Photo of Arthur M. Brumback, A. M., President of McMinnville
College, July 1, 1903 to July 1, 1905, from Baptist Annals of Oregon Volume II,
1913, by Rev. Charles Hiram Mattoon. As a Linfield faculty member, Brumback
organized Linfield’s first football team in 1896. He was the team’s
coach/player for five seasons before being appointed college president in 1903.
Story by Danielle Harrison, Smoke
Signals staff
writer, 7/8/2021
Photo
by Timothy Sofranko, Linfield photographer
(Smoke Signals is the independent Tribal newspaper of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. It publishes twice a month, as well as on the Internet.)
McMINNVILLE -- After learning that a private
two-block street on its campus was named after a former science professor who
had stolen Native American burial artifacts, Linfield University chose to right
a wrong.
In November 2020, the Board of Trustees
recommended removing the name of A.M. Brumback from the campus street and
creating a commission to discuss replacement names.
The committee, which included students,
faculty and staff, invited Cultural Resources Department Manager David
Harrelson to join the group in proposing a new name centered on the Indigenous
people who had been there since time immemorial. Specifically, Linfield
University is located on what is the traditional territory of the “Yam Hill”
band of the Kalapuya people.
The committee considered six possible names
and unanimously voted to support Lakamas Lane as the new street name.
“It has been a privilege to support members of
the renaming committee … with this effort,” Harrelson wrote in a letter to
Linfield University President Miles K. Davis. “Their commitment to learning and
inclusion was always at the forefront of our conversations. After much
thoughtful deliberation, the committee has selected Lakamas Lane. I am writing
to enthusiastically support the recommendation of the committee to rename
Brumback Street to Lakamas Lane.
“Lakamas is the Chinuk Wawa name for the
blue-flowered camas plant that was and continues to be an important food of our
people. At the time of early Euro-American settlement of the Willamette Valley,
camas was so thick in areas that the patches of blooming flowers were confused
as lakes from a distance. This name honors the people and lifeways of the
Kalapuya people who are the Indigenous people of the Willamette Valley.”
While the word “lacamas” exists in other parts
of the Pacific Northwest, such as Lacamas Lake in Clark County, Wash.,
“lakamas” is unique to Chinuk Wawa and makes Linfield University the only place
in the world where one can find Lakamas Lane.
The Board of Trustees unanimously approved the
name change at its May 1 meeting. Since then, signage has been updated and all
students living on campus will have their mail delivered to the new address.
“David was instrumental in providing
leadership, guidance and knowledge, and was generous with his time,” a
committee statement said. “His willingness to engage with the university in
this renaming effort has led us to envision a fruitful and collaborative future
between Linfield and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.”
Linfield’s McMinnville campus also is home to
large remnant patches of camas that, under intentional management, thrive
around Cozine Creek.
Photo: (Linfield) University Facilities Department employee Darrell
Driver recently erected a new street sign after the school decided to rename a
street that was named after a former science professor who stole Native
American burial artifacts. The new name, Lakamas, means “camas,” which is a
traditional Native American first food.
Story includes
information from Linfield News.
::::::::::::::::::::
LINFIELD
UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE
NOVEMBER
13, 2020
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, A.M. Brumback, a science professor and later president (1903-1905) at then McMinnville College, engaged around the year 1900 in desecration and theft of burial artifacts and human remains from Native American burial mounds in the region.
WHEREAS, Linfield University is currently engaged in the
inventory of these and other artifacts to help facilitate communication with
and repatriation to the relevant tribes impacted.
WHEREAS, Brumback Street, named for A.M. Brumback, is a
private road connecting Renshaw Avenue and Lever Street near the Observatory on
Linfield University’s McMinnville campus.
Be it therefore resolved that the Linfield University Board
of Trustees recommends the removal of A.M. Brumback’s name from the campus
street. A small commission shall be convened to discuss potential replacement
names before the Board convenes in February 2021.
::::::::
Lakamas
Lane on the McMinnville campus
The
Board of Trustees approved the resolution to change the name on May 1, 2021.
A
committee of students, faculty and staff has been working through the spring
semester to consider a new name for the road. After months of meetings and
research, the group proposed the new name.
The committee sought
guidance and support from the Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde to consider a name of historic significance to the
geography and indigenous peoples of the McMinnville area. A representative from
Grand Ronde worked closely with the committee to help determine six possible
names, and ultimately the committee voted unanimously on Lakamas Lane.
