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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
— General history
— J.F. “Pop” McKale
— The games
— Comparisons then and now
— Wildcats nickname
— Military service
— Rankings
— The players
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Clipping of actual L.A. Times article published Nov. 8, 1914
Excerpt from L.A. Times, Nov. 8, 1914, authored by Bill Henry:
“Arizona’s cactus-fed athletes, despite heroic efforts on the part of their two halfbacks, (Asa) Porter and (Franklin) Luis, went down to defeat before the Occidental Tigers yesterday afternoon, the tally with all precincts heard from being 14 to 0 in favor of the Tigers.
Confident of rolling up a big score, the Tigers took the field with grins on their faces, but before the game was 10 seconds old they knew they had a battle on their hands.
The Arizona men showed the fight of wild cats and displayed before the public gaze a couple of little shrimps in the backfield who defied all attempts of the Tigers to stop them.”This site will conduct a countdown in a 100-day period, leading up to Arizona’s 2014 football season-opener with UNLV on Aug. 29 at Arizona Stadium. The 100 Days ‘Til Kickoff countdown will include information daily about the historic 1914 Arizona team that helped create the school’s nickname of “Wildcats” because of how they played that fateful day against Occidental.
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In the next few days, the series will provide multiple quick facts of each player. Today we start with:
Did Charles Beach really trap a live bobcat and present the school its first mascot named “Rufus” in 1915?
Charles Pablo Beach (1889-1967)
Senior right guard from Independence, Kansas
Well, this might be fiction instead of fact: Legend has it that Beach, who later became a prominent rancher and miner in Vail, trapped a live bobcat before the 1915 season and presented it to the university during an assembly at Herring Hall. It was named Rufus after the university’s president at the time, Rufus Bernhard von KleinSmid. That story was published in a 1950 Tucson Citizen article. A different report, one that is recognized by the university, has the freshman football team purchasing the bobcat from Army Blacksmith F.W. Fawkins in Douglas for $9.41. The team called the bobcat “Tom Easter” at an assembly held in Herring Hall but his name was quickly changed to “Rufus Arizona”. The 1950 Citizen story had errors including labeling Bill Henry as the Los Angeles Times sports editor at the time of the 1914 game. He was actually a young correspondent, only 24. The article also refers to New Mexico State as the Lobos. So take the Beach story for what it’s worth. Makes good copy, though, right?
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THE LAST WEEK IN THE SERIES:
— No. 50: The Father of the Arizona Wildcats
— No. 51: Captain makes claim for 1914 All-Southwestern Eleven
— No. 52: Add-on game against Tucson High at end of 1914 season doesn’t materialize
— No. 53: McKale introduced spring practice
— No. 54: Tucson businesses that started in 1914
— No. 55: Some “Varsity” members excelled in other sports
— No. 56: McKale professed American history with vigor
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The 1914 Arizona football team that earned the honor of being named the first “Wildcats” was composed of (front row, left to right): Verne La Tourette, George Seeley, Leo Cloud, Richard Meyer, Asa Porter. Second row: Franklin Luis, Lawrence Jackson, Ray Miller, J.F. “Pop” McKale (coach), Turner Smith, Harry Hobson (manager), Orville McPherson, Albert Crawford, Ernest Renaud. Back row: Albert Condron, Emzy Lynch, Charley Beach, Vinton Hammels, Bill Hendry, George Clawson, Harry Turvey.
(AllSportsTucson.com graphic/Photo from University of Arizona Library Special Collections)
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What they were talking about on this day in 1914
Saturday, July 11, 1914
Babe Ruth makes his big-league debut with the Boston Red Sox against the Cleveland Naps, pitching his new team to a 4-3 victory at Fenway Park. Ruth was acquired from Baltimore the previous day. He pitched seven innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits with no walks and one strikeout. He was 0-for-2 as a batter, a modest start for a player who belted 714 homers and won 94 games as a pitcher in his historic career. Two of the Naps players on the field that day also made history: “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, whose involvement in the 1919 Black Sox scandal has prevented him from the Hall of Fame, and Ray Chapman, who in 1920 became the only Major League player to die from an injury suffered on the field.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He also writes articles for Bleacher Report and Lindy’s College Sports.
