Wanted to start off by saying you guys were great for Gameday. Result was not what we wanted but we certainly did our part. The leaders received numerous compliments from the both the athletic department and the Gameday crew saying the Zoo was loud and engaged for the morning show. With how many people showed up to support (at the time) a 0-6 BE team, they wondered how many thousands would have showed up for a top 10 team. For the game, people were tweeting us saying how loud and into the game we were along with mentioning the atmosphere seemed great. Dickie V and Dan Shulman commented numerous times on the Zoo. The last quarter of the game wasn’t terribly loud, but that’s understandable with the way the game was going. It seems like overall ESPN were glad they came, and it should help to bring them back in the future.
To future game business, there’s a game against Providence tonight at 7. We know morale for the team is horribly and absurdly low right now, but we gotta keep supporting them. That’s what student sections (and especially the 2nd rated Zoo) have to do. We really believe half the problem with this team right now is just confidence. If they get that 1st win tonight, we have a feeling they’ll get it going again. Game starts at 7, same procedure as always. Need and hope to see you guys there.
Georgetown comes to the Pete on Saturday at 4. They are a top 10 team, and Pitt could really really use the win. The game starts at 4, so you can even sleep in a little and then hop on over to the Pete for the game. We are either undefeated or have only 1 loss at the Pete versus top 10 teams (not 100% sure). Let’s keep that one record safe. Especially if the team wins tonight, we could push them over the edge on Saturday. Be there!
This is something we REALLY need everyone’s help with. Naismith is doing a student section of the year contest where people vote everyday to get into the top 16. After that, another vote is done to get into the final eight. At that point, the Naismith board of directors decide on the winners. We know this is a really bad year for us with the way the team is going, but the Zoo has never been more well known. ESPN voted us #2, the Zoo’s twitter gets dozens of new followers by the week (added 200 this week alone), and we just had a great showing on gameday. We still have pride as a student section, and it would be awesome to win this. Go to this link. You can vote everyday, and we need as many votes as we can get. Tell your roommates, friends, family, etc. to vote. Anybody that’s a Pitt fan, get them to vote!
Lastly, 2012 Pitt commit Steven Adams moved into the top 5 in ESPN’s 2012 rankings. The big news, however, is he will be playing at a local area high school in a tournament on Sunday afternoon. It’s called the PBC Legends classic at Ambridge Fieldhouse and all the info is here. Adams plays at 2:00 pm for ND Prep. The Zoo leaders and some others will be getting a group there to show him support. If you’re into the Pitt connections, Pitt football recruit JP Holtz plays at noon, and Sheldon Jeter, a 2012 Pitt target, will play at 3:30.
If you have any questions on anything, as always you can tweet us @OaklandZoo or email us. We try our best to answer quickly.
What we’ve been waiting for all year is finally here: ESPN Gameday. There’s essentially three stages for the day: Gameday broadcast, Women’s game versus WVU, and then obviously the men’s game versus Louisville.
6 AM: Doors to the Pete lobby open.
8:30 AM: Gates to the floor are open for people to get their seats for Gameday
10 AM: ESPN Gameday broadcasts on ESPNU.
11 AM: Gameday broadcasts on ESPN
11:50 AM: State Farm Half-Court Shot for $18,000 (we’re being told the person will be RANDOMLY selected)
This is how the ticketing situation for Gameday works. Gameday is FREE for EVERYONE. Our goal is simply to have as many people at the Pete as we possibly can. Lobby opens at 6.
Now here’s some important info: To reward early support, those that come to Gameday in the morning with a ticket to the men’s game will receive a wristband that gives you priority entrance to the men’s game over those that do not come to Gameday. If you do not come to Gameday, you will have to wait a half hour later than those that did to enter the arena for the game.
This will be confusing, but for Gameday we do NOT sit in the normal Zoo sections. We are behind the private boxes. See the picture to the right
For the morning show, the students will be in the GREEN sections
The women’s game is after. Would definitely encourage people to stay for that. After the Lady Panthers hopefully trounce the Hoopies, the entire arena floor will be cleared out to get it ready for the men’s game at night. The lines will be already set up outside the Zoo entrance for the priority and normal students. At this point, all you have to do is wait. Depending on how many people waiting, most should be able to wait inside the lobby. At 6:30 pm (2.5 hrs before tip), the priority wrist band students will be allowed in to get their seats. All other students will be let in at 7:00 pm. After that, it’s just like a normal game until the tip at 9 pm.
