"Tell them … tell the team to bear down"

Popularity of homegrown talent strong as ever

RELATED LINK: Writer compares Sean Elliott’s “Memorial Day Miracle Shot” in 1999 with Landon Donovan’s game-winning goal against Algeria that allowed the U.S. to win its group in the World Cup

>>No. 1 Elliott vs. No. 1 Finch-Daigle. Winner: Elliott >>No. 1 Finch-Daigle vs. No. 1 Bruschi. Winner: Finch-Daigle >>No. 1 Elliott vs. No. 1 Kerr. Winner: Elliott >>Lute Olson Championship Round >>The Field of 32 bracket >>Mike Candrea Regional >>Frank Busch Regional >>Cedric Dempsey Regional >>Jerry Kindall Regional

The 2010 Bear Down Leader polls are closed and the fans have spoken loud and clear: Their idea of the most representable athlete past and present at the University of Arizona is Sean Elliott.

Elliott, a native Tucsonan and graduate of Cholla High School, defeated softball great Jennie Finch-Daigle by a 64-36 voting percentage margin. By virtue of Elliott’s victory, any developments or features published about Arizona’s career scoring leader will be presented on this Web site.

He also holds the distinction of being the most representable UA athlete until a similar bracket is posed on this site in four years.

Elliott’s popularity has withstood the test of time — his last game in an Arizona uniform, believe it or not, was 21 years ago. A majority of today’s UA athletes were not even born at that time. Elliott’s victory is important inasmuch as the athletes of today have something to learn about the way Elliott conducted himself as a Wildcat and continues to live his life.

He is involved in numerous charity efforts in San Antonio, which has become his second home since his NBA career with the Spurs began when he left Arizona. He recently was elected in the State of Arizona Sports Hall of Fame along with Lute Olson.

One question that must be answered by Tucsonans and their politicians: When will a couple of streets be named after Elliott and Olson in honor of their contribution to the city? That is long overdue. Also, it’s not over the top to ask when a statue of Elliott will be presented in his hometown.

Looking ahead to 2014, who are early favorites to be the next Bear Down Leader (that is, if Elliott does not defend his crown)? Some names: Finch-Daigle, Richard Jefferson, Lacey Nymeyer-John, Nick Foles, and Kenzie Fowler to name a few.

HOW ELLIOTT EMERGED VICTORIOUS:

• ELLIOTT: Defeated No. 8 Rob Waldrop by an 89-11 percent vote in the first round, No. 5 Nancy Evans by a 90-10 percent vote in the Sweet 16, No. 3 Chuck Cecil by an 86-14 percent vote in the Elite Eight, No. 1 Steve Kerr by a 52-48 percent vote in the Final Four, and No. 1 Jennie Finch-Daigle by a 64-36 percent vote in the Finals.

REMINDER: The Bear Down Leader competition was created to acknowledge some of Arizona’s finest past and present who represent the Wildcat athletic community the best.

Sean Elliott

Jennie Finch-Daigle

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Finals end Wednesday between Elliott and Finch-Daigle

>>No. 1 Elliott vs. No. 1 Finch-Daigle (poll closes end of Wednesday) >>No. 1 Finch-Daigle vs. No. 1 Bruschi. Winner: Finch-Daigle >>No. 1 Elliott vs. No. 1 Kerr. Winner: Elliott >>Lute Olson Championship Round >>The Field of 32 bracket >>Mike Candrea Regional >>Frank Busch Regional >>Cedric Dempsey Regional >>Jerry Kindall Regional

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UA’s most popular male and female athletes face off

>>No. 1 Finch-Daigle vs. No. 1 Bruschi. Winner: Finch-Daigle >>No. 1 Elliott vs. No. 1 Kerr. Winner: Elliott >>Lute Olson Championship Round >>The Field of 32 bracket >>Mike Candrea Regional >>Frank Busch Regional >>Cedric Dempsey Regional >>Jerry Kindall Regional

Why each is deserving to be Arizona’s Bear Down Leader

Commentary by Steve Rivera and Anthony Gimino reposted from TucsonCitizen.com blogs

EDITOR’S NOTE: Please take part in the discussion. It would be interesting to read comments about why you selected either one. Personal encounters with either Elliott or Finch? Stories to share? General comments would be welcome about who you view is the most representable among UA athletes past and present.

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

• ELLIOTT: Defeated No. 8 Rob Waldrop by an 89-11 percent vote in the first round, No. 5 Nancy Evans by a 90-10 percent vote in the Sweet 16, No. 3 Chuck Cecil by an 86-14 percent vote in the Elite Eight, and No. 1 Steve Kerr by a 52-48 percent vote in the Final Four.
  

