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'Bear Down' above reproach

To the editor,

First of all, where do you get off on bashing over 50 years of Arizona tradition? The phrase "Bear Down" and the fight song (yes it is a fight song) that goes with it is as much a part of Arizona tradition as ringing the victory bell after home football wins. Where is your school spirit?!

Bear Down Arizona means so much to so many students and alumni. That it is a slap in the face to dismiss it as some waste of time. Just because you hear a song a lot doesn't mean you should change it or dismiss it as less than another song.

Also, you seem to be quite the expert on Fight Song History here at the University of Arizona. However, you forgot to include some important history about Bear Down Arizona before you wanted to toss it out. First, it wasn't some composer who wrote the song on a cocktail napkin. The man, who wrote and arranged Bear Down Arizona, was Jack Lee, Director of Bands for over 25 years at U of A (who came to Arizona from the University of Michigan). Prof. Lee, who after learning of the school motto was so impressed by it he composed the piece almost immediately. After being adopted by the University of Arizona as an official fight song, "Bear Down Arizona" has become one of the most recognizable and most popular fight songs in the country. The fans that attended Super Bowl I and those who watched it at home on television were clapping along to Bear Down Arizona when the Pride of Arizona performed at half-time. The song was also performed as a wake up call for the astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission. More recently, "Bear Down Arizona" was performed on the "Today Show" in front of millions of morning viewers. Also, at the Holiday Bowl, former Arizona running back Kelvin Eafon sang "Bear Down Arizona" in front of the fans as he and the rest of the 1998 Arizona Football team celebrated a victory over Nebraska.

The next time you want to complain about music (which you show no understanding of) learn to play a wind instrument (i.e. trombone, trumpet, clarinet etc.) and pick up copy of the music to "Bear Down Arizona" and "Fight Wildcats Fight," learn to play it well and then you can begin to talk about the differences of the two fight songs. Finally, here is a word of advice to help you during the rest of your stay at the University of Arizona. You don't wear maroon and gold to Arizona sporting events, you don't tell Lute Olson how to coach basketball and you don't pretend to know anything about band music. Stick to writing your pathetic and poorly researched articles and leave the music to those who know what they're doing.

Patrick Brown

Political science senior