An Open Letter from an Arizona Wildcat Fan
Dear Mr. Heeke,
Much is asked of you as Athletic Director. You are charged with weaving together intangibles, impassioning a fanbase and guiding our programs through a zero-sum industry. There is a lot of work to be done, not just by you but by our local coaches, fans and community to build ourselves back up to the sports dynasty we desire to be. But there’s a vital piece missing in our fight and it’s not something boosters can pay for — we’re missing heart.
Our football fans had a lot of heart not that long ago, and it’s something we can recapture if we just look back. Our fans have been pleading for a return to our Desert Swarm uniforms (and classic basketball uniforms by extension) since the day the new Sunset and Dawn styles were introduced. You’ve heard the opinions, but maybe we haven’t been communicating the “why” behind the request. The truth is the desire goes far beyond creative opinion and stylistic preference. The truth is our team’s new mantra is spot on…it’s personal.
The Arizona teams of the 90’s were the first sports teams many Millenials can remember watching. Those players were our childhood heroes; we had the jerseys hanging from our walls to prove it. For Gen Xers, they were old enough to cheer on those teams from the Zona Zoo. Those were the good years, when games were the right kind of rowdy and fans would have been crazy to pass on tickets or leave at halftime. For older fans still, those were the teams they brought their kids to watch. They have memories of holding them up above the roaring crowd so they can see the big play. They remember that moment of pride when their son or daughter first chanted the chants and cheered the cheers. Those memories, that energy is still present across the Wildcat Nation…you can see it once a season on the scheduled “Throwback Night”.
While the decision to move away from our classic look over a half decade ago — in a failed attempt to compete with the Oregon Duck’s flash — came before your time with the university, we as a fanbase are hoping that you’ll correct the mistake and return our sports programs to the proud, classic look we all long to see. It may seem trivial to say the style of a uniform could sway a fanbase back to loyalty, but you more than anyone else in the city heard our fanbase’s desires throughout the coaching search. While everyone may have had their favorite potential coach or preferred resume criteria, the common thread that connected everyone’s hopes became abundantly clear…“return”. We wanted our alumni to return, we wanted excitement to return and we wanted the Desert Swarm mentality to return to its place here in Tucson.
The program’s decision to go with a non-alum was met with some skepticism, but the staff that you and Coach Fisch have been building since his announcement, and his attitude towards the program has been nothing short of spectacular. There are sprinkles of “return” scattered throughout, but it’s time to really bring it home. It’s time to be loyal in the little things so we can work towards building something big together. Why does it really matter? Because it’s personal.
Those Millennial fans are raising young families in Tucson and currently forming the habits that will become generational traditions. Those Gen Xers long to rekindle the excitement they felt on those gameday years ago; to don our colors proudly as they fly in for Homecoming or buy season tickets. For the older fan…there is no force stronger than nostalgia. To give them a uniform they’d be proud to spoil their grandchild with on the way into the game, to raise them up above the roaring crowds we once had so they can see the big play, to pass down that passion to the next generation. We want to feel that energy in this city again. We want to feel that collective heartbeat those uniforms represent. That grit, that fight, that togetherness that makes Tucson Tucson.
Mr. Heeke, it’s time we bring our uniforms back.