That’s it for the strict details. This is a huge deal for our university and basketball program. It doesn’t matter what the record of the basketball team is. Gameday is a way to show off our university and how proud we are to be a part of it. The sustained success by the basketball team is the reason Gameday has come. The Oakland Zoo and Pitt fans are literally shown off for 2 hours to the country (and that’s not counting the game). It’s our time to go nuts and show our support. Make signs, paint yourselves, get blow up heads, wear animal costumes, be loud, be ridiculous. Everything you thought about doing at a sporting event to show support, do it (within reason).
For the game, let Rick Pitino and Louisville know exactly what we think of them in our house. Be on them the whole game. Cheer, be loud on every possession.
If you have Zoo wide cheers or something else you want to do, let the leaders know. Tweet @OaklandZoo, email theOaklandZoo@gmail.com. If we update this with any changes or more info, we’ll let you guys know!
In daily business news, in order to get the info out to as many people as possible every email we send to students will now be on this blog so essentially any one who wants to read it can. Also, if you want to stay up to date on info for the team, injuries, pregame procedures, recruiting, stats, and of course badgering other teams, we’d definitely recommend following the twitter, @OaklandZoo. It’s the largest of any student section on twitter at over 6,000 followers.
Now to actual basketball, we realize the season has not gone quite as well as we had hoped so far in the Big East and in general. Right now the team is reeling bad. The best cure for that would be a solid win at home against Rutgers on Wednesday at 7 though. The Zoo was ranked the #2 student section in the country by ESPN’s Dana O’Neil and Eammon Brennan last month. It’s time we step up to that billing, and get this team started on the right track again. They’ve stepped up for us before, so it’s time to help them out where we can. That’s not just for their sake but to defend our house. It’s also the last game before Gameday comes, so it’ll be good to have a tuneup. Wednesday night at 7, be there.
Speaking of Gameday, the leaders will be meeting sometime this week to get the details hammered out of what the procedure of that Saturday will be. There is the actual “Gameday” event in the morning, then a women’s game, then they will actually clear out the Pete, and then the men’s game is at 9. Obviously there is some logistics to be worked out in terms of the line and when people get in. We’ll certainly inform you of all the info the week of. In the mean time, start making signs, get animal costumes, do whatever you have to to make Gameday special. If you have any Zoo-wide ideas for cheers or something, talk to the leaders at the Rutgers game (always behind the TV announcer’s table in the front row), tweet us @OaklandZoo, or email theOaklandZoo@gmail.com.
ESPN.com’s Eamonn Brennan and Dana O’Neil have decided to spend some time debating who the best college basketball student sections are in the country. You have some of the more well known, like those of Kansas, and Duke. You also have some of the lesser known one’s like Utah State and San Diego’s State’s “The Show” going for it.
So where does the Zoo rank in all this? We, biased as we may be, think we’re pretty damn good. There are only a handful of programs in the country that come with even a little bit of the pedigree of the Oakland Zoo.
To start, lets just go with the record at home. 154-13. For all of the talk about best student sections, winning record simply has to be considered. You can tweet Eamonn all you want, but you have to something to stand on of actual relevancy. So, 154-13 it is. That’s good enough for fifth best in percentage in the country over the last 9 seasons behind Kansas, Duke, Wisconsin and Gonzaga. Pitt has acquired that record playing in arguably the toughest conference in the country, the BIG EAST (they like it capitalized apparently). It’s only lost one game or less at home every year since 2007. Most schools in other conferences do not have to go against the likes of Syracuse, UConn, Georgetown, Nova, WVU, Louisville, and Marquette each and every year. Keep that in mind when you consider that record. Consider another record:
9-0 against top 5 teams. Think about that. No top 5 team has ever beaten Pitt at the Pete and the Oakland Zoo. It spawned the phrase “Where Top 5 Teams Go To Die” . Heck, the phrase even has it’s own t shirt. The national champions that have been from the Big East in recent years (UConn 2004/11, Cuse ’03) all lost at the Zoo the year they won it. We did a post on all of the praise the Zoo was getting after Pitt’s win over Syracuse last year which seemed to coin that Top 5 phrase. You can view that here. This isn’t just us blowing smoke, the Zoo has been chronicled by every major national media outlet you can think of.
