Showing their striped pants

There is nothing more comfortable than a pair of Zubaz pants. There is also no better way to show loyalty to your favorite football team. Unfortunately, there is nothing cool about wearing them outside of your living room. Or is there?

A visit to Zubazpants.com shows there is no shortage of pride in the zany, NFL-oriented, tiger-striped pants, but there is more to the Zubaz obsession. Odd fixations on the Macho Man Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior appear, along with a scathing criticism of children's literature - not books written for children, but written by children. Luckily the author of the critique was the author of the lambasted book, albeit aged 15 years. A good read of Zubazpants.com reveals a small community of writers who are writing because they like to, and they're clearly having fun doing it.

The origin of the site is just as glib as the site's content. Creator Jim Byrne, a 2004 UB alum and former Spectrum sports editor came up with the name.

"Why ZubazPants.com?" Byrne said. "Why the heck not? It gives the site a gimmick that will hopefully make people think of us as those Zubaz guys instead of something that just blends in. I have always been obsessed with the pants, and since owning the site, I have stockpiled Zubaz pants, bike shorts, hats, jackets, bowties, and yes, even diaper covers."

Byrne said the idea for the writers' forum came to him while he was a Spectrum writer.

"I was an English major but I basically considered writing for The Spectrum my major," he said. "While working as senior sports editor of The Spectrum I decided to purchase a domain name."

He added, "Since I didn't have much lined up for post-UB life in terms of writing for a publication, I figured why not start my own?"

Once the idea was officially set in motion, Byrne not only needed writers to put on his Web site, but also a name.

"It came to me as I was lying in bed one night. I don't recall being intoxicated, but I thought the idea was genius at the time and jumped out of bed to write it down," Byrne said.

Although the site has been in existence for almost two years - the official second anniversary will be on April 24 - the Web site is not Byrne's, or any of the writers', paid profession. Byrne is actually an associate producer for MSGNetwork.com at Madison Square Garden.

The site is funded by small amounts of money made from Google ads. According to Byrne, the goal of the Web site is not to make money. He instead called it is a medium for writers to write and share their ideas and stories.

Many of the writers on the site are from UB and either wrote for The Spectrum or Generation.

Michael Lucinski, who works in the communications department of a non-for-profit organization, was a Spectrum writer.

"We do this out of love of writing; it gives us a place to tell our stories and about times in our life," Lucinski said.

The writers on the site aren't restricted to one area of writing, they basically write about anything that interests them.

"I write all over the map, anything that grabs my attention," Lucinski said. "Some sports, Bills and Sabres, Star Wars, whatever. My favorites that I have written are probably '10 Top Worst Action Figures' or 'Possibility of Bills leaving Buffalo.' "

In fact, that piece about the odds of the Bills leaving Buffalo has been making its rounds on the Internet, featured on the popular blog Deadspin on Thursday.

Lucinski has an upcoming article where he tells stories about living in the dorms at UB.

Matt Fishman, who works as a database manager at Capital Round Table, is another UB alumni who writes for the Web site. Fishman however, didn't get his writing start at the Spectrum; he was a Generation writer.

While Fishman definitely loves to write, he has some extra reasons for writing for the site, reasons many unemployed English majors can relate to.

"It gives us something to do, it helps to maintain your sanity while looking for jobs," Fishman said.

Fishman also writes a variety of stories and columns for the Web site, ranging from personal exploits to his favorite vice.

"I've written articles making fun of porn or just true stories from my life," Fishman said.

All three writers give basically the same advice for up and coming writers out there.

"Write what you feel like, there is an audience for everyone," Fishman said. "My worst art became my most popular piece. I found an old book I made in kindergarten about a spaceship; I scanned the pages and made fun of it. I thought it was bad but to my surprise everyone else liked it," Fishman said.

The creators of ZubazPants.com have turned an extracurricular college activity into an enjoyable hobby, and they say anyone can do it. They key is to be persistent.

"Write, write, and write some more. Don't stop writing," Byrne said.