Best part of the song is the organ intro.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Ed Langsdorf and John Elway: More in common than just football
Photo (July 2008 ) shows the football field and track at Lincoln Middle School in Pullman, Wash. Linfield’s Ed Langsdorf and Pro Football Hall of Famer John Elway have more in common than just football.
The co
mmonalities i
nclude Washington State University (WSU) in
Ed, a former head and assistant football coach at Linfield, earned a master's degree (1969, physical education) at WSU, alma mater of his wife, Jan, and her parents.
While in
And, John Elway (photo, above right)? He attended and was an athlete for 7th and 8th grades at
John's father, WSU grad/former WSU quarterback Jack Elway, was an assistant football coach at Washington State before the Elways left Pullman for California. There, John was a quarterback in high school (graduated from
So, did Ed coach John in football while both were in
Based on a review of dates when Langsford and the Elways were in
But, back to John Elway. When you read biographies about him, his time in
For the record,
What may have been the first time John’s name was in print was in the
In Missoula in 1970 as a sixth grader, John ran for either six or four touchdowns -- reports differ about the exact number -- in the first half in the first football game in which he played.
In Pullman, he competed on 7th and 8th grade teams at Lincoln. Immediately before John arrived in
While glimmers of the football player John Elway was to become appear in the Herald (see below), if you didn’t know you’d guess he went on to become an outstanding basketball player. If that had happened, George Raveling, former WSU men’s basketball coach, would have been right.
From sixth to ninth grade Elway took part in Raveling's summer Cougar Cage Camps at WSU. Raveling envisioned Elway being a great basketball player.
But, Jack envisioned his son being a great quarterback in football. However, John thought his best position was running back. “…Jack had to convince him that his best position was quarterback, not halfback,” said one story.
Pullman Herald articles which mention John Elway when he lived/went to school in Pullman include:
Feb 17, 1972- “Elway Added.” Jack Elway hired as a WSU football assistant coach. “The Elways have three children: Lee Ann, 13, and twins John Jr., and Jana, 11.”
Sept 25, 1975-“Pullman frosh drop verdict late in game.” Rushing for Pullman High School frosh football team in game with Sacajawea (of Lewiston, Idaho) included “John Elway minus three yards.” Pullman lost 8-6.
Oct 2, 1975-“Orofino next ‘Hounds frosh fall.” Pullman High frosh football team (lost 20-6) rushing stats included John Elway 14 yards.
Oct 9, 1975-“Defense fails Pullman frosh fall.” PHS frosh football team lost 18-6 to Orofino (Idaho). “John Elway set up Pullman’s lone touchdown on a 50-yard run….Elway was 0-2 in passing.
Oct 16, 1975-“Frosh squad wins again.” Story lead: “Pullman’s John Elway game Jenifer of Lewiston a one-man show in the first half as the Pullman High freshman football squad ran to a 34-6 victory.” Story includes, “Elway scored on a five-yard run in the first quarter and then on a 26-yard romp in the second.” Also, “Brent Meyer had Pullman’s lone reception from Elway for 43 yards.”
Oct 30, 1975-“Frosh close season by blitzing Moscow.” Story lead: “John Elway scored a pair of touchdowns and passed for another as the Pullman High School freosh walked to a 34-12 football victory over Moscow High School last week.” Story includes: “Elway scored on runs of five and one yard and passed 13 yards to Ed Rhon for another….” In the first quarter, after a punt block, “Pullman quickly moved it in with Elway breaking for the five-yard score.” Early in the second quarter, “Elway gave Pullman an 18-0 lead…on a one-yard plunge.” Game stats included “Elway was four for seven for 39 yards in the passing department” and gained 14 yards rushing.
Nov 20, 1975-“Frosh defense does the impossible…” In its 3-3-1 season, Pullman High frosh football team shut out all of its opponets in the first quarter. Season stats included John Elway gaining 197 net yards. Story includes, “Pullman wasn’t noted for its passing attack” and “Elway, who passed for 87 yards, averaged 29.1 yards per kick in the punting department on 10 boots.”
Dec 11, 1975-“Big third quarter lifts PHS frosh to a 62-41 victory.” Pullman boys’ frosh football team beat Moscow 62-41. John Elway scored 10 points.
Dec 18, 1975-“John Elway cans 47 points as frosh beat Dogs, Bantams.” Story lead: “John Elway pumped in 47 points last weekend to lead the Pullman High School frosh to two victories.” In the game, “Elway, hitting from all angles, had 21” points and 15 rebounds against the Clarkston Bantams. Against the Colfax Bulldogs, Elway scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to bring Pullman from behind.
