• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

University of Portland Museum

  • Home
  • About
  • This Day
    • Library Dedication, 1958
    • KBVM 88.3 FM: 25 Years
    • Gute Reisen
    • Veteran’s Day
    • Fire on Campus
    • Engineering Building
    • Outbreak of World War I
    • Orphan Holiday
    • Lewis and Clark
    • Feast of the Annunciation
    • Rotary Phone Day
    • Howard Hall Fire
    • Feast of St. Joseph
    • Reservists Send-off
    • Br. Raphael Wilson Inauguration
    • Rev. David Tyson Inauguration
    • UP Becomes Fully Co-educational
  • Featured
    • Pomp and Conga-lines
      • Let Us Commence
    • 2018 Retiring Faculty
      • 2016 Retiring Faculty
      • 2015 Retiring Faculty
      • 2014 Retiring Faculty
    • De-ja-vu All Over Again
    • Future War
    • Lunch Room to Night Spot
    • Pilots Choose Their Own Course
    • Broken Wall Memorial is Broken
    • Sanctuaries
    • 2nd Century: Second Wave
    • UP Pep Band
    • Extended Hours
    • TGIF all-class
    • No frogs were hurt in this demonstration
    • Inauguration 2014
    • Freshmen 15
    • Orientation at the UP Campus
    • Upsilon Omega Pi Hearse
    • Schoenfeldt Writers Series
  • A Given Life
    • The Pioneer Four
    • Flowering in the Rose City
    • Rev. Richard Berg, C.S.C.
    • Rev. John Molter, C.S.C.
    • Sisters of Mary of the Presentation
    • Holy Cross Leadership
    • Rev. John Delaunay, C.S.C.
    • Holy Cross at UP
    • Sr. Angela Hoffman, O.S.B.
    • Rev. Art Schoenfeldt, C.S.C.
    • Rev. George Dum, C.S.C.
    • Rev. Maurice Rigley, C.S.C.
  • In the Beginning
    • Rev. John A. Zahm, CSC: Name-dropper, Promise Keeper
    • Cornerstone West Hall
    • Founder’s Day
    • Another Day
    • Day One
  • UP Trivia
    • NCAA or NAIA, First Nat’l Title Revisited
    • Medal of the Year
    • Hanging Up the Pads
    • Football
    • Cannons on the Bluff
    • Pilots on the Bluff
    • Columbia Prep, 1901-1955
    • Hours and Bases
    • domainname.com
    • Wally Pilot
    • 50 Years: A-Meh-zing Mehling
    • Broken Wall Memorial
  • Exhibits
    • Museum Photo Gallery 2
    • Football on the Bluff: 1902-1950
    • Mago Hunt Center 40th Anniversary
    • Salzburg Trips
    • Museum Display in Buckley Center
  • Memorials
    • In Memory: Brian Doyle, November 6, 1956 – May 27, 2017
    • In Memory: Rev. Charles David Sherrer, C.S.C., September 21, 1935 – April 13, 2017
    • In Memory: Rev. Ronald Wasowski, C.S.C., March 31, 1946 – December 5, 2016
    • In Memory: Dr. James T. Covert, April 20, 1932 – October 13, 2016
    • In Memory: Dr. Manuel “Manny” Macias, March 25, 1929 – March 19, 2016
    • In Memory: Dr. Kate Regan
    • Martha Wachsmuth: 1921-2015
    • Memoriam: Rev. Tom Oddo
    • Remembering Dr. David Alexander, 1957-2013
  • Elections
    • Campaign Trail: President Ronald Reagan, 1984
    • Campaign Trail: Robert F. Kennedy, 1968
    • Campaign Trail: Nelson Rockefeller, 1964
    • Campaign Trail: John F. Kennedy, 1960
    • Campaign Trail: Harold Stassen, 1952
  • UP Athletics/Olympics
    • Rudolph (Rudy) Scholz, Olympic Gold Medalist
    • Discus
    • Swimming
    • Women’s Tennis
    • Tennis
    • Soccer
    • University Olympians
    • Hurdles
    • Trampoline
    • Golf
    • Track Shoes
    • Weightlifting
    • John Murphy, Olympian
    • Archery
    • Boxing
    • Fencing
    • First University Olympian

UP Trivia / Bar bets: Hanging Up the Pads

November 12, 2015 By Carolyn

John O'Donnell, Alumni Bulletin, Winter 1950 (University Archives photo)
John O’Donnell, Alumni Bulletin, Winter 1950 (University Archives photo)

After ending the fall 1949 football season with a win against Lewis and Clark College, Pilot football players and fans were stunned in early February when University President, Rev. Theodore Mehling, C.S.C., announced the end of football on the Bluff.  Financial resources were increasing but strained, and directed first toward meeting the extraordinary challenges of the enrollment bubble of World War II vets.  Fr. Mehling’s letter cites limited funds and inadequate stadium facilities as prime reasons for not being able to support a first-class football program.  An alumni group, “Pilot Booster Club”, with former football player, Emmett Barrett, ’41, as president, led a failed attempt to reverse the administration’s decision.  The image of former football players at a football burial summed up the somber mood on campus.

More football trivia & history:
https://sites.up.edu/museum/up-trivia-bar-bets-football/

https://sites.up.edu/museum/exhibits/football/

(Gallery from the University Archives, click on image or text to enlarge)

End of Football Announcement, Alumni Bulletin, Winter 1950
Putting football out of its misery, Dale Gier and John O’Donnell, 1950 (University Archives photo)
Ed Castagna, Dale Gier, Jack Peterson, John O’Donnell, Football burial, 1950 (University Archives photo)
The Beacon, March 10, 1950
Alumni Bulletin, Summer 1950

Filed Under: UP Trivia Leave a Comment

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to this site via email


Highlights from the Museum

UP vs St Marys football 1939, UP beats nationally ranked team in upset

Hours and Location

University of Portland Museum
014 Shipstad Hall

Open:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 8:30 am to 2:30 pm
Wednesday 8:00 am to 2:00 pm
Also by appointment

Recent Posts

  • Taste of UP for Families
  • Prophecy and Visions
  • The Bells Are Ringing
  • In Memory: Rev. Claude A. Pomerleau, C.S.C., August 16, 1938 – July 21, 2019
  • Campus Archaeology: On the Shoulders of Giants

Archives

Contact Information

Carolyn Piatz Connolly
Museum Coordinator
University Museum MSC 015
5000 N. Willamette Blvd.
Portland, OR 97203
503.943.8038
piatz@up.edu

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2019 · University of Portland