Students sell anti-Greg Robinson T-Shirts
Three Syracuse University students have found a way to wear their disappointment in football head coach Greg Robinson.
Seniors Josh Shaw, Shawn O’Donoghue and Mike Zahler started making T-shirts this year that read ‘Greg Robinson Farewell Tour.’ The shirts have a list of this season’s game dates and locations on the back.
‘We had the idea a while ago to support our team by creating these shirts,’ said Shaw, a newspaper journalism and policy studies major and former Daily Orange staff writer. ‘We’re all seniors, so we have been here through Coach Robinson’s tenure. We feel like there is nothing we can do about our bad football season, but for the people who are still around, it’s time for a change.’
The three have sold nearly 200 shirts – printed by Holy Shirt company – to students and tailgaters. Publicity has stemmed from their Facebook group of 73 members and word of mouth.
Shaw has received a variety of public opinions on the shirts.
‘We will walk around and people will yell to us, ‘You have to believe in your team no matter what,” he said. ‘We understand their opinions, but there are a lot of people out there who are really unhappy with how Greg Robinson has done things, and we are some of those people. We are expressing our frustration through the T-shirts.’
People are also requesting Farewell Tour shirts for Athletic Director Daryl Gross, said Zahler, a political science, history and economics major.
Eric Gally, a 1988 Syracuse alumnus from Rockville, Md., said he doesn’t blame Gross or Robinson for the team’s losing streaks and had no problem with the shirts.
‘I absolutely don’t think there is anything wrong with students making these shirts,’ Gally said. ‘Students are paying customers and have the right to express their opinion.’
Shaw, O’Donoghue and Zahler said they are the only ones selling the shirts, and that they came up with the idea on their own.
‘Three guys have a blog and make and sell their own shirts that are similar,’ Shaw said.
But the students running the blog, idiotsonsports.com, have been making almost identical shirts to those made by Shaw, O’Donoghue and Zahler since Aug. 20 – several weeks before Shaw, O’Donoghue and Zahler began making their own.
One storeowner has a different take on the product.
‘I believe selling shirts like that is a little beneath us,’ said Bill Nesler, one of the co-owners of Manny’s SU Clothing. ‘Selling them is not in the interest of school spirit. We support our team no matter what. However, after Robinson is gone, we may have a different take on it.’