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• FINCH-DAIGLE: Defeated No. 8 seed Ron Hassey by a 89-11 percent margin in the first round, No. 4 John Byrd “Button” Salmon by a 67-33 percent margin in the Sweet 16, No. 2 Terry Francona by a 68-32 percent vote in the Elite Eight, and No. 1 Tedy Bruschi by a 51-49 percent vote in the Final Four.

REMINDER: The Bear Down Leader competition was created to acknowledge some of Arizona’s finest past and present who represent the Wildcat athletic community the best.

Sean Elliott

Jennie Finch-Daigle

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UA softball great edges Bruschi by slim margin

>>No. 1 Finch-Daigle vs. No. 1 Bruschi. Winner: Finch-Daigle >>No. 1 Elliott vs. No. 1 Kerr. Winner: Elliott >>Lute Olson Championship Round >>The Field of 32 bracket >>Mike Candrea Regional >>Frank Busch Regional >>Cedric Dempsey Regional >>Jerry Kindall Regional

By Javier Morales

Sean Elliott and Jennie Finch-Daigle bridge different generations and genders by each being essential to UA athletics beyond their respective sports.

Elliott, born and raised in Tucson, is arguably the face of the Wildcats’ men’s basketball program as the player who led them to their first Pac-10 title in 1985-86 when he was a freshman and their first Final Four in 1988. He also became the school’s first national basketball player of the year in 1989.

Finch-Daigle is one of many in the UA women’s softball program who pioneered Mike Candrea’s program into a national power. She holds the distinction of going undefeated in a season — 32-0 with a 0.51 ERA her junior season when she led the Cats to a national title in 2001.

She is now the face of Team USA softball, which is playing today for the World Softball Championship in Caracas, Venezuela.

Finch-Daigle, of La Mirada, Calif., was not yet 8 when Elliott led the UA to its first Final Four in 1988. When his NBA career ended in 2001, after he courageously returned from a kidney transplant from his brother, is when Finch-Daigle’s career came into full bloom at Arizona.

Now they meet in the finals of the Bear Down Leader competition, each surviving from close semifinal matchups. Elliott defeated former teammate and buddy Steve Kerr by a 52-48 percent margin, while Finch-Daigle outlasted the ever-popular Tedy Bruschi by a 51-49 percent vote. Elliott held a steady lead over Kerr throughout, but Finch-Daigle overcame as many as a 12-point percentage difference early in the competition.

What are the benefits of a Bear Down Leader championship?

First and foremost, it is to crown who Arizona fans think is the most representable of their university. Secondly, that person will regularly be featured with news updates at this site and will be tagged as “Bear Down Leader” from now until 2014, when a new voting process will take place.

The finals between Elliott and Finch-Daigle commence tomorrow. Polling will last five days, through Wednesday. By Thursday morning, we should know who UA followers believe is their Bear Down Leader.

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

• ELLIOTT: Defeated No. 8 Rob Waldrop by an 89-11 percent vote in the first round, No. 5 Nancy Evans by a 90-10 percent vote in the Sweet 16, No. 3 Chuck Cecil by an 86-14 percent vote in the Elite Eight, and No. 1 Steve Kerr by a 52-48 percent vote in the Final Four.
• FINCH-DAIGLE: Defeated No. 8 seed Ron Hassey by a 89-11 percent margin in the first round, No. 4 John Byrd “Button” Salmon by a 67-33 percent margin in the Sweet 16, No. 2 Terry Francona by a 68-32 percent vote in the Elite Eight, and No. 1 Tedy Bruschi by a 51-49 percent vote in the Final Four.

REMINDER: The Bear Down Leader competition was created to acknowledge some of Arizona’s finest past and present who represent the Wildcat athletic community the best.

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Tucson’s own to face Finch-Bruschi winner

>>No. 1 Finch-Daigle vs. No. 1 Bruschi (poll closes end of Thursday) >>No. 1 Elliott vs. No. 1 Kerr. Winner: Elliott >>Lute Olson Championship Round >>The Field of 32 bracket >>Mike Candrea Regional >>Frank Busch Regional >>Cedric Dempsey Regional >>Jerry Kindall Regional

By Javier Morales

Based on the seeding of the Bear Down Leader competition, Tucson was practically void of a basketball player who the city could rally behind at the University of Arizona before Sean Elliott graduated from Cholla High School in 1985.