In the
Chinuk Wawa language, “Lakamas” is the word for camas. Camas is a primary
historic food staple of the Kalapuya, the indigenous people of the Willamette
Valley. While the word Lacamas exists in other parts of the Northwest, Lakamas
(with a “k”) is unique to Chinuk Wawa, a language spoken by the Kalapuya
people, and would therefore be unique to Linfield and the only place in the
world where one would find a Lakamas Lane.
Camas
is an edible tuber with a blue or purple flower that blooms annually.
While camas is an important traditional food to the Kalapuya, it is also
broadly significant across the Pacific Northwest, California and inter-mountain
west. This is a traditional food that is broadly recognizable to many native
peoples who are or may become students at Linfield. Additionally,
Linfield’s McMinnville campus is home to large remnant patches of camas that,
under intentional management, continue to thrive around Cozine Creek.
Find out more information
and background on the renaming of Lakamas Lane.
https://inside.linfield.edu/lakamas-lane/index.html
The New Lakamas
Lane On the McMinnville Campus
The
Linfield University Board of Trustees passed a resolution in November 2020
requesting a committee of students, faculty and staff to consider a new name
for a two-block private road on the McMinnville campus. The committee assembled
and began meeting early the following year, eventually voting unanimously that
the road should be known as Lakamas Lane. The Board of Trustees approved that
recommendation in a second resolution on May 1, 2021.
The
committee reached out to the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde early in its
deliberations, asking for guidance about whether Linfield might consider a name
of historic significance to the geography and indigenous peoples of the
McMinnville area. A representative from Grand Ronde then worked with the
committee through the spring to consider six alternatives, before the group
eventually settled upon Lakamas Lane.
In
the Chinuk Wawa language, “Lakamas” is the word for camas. Camas is a primary
historic food staple of the Kalapuya, the indigenous people of the Willamette
Valley. It’s an edible tuber with a blue or purple flower that blooms
annually, and there are remanent patches that bloom to this day on the
McMinnville campus.
The
new name will take effect as soon as is reasonably possible, before July 1,
2021. The campus post office is on Lakamas Lane, so all student correspondence
will go to that address beginning with the 2021-22 academic year.
The committee would like to extend its heartfelt
appreciation to the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. In particular David
Harrelson, Cultural Resources Department Manager and Tribal Historic
Preservation Officer. David was instrumental in providing leadership, guidance
and knowledge, and generous with his time. His willingness to engage with the
university in this renaming effort has led us to envision a fruitful and
collaborative future between Linfield and the Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde.
Lakamas Lane
Renaming Committee Members
Kathy Cook,
Administrative Assistant
Isis Hatcher ’21,
student
Scott Nelson ’94,
Associate Vice President
Gerardo Ochoa,
Special Assistant to the President
Rich Schmidt,
Director of Archives
Michayla Sponsel ’21,
Student Trustee
Leslie Walker,
Instructional Associate SOAN
Natalie Welch,
Assistant Professor of Business
Sam Williams, Chief
Information Officer
Keaton Wood ’21,
student
::::::::::::::::::::
Guest
writer Sal Peralta: Event an invitation to lean in and learn
McMinnville N-R/News-Register 4/22/2022
With so much recent controversy over how and
whether critical issues related to U.S. history should be taught, I’m glad to
live in a community where institutions are open to revisiting their historical
mistakes and taking steps to correct them.
On May 6, Linfield University, the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde and the Greater Yamhill Watershed Council are hosting
McMinnville’s first ever Camas Festival from 1 to 2 p.m. in Linfield’s Oak
Grove.
Camas lilies were one of the main food sources
and chief agricultural commodities for native tribes, ranging from the Pacific
Northwest to Montana. At one time, they were so plentiful settlers coming west
on the Oregon trail wrote in their journals that they would mistake the blue
camas meadows for lakes in the distance.
The event will honor the work of Linfield
faculty and students, Watershed Council staff and community volunteers in
restoring legacy camas patches on the college campus and neighboring
properties. During the past several years, thousands of hours have gone into
restoring areas along the Cozine creek, leading to discovery of some sites that
were likely significant to people who lived here prior to Oregon’s colonial
settlement.
The festival will also take another step toward
making amends for former university president and science professor A.M.
Brumback, who, according to the university’s executive board, “engaged in
desecration and theft of burial artifacts and human remains from Native
American burial mounds in the region.”
