FOLLOW @JAVIERJMORALES ON TWITTER!
[rps-paypal]
[ezcol_1half id=”” class=”” style=””]
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
— General history
— J.F. “Pop” McKale
— The games
— Comparisons then and now
— Wildcats nickname
— Military service
— Rankings
— The players
[/ezcol_1half]
[ezcol_1half_end id=”” class=”” style=””]
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.
[/ezcol_1half_end]
[ezcol_1half id=”” class=”” style=””]
In the next few days, the series will provide multiple quick facts of each player. Today’s player is:
Asa Porter lettered for the football, basketball, baseball, track and tennis teams in 1914-15
William Asa Porter (1894-1947)
Junior quarterback/fullback from Garrisville, Ga.
The entire 1914 team is in the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, but Porter is one of two players from that team who is individually acclaimed. The other player is Orville McPherson, another backfield star from the 1914 team. Porter was chosen captain of the 1915 team as a senior by coach J.F. “Pop” McKale.
A versatile athlete, Porter lettered in basketball, tennis, baseball and track and field. He was also a captain of the basketball team. He pitched Arizona’s first no-hitter, a 5-1 victory over Tempe Normal (ASU) in 1915. In 1916, he set Arizona records in the 100-yard dash (10 seconds) and 200 (23.5 seconds). He was also the Southwest champion in the running broad jump (21’1/2″).
[/ezcol_1half]
[ezcol_1half_end id=”” class=”” style=””]
THE LAST WEEK IN THE SERIES:
— No. 44: Bill Hendry, right tackle
— No. 45: James Vinton Hammels, left end
— No. 46: Albert “Bumps” Crawford, quarterback
— No. 47: Leo F. Cloud, halfback
— No. 48: George Clawson, left guard
— No. 49: Charles Pablo Beach, senior right guard
— No. 50: The Father of the Arizona Wildcats
[/ezcol_1half_end]
Porter served as an assistant football coach in 1919-20 and was the Wildcats’ head baseball coach in 1920 and 1921 (with an 18-5 record). In 1958, 11 years after Porter passed, McKale called him “the finest all-around athlete in the history of the University of Arizona.”
Porter’s best game in 1914 was against New Mexico State when he accounted for all of Arizona’s points in the Varsity’s 10-0 win over the rival Aggies. He converted a 35-yard drop kick (a very difficult task from that distance) and scored a touchdown.
Before attending Arizona, Porter went to Emory College in Georgia (where only track was offered) for two years. Following his graduation at Arizona, he coached all sports at Winslow High School for a couple of years before serving in World War I. He served in the war despite having a lung ailment.
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)
[ezcol_1half id=”” class=”” style=””]
What they were talking about on this day in 1914
Friday, July 17, 1914
An incredible development: New York Giants outfielder Red Murray is knocked unconscious by lightning after catching a flyball, ending a 21-inning game in which the Giants win 3-1 over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field. Murray is not injured.
[/ezcol_1half]
[ezcol_1half_end id=”” class=”” style=””]
[/ezcol_1half_end]
William Asa Porter was one of the best athletes of his generation at Arizona (University of Arizona Library Special Collections)
Porter’s stints as assistant football coach and head baseball coach at Arizona followed his return from the war.
Porter then moved to El Paso to open a laundry business. Porter was originally from Georgia but his family moved to El Paso in 1907 when he was 13. He graduated from El Paso High School before attending Emory. After his return to El Paso in 1922, he coached the El Paso Junior College football team for three years while pitching for a semi-pro baseball team in that city.
The Porters relocated to Las Cruces, N.M., in 1934 to operate a farm. He managed a semi-pro baseball team there. He returned to El Paso in 1941 and became a prominent high school football official there before passing away in 1947.
Some of the above information is from an El Paso Herald-Post article in 1958 when Porter was posthumously enshrined in the El Paso Sports Hall of Fame. McKale spoke on Porter’s behalf at the ceremony.
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.
Recommended for you
