Tidbit Tuesday is back. Every Tuesday I will provide a sports story about an interesting fact that you ,may or may not know about. When i was a child the thing that kept me watching sports was hearing the commentator's stories and facts about what I was watching. That sparked my interest in sports and so I bring you Tidbit Tuesday.
This edition of Tidbit Tuesday takes us to Tucson Arizona, home of the University of Arizona. The school's Montra or battle is "Bear Down". The schools mascot is a Wildcat. So why is the slogan "Bear Down"? The story behind it is heartfelt.
In early October 1926 some of the members of the football team, including QB John "Button" Salmon, were headed back to Tucson from a game in Phoenix and were involved in a car accident. The accident happened in Florence and Salmon was severely injured and eventually died from his injuries.
The coach at the time was J.F. "Pop" McKale and he visited Salmon several times in the hospital before his passing. Salmon's last message to the team was, " Tell them....tell the team to bear down". Coach McKale told the team and they won their next two games and the slogan was born.
Another interesting fact about this story is John Salmon died October 18, 1926, 53 years later I was born.
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