Dec 25, 1975-“Frosh suffer first setback.” Prior to a two week winter break, Pullman High School freshman boys’ basketball team lost to Colfax 60-57 in overtime. John Elway scored 27 points. In another game in the same week, Pullman beat Sacajawea in Lewiston, 47-39. Elway scored 14 points and had 10 rebounds.
Jan 22, 1976-“PHS Frosh roll.” John Elway scored 23 points as the PHS freshman boys’ basketball team 62-36.
Feb 5, 1976-“Elway paces PHS frosh in sweep.” He had 21 points in a 52-47 win over Sacajawea and 28 points in a 75-41 over Moscow. Story includes, “The 5-7 Elway is averaging 21.0 points per game.”
Feb 19, 1976-“PHS frosh win 11th straight.” PHS boys’ freshman basketball team beat Jenifer of Lewiston, 47-28. Story includes, “John Elway led Pullman once again. The 5-7 Elway hit 26 points. Elway is averaging 23.1 points per game on the season and has scored 26 points or more in each of Pullman’s last three games.”
Feb 26, 1976-“Record breaking frosh finish season 17-1.” The Pullman High School boys’ freshman basketball team closed its season as the best Pullman ninth grade team in history…Pullman beat Orofino 56-36 (John Elway 18 points) and Moscow 86-45 (24 points).
May 18, 1976-“Pitchers hold key to Hounds’ season.” Preview for Pullman High School baseball season includes “…with freshman John Elway getting a look at both shortstop and second base.”
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Passing of Elmer C. Fricke, former Linfield Athletic Ticket manager
Photo of a Linfield Wildcats button, provided by a Linfield grad who attended Linfield 1966-1970.
Elmer C. Fricke served as Linfield Athletic Ticket manager before Joan Rutschman took over the duties. Of Mr. Fricke, Mrs. Rutschman said, he was “very helpful, very good.” And, there's another Linfield Athletics connection with the Fricke family. For many years, Print Northwest of McMinnville has printed the award-winning Linfield football media guide. Owner/operator of the firm is Mr. Fricke’s son, Eric Fricke, Linfield Class of 1980.
Published Feb.22, 2007, McMinnville News-Register
1920-2007
Services for Elmer C. Fricke of McMinnville will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, at McMinnville First Baptist Church. The Rev. Kent Harrop will officiate.
Private family interment will be conducted at the Evergreen Memorial Park mausoleum. Arrangements are under the direction of Macy & Son Funeral Directors, which will be open for visitation from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Feb. 22-23.
Mr. Fricke died Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007, at the Willamette Valley Medical Center in McMinnville. He was 86.
Born Nov. 4, 1920, in Chicago, he was the son of Charles Henry and Anna (Deitrich Fricke. He worked as a draftsman for the City of Chicago while attending the Illinois Institute of Technology. He served as a medic in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
He came to McMinnville to attend Linfield College, graduating with a degree in mathematics in 1953. He received his master's degree from the University of Michigan the following year.
He married Myrtle Miller on Oct. 20, 1956, in Berlin, Ohio. They came to Oregon so he could work on his doctorate at Oregon State University.
He taught at Linfield for 28 years, serving as a professor of mathematics and computer science. He established Linfield's computer science program. He also owned and managed the Walnut City Mobile Lodge.
Mr. Fricke was a co-founder of Gallery Theater. He served on the McMinnville School Board and the Yamhill Education Service District Board. He was a member of the McMinnville Kiwanis Club and McMinnville First Baptist Church.
At the church, he served as treasurer and sang in the choir. He also played a leadership role in Pioneer Pantry, a lunch program for seniors.
Sports Illustrated article in 1993 about Ad Rutschman
Freelancer Bob Welch, as this is written a columnist for the Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard, wrote this story in 1993 for Sports Illustrated. But, eventually SI made a decision not to print it. Instead, it appeared in both the McMinnville (Ore.) News-Register and the Hillsboro (Ore.) Argus. It was in the N-R’s Saturday, July 31, 1993 edition. That was the same day Ad Rutschman was inducted in the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. It was in the Argus’ on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 1993. While the newspapers printed the same article, each appears slightly different, apparently due to editing.
