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TABLE OF CONTENTS: — General history — J.F. “Pop” McKale — The games — Comparisons then and now — Wildcats nickname — Military service — Rankings |
LAST WEEK: — No. 61: Other 100-year anniversaries — No. 62: Chain events leading to World War I begin — No. 63: Three yards, cloud of dust prevailed in 1914 — No. 64: 1964 homecoming celebration — No. 65: Color barrier broken in 1949 — No. 66: Three members of team also part of band — No. 67: Majority of team came from other parts of country |
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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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Bill Veeck helped the development of baseball in Tucson
In the same year the nickname “Wildcats” came to life for Arizona, some influential greats were born.
Here is a list of some of the famous people who would have turned 100 this year:
Joe DiMaggio (1914-1999): The baseball legend’s older brother Vince DiMaggio played for the Tucson Lizards of the Class-D Arizona-Texas League in 1932.
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Bill Veeck (1914-1986): The eccentric baseball owner helped the creation of the Cactus League by moving his Cleveland Indians to Tucson in 1947.
Joe Louis (1914-1981): The “Brown Bomber” won 66 heavyweight bouts, including 52 by knockout.
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
Tuesday, June 30, 1914
In the era of prohibition, a new liquor license ordinance in Arizona restricted the selling of liquor at hotels to only facilities with at least 50 rooms. Restaurants and dining rooms not connected with these hotels were banned from selling liquor. The hotels with at least 50 rooms were forced to pay a quarterly liquor license tax of $300, which they gladly paid because they did not have competition.
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The animated Harry Caray was born in the same year Wrigley Field opened in 1914
Sir Alec Guinness (1914-2000): Obi-Wan Kenobi of Star Wars fame won an Oscar for best actor in The Bridge on the River Kwai in 1957.
Jonas Salk (1914-1995): The American medical researcher and virologist discovered and developed the first successful inactivated polio vaccine.
Harry Caray (1914-1998): The legendary Cubs broadcaster, who visited Tucson often during spring training, was born the same year Wrigley Field opened (how’s that for a coincidence?).
Allen Funt (1914-1999): Before Punk’d became famous on MTV, Funt famously tricked people on Candid Camera.
Jack LaLanne (1914-2011): The health fitness guru lived to be 96.
Sammy Baugh (1914-2008): One of the greatest players in NFL history played 16 years as quarterback of the Washington Redskins.
Billy Eckstine (1914-1993): The jazz musician was one of the most influential artists of his generation.
Octavio Paz (1914-1998): The esteemed Mexican poet and writer won a Nobel Prize in 1990.
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.
