A big thanks to one of our readers, Jamie, who is a student at Pitt and attended the Oakland Zoo Meeting at the Pete. Jamie was good enough to respond to my offhand request for an e-mail report on the event from anyone who might attend. So, other than some minor corrections for spelling here it is, as is:

Hi guys,

I am a Junior at Pitt. I went to the Oakland zoo meeting tonite at the Pete. It went really well. Lots of kids showed up. There was a line out the door when I showed up, at 5 minutes to eight. They gave out Zoo shirts to the first 300 people. They ended up getting more because there were so many more people than that, probably 400. The shirts are made by Adidas now, and are nicer quality, a sure sign of the Athletic Dept becoming more involved in running and assisting the group than before. This means no more ads on the back, also. They bought lots of pizza and drinks, more than enough.

Orlando Antigua introduced Jeff Long who spoke about a lot of things, thanking the students and giving ideas for more Zoo features. He said among other things, he’d like to get Zoo members show up for women’s games, and mentioned one this Sunday that will “be on tv”, whatever that might mean. He says they will be putting up signage within the next few days in the lobby designating the “Oakland Zoo Entrance”. He wants to make the group more prominent. He’d like to get more cheers together and to be more in sync.

Coach Dixon then spoke and thanked everyone, reminiscing about when the group started with 3 people six years ago, and all the meetings that took place with ‘big ideas’ that are finally coming to fruition. He mentioned the Georgetown game, and how our support helped Pitt rally back from a big deficit and take the lead. (no mention however in how we might be involved in the final collapse, though I imagine that’s his team’s fault.) He says that while other schools have intense crowds (citing Rutgers, and Syracuse’s 30,000), no one else in the Big East has a student section that is as good or respected. He loves how our game atmosphere is getting more attention nationally and by ESPN and Dickie V of course. He thinks its an important part of a powerhouse program.

They had shooting competitions for the students, with Dixon and Long also taking their attempts. Many of the players attended and hung out with everyone, taking pics and signing autos, but mostly just talkin’ and hangin’ around. Carl Krauser, Chevy Troutman, Keith Benjamin, Ronald Ramon, and most interestingly Darrelle Revis, who was acting like a new part of the team. Ramon got the biggest cheer, however, when he walked in.

The co-founders of the Zoo (and President and VP) Matt Cohen and Jon St. George spoke last. They said they are looking for new leadership to take the reins next year. They mentioned the perks of the job which apparently includes going to every Big East and NCAA tournament game for free, through donations. Glad to hear they are spreading the dough around… Anyway, they want to get the Zoo to make appearances at all the big road games, busing everyone in to create a mini Zoo. Obviously that would be very intimidating to a home crowd, who they mentioned all know of us and respect us. They also passed out the first edition of the “Zoo News”, which they say will be passed out to students at every upcoming game. It will include the upcoming games, info, opposing rosters and player info, and Cheers for that game.

Overall the event was very successful, everyone seemed to have a great time, not just the fans. It was very encouraging from an administrative standpoint. The athletic dept obviously put a lot of time, effort, and money into putting this event together. It bodes well for the future and their ongoing support.

Thanks for reading, and for the great job you guys do with the blog. Keep it up, we’ll keep reading.

Once more, thank you Jamie. Anyone else attend and have thoughts? E-mail or leave them in the comments.