N-R headlines--
The X’s and O’s don’t even being to tell you about this Wildcat giantJump head--
Ad: Willamette Valley native born in Hillsboro
Argus headlines—
Rutschman proves ‘nice guys’ do finish first
Jump head—
Just winning was never Ad’s only goal
Three years ago, in the aftermath of a car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down, Jim Winston would lie in a Los Angeles hospital bed and think back to his football days at Linfield College. Back to playing on the 1982 NAIA Division II championship team. But, mostly, back to his coach, Ad Rutschman.
“Tomorrow, you will face adversity on every single play,” Rutschman would often tell his players on the eve of games. “How you react to that adversity will determine who wins. It will be that way tomorrow, five years from now – every single day of your life.”
Rutschman speeches no longer resound beneath Memorial Stadium this fall: after 24 years, he retired as football coach prior to the 1992 season. But Rutschman leaves behind one of the premiere small college programs in the country - the Wildcats have the longest consecutive string of winning seasons, 37, among the 669 National College Athletic Association and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics schools with football programs - his legacy runs deeper.
“In theory, all colleges talk about teaching values and building character,” says Mike Riley, a former Rutschman assistant coach, who was the Wildcats’ defensive coordinator before leaving for the Canadian Football League after the 1982 championship season. “But at Linfield it’s actually done.”
Within days of Winston’s accident, Rutschman was on the telephone to his starting defensive tackle on the 1982 championship team, encouraging him not to quit.
“I’ve never forgotten how he told the team that self pity leads to self destruction,” says Winston, who works on the television series "Golden Girls" and recently got married.
For Rutschman, 61, the game always meant more than X’s and O’s and W’s and L’s.
N-R headlines--
The X’s and O’s don’t even being to tell you about this Wildcat giantJump head--
Ad: Willamette Valley native born in Hillsboro
Argus headlines—
Rutschman proves ‘nice guys’ do finish first
Jump head—
Just winning was never Ad’s only goal
Three years ago, in the aftermath of a car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down, Jim Winston would lie in a Los Angeles hospital bed and think back to his football days at Linfield College. Back to playing on the 1982 NAIA Division II championship team. But, mostly, back to his coach, Ad Rutschman.
“Tomorrow, you will face adversity on every single play,” Rutschman would often tell his players on the eve of games. “How you react to that adversity will determine who wins. It will be that way tomorrow, five years from now – every single day of your life.”
Rutschman speeches no longer resound beneath Memorial Stadium this fall: after 24 years, he retired as football coach prior to the 1992 season. But Rutschman leaves behind one of the premiere small college programs in the country - the Wildcats have the longest consecutive string of winning seasons, 37, among the 669 National College Athletic Association and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics schools with football programs - his legacy runs deeper.
“In theory, all colleges talk about teaching values and building character,” says Mike Riley, a former Rutschman assistant coach, who was the Wildcats’ defensive coordinator before leaving for the Canadian Football League after the 1982 championship season. “But at Linfield it’s actually done.”
Within days of Winston’s accident, Rutschman was on the telephone to his starting defensive tackle on the 1982 championship team, encouraging him not to quit.
“I’ve never forgotten how he told the team that self pity leads to self destruction,” says Winston, who works on the television series "Golden Girls" and recently got married.
For Rutschman, 61, the game always meant more than X’s and O’s and W’s and L’s.
Oh, he knew his football.
“He’s the finest teacher of sports technique I’ve ever been around,” says Riley, who played for the late Paul “Bear” Bryant at the University of Alabama, twice coached the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to the Canadian Football League Grey Cup title and is now an assistant coach under head coach John Robinson at USC. Riley was head coach of the San Antonio Riders of the defunct World League before joining Robinson’s staff.
And Rutschman knew how to win. His Wildcat teams won national championships with unbeaten seasons in 1982, 1984 and 1986, finished among the top 25 ranked teams every year but once since 1972 and never had a losing season. But, what Rutschman loved most about coaching was being the professor of a 100-yard classroom whose students, he knew, would soon face of test stuff than any nickel defense; life as an adult.
"Getting letters from my former players who have found success in life is more important to me than winning three national championships," says Rutschman. “I found that if you can change someone’s personal attitude, it might just change their entire life.”
Born in Hillsboro, Rutschman has lived his entire life in a 30 mile niche of the Willamette Valley. He met his wife of 40 years, Joan, at Hillsboro High School. Later at Linfield he earned 12 letters, was a Little All American on the football field and set school rushing records. His career rushing record still stands.