Here’s a few snippets.
“The Peterson Events Center is one of the toughest places to play in America for a visiting opponent” – Dave O’Brien, ESPN
“One of the great spectacles in all of college basketball…the Oakland Zoo”- Bill Raftery
“These fans are unbelievable. They’re rowdy, loud and proud. That’s the way you want your fans to be” – Mark Cuban, Dallas Mavericks owner.
“The students in the Oakland Zoo make the Peterson Events Center an absolutely brutal place to play” – Dan Daitchmen, Collegehoops.net
“The Panthers have become mission impossible for any visiting team in this gorgeous on-campus arena” – Dick Weiss, NY Daily News
“Whatever the roster, regardless of the circumstances, when you enter the Petersen Events Center with a top five ranking you exit with a loss. No exceptions.” – Gary Parrish, CBS Sports
“Pitt’s Peterson Events Center was voted the “Toughest Place to Play in the Big East” by an anonymous poll of of league players conducted by Sports Illustrated”- SI
This doesn’t even include the regular guests the Zoo and Peterson Events Center hosts. NFL players from the Steelers as well as Larry Fitzgerald are frequent guests at Pitt basketball games. Mark Cuban has been to several games.
Former Football Head Coach/Current Snake Todd Graham
A lot of student sections are famous for how they act when the game is going on. One thing most people don’t know about is the sheer amount of heckling that occurs before the game. Zoo members literally study their opponents, finding out things like their opponent’s mother’s names to mug shots to what classes they take at their respective universities. Zoo leaders carry white boards to spew words of discouragement at opposing players as well as to organize Zoo members into cheers. The heckling is so well known, the Wall Street Journal featured former Zoo President Dave Jedlicka talking about it:
“Opposition research has become a prerequisite. Pitt graduate student Dave Jedlicka, the president of the Zoo, proudly recounts how Pitt fans found personal pictures of West Virginia star Kevin Pittsnogle and his wife on Facebook and brandished them at a game in 2006. Mr. Pittsnogle missed all 12 of his shot attempts that day. “We’ve gotten really good about being witty and effective but not vulgar,” says Mr. Jedlicka. “I’ve only had to do two written apologies.”
In 2011, the Zoo started a radio partnership with Pitt’s WPTS student radio station to create “The Oakland Zoo Show”, a pregame show co-hosted with the Zoo leaders giving our thoughts on the upcoming match-up and to give people at home the experience of being in the Zoo. How many student sections have their own radio show? Also, in terms of numbers the Zoo only seats about 1250. The Pete was voted one of the top 10 loudest arenas by ESPN, and our student section is less than half of most in other big schools.
Eamonn layed out one part of his criteria that I think especially is relevant to the Zoo: impact.
When the Oakland Zoo was first founded about 10 years ago, the university actually fought it. It came up with it’s own “AeroZone” to fight it. The Zoo, however, gained more and more followers and prevailed. Today, the Pitt Athletic Department works hand and hand with us to make Pitt basketball the best experience possible for students and fans. They help us design our t shirts each year, and help us with any activities we have planned. The Zoo has become such a positive force for the university, it is even used as a recruiting tool for other sports, especially football. Starting NFL running back LeSean McCoy essentially committed to Pitt when he encountered the Oakland Zoo. When football head coach (now former, ugh) Todd Graham was first hired by the university, the first thing he did was buy a Zoo shirt and come talk to the Zoo at half time of a game. He consulted the Zoo leaders for how to improve the game day experience and relationship with players for football as well.
