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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’s player is:
Leo Cloud passed away at the age of 20 from accidental electrocution
Leo F. Cloud (1894-1915)
Junior halfback from Butler, Mo.
Before legendary football player John “Button” Salmon brought both pride and sorrow to the University of Arizona campus in 1926, the untimely death of Leo Frederick Cloud stirred emotions in 1915. Cloud, a multi-sport athlete who captained Arizona’s basketball team in 1914-15 and was a tennis champion, died tragically of accidental electrocution on campus on March 6, 1915. Salmon passed away 11 years later following a car accident. Before his last breath, Salmon uttered those famous words to coach J.F. “Pop” McKale, “Tell them … tell the team to bear down”, before Arizona’s game at New Mexico State. Cloud, an electrical engineering student, met his fate while painting the water tower on campus. He fell back on to a high-voltage electric wire and burned to death, according to Abe Chanin’s description in his 1979 book They Fought Like Wildcats.
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THE LAST WEEK IN THE SERIES:
— No. 48: George Clawson, left guard
— No. 49: Charles Pablo Beach, senior right guard
— 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
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Cloud, who was also captain of the Cadet battalion on campus, was given a military-style funeral. As a result of Cloud’s death, the Arizona state legislature appropriated funds to give the university a proper electrical system. Other noted Arizona athletes who died while attending school include women’s basketball player Shawntice Polk in 2005 and football players Damon Terrell (1995) and McCollins Umeh (2004). Polk died from a pulmonary blood clot. Terrell and Umeh each died after collapsing in workouts. Umeh died the same day from an enlarged heart. Terrell passed away a month after collapsing during practice. An autopsy determined an air bubble that formed during the removal of a dialysis catheter blocked the flow of blood to his heart.
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
Monday, July 13, 1914
Another means of transportation is introduced in Tucson — a fleet of 16 seven-passenger six-cylinder 1915 automobiles. State officials estimated approximately 600 tourists a day would be transported on the proposed route from Phoenix to Globe by way of the Roosevelt Dam. A deal was struck in Tucson for the South Pacific Railroad to deliver the cars to Phoenix.
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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.
