Event Life at UA: Traditions, Trophies & Wildcat Stories

Summary

Jill Hall, longtime U of A Hall of Champions events lead and now Alumni Association events at the College of Behavioral Science, walks Rachel through 20 years inside Wildcat athletics. The standout stories: hosting Lute Olson's funeral, learning to do funerals better than weddings during a stretch when the program lost too many alumni, and picking up the Territorial Cup, the oldest rivalry trophy in college sports, and bringing it to her family's Thanksgiving dinner because the game was in Tucson but the cup was at ASU.

Key takeaways

1. Weather always wins, so the backup is the plan — Jill's first event for U of A was a baseball player memorial. 20 minutes before start, a monsoon rolled in. They moved 500 people, tables, chairs, bars, and balloons inside in 15 minutes. Always ask the venue for an indoor backup.
2. The Territorial Cup travels in gloves — The oldest rivalry trophy in college sports is kept in a sealed case. A replica goes to events. The year the game was in Tucson but the cup was at ASU, Jill picked it up on her way home and sat it at her family's Thanksgiving dinner before walking it back.
3. A live bobcat mascot is a one-time decision — U of A used real bobcats from the Sonora Museum, brought on the field, tied up. One bit the carrier. Wilbur and Wilma have been costumed ever since, with their own marriage certificate.
4. Cat litter melts ice on tile pavers — One Tucson winter Jill's Hall of Champions pavilion tile froze and the hollow underneath made every step a hazard. Salt would damage the tile. Cat litter cleared it. Every event venue has a weird workaround buried somewhere.
5. The original U of A colors were green and silver — Changed to red and blue in 1899 because the football jerseys were cheaper to buy. The school had just started, the budget made the brand. The legacy moment was a procurement decision.

Transcript

00:00 With over 33 years in the mobile bartending and service industry, he is the guy who brings the party and the joy wherever he goes. She's a seasoned event planner. Together we are Hot Mics, Cold Drinks and Untold Disasters.

00:27 This is the Event Talk podcast with Dave and Rachel.

00:31 Hi everybody. Thanks for joining. Today we are the Event Talk podcast — Hot Mics, Cold Drinks and Untold Disasters. We have a very special guest. Part of the reason I am in events today is because of this phenomenal woman I met at 19 years old. Jill Hall. She was a mentor of mine growing up, worked for the U of A athletic department when I started there at 19. Focused a lot in the special events at the Hall of Champions. Jill taught me everything I know about tables and chairs and linens and custodial.

01:30 Can't believe it's been 19 years. We have Dave too. They're going to work together fairly soon, in a bar event coming up to Scottsdale. You are still with U of A but moved over to the Alumni Association for the College of Behavioral Science — where I graduated from. Crazy that we're still talking this far into our careers.

02:36 When did you start? Started doing events for middle-schoolers. I was the advisor for the student council in California — eighth-grade dances and graduations. When I applied to come to the U of A for grad school, they asked, "have you done any events?" I had done some golf tournaments. The U of A was kind of the start with the foundation, doing fundraising events. Then moved over to work with Phoebe in all the special events for athletics.

03:56 The Hall of Champions has a mezzanine, also a museum. While I was there I worked on a project of every single athlete and where they went in their pro career. Tailgate things. Why I didn't drink in college — I had to wake up at 6 a.m. to go on the football field and move beer for tailgates.

05:08 Jill, you did anything that touched the athletics department. Halftime presentations, welcome-home ceremonies for NCAA champions. Probably the event that stood out most — we hosted Bobby Olson's funeral. McKale and the Olson family came to us and said, "will you do this for us?" We were very honored. Phoebe and I used to joke we knew how to do funerals better than we knew how to do anything. Luckily that slowed down.

06:00 I used to do lunches for Lute Olson — once a season, met a lot of the alumni group at Sullivan's. He was so gracious meeting everybody. Now Julie Hargrove is one of our assistant coaches — she was here. In college so many people years later come back around.

06:21 Fun stories — we always have fun. Weather in Arizona always creates havoc. First event I did was actually a memorial service for one of our baseball players. We were going to do it out on the baseball field. 20 minutes before, the monsoon came rolling in. I learned to always have a backup. I always ask the venue for a backup just in case. The family wanted to be outside. The event was set for 500 people — tables, chairs, bars, balloons. Balloons are the magnet for bad weather. We just said, give us 15 minutes — moved everything inside super fast.