Rutschman passed up 3 offers from professional football and baseball teams to coach at his high school alma mater.
Then, after 14 years, he moved to McMinnville, where he first coached the Wildcat football and baseball teams. His 1971 Linfield baseball team won the national championship. Coupled with his football championships, Rutschman is the only collegiate coach to win national championships in both sports.
Rutschman’s coaching philosophy was an uncommon blend of hard nose and soft heart. He told players that if they got beat it was their fault. He demanded that when Wildcat coaches went to clinics, they sit in the font row.
In 1973, running back Drake Conti arrived at Linfield from San Fernando, Calif. With a knife in his pocket and what Rutschman perceived to be a chip on his shoulder. But, when Conti showed an interest in clothes design, Rutschman didn’t dampen the young man’s enthusiasm. Instead, he allowed Conti to spruce up the Wildcats’ game pants with stripes. Conti became a Northwest Conference all star and after college designed the uniforms for the 1980 U.S. Winter Olympic bobsled and luge teams before becoming a product developer and designer for Levi Strauss in San Francisco.
Rutschman hated excuses, cheap shots and big egos.
If you have to tell the world you’re great, you’re probably not, he says.
Rutschman preached ethics, humility, teamwork. On road games he was like a kid on his first camping trip. He liked a good practical joke and routinely had his trademark Linfield hat stolen after practice.
It’s an educational experience and kids can learn from it, so why not let them play?
Winning alone was never the goal; winning with class was.
“Ad’s from the old school of thought – the (Joe) Paterno school – he teaches values that go beyond the field,” says Randy Mueller, who quarterbacked the 1982 championship team. After graduating, Mueller, because of an injury, still had a year’s eligibility left when the National Football League Seattle Seahawks offered him an entry-level position. “Take it,” said Rutschman. “A thousand coaches would kill for that job. Now, at 32, Mueller is director of pro scouting for the organization.
“People are what counts for Ad Rutschman, says Ed Langsdorf, a 12-year Wildcat assistant who succeeded the man and promptly led Linfield to a 12-1 season and runner-up finish in the NAIA Division II playoffs last year.
Over the years, Rutschman was offered more than a dozen jobs and was even eyed by a number of NCAA Division I schools, including the University of Oregon, Washington, Michigan and California. Says Riley, “Had he decided to climb the ladder, I could see him as a Don James at Washington, had he gone the NFL route, a Chuck Noll (former Pittsburgh Steelers’ head coach) or Don Shula (present Miami Dolphins’ head coach). But, Rutschman never seriously considered leaving Linfield. “I establish roots easily.”
That made for a good fit in McMinnville – population 17,891, which is no bump-and-run town. Linfield is one of the oldest colleges in the West, founded in 1858. Although nationally recognized for its academics, the college is hardly an elite sanctuary featuring a football factory. Instead, it’s the third smallest school in the Columbia Football Association. It’s a place where the assistant athletic director lines the football field, the dean of students (Dave Hansen) does radio play-by-play and the coach’s wife, a.k.a. Mama Cat – not only serves as her husband’s secretary as he continues to fulfill the role of men’s athletic director – but sells football tickets when the Wildcats play at Maxwell Field.
Joan is a major reason why Ad retired. For the last two years she had suffered from a respiratory infection and the best way for her to cut back was for Ad to cut back. "She has been an unbelievable help to me," says Rutschman. “It’s time for me to help her.”
Rutschman is quick to praise players, assistant coaches, fans and Linfield’s academic program for the Wildcats’ success. And he points out that he inherited a strong program. His predecessor, Paul Durham, began Linfield’s winning record streak in 1956 and pushed it to 12 years before leaving to become athletic director at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. But the only one who understands Ad Rutschman’s contributions to Linfield is Ad Rutschman.
“For Ad’s sake, I hope we carry on the win streak,” says Langsdorf. “My worst fear is that after he put his heart and soul into the school, we would allow his accomplishments to slip.”
That won’t happen – because Rutschman’s real accomplishments are now spread out across the world, raising families and remembering the lessons they were taught. Following his retirement, letters arrived from U.S. senators to a student manager, from game officials to opposing players. “Your legacy is not the many championships or countless wins,” wrote ex-player Gary Stautz, “but all the former players who are living productive and successful lives due to your extra efforts and caring.”
