Walter Lingo, owner of the Oorang Airedale Kennels, organized the NFL's Oorang Indians in 1922, mainly to advertise his kennel, where he bred his choice breed of dog, the Airedale terrier. Lingo hired Jim Thorpe to put together an all-American football spectacle of men and dogs - a truly unforgettable mark of NFL history.
With the soul of a true marketer, Lingo would lure audiences to his games with the promise of an outrageous halftime show, instead of the promise of good football - the Indians won only three games in two years. Indeed, it was the halftime activities that were more important than the results of the game for the crowds of football fans and those just plain curious.
Lingo used his own Airedale terrier magazine, "Oorang Comments," to get dog and football enthusiasts buzzing about his product and his team, writing "Let me tell you about my big publicity stunt. You know Jim Thorpe, don’t you, the Sac and Fox Indian, the world’s greatest athlete, who won the all-around championship at the Olympic Games in Sweden in 1912?" Well, Thorpe is in our organization."
Thorpe was paid 500 bucks a week to organize the team, a great sum for the time for a great undertaking - one might call it "The Greatest Show on Turf," (pre-dating, of course, the St. Louis Rams).
Lingo and Thorpe's team consisted of 50 Native Americans, including such names as War Eagle, and Big Bear - the kind of football names that would make an opponent sweat. Heck, the name Big Bear could have made a bear sweat, especially since one of the halftime events was bear wrestling.
But bear wrestling? That was just a sideshow.
"The climax was an exhibition of what the United States Indian scouts did during the war (WWI) against German troops," Lingo recollected. "Airedale Red Cross dogs giving first aid...Many of the scouts and Red Cross dogs taking part in the event were real veterans of the war...German troops were impersonated by local American Legion men who wore German uniforms furnished by my organization. What do you think of that for a publicity stunt for advertising dogs raised in a little Ohio town (LaRue) of a thousand population?"
Lingo would go on to make a million dollars selling Airedales in just one year, during the height of popularity of the Oorang Indians. His team, or at least Jim Thorpe and the Airedales, set the precedent for all NFL halftime shows to be measured from there on.
During this year's Superbowl, Springsteen will take the stage and sing his patriotic heart out. If fans are lucky, "The Boss" knows about this historical team, and its halftime spectacular of the hero men and dogs of WWI - and maybe, just maybe, he'll sing all about it.
Just don't expect him to step off the stage to wrestle any bears.
Scott Michalak - Scott Michalak was born in Buffalo, New York, and has since traveled and lived in places such as England, Belgium, Australia, and around ...