The university is in the process of cataloging
these artifacts with the intent of repatriating them to the tribes from which
they were stolen.
Last fall, the school took a first step toward
acknowledging these harms when it worked with the city of McMinnville to rename
Brumback Street to Lakamas Lane, Lakamas being the Chinuk Wawa word for camas.
This renaming honors both the heritage of this place and community efforts to
restore camas along the Cozine and Yamhill watersheds.
The event also gives us an opportunity to think
more deeply about America’s history in relation to the tribes, which is not
something most of us reflect on very often.
I first learned about the nation’s western
expansion in first or second grade, watching a Saturday morning Schoolhouse
Rock cartoon called “Elbow Room.”
It covered the Louisiana Purchase, bravery of
westward settlers, expanding rail system, Sacagawea and even “fights for
property rights.” But it did not explain how the French came to “own” the land
in question when it was already inhabited, or what happened to those who were
summarily displaced.
I never learned in public schools about the
court cases brought by Native tribes from 1823 to 1831, in which the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that members of native tribes could not own land. The
ruling was based on the “doctrine of discovery,” a 15th century idea that
European monarchies used to justify claiming “heathen” lands in the name of
Christ. Living in Yamhill County, the shunting aside of Native American tribes
is also hard to ignore. The evidence is all around us.
Fort Yamhill, just a stone’s throw from Spirit
Mountain Casino, enabled local militias to keep watch on the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde after Gen. Phil Sheridan left with his garrison to
fight in the Civil War.
Prior to moving here in 2002, I had never heard
the term “Confederated Tribes.” That term was coined in the period between 1855
and 1857, when the US government forced an array of tribes in Western Oregon
and Northern California — more than 30 tribes speaking more than a dozen
different languages — to relocate to Grand Ronde.
On the longest of these marches, the Rogue River
Trail of Tears, the Shasta and Rogue River tribes were forced to march 263
miles in 33 days from Klamath Falls to Grand Ronde.
The mistreatment of Oregon tribes continued well
into the 1980s.
In 1954, the federal government passed Public
Laws 587 and 588, which terminated federal recognition of all tribes west of
the Cascades and seized their land. It incorporated some of the land into
national forests and sold the rest to timber companies and land speculators for
$1 an acre.
Reservations like the Klamath, originally more
than 1 million acres, were reduced to a few hundred acres of remnants.
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde did not
have tribal recognition restored by the federal government until 1983, at which
time 9,811 acres were returned. The last element of the restoration was
completed in 1986.
None of us today is responsible for things our
ancestors have done. But we are responsible for finding ways to live up to our
ideals, recognize where we have fallen short, and work to remedy the injustice
where we can.
By those measures, all of us can be proud of the
inaugural Camas Festival. We improve as a society, and develop more resilient
communities, when we lean into the truth of our history and learn from it.
Sal Peralta maintains an enduring interest in public policy, reflected
in a long record of civic involvement. He helped found the Independent Party of
Oregon and has long served as party secretary. He ran unsuccessfully for state
representative and county commissioner before winning appointment, and later
election, to the McMinnville City Council. He shares his home in McMinnville’s
Ward 1 with his wife, Tanya, daughter, Bella, and two dogs. In his leisure
time, he enjoys playing the violin.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Plans
to create the first Camas Fest on the Linfield campus (May 6, 2022) began
in November 2020 “when the university began investigating a new name for a
two-block street on the McMinnville campus. The search led the university to
the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, and together, the groups chose
Lakamas Lane, located a block north of Keck Drive. Lakamas is the word for
camas in the Chinuk Wawa language. Plans soon developed to celebrate camas,
which grows in large numbers on campus.” – 4/29/2022 McMinnville
N-R/News-Register
For
more information visit information (URL link below) posted at Wildcatville on
Sept. 6, 2021:
Linfield's
Lakamas Lane succeeded Brumback Street on Mc Minnville campus
https://wildcatville.blogspot.com/2021/09/signage-at-corner-of-brumback-street.html
#
Photo of Arthur M. Brumback, A. M., President of McMinnville
College, July 1, 1903 to July 1, 1905, from Baptist Annals of Oregon Volume II,
1913, by Rev. Charles Hiram Mattoon
For more information visit information (URL link below) posted at Wildcatville on Sept. 6, 2021:
Linfield's Lakamas Lane succeeded Brumback Street on Mc Minnville campus
https://wildcatville.blogspot.com/2021/09/signage-at-corner-of-brumback-street.html
..................