Hyper Elite’s With the Zoo’s logo
The Zoo has also gained recognition for some of the things it’s done not entirely related to basketball. In 2006, the Oakland Zoo showed solidarity with the Duquesne University basketball team by wearing red ribbons to commemorate the five Duquesne basketball players who were shot earlier in the year. In 2008, the Oakland Zoo wore ribbons again, however this time it was for Pink the Pete. During the Pitt vs. UConn women’s game, the Oakland Zoo distributed pink ribbons to everyone in attendance to show support for breast cancer awareness. In 2010 against WVU, the Zoo wore red leis to raise awareness for heart health. In November of this year, stickers with the initials “S.L. were distributed in memory of former LaRoche coach Scott Lang, a dear friend of coach Jamie Dixon’s who died of a heart attack.
The impact of the Zoo is felt so strong, the players essentially give it a shout out everytime they put on their uniform. With the suggestion of head coach Jamie Dixon, the Zoo’s logo was incorporated into the Hyper Elite uniforms worn by the players. Not only that, but many of the players wear our shirt as they’re warming up before games. The announcement of our 2011-2012 Zoo T shirt logo accumulated over 3000 views the day it was released. Last but not least, close to 6000 people follow the @OaklandZoo account managed by current and former Zoo leaders, essentially being the central source for everything Pitt basketball related. It is the largest of any such group on twitter. The account gets everything from love from fans to hate tweets to shout outs from current and former players. It’s a force to be reckoned with in social media.
The one thing you can take from the Zoo is that it has grown along side Pitt basketball. Pitt’s rise to prominence is no coincidence, as the Zoo and the players have fed off each other for support. We feed off them, they feed off us. A decade old symbiotic relationship. When Pitt players make the right play at the right time in the Oakland Zoo, there is simply no more intense atmosphere in the country.
The last thing we’ll say is a quote from a Zoo member, Allison Russell, said to us in an email:
I’m telling you, you’ll never see a student section with more heart than the Oakland Zoo. We take losses as hard as the players. We care about our players. We are consistent and we are a very large group. Even though I graduated I feel like I can still say we. I still wear my Oakland Zoo shirt during every game, even though I’m no longer in Pittsburgh. I know plenty of alumni who do the same. It’s not just a four-year club you join while you attend school. I’ll always consider myself a member of the Oakland Zoo.
i’ll simply leave you with some pictures and video:
I’d go to about 2:40 into the first video for the crowd reaction.
It’s been an exciting, yet long, offseason. But we’re here and happy to announce the release of the new logo for the Oakland Zoo for the 2011-2012 season. It was a collaborative effort between past Oakland Zoo leaders, current leaders, and the athletic department. The Pitt Athletic Department has been fantastic in the support they’ve given us as a student organization and fan group. They give us whatever we need, and help us whenever they can.
There was a little bit of trepidation going into this year’s design of the shirt. The 2010-2011 shirt was a huge hit, and very widely liked by many. Why change what works? As we thought about it, however, the feelings and moods of the Zoo change with each year. Each year’s Zoo is different, and the shirts have reflected that each year since the Zoo was formed. We decided to make the shirt reflect how deeply woven into Oakland Zoo is to the University of Pittsburgh. This is where we decided to use the school seal as inspiration. You’ll see different elements of the seal incorporated into the design. Enough story, here’s the front of the shirt:
We used elements of the seal like the wreath, ribbon, the fort, and tied them together to create the logo. We wanted to make the “Zoo” extremely clear and bold so you know exactly what we are. The lettering of the Zoo actually has the wooden pattern of a basketball court as its fill. The other idea was to make the shirt something you’d want to wear even if it wasn’t just the logo of the best student section n the country.
Now for the back:
The most common thing we heard about what people liked about last season’s shirt was the Cathedral. Why wouldn’t people love it? The Cathedral of Learning is so much a part of Pitt’s identity now. We knew it belonged on the shirt, but felt the original design was too different from our new front. We decided then to draw inspiration from the Hyper Elite jersey’s the players now wear. It’s a softer, cleaner look that we think goes better with our new design.
We hope everyone enjoys these new designs. We’ve very excited about them, and it was a a very cool experience to go from 4 or 5 sketches on paper to a professional final logo. There’s already been word that the new t shirts are available in the Pitt shop. This season is fast approaching, and once again Pitt is in contention for a Big East title and run in the NCAA tournament. We look forward to seeing everybody at the Blue and Gold Game on Oct 22nd. This year will be a fun one in the Zoo as always, and we hope to see it packed every single game.
Oakland Zoo Fans 
