The story goes, star QB and class president “Button” Salmon gets critically injured in a car wreck. His dying words are to Coach McKale at his bedside, telling the team to “bear down” in their upcoming big game. Coach tells the team while they’re at the stadium, and they proceed to valiantly pull off the upset win due to their motivation and grit—inspired by their dead teammate’s dying words.

Good story, huh?

The truth is far less appealing. First, UA now admits that it doesn’t actually know which game that season it reportedly happened at—a rather important detail in the story. Maybe it was New Mexico State the week after the funeral, maybe it was New Mexico several weeks (and a couple of games) later, possibly it was one of the other three games (only one of which was a win). What we do know is that McKale didn’t say anything about Button’s words until he reportedly told the team at the game.

If it had been New Mexico or one of the other games, then it seems a bit unlikely that the coach would have forgotten to honor Button’s dying wish and relay his “bear down” to the team before the next game. Simply put, it was probably just something he simply made up as a good story. But UA isn’t sure which game. Uh huh.

But even if it was against New Mexico State the week after the funeral, the inspirational words shouldn’t have played much of a factor. First of all, the team had already played two games while Button laid paralyzed in the hospital. They had won 54-0 and 35-0, so I guess they didn’t miss their starting QB as much as one might think. And, remarkably, he apparently didn’t give any words of encouragement to the team during that time. According to McKale, he saved that until the coach had to specifically ask him the day before he died if he had any words for the team.

New Mexico State was winless on the season and undefeated UA was already heavily favored, even without Button. That’s not surprising, UA was on a nine-win streak against lowly NMSU, winning by a combined score of 265-14 with shutouts in all but two games. UA went on to play a terrible game against a weak opponent, but managed to eek out 7-0 win in what should have been a blowout.

So even if the “best case” scenario for this is actually true, it involved a poorly played, lackluster win over a creampuff opponent. It’s actually rather clear that the team did not honor their teammate’s words to “Bear Down.” They very narrowly escaped doing the literal opposite: a embarrassingly loss to a far inferior opponent. Simply put, the message wasn’t inspirational to the team; they did not play close to their ability and certainly not “inspired football,” and they let down their dead teammate.

Nonetheless, UA proudly celebrates its own failure to live up to the so-called inspiring words of its fallen player. In many ways, #beardown is as much an insult as it is the school’s athletic motto.

So yes, UA, #beardown. Bear down indeed.

You might also want to read about 6 embarrassing things about the Arizona Wildcats or my collection of U of A jokes.

The post The real story behind Arizona’s “Bear Down” motto appeared first on rscottjones.

Simple: it’s dangerous, and no longer fun.

I’ve been goaded into several fights, had food flung on me, had my car vandalized, had some pretty nasty things said about Kim, and generally not had a good time, even during our customary beatdown of the UA team. The last time the Devils played in Tucson, the crowd threw full water bottles at our bench, knocking out one of our medical staff. Nice.

The so-called “Zona Zoo” has gotten so bad that UA instituted a code of conduct policy and added spotters to keep an eye on the violence and vitriol. Way to represent the University.

During this year’s game, the Arizona football staff purposefully opens the gates to the field to the fans with more than 5 minutes left in the game. The crowd surges right up to the playing field, just feet from the players…with shouting, spitting, middle fingers, and some physical contact. If that was the UA bench, the team would have been penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct. Instead, it was constructed by Arizona Stadium staff.

It’s so bad that the Police make sure that Jody Jackson, the FSN sideline reporter, is ushered off the field before the end of the game because they are so concerned about her safety. A sideline reporter! Who has security around her, and who’s primary job is to get post-game interviews from players and coaches. It’s so dangerous that she has to flee before the game’s even over. If that doesn’t speaks volumes about the situation—fostered by the UA Athletics Department—then, I’m not what does.

It’s a real shame, but that’s why we don’t go. This is a situation that desperately needs to be fixed.

The post Why we don’t attend ASU games in Tucson appeared first on rscottjones.