Larry Ward, former Linfield Wildcats radio play-by-play ‘voice’ to be enshrined in Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame
SODA POP PLAYED A ROLE IN LINFIELD FOOTBALL 1965 BACK-TO-BACK END OF SEASON GAMES
Soda pop played a role in back-to-back end of 1965 season games for Linfield College football.
Those games were in the 1965 NAIA national championship
football playoffs:
COCA-COLA
11/27/1965 vs. Sul
Ross State -- Win 30-27 Midland,
Texas
(Sul Ross is in Alpine, Texas, but the game was played in Midland.)
--After winning the semi-final
game in an upset, the Linfield football
players enjoyed drinking Coca-Cola from glass bottles in its locker room. The
win advanced Linfield to the NAIA championship game.
ROYAL CROWN COLA
12/11/1965 vs. St.
John's (Minn.) -- Loss 33-0 Augusta, Ga.
--This was the NAIA “Champion Bowl.” NFL Baltimore Colts
quarterback Johnny Unitas is/was pictured on the front page of the game’s
printed program. He's holding a glass bottle of Royal Crown Cola.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Yes! In 1965 in Midland,
Texas: Things (did) Go Better with Coca-Cola for football ‘Cats after upsetting
Sul Ross
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/17663360/1116872531708850342
1965 in Midland, Texas:
Things (did) Go Better with Coca-Cola for football ‘Cats after beating Sul Ross
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/17663360/1967585057622437204
(Also known as Esther Margaret Wright and Esther Margaret
Erickson.)
Born
1901 in Madison, South Dakota.
Died
1942 in North Bend, Washington.
== Oregonian
June 18, 1921: Esther Margaret Wright graduated from Lincoln High School,
Portland, Oregon
==
When she wrote the Linfield College Alma Mater music and lyrics she was attending McMinnville College. It became Linfield College in January 1922, during the
1921-1922 academic year. That was her freshman year at the college. Perhaps it
happened soon after the college name change?
==Sunday
Oregonian, July 22, 1924, story includes info about Miss Esther Margaret
Wright offering two vocal numbers at an event. “Miss Wright is a senior in the
Linfield college of music, and is regarded as one of the most promising students,
artistically, of that institution. Her voice is fresh and clear, and she has
never failed to make a profound impression.”
==Sunday
Oregonian, March 8, 1925, reports on Esther Margaret Wright of Portland
giving her senior vocal recital at the music hall of Linfield. “Miss Wright is
active in student activities, being a member of the women’s glee club and the
college octet, also a member of the Kappa Alpha Phi sorority. She will receive
a bachelor of music degree with the graduating class in June, having been a
vocal student of Anna Lavinia Beebe, instructor of voice, during the past four
years.”
==Sunday
Oregonian,March 29, 1925, photo of Linfield Octet with cutline showing
Esther Wright, an alto singer, in the octet. Cutline says the octet made of
tour of eastern and western Washington with stops in Yakima, Kennewick,
Sunnyside, Puyallup and Olympia.
==Sunday
Oregonian, June 17, 1928, wedding story includes that the Rev. Harris David
Erickson’s hometown is Mount Vernon, Wash. The wedding was held in First Baptist
church, presumably in Portland. After August 1, the Rev. and Mrs. Erickson will
be at home at Sunnyvale, California, where Rev. Erickson is pastor of the
Baptist church.
==Oregonian, Aug.
5, 1931, said Esther lives in Los Angeles where her husband is pastor of the
Atherton Baptist church.
==Seattle
Times, May 21, 1942, includes obituary headlined, “Mrs. Erickson’s Funeral
Will Be Tomorrow.” Funeral services for Mrs. Ether Wright Erickson, wife of the
Rev. Harris David Erickson, professor of philosophy at Seattle Pacific College,
will be held at 3 o’clock tomorrow in Queen Anne Baptist Church. She died in
North Bend Sunday. Since coming to Seattle five years ago, Mrs. Erickson has
been an active member of the University Baptist Church, the Philomel Singers,
Seattle Pacific College Faculty Wives Club, the Seattle and the college’s Red
Cross chapter. She also was a member of Mu Phi Epsilon, honorary music society.
