At Linfield's
first home football game of the 2014 season -- Homecoming Oct. 11 vs. George Fox on Maxwell Field -- Wildcat fans will hear a new voice over the Memorial
Stadium public address system.
Dr. Stephen Teal, who served
31 years as Linfield Athletics team doctor before retiring in 2005, will be at
the microphone previously used by Craig Singletary. See Wildcatville Nov. 13,
2013, posting about Singletary here.
Learn more about Dr. Teal in the boxed brief above from the 2001 Linfield Football media guide and also in the
Dec. 10, 2005, McMinnville News-Register story below (when Dr. Teal retired from
practicing medicine). [On 10/4/2014, Wildcatville learned Dr. Teal apparently has work as a radio station disc jockey in his background. So that gives him experience behind the microphone.]
Dr. Stephen Teal will be
retiring at the end of the year, capping a 31-year career as an orthopedic
surgeon.
In addition to operating a
private practice, he has served as the Linfield College Athletic Department's
team physician.
The 62-year-old doctor, a
1,500-hour instrument-rated private pilot, will use his Cessna to travel a new
path as an Angel Flight pilot. He said he'll fly to anywhere in the Northwest
states, including Alaska, to transport patients.
Teal also plans to serve as
an independent medical evaluator, offering case reviews for other physicians
when they request an experienced, objective outside look. Again relying on his
plane and pilot skills, he will fly anywhere in the region to conduct such
reviews, he said.
The Oregon-born physician
completed his post-graduate fellowship in sports medicine and major
reconstructive surgery of arthritis in Denver in January 1974. He said he was
eager to return to his roots, and had heard that a small college in McMinnville
might be in need of a team physician.
He described the ensuing
31-year career as a "constant learning environment."
"It's a very exciting
field," Teal said. "You're constantly growing and learning.
"So many things we take
for granted now - MRIs, 3-D CT scans - didn't exist 30 years ago. Total joint
replacement and arthroscopy were only in their infancy."
Teal said he has enjoyed
being part of a local community that he described as "a gem."
"It's wonderful to have
friends and neighbors come see me and to have them as patients," he said.
"They live here for the same reasons I live here."
Teal said that his
colleagues in the local medical community have made his years in McMinnville
that much more enjoyable.
"I can't say enough
nice things about the people I've had the privilege of working with," he
said. "When other community hospitals have folded, ours has grown,
expanded, built anew, and flourished with top medical facilities and capabilities.
The people here are top-flight."
When he's not taking to the
air, Teal said, he hopes to spend more time skiing, golfing, mountain biking,
kayaking and enjoying time with his granddaughter. He also will continue to
tune in Wildcat football on the Internet.
"You have to have a life that's balanced," he said.
