UA Athletic Facts
1915. Original 'Rufus ArizonaThe original wildcat mascot arrived on campus October 17, 1915, and was introduced to the student body the following day at assembly in Herring Hall. He was the gift of the freshman football team who had raised the funds ($9.91) to purchase him. He was officially named "Rufus Arizona", after UA President Rufus B. von KleinSmid.
1953In its first televised game, broadcast statewide, UA beats Arizona State 35-0
November 7, 1959.
Wilbur made his first appearance at the UA-Texas Tech football game,
1986
Wilma made her fist appearance in 1986 at the UA-ASU football game.
1997
Men’s Basketball won the National Championship lead with Coach Lute Olson.
First Football Game:
On Thanksgiving Day, 1899, UA played its first intercollegiate game with the Tempe Normal School (later to become ASU), which had a more seasoned team since it had made an earlier start in football. Tempe won, 11-2, but the loyal local paper thought the University "showed more skill and science . . . . Lacked the physical strength . . . the Tempe team outweighed the Tucson team by about one-third."
Arizona Facts
1891
The University of Arizona officially opened.
Original UA colors: Sage Green and Silver were the colors of The University of Arizona's first football team.
Becoming the Wildcats
Covering the game for the Los Angeles Times was young correspondent Bill Henry. Henry, in his story wrote:
"The Arizona men showed the fight of wildcats and displayed before the public gaze a couple of little shrimps who defied all attempts of the Tigers to stop them"
When the news reached the campus the phrase "the fight of wildcats" was repeated over and over. The name stuck.
'A' Mountain, 1916
It was a sensational 7-6 Arizona football victory over Pomona College on Thanksgiving Day, November 6, 1914, that led to the building of the "A" on Sentinel Peak, west of Tucson.
In what was doubtless a burst of enthusiastic pride for his alma mater, Albert H. Condron, a member of the 1914 team and a civil engineering student, suggested to one of his professors that a class assignment be made to survey Sentinel Peak for the location of an "A".
The site was cleared of shrubbery and cactus, trenches dug to outline the letter's foundations, rock at hand was mixed with mortar and water hauled up the mountain by six-horse teams. The total cost of materials, equipment, and transportation was $397. The back-breaking work was done by the students themselves, Saturday after Saturday, with many difficulties and discouragements, but the "A" was finally whitewashed on March 4, 1916. No one called it Sentinel Peak anymore. It was known thereafter as "A" Mountain. The "A" is 70 feet wide and 160 feet long (or "tall").
Bear Down Gym
1927, the men's junior honorary organization, Chain Gang, sponsored a fund-raising dance to paint "Bear Down" on the roof of the gymnasium. A professional sign painter was hired to outline the letters, and the Chain Gang members filled them in early in 1928