08:45 Fun fact, Dave — the original colors of U of A. Most people think it's red and white, it's red and blue. The original colors were hunter green and silver. Changed in 1899 because it was cheaper to buy red and blue football jerseys than green and silver. The school had just started.

09:26 Fun stories about active wild bobcats — they were minks, weren't they? Real bobcats from the Sonora Museum that were the U of A mascot. They brought them on the field. Tied them up. Unfortunately, one bit him. So they switched to costumes for Wilbur and Wilma. Fun fact — Wilbur and Wilma the mascots are actually married. The costumes have a certificate. We had a wedding on the field for them, celebrated their anniversary.

10:55 A fan tried to make a baby Wilbur. Never actually happened. Funny — one of my friends from the sorority was dating Wilbur at the time. One of our friends had drunkenly kissed Wilbur. We wore shirts to the game — "I kissed Wilbur. I'm kissing Wilbur. I never want to kiss Wilbur."

11:36 Tailgates — bear-down field, then moved up to the Hall of Champions Pavilion. Those tiles would always break. One winter it snowed in Tucson. We built snowmen this big. Those tiles became ice — they're hollow underneath. We had to get cat litter and put it on the tile to melt it. The salt would have hurt the tiles. So easier to buy the cat litter.

13:00 Territorial Cup — the oldest rivalry trophy in all of college sports. Fun stories — having to move it, wear gloves. They found it in the basement of, I don't even know if it was a library, they didn't know what it was. Luckily we had somebody on staff who knew. It's kept in a very secure case — you cannot pick it up without gloves on. We had a replica made. One year, the game was being played in Tucson but the cup was up at ASU. They said, "Jill, will you go pick up the cup?" I was coming home for Thanksgiving — sure. The cup came to the Hall family Thanksgiving dinner. We're a house divided. Everybody put the gloves on and took a picture with the real cup.

14:42 Now it's a bigger deal to move the cup. Comes on the bus, security. Highway Patrol will drive it back. Like the Stanley Cup — players take pictures with the fake one. The real one goes wherever it happens to be, under case. It does get etched with the winner — small. The fake one might sit in the football offices.

15:50 My friend's great-grandfather is the one who found the trophy. Yeah, I didn't know that for the longest time. Knowing some of this history when working for athletics — it's a historic school. There's an ongoing joke — when the state was formed there were three things to be determined: the hospital, the college, and the Capitol. The Capitol was in Flagstaff, the school went to Tucson, and the prison went to Phoenix. I used to joke it was the insane asylum that went to U of A.

17:12 Bartended ASU — not as much. Their campus reminds me a lot of U of A in parts — the red brick buildings. Lived in Tempe 1991. The place that did the burritos — Filiberto's, north of campus. River Parkway is a street. I traded out copies for burritos because we had a blueprinting company. Postmates wasn't there. They used to run blueprints through an ammonia machine to make the blueprint. Way back in the day.

19:01 Tucson's the old mob hangout. The big thing was that everybody, all the mob, retired in Tucson. There's a house at Tucson Omni National over one of the holes — that was one of the mob bosses' homes. Went from New York to Tucson. Nobody would find them.

19:59 Any ghosts? Lots of ghosts. Old Main, Maricopa Hall — bear-down field. They used to do a tour at Halloween, ghost story tour through the campus.

20:43 Biggest event — when I left athletics I was in charge of homecoming for the University of Arizona. Big event, lots of coordination, trust in people knowing they're going to do their part. Tailgates, the fire, the night before, the parades — football players walking down the street with the band. 60,000 people. Permitting, you need one thing.

27:14 U of A is technically a dry campus, so is ASU — but the teachers all drink really well. We have spots that have licenses — Omaha, Student Union, McKale, Arizona Stadium, McKale Center, Art Museum, Old Main. It's nice. There seems to be less problems with alcohol than when we banned it. Easy. They're smarter, they're doing other things too.

30:38 Maybe they need to have our mocktails with Dave and I. There we go — make one. Cool red and blue one day. That's our 30 minutes. So good to chat. Best of luck with this. Nice space for you all to be in. Have a great rest of your week.

32:02 Thanks for tuning in to the Event Talk podcast — Hot Mics, Cold Drinks and Untold Disasters where every event has a story. Until next time.