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=””]
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:
Lawrence Richard Jackson (1892-1961)
Senior right end from Santa Monica, Calif.
Jackson, called “Jack” by his classmates, was a valuable senior for Arizona’s 1914 team on and off the field as a three-year letterman. Reports indicate that Jackson was a “queener”, a 1914 term for somebody who likes to joke around. He kept the team loose but he was also structured. He was part of the battalion on campus.
J.F. “Pop” McKale, in his first year as coach, instituted the “A” Club, signifying an official athletic organization for all sports on campus. McKale chose Jackson as president of the first “A” Club.
Jackson’s senior season in 1914 came to an abrupt end when he suffered a broken arm against New Mexico State in the second-to-last game of the season.
[/ezcol_1half]
[ezcol_1half_end id=”” class=”” style=””]
THE LAST WEEK IN THE SERIES:
— No. 33: Albert Condron, left tackle
— No. 34: Richard Meyer, quarterback
— No. 35: Harry Ellsworth Turvey, fullback
— No. 36: Orville “Speedy” McPherson, fullback
— No. 37: Turner Church Smith, left guard
— No. 38: Ernest James Renaud, fullback
— No. 39: Franklin Luis, halfback
[/ezcol_1half_end]
He was also an actor at Arizona, starring in a role in “The Man From Home” play during the school year in which Arizona played its legendary game against Occidental.
[ezcol_1half id=”” class=”” style=””]
What they were talking about on this day in 1914
Tuesday, July 28, 1914
Austria declares war on Serbia generating what we now know as World War I, or the “Great War”. This telegraph was sent by Count Leopold von Berchtold (Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister) at 11.10 am to M. N. Pashitch (Serbian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister), who received it at 12.30 pm:
Vienna
28 July 1914
The Royal Serbian Government not having answered in a satisfactory manner the note of July 23, 1914, presented by the Austro-Hungarian Minister at Belgrade, the Imperial and Royal Government are themselves compelled to see to the safeguarding of their rights and interests, and, with this object, to have recourse to force of arms.
Austria-Hungary consequently considers herself henceforward in state of war with Serbia.
Count Berchtold
[/ezcol_1half]
[ezcol_1half_end id=”” class=”” style=””]
[/ezcol_1half_end]
Jackson came to Arizona from Santa Monica, Calif., where his parents moved from their native England. After earning a bachelor of science degree in engineering, Jackson worked as a mining engineer for Bunker Hill Mining Co. in Tombstone. He married Sarah C. Hoy of Bisbee in 1917. Hoy and Jackson met while attending Arizona.
Records indicate Jackson went to New York City in 1937 to ride a ship to London, most likely to visit where his parents came from. He passed away at age 69 on Dec. 17, 1961, after relocating to Phoenix with his wife to work as a salesman.
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.