hard fan ever since. The only thing that sucks is missing games due to deployments. I'll be back by the bowl games, and maybe the MAC championship though!!

Thanks for your service.

[Redleg2Signal]

I grew up in the Akron area (graduated from Norton). Akron seemed like a natural choice. I was a cadet in the Army ROTC and performed many of the color guards for the football, basketball, and volleyball games between 2000 and 2004. I really never gave Akron athletics much of a thought until after I graduated. Now I'm a captain stationed out in Texas and being an Akron alumnus has become more clear when around my peers. Probably half of my fellow officers went to West Point and a lot of others from big and small schools from around the country (Texas A&M, South Carolina, LSU, VMI, Berea College....). Being able to identify with my alma matter and Ohio sports in general has been extremely important. Bragging rights are very important, especially around the other A-type personalities of military leadership. My battalion executive officer (from Cincinnati) didn't let me hear the end of it while I busted the chops of everyone that went to West Point regarding this season.

[fear the brown roo]

born and raised in akron, graduated from the university. the biggest reason however has been from my experiences delivering ups packages to players over the years. i've never had a bad experience with anyone. all have been very friendly and respectful and very appreciative that i've known about them and their teams. i feel as though i'm going to my little cousin's games.

[zips4ever2008]

Moving from California, Akron was the only school that accepted me. The five years at Akron are the best times of my life. I loved college more than high school. I've seen so many changes to the university, from the Student Union to the Field House, Honors' Dorm and now the new stadium. I was there when the AK-ROWDIES formed and it was a lot of fun cheering on the teams at home or on the road. To me, cheering on your school is what part of college is all about. I've witnessed our football team's first ever MAC Championship and bowl game appearance. I've seen our men's soccer team become #1 in the nation and dominate. I also saw the heartbreak that came upon our men's basketball team. I'm a proud alum now and will continue to support Akron. I refuse to cheer for Ohio State.

[UAZips]

Grew up in Ellet and Mogadore, graduated from Akron, now I continue to support the Zips from my home in Alaska!

[MDZip]

After the last post, I wonder how close we'd come to representing all 50 states. UAZips is in Alaska, we know Z.I.P. has Hawaii covered, BigGuyinGA has Georgia covered, I have Maryland and I think Ohio is represented. How may other states do we have board members in rooting for the Zips (PB1719 is serving overeas). Is there a way we could set it up to see? A poll doesn't have enough choices or I would have tried that.

[Sergeant Zip]

Alumni

[UAZips]

Start a thread asking people to name off the states they represent. Every so often, stop in and compile the list into a single post.It was kind of funny. I've lived here since 2005, but the one year I wasn't here, Akron came up to play in Fairbanks. Naturally I was in Akron at the time haha.

[ksu sucks]

Start a thread asking people to name off the states they represent. Every so often, stop in and compile the list into a single post.It was kind of funny. I've lived here since 2005, but the one year I wasn't here, Akron came up to play in Fairbanks. Naturally I was in Akron at the time haha.

Im from Lake county ohio, but living on campus it seems that a majority of the kids from out of state come from the greater Pittsburgh area. Not only are we just beginning to finally shake off that commuter campus reputation, but it seems the oos percentage is going up as well. I think there was an article in the Buchtelite a couple months ago that talked about it somewhat.As far as alumni from other states, I'm sure that number is very high. There are a lot of fields that aren't as common here in Ohio.

[Aaron]

I'm a marching band junkie - was in Akron's band from 97-03, through undergrad and grad studies. I never missed a football game then, and have been back for all of them since.The only reason I attended Akron after high school was that i was pretty young when I graduated and had to live at home. However, Akron provided me a fantastic education at a wonderful price, and I don't regret it at all.