Athletics Communications Makes Additions for 2014-15
By Cathy Bongiovi
Welcome to a new academic year!
The Athletics Communications and New Media departments are excited about some new ideas we are implementing this year.
Each week throughout the academic year, we will be producing two video shows for our website. On Tuesdays, we will post Zips Weekly, a show recapping how all of our programs faired in competition during the previous week. This show will feature highlights and interviews from the coaches and student-athletes.
On Thursdays, our features show, called Z360, will provide behind-the-scenes stories on our student-athletes, coaches, and community service activities.
Each Wednesday we hope to post a blog ... from someone new each week. Our coaches, staff, student-athletes, etc., have been invited to provide us content. It can be on any subject matter (upcoming event, special awards, etc.). This should be fun and interesting for our fans.
On Sept. 1, our staff began selecting a Zips' Student-Athlete of the Week which will be publicized on our website and social media sites. We will also select a Student-Athlete of the Month. Congrats to Kyle Pohl on his selection as the first Zips' Student-Athlete of the Week!
We look forward to providing you special access to Akron
Athletics throughout the year. If you have any ideas, we are open
to your suggestions. Thanks for your support. Go Zips!
Happy Thanksgiving from Zippy...
By Zippy (@FollowTheRoo) Nov. 27, 2013, General
Season's Greetings, Zips Nation.
As we prepare for Thanksgiving , I wanted to share with you the many blessings within Zips Athletics for which I am thankful ...
... our 450-plus student-athletes who impact our 19 sports: Their hard work and dedication, both in the classroom and in competition, represent what it means to be a Zip ...
... our coaches, administrators and support staff for their impact on our student-athletes: Their dedication is second to none, and the help and guidance they provide is invaluable ...
... our fans for the impact they have: Zips Nation features one of the best cheering sections around, and home or away our student-athletes and coaches appreciate your support ...
... our University community for its impact on our ability to be continually successful: State-of-the-art facilities for training and studying have been built to help current student-athletes excel and to attract prospective ones ...
... the opportunity to be your mascot: It has been an incredible 60 years and I look forward to making an impact for many more ...
From everyone at Zips Athletics, Happy Thanksgiving!
Also, be on the lookout next month when we will share more about our impact on each of you and your impact on us.
Go Zips!
Your Favorite Marsupial,
Zippy
P.S. Hope to see you at noon Friday for our Senior Day football game at InfoCision Stadium – Summa Field!
PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge Saturday...
By Gregg Bach (@ZipsGregg / @FollowThe
Roo) Nov. 2, 2013, General,
Football
Including one point being up for grabs when the Zips football team takes on Kent State at 3:30 p.m. at
InfoCision Stadium – Summa Field in the annual Battle for
the Wagon Wheel, 3.5 points are on the line today in the PNC Wagon Wheel
Challenge standings as volleyball plays at KSU at 7 p.m. (for one half point)
and men's and women's Cross Country competes in the
Mid-American Conference Championships this morning in Bowling
Green, Ohio. (one point apiece for the men and women) (more below).
The men's 8-kilometer race starts at 11 a.m., with the women's
6-kilometer run to follow at noon.
This is year three of the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge, which
includes competition between 15 of the schools' varsity sports. The
first to score eight points is crowned that year's winner and Kent
State currently leads 1.5-0. For more information and to follow
updated standings, visit WagonWheelChallenge.com.
Today's main event comes on the gridiron, where the Zips and
Flashes are meeting for the 56th time and 43rd occasion with the
coveted wooden Wagon Wheel at stake. Akron leads the series
30-23-2, but since the Wagon Wheel trophy has been at stake (dating
to 1946), Kent State holds a 22-19-1 edge. The Zips are 22-9-2 in
the series when playing at home (1-1 at InfoCision Stadium). KSU
has claimed the last three overall meetings (35-24 on Nov. 3, 2012
at Dix Stadium; 35-3 on Nov. 12, 2011 at InfoCision Stadium; 28-17
on Oct. 9, 2010 at Dix Stadium).
Prior to this three-game slide, UA had won
three-straight and five-of-six meetings (2004-09), and this is the
longest KSU has retained possession of the wheel since winning nine
in a row from 1946 through 1954.
So, why do we play for a wagon wheel?
According to legend, the “Wagon Wheel” came into being
in the spring of 1870 when John R. Buchtel, an Akron industrialist,
at the insistence of Rev. Andrew Willson of the Kent Universalist
Church, set out for Kent in search of a site for a proposed
college. However, his wagon became
bogged down in the mud where Kent State University is currently
located, the horses broke away and left bits and pieces of the
carriage scattered, including one of the wheels, which remained
wedged in the mud.
Buchtel eventually found his way back to Akron, where he settled
on a site for Buchtel College, the forerunner of the present
University of Akron.
During construction of a pipeline along the Western Reserve Trail
in 1902, the wheel was discovered and eventually became the
property of Dr. Raymond Manchester, who in 1945 as the Kent State
Dean of Men, suggested the wheel be set up as an award to the
winner of the annual Akron-Kent State football game.
Manchester had the wheel painted blue and gold, the school colors
of both schools, and it has been a prized trophy ever since. Each
spoke bears a plaque verifying the score of each game.
In 1946, Kent State defeated the Zips, 13-6, to capture the Wagon
Wheel Trophy. After a KSU win in 1954, the series between the two
schools went into hibernation. Not until Sept. 9, 1972, was the
series revived. In that game, played at the Rubber Bowl, 25,131 saw
UA grab a 13-0 lead, but KSU battled back to score 13
fourth-quarter points, and the contest ended in a tie. Akron was
then awarded custodial rights for a two-year period for its first
possession of the prized trophy since its inception.
One of my best memories from the rivalry series is much more
recent, it came on Thanksgiving Day 2005 (Nov. 24). Played in
blizzard conditions, UA downed KSU 35-3 to win the MAC East
Division championship. Fans spelled out "MAC East Champs" and "Go
Zips!" in the snow that covered the bench seating in the closed end
of the Rubber Bowl.
Go Zips, Beat Kent State!
Akron Athletics Launches Zips Insider Blog
By: Zippy, August 28, 2013, General
Welcome to a new season of Zips Athletics! There is a great buzz and excitement on campus – and in Northeast Ohio in general – as the 2013-14 season gets into full swing this week.
This season, Zips Athletics is launching the Zips Insider, an interactive blog featuring content from all of Akron's 19 intercollegiate programs. Zips fans can check out content from UA staff, coaches and student-athletes every day, including blog entries, videos, photographs and more.
From a quest for a #2ndStar by men's soccer to women's volleyball opening its 40th season on the heels of a memorable 2012, UA fans can get an inside look at everything that is Zips Athletics.
Make sure to check back daily as we will be continually adding new content. Fans can read entries on the main page, as well as past entries by sport by clicking on one of the archive links located below the Twitter widget.
Also, we encourage fans to follow all of our programs, as well as a number of our coaches and staff, on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Visit our Social Media Directory to link to your favorite coaches and teams.
I look forward to seeing each and every one of you on campus, at home events and in the community this season.
As always...Go Zips!!!
