It can be easy to trace the roots of team names and mascots.
The Cleveland Browns are named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown. The University of Dayton is named the Flyers because Orville and Wilbur Wright designed the Wright Flyer in Dayton.
You get the hint.
Why then is the University of Akron known as the Zips , and why would the school have the kangaroo Zippy as a mascot?
The story hops around more than a pouched marsupial in Australia.
In the 1920s, UA set out on finding a name for the school's athletic teams.
The school couldn't exactly take on the state's nickname — The Buckeye State. Some school in Columbus was already known by that one. Maybe the state bird – the cardinal – would have been an option had it been picked before Akron selected its mascot in 1926. The cardinal became the state's bird in 1933.
Instead, the Zippers was picked in a vote by students.
As Beacon Journal reporter and history expert Mark J. Price wrote in 2004 , the other more serious contenders for Akron's nickname were the Cheveliers, Golden Blue Devils, Hillbillies, Rubbernecks and Tip Toppers.
But why a Zipper? It, of course, harkens back to Akron's rubber history. The name was cribbed from the metal fasteners on B.F. Goodrich-brand galoshes. After all, zippers were just invented the decade before. It was fresh technology back then. It would be like if a new college was named the iPhones in 2025.
Zippers was shortened to just "Zips" in 1950 — who wants to be known as the fastener of clothes? Still, the school still didn't have a true physical mascot.
That didn't happen until 1953 on a suggestion from Dick Hansford, UA vice president and dean emeritus of student services.
The first rendering of Zippy later that year featured a zipper across its pouch. That also confirmed that Zippy was female while most colleges opt for male or gender neutral mascots.
But Zippy didn't make her official debut until 1955 at an Acme-Zips game at the Rubber Bowl. Since then, Zippy has been synonymous with UA.
Since then, she's been named the best mascot in the country in 2007, the best mascot in the NCAA Tournament and been immortalized on several bobblehead dolls . She even went on a date with another local mascot .
Don't forget, Zippy has a birthday. On May 1, she turns 71. How many septuagenarians do you know that crowd surf?
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Why is Akron's mascot a kangaroo, and what is a Zip?