Of the 109 athletes recommended by readers before the start of this competition, not one other Tucson-bred hoops player was on the list.

Elliott is still standing in the bracket, now in the championship match, by beating former teammate and good friend Steve Kerr by a 52-48 percent margin. He faces the winner between Jennie Finch-Daigle and Tedy Bruschi, whose match is too close to call with less than a day remaining.

The best basketball talent in Tucson before Elliott was Lafayette “Fat” Lever out of Pueblo, but Lever attended arch-rival ASU from 1978-82. Lever was also born in Pine Bluff, Ark. Elliott was born in Tucson on Feb. 2, 1968.

Sadly enough, since Elliott exhausted his eligibility in 1989, Tucson has not come close to matching what he had to offer the Wildcat progam (or any other program, for that matter).

The best overall Tucson-bred talent at UA before Elliott? The argument is between defensive lineman Mike Dawson and baseball catcher Ron Hassey, both Tucson High School graduates.

The seeding of the Bear Down Leader bracket — which included the input of seven members of the Tucson media — indicates that the city’s best talent since Elliott’s departure is world-class swimmer Lacey Nymeyer-John. She is a Tucson native who graduated from Marana Mountain View.

Nymeyer-John was selected the 2010 NCAA Woman of the Year, which honors female student-athletes who have completed their eligibility, demonstrated academic and athletics excellence, and engaged in community service and leadership opportunities.

In four years, if I am fortunate enough to run this contest again, Nymeyer-John could be one of the favorites especially with Olympic gold by then. But for now — and perhaps forever — Elliott continues to captivate Tucsonans like none other.

HOW ELLIOTT GOT HERE:

• ELLIOTT: Defeated No. 8 Rob Waldrop by an 89-11 percent vote in the first round, No. 5 Nancy Evans by a 90-10 percent vote in the Sweet 16, No. 3 Chuck Cecil by an 86-14 percent vote in the Elite Eight, and No. 1 Steve Kerr by a 52-48 percent vote in the Final Four.

REMINDER: The Bear Down Leader competition was created to acknowledge some of Arizona’s finest past and present who represent the Wildcat athletic community the best.

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Update on Olson Championship Round participants

Jennie Finch-Daigle usually dominates on the mound but her inside-the-park homer fueled the U.S.’s win Tuesday in the World Softball Championships

These are recent developments concerning the participants in the Bear Down Leader Lute Olson Championship Round contestants …

• Tues., June 29:
  Jennie Finch-Daigle hit an inside-the-park home run and the United States finished group play unbeaten after defeating the Czech Republic 9-0 on Tuesday at the World Softball Championships in Caracas, Venezuela. The victory gives the United States the top spot in Group B.
  Japan also went 7-0 in Group A after its 10-0 win over South Africa. The group round wrapped up Tuesday, setting the pairings for Wednesday’s playoffs. Wednesday’s first day of playoffs: Japan vs. Venezuela; United States vs. Canada; Taiwan vs. China; Australia vs. Netherlands. Playoffs are also set for Thursday with the final scheduled for Friday.
  RELATED: Gimino: Finch should be the Bear Down Leader

• Sun., June 27:
  Last Tuesday, Tedy Bruschi took an oath like Barack Obama did 17 months ago, as Bruschi was added to the 16-person President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition. He spent two days in Washington with his new colleagues, learning the ropes and helping run an event for area high schoolers and middle schoolers geared to educate them on proper health.

• Tues., June 29:
  TNT announced Tuesday a multi-year agreement with former Phoenix Suns general manager Steve Kerr to return to the network as a game analyst, beginning in the 2010-11 season. Kerr, whose intentions to return to broadcasting had been known following his departure from the Suns, will also be a contributor for NBATV and NBA.com. He will join the network’s Thursday night doubleheader coverage in addition to working during the playoffs.

• Tues., June 1:
  Things are quiet with Sean Elliott, although Rivals.com Five-Star Class of 2011 recruit Austin Rivers recently told the San Antonio Express-News that he was “really close to Sean Elliott” when he was a youngster and his dad — Celtics coach Doc Rivers — was a Spurs teammate of the former UA star. Austin Rivers, of Winter Park (Fla.), trained recently with the USA Basketball Under-18 team in San Antonio, a homecoming of sorts for the talent who is reportedly leaning toward Duke.

