ORIGIN OF THE "ZIPS" NICKNAME
(from the official athletics site)

One of the unique nicknames in all of intercollegiate athletics belongs to The University of Akron.

Originally Zippers, athletic director Kenneth Red Cochrane officially shortened the nickname to the Zips in 1950. Twenty-five years earlier a campus-wide contest had been conducted to choose a nickname for the University's athletic teams.

Suggestions submitted by students, faculty, and alumni included Golden Blue Devils, Tip Toppers, Rubbernecks, Hillbillies, Kangaroos, and Cheveliers. The winner, freshman Margaret Hamlin, received a prize of $10 for Zippers - a $6 pair of rubber overshoes and a brand name of the BF Goodrich Company.

I was kinda wondering what a zip was! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="tongue.gif" />

Same here....sounds a whole lot better than Golden Blue Devils <img border="0" alt="[laugh]" title="" src="graemlins/laughing.gif" />