Harold Pogue

Harold Pogue (November 25, 1893 – October 23, 1969) was an American football player and businessman. He played quarterback and halfback for Robert Zuppke's University of Illinois football teams and was selected as a first-team All-American in 1914. He later served as a member of the University of Illinois' Board of Trustees for 17 years.

Biography

University of Illinois

Pogue was born in Sullivan, Illinois, and enrolled at the University of Illinois in 1912. As a freshman, Pogue was slightly built, weighed 142 pounds, and wore thick glasses. He tried out for the freshman football team as a quarterback, but he was cut from the team because he was too small.

In the spring of 1913, Illinois' head football coach Robert Zuppke saw Pogue compete at a track meet and invited him to football practice in the fall. He was Zuppke's starting quarterback in 1913. In the second week of the 1913 season, Pogue scored three touchdowns against the University of Missouri, leading a Chicago newspaper to write, "Pogue's performance stamps him as one of the greatest quarterbacks in Illinois history." In his fifth game for the Illini, Pogue returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown against the University of Chicago at Stagg Field, but he suffered a shoulder injury that caused him to miss the remainder of the season.

Pogue

Pogue is pejorative military slang for non-combat, staff, and other rear-echelon or support units. "Pogue" frequently includes those who don't have to undergo the stresses that the infantry does.

History and etymology

It supposedly has been used in the United States Navy and Marine Corps since before World War II, but did not enter Army terminology until some time after the Vietnam War.

Originally, the term was a sexual insult in early twentieth century gay culture, and "pogue" was slang for a young male would who submit to homosexual advances.

"Pogue" was never originally spelled "pog", nor is it an acronym. The spelling change from "pogue" to "POG" may be a confusion with the verb "póg", meaning "to kiss" in Irish Gaelic. The common Irish insult "póg mo thóin" literally means "kiss my ass." The Irish punk band "the Pogues" derived their name from that phrase. Coincidentally, the spelling itself is anglicized "pogue", since "pog" is pronounced like the word "rogue."

Due to having lost contact with its linguistic source, the modern military vernacular has turned "pogue" into a retronym/backronym (Personnel Other than Grunts).

Pogue (surname)

Pogue is a derogatory term.

Pogue is also the name of:

See also