  
  
  

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Babe Ruth of softball vs. three-time Super Bowl champ

>>No. 1 Elliott vs. No. 1 Kerr (poll open through Wednesday) >>Lute Olson Championship Round >>The Field of 32 bracket >>Mike Candrea Regional >>Frank Busch Regional >>Cedric Dempsey Regional >>Jerry Kindall Regional

JENNIE FINCH-DAIGLE

Excerpt from a 2004 USA Today article about Finch-Daigle’s marketing promise coming out of the Athens Games

Jennie Finch-Daigle is currently pitching for the U.S. in the World Softball Championships in Caracas, Venezuela

Jennie Finch is her name. Softball is her game. Her destiny: fame.
Never heard of her? Get ready for the full Finch. She tosses a ball 71 miles per hour and has set an NCAA record with 60 victories in a row.
Sports marketers say Finch ranks among the most marketable Olympians to come along since perky gymnast Mary Lou Retton enchanted a nation two decades ago. In an Olympics so beset by terrorism fears that the athletes have been issued gas masks, Finch provides the simplest diversion of all: sex appeal.
Finch may not have as many endorsements as Tiger Woods, but she is no slouch in the ad department. She’s also the queen of her sport.
• She has a golden arm. Finch was 2002 college player of the year at the University of Arizona. She went 15-0 with a 0.27 earned run average on USA Softball’s pre-Olympics tour.
• She has a golden face. At 6-foot-1, she has hazel eyes, blond hair and a smile that make her look more like a runway model than a runaway Olympic gold candidate. While flattered by the attention she receives for her looks, Finch is frustrated by it, too. “When you train six to seven hours a day to be the best in your sport, you don’t want that to be overlooked,” she says. “I don’t train for my looks.”
Baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr., who hired Finch to help with his baseball camp, has seen precisely what happens when Finch walks onto a ball field — or into a boardroom. “She creates a stir,” he says.
“She’s teaching young boys and girls to look at women athletes as sexy,” says Summer Sanders, who won four swimming medals in the 1992 Olympics and now co-hosts NBA Inside Stuff. “It’s about time.”

TEDY BRUSCHI

Excerpt from SI Vault article on Jan. 10, 1994 about Tedy Bruschi’s impact on Arizona’s Fiesta Bowl win over Miami

Sports Illustrated article from Jan. 10, 1994 about Bruschi, who led the UA to a win over Miami in the Fiesta Bowl that season (Click on photo to access story)

When late-blooming Tedy Bruschi began his football career in high school, he was so innocent of the game’s conventions that he put on his shoulder pads over his jersey. Bruschi’s family had just relocated from San Francisco to Roseville, Calif., north of Sacramento. “We moved because Mom was scared of the earthquakes,” Bruschi explains. His mother’s fear of natural disasters did not, however, include Hurricanes, a fearlessness evidently shared by her son, who, now all grown up and a sophomore defensive end at Arizona, put the extra D in the Wildcats’ 29-0 humbling of Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.
Arizona’s defense reduced the Hurricanes, who had not been shut out since 1979, to a mere tropical depression, holding them to a measly 35 yards on the ground and 147 in the air. Much of the damage was done by Bruschi, whose name is pronounced BREW-ski and who, fittingly, once spent a summer setting up advertising displays for Budweiser. “Some people thought that was pretty funny because of my name,” he allows.
The Hurricanes demonstrated an almost total lack of feel—and feeling—for the Fiesta from the moment they won the coin toss and smugly chose to kick off. Arizona drove the ball 75 yards in eight plays. “I think they were expecting another 8-7 game, and our offense shocked them,” said Bruschi, referring to the single-figure loss in Miami during the 1992 regular season that so traumatized the Wildcats.

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

• FINCH-DAIGLE: Defeated No. 8 seed Ron Hassey by a 89-11 percent margin in the first round, No. 4 John Byrd “Button” Salmon by a 67-33 percent margin in the Sweet 16, and No. 2 Terry Francona by a 68-32 percent vote in the Elite Eight.
  

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• BRUSCHI: Defeated No. 8 Dennis Northcutt by an 86-14 percent vote in the first round, No. 4 Jim Furyk by an 82-18 percent vote in the Sweet 16 and No. 7 Richard Jefferson by a 57-43 percent vote in the Elite Eight.

The Finch-Daigle vs. Bruschi winner faces the winner between No. 1 seeds Sean Elliott and Steve Kerr.

REMINDER: The Bear Down Leader competition was created to acknowledge some of Arizona’s finest past and present who represent the Wildcat athletic community the best.

Jennie Finch-Daigle

Tedy Bruschi

Sean Elliott

Steve Kerr

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