So you’ve just packed away all your high school spirit shirts. Your varsity jacket hangs in a closet back at home. The school colors your heart has bled for the last four years have suddenly dried up.

Where do you go now?

It’s not easy to switch your sports alliances. You’ve stood proudly in packed high school gyms, painted like a warrior in your school’s colors. You’ve donned a band uniform to get into football games for free. You’ve bought enough fundraiser shirts to clothe a nudist colony.

No, it’s not easy to jump ship, especially to an institution known better for its protests than its passing game.

Still, if you’re reading this, you are probably a student at Kent State. For whatever reason, you’ve decided to continue your education here. So why not continue your athletic enthusiasm here?

No, we’re not a Big 10 football powerhouse. We don’t have ESPN broadcasting every game. Our athletic department’s budget is less than $20 million, not

$115 million. We’re not The Ohio State University.

We are Kent State.

We are the Mid-American Conference. We are seven men’s and nine women’s athletic programs. We are winners of seven championships through the past year.

We are Kent State.

We are a 4-8 football team. We are a basketball team on the outside looking in. We are a golf powerhouse that Ben Curtis calls home.

We are the thorn in Akron’s side. We are the beer-drinking tailgaters at Dix Stadium. We are the sea of gold behind the hoops of the M.A.C. Center.

We are Kent State.

So wear your blue and gold with pride. Because, at the very least, it’s better than wearing your high school varsity jacket around campus.

Contact sports editor Josh Johnston at [email protected].