TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The University of Arizona’s winning basketball tradition can make March an exciting time on campus, but that excitement and school spirit can last long after graduation.
It seems calm enough on the UA campus but there are people getting cranked up and it will be only more so as the week goes on because as of Thursday, the Men’s Basketball team is going to be playing yet again in the NCAAs.
There’s a lot weighing on students as they move through college life so it’s nice to have a diversion—even a nail biting diversion like the Cats climbing brackets through the NCAA.
Patrick Robles is Student Body President.
“You have midterms going on, and we're going to have finals. And for seniors like me, we're going to graduate so it's bittersweet, but it's cool that we all get to rally together to support our Wildcats and see the Wildcat community come together like any other time of the year.”
School spirit is one of Patrick Robles's responsibilities.
It’s the main mission for Zona Zoo—--the student section—that has been cheering the Cats on for years. Brianna Antillon leads Zona Zoo now.
She’s excited to be just back from cheering the Wildcats to that win in the Pac-12. Now it’s time to focus on school spirit for the NCAA.
“We're just gonna try and be you know, promoting the vibe here on campus, running the good energy and really just trying to bring the luck for the guys whether that be a watch party, watching it together here on campus and kind of doing whatever we can to unite as Zona Zoos as a student body and really just try and come home with the national championship.”
If you want to see school spirit that really lasts, meet Lynda and Bob Shaff.
Lynda says, “We met in 1961 as Freshmen and went to school, graduated, and we were married in 1967.”
They moved back to Tucson in 1983 and have held Wildcat season tickets ever since. That’s 40 years. Now they’ve dressed up the clubhouse in their Sunrise Mountain Ridge neighborhood to gather neighbors to watch the Wildcats win.
Bob says, “There's 291 homes here. 291 families and many of them are U of A fans.”
There are a few neighbors who like those other schools, but they’re welcome too.
KGUN reporter Craig Smith asked: “What do you think this room's gonna be like?”
Bob: “It's gonna be full of Arizona Wildcat fans cheering every basket and booing every bad call.”
So look at the span of this fan base: Students preparing to start their careers, and couples who’ve woven the Wildcats into long lives together.
Bob Shaff says, “I think sports is something that brings Arizona students and alumni together because we're all rooting for the same team. We're all rooting for them to win. And that's something that binds people together. Sport is a great opportunity to do that.”
——-
Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
