Touchdown IV
In 1935, James A. Lynah became the athletic director of the newly formed Department of Physical Education and Athletics. Carl Snavely took over as the football coach, and helped to guide the team to an extremely successful 1939 season. During the season, the "Cornell Daily Sun editorial board was a co-conspirator with the Press Club, the social journalistic society that brought to campus." The Press Club purchased a female black bear cub from Nashua, New Hampshire, and adopted the bear as its mascot, hoping that Cornell Football would follow their lead. But Lynah forbid Touchdown IV from appearing at any football games.
The Cornell Daily Sun's editorial board wrote extensively throughout the 1939 season to attempt to sway Lynah. Touchdown IV's supporters included the Sigma Delta Chi fraternity, and Princeton Athletics, who delighted at the opportunity to mock Cornell for having a female bear as their mascot. Before Cornell's game with the undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes, a letter appeared in the Cornell Daily Sun from the Cornell Club of Cleveland, inviting Touchdown to the contest, logistics to be handled by the Club. Touchdown never appeared on the field, but Cornell came from behind to stun the Buckeyes and end their undefeated season. During the post-game festivities, Touchdown was let loose in a Cleveland night club and had to be recaptured by the Cleveland Animal Protection League. Her activities earned Touchdown an Associated Press write-up which circulated in hundreds of newspapers across the country.
Touchdown IV was subsequently released into the wild of Pennsylvania, and the Cornell Big Red finished the season 8-0 and ranked fourth in the country.
Read more about this topic: Big Red Bear, History