She composed many sacred solos for contralto voice, her chorus “Heritage” being
presented by the Philomel Singers at their 1941 winter concert. She also wrote
the Alma Mater song for Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon. Before her
marriage, she was music supervisor for public schools in Heppner, Oregon. She
lived at 3210 Fourth Ave. W. Surviving besides her husband are twin sons,
Claiborne Reed Erickson and James Wright Erickson, 13 years old; a brother, C.
C. Wright, Burlingame, Calif., and her father, D. C. Wright, Portland, Or., who
for 21 years was executive secretary of Oregon Baptist State Convention.
==Eugene
(Oregon) Guard, May 24, 1942, headline “Mrs. Esther Wright Erickson
Dies.” Text: Mrs. Harris Erickson (Esther Wright) of Seattle, daughter of Dr.
O.C. Wright, former pastor of the Eugene Baptist church died Sunday, May 17, at
North Bend, Wash., while assisting her husband, Rev. Harris Erickson, with
church services. She died from a heart attack. Mrs. Erickson was born in
Madison, S. D., lived in Eugene as a child, graduated from Linfield College in
1925 and the University of Oregon in 1926 with the B.A. degree in music. She
was supervisor of music in the Heppner schools for two and a half years and
married Mr. Erickson in 1928. Besides her husband she leaves twin sons James
Wright Erickson and Claiborne Reed Erickson, age 13. Services were held May 22
in Seattle from Queen Anne Baptist church with the president of Seattle Pacific
College in charge, Mr. Erickson being a teacher at that institution.
==Info
elsewhere: Esther Margaret Wright was born October 9 1901, in Madison, Lake
County, South Dakota. She died May 17, 1942 in North Bend, Wash. Thus, she was
40 years old. She and Harris David Erickson, also a member of Linfield Class of
1925, married in 1928. He died at age 93 in 1996.
:::::::
Linfield's Alma Mater
"We’ll Be Loyal"
We’ll
be loyal to old Linfield
With
her backing never yield
Each
day will bring some vict’ry
One
more honor for her shield.
The
Old Oak gives us courage
Keeps
us steadfast in our way
For
her we’ll fight will all our might
Alma
Mater, we’re loyal to you!
You
may search all Linfield’s hist’ry
For
one more of disloyalty
Each
student upholds her spirit
With
her loyal faculty
Linfield’s
friendships are the truest
They’ll
back you in each test
For
her we’ll fight will all our might
Alma
Mater, we’re loyal to you!
::::::
Based
on an Aug. 24, 2018, posting at Wildcatville:
Linfield
Alma Mater lyrics include “The Old Oak gives us courage…”
The
Old Oak fell on Jan. 8, 2008. A newspaper story at the time said the Old Oak,
an 80-foot tall white oak, “stood majestic when Linfield was founded 150 years
ago.” It was estimated to be 200-250 years old when disease caused its death.
Debbie
Harmon Ferry of Linfield College said the Linfield Alma Mater “still references
the Old Oak, but we now tend to use ‘the old oaks give us courage’ – referring
to the oaks in the Oak Grove, not the Old Oak itself.”
By
Robert Matsumura, Contributing Writer, McMinnville Community Advantage
Magazine, April-May 2022
If you're a fan of college football, doubtless names like
the "Crimson Tide," "Fighting Irish," and "Buckeyes"
require no explanation. They speak for themselves. However, if you don't follow
NCAA Division III football, you might not realize that one of the nation's most
successful football programs resides right down the street in McMinnville,
Oregon. None of the haloed Division I teams cited above can match the
accomplishments of the Linfield University Wildcats.
It started on an autumn day, October 6, 1956. Great things
often have humble beginnings, and for Linfield football this was certainly the
case. While it would have been more dramatic if the Wildcats' win that day had
been defined by a scintillating highlight moment—a miraculous last minute catch
in the end zone, or a gutty goal line stand—such was not the case.
Linfield had just suffered back-to-back losing seasons, and
the 1956 campaign looked like more of the same. The opponent that Saturday was
the Seattle Ramblers, a semi-pro team on a tear, who had defeated the Wildcats
the previous year, and dominated the conference titles over the last 14 seasons.
Against the odds, Linfield managed to defeat the Ramblers 13-7. From that game
on, the Wildcats wouldn't lose another game that season. This win over the
Ramblers marked the beginning of what has become known as the
"Streak."
Paul Ward, who played guard on the '56 team, recalled:
"Once we had a winning season, we knew we could win. We had to experience
it and build up over the years."
