Hat's off to thee Johnny Campbell: Cheerleading pioneer

[Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0]

I get these trivia questions sent to my personal email (Yes, I'm a trivia nerd) and today one of the questions was about where cheerleading was invented. Here's the answer:

The Minnesota Gophers have always been serious about their school spirit. So serious, in fact, that they invented cheerleading. In 1898, University of Minnesota student Johnny Campbell led an organized cheer at a University of Minnesota game using the cheer "Rah, Rah, Rah! Ski-u-mah, Hoo-Rah! Hoo-Rah! Varsity! Varsity! Varsity, Minn-e-So-Tah!" The cheer is still used today by students at the University of Minnesota. Minnesota’s 17-6 win was credited in part to Campbell’s cheer, and cheerleading quickly spread to other universities around the country.

I'm ashamed to say I answered wrong but thought it was worth a share!

 

[BilldGopher]

Yep, whenever introducing a fellow FB fan who knows nothing about M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A, I'm sure to mention the U is the birthplace of cheerleading...

It's a little easier than relaying the history of our oldest cheer itself....

 

[60's Guy]

Crazy stuff! If my math is right? Nov 12th will be the 125th anniversary for the invention of cheerleading. We should celebrate with a party or something? 1898 Gopher Football Team coached by Jack Minds. Beat Northwestern 17 to 6 on Nov 12th. We finished 4 and 5 on the season. We played 8 home games. Lost to Wisconsin at Randall Field 29 to nothing.
We opened the season by crushing Carleton. We got shut out by the Alumni to lose 5-0. Bounced back with a win over Rush Medical.
Gophers 1898