For a team composed of small town kids and Korean War
veterans attending college on the GI Bill, they had no idea that their victory
over the Ramblers that fateful October day would be the start of the
"Streak."
The "Streak," which has now extended to 65
consecutive winning seasons as of 2021, is the longest active winning streak in
NCAA history at any level. No other team is even close to this record, with the
next in line coming in at 42.
In retrospect, Ward admits no one at the time had any idea
of what was to come. "I guarantee you that in 1956, nobody had any idea
there would be any kind of streak," he said. "We were just happy that
we could get through the season with a win.
"It was coach Paul Durham's team that started the
"Streak," but it is a testament to the pride, tradition, and
dedication to excellence, fostered by successive coaches over the last six
decades, that is responsible for Linfield's relentless march through the NCAA
history books.
Looming at the forefront of the Mount Rushmore of Linfield
football coaches is Ad Rutschman. Hired as head football coach in 1968,
Rutschman continued the winning tradition until his retirement in 1991.
Rutschman not only coached football, but baseball as well. Rutschman is still
the only coach at any level to win national titles in both football and
baseball. In his 24 seasons as Linfield's head football coach, Rutschman won
three NAIA national championships (1982, 1984, 1986), and 15 Northwest
Conference titles.
Perhaps Rutschman's most epic victory occurred in the 1984
national championship game, where Linfield trailed Northwestern of
Iowa 22-0 with just over three minutes left in the third quarter. Against all
odds, the Wildcats roared back to win the game 33-22. In addition to coaching
football and baseball, Rutschman also served as Athletic Director for 25 years,
during which time the school's athletic facilities were greatly improved. Among
these improvements were two new gymnasiums, a baseball stadium, and the 26,600
square foot field house named in honor of Rutschman and his wife Joan, for
their dedication and service over 27 years to Linfield University.
From 1992 to 2005, Linfield's football program was led by Ed
Langsdorf (1992-95) and Jay Locey (1996 -2005). Both coaches kept up the
winning tradition. Langsdorf's brief tenure resulted in a record of 32-9-1 and
three championships. Locey's tally at the end of his Linfield career was a
stellar 84-18 and six championships, including one NCAA Division III title.
During one stretch of his impressive career, Locey coached the team to a
41-game win streak.
In 2006, the future of Linfield football was turned over to
Joseph Smith, and he has not only continued the "Streak" but pushed
the school into the NCAA record books. Under Smith's leadership Linfield has
amassed an incredible record of 138-27, with a .836 win percentage, the highest
percentage of any coach in Linfield history.
When Smith, a former defensive back for Linfield in the 90s,
took over in 2006, he was well aware of the legacy he was responsible for and
described his role as that of a "caretaker." With Locey's departure,
Smith understood that the decision to hire him had been carefully considered.
"It couldn't be someone from the outside to come in and run the
program," Smith explained. "We had to maintain who we are. If we lost
that, we're just another school."
The Smith era at Linfield has been nothing short of remarkable.
For a school that offers no football scholarships, a modest budget for
athletics, and typically doesn't attract big time recruits with NFL aspirations
and talent, the question remains: "How does Linfield do it?" How do
the Wildcats continue to churn out victories, winning seasons, and
championships? Ultimately, how do they keep the "Streak" alive?
Smith credits a
number of factors, foremost of which is the sense of family that permeates the
entire Wildcat program. Caring for one another. This intense trust that grows
from respect and brotherhood is interwoven with a blue-collar work ethic of
toughness and a thirst for excellence.
Ryan Carlson, a
defensive star on the 90s era teams, sums it up beautifully: "Once you're
in our Linfield family, you're connected to 60 years of people who have had
those core principles shape their young lives. Those life experiences continue
to breed an incredible amount of love and loyalty towards the program." As
inspiration to his players, Smith periodically invites guest speakers to
address the team. One of the speakers, Bretton Brown, an Army Ranger and a
friend of Smith's, imparted words from the Rangers' credo that resonated with
the team: "We are Men of Action. We do the heavy lifting. We are the
walls, and we are the hammer.”
So next fall, as
Linfield continues on its historic march through the NCAA record books, take a
moment to appreciate what six decades of commitment to family, grit, and
excellence can achieve. As Coach Smith reflected, "From Coach Durham to
Coach Rutschman, to now, the secret to this place has been that we have really
good people coming and being part of a really good program. When you focus on
excellence and put the team first and you're a man of your word, great things
happen." The "Streak" lives on!
#