Not all Wildcat players have gone on to greatness. Among Rutschman’s few regrets is a freshman player who committed suicide in the spring of 1991. “To some degree we failed,” says Rutschman. “But, to some degree, I’m almost angry that we didn’t have four years to work with him.” Trey Dean ended his life after playing one season for Linfield.
On the other hand, Linfield alumni, many of whom played for Rutschman, have coached 63 station high school championship teams and 10 college national championship teams. His former players are now sitting in state legislatures, flying commercial jets, running companies, pastoring churches and volunteering overseas. From Rutschman’s 1982 national championship team alone, Steve Lopes is the business manager for the University of Southern California athletic department, Kent Bostick is a nuclear engineer for the State Department, Steve Boyea is a doctor in Utah and Winston, when blindsided by adversity, refused to do down, even though it means life in a wheelchair.
“Thinking of coach Rutschman’s pep talks still give me chills,” says the 33-year-old Winston. "Here I am paralyzed and yet I still feel like I did when I was so strong and as and playing for him. I’ve been winning since that 12-0 season, all because of that man.”
…………..
Photos:
Two of the three submitted photos which appeared with the Argus article are posted here. The photo of Ad Rutschman wearing a white shirt and tie has the cutline, “Ad Rutschman was Mr. Football at Linfield College.” The photo of Ad Rutschman wearing glasses (wonder if this photo was from when he was coaching at Hillsboro High School?) has the cutline, “Ad Rutschman watched the action during a practice session.” Not shown here is a photo with this cutline, “Paul Durham (left) and Ad Rutschman get together at Rutschman’s retirement party.”
Friday, July 04, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Biography of Henry Lever, longtime Linfield coach
Henry Lever from 1938 Oak Leaves yearbook, Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon. Linfield College football head coaches (left to right) Ad Rutschman (coached 1968-1991), Paul Durham (coached 1948-1967) and Henry Lever (coached 1930-1938, 1940-1942). This photo may be the only existing photo -- or one of the few -- showing the three coaches together. It appeared in the May 22, 1968, McMinnville, Oregon, News-Register newspaper. The occasion was a May 18 farewell banquet -- in the college’s Dillin Hall -- for Durham. He was leaving Linfield to become University of Hawaii athletic director. Tim Marsh photo.
Henry Lever helped Linfield become athletic success
Henry Work Lever (pronounced "Lee-vur") was born in Loveland, Ohio, near Cincinnati, on October 4, 1883. His genealogical "roots" were English and German immigrants, who settled in Pennsylvania in the 1770s, later moving to Ohio.
He survived a near fatal burst appendix at age 15 with a life-saving operation on the kitchen table of his family's farm home. Surviving appendicitis typified his life. Small in stature -- standing about 5-foot-9 -- Lever was always a fighter, determined to succeed, and usually doing so, in everything he took on.
After graduating in 1901 from Loveland, Ohio, High School, one of his successes was college football. There are indications he may have played football at three Ohio colleges. His daughter, Margaret Lever Dement of Madras, Oregon, said her father studied “engineering, math and football. In those early days, football was extremely rough and tough with practically no uniform or headgear protection."
He studied at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and Ohio Northern University in Ada, before graduating from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, in 1908.
Engineering, math and football did not get all of Lever’s attention in college. For example, during his senior year The Athena, Ohio U’s student yearbook (he was its sports editor) says he was in the Philomathean Literary Society, Scientific Literature Club and YMCA. He was also track team captain and Phi Delta Theta fraternity president. In summary, Dement said, he was a "Big Man on Campus."
In September 1908, Lever started his first job at what is now Valley City State University in Valley City, North Dakota. He was athletic director and taught in the math and physics departments. He also coached football, men's and women's basketball, baseball and track. While it may have been his first job after college, Valley City State’s The Blizzard student yearbook says he was assistant athletic director at Ohio University, 1907-1908.
At Valley City State, he met Marguerite E. Sherburne, an education student who enjoyed music and art. She also was an outstanding basketball player, playing forward and guard, for the women's team he coached. She was part of the music conservatory and active in group vocal (Choral Society, Glee Club) presentations on campus. Involved in drama and an officer in the Clionian Literary Society for women, she started attending Valley City State at age 15 and graduated August 28, 1909, with a four-year elementary degree, preparing her to be an elementary school teacher.
Henry and Marguerite married in September 1909; they had nine children.
"After about three years in frigid North Dakota, the Levers moved to the warmer and beautiful Ozark Mountains of Missouri to farm," said Dement." Farming did not work out well,” so his family stayed in Missouri” and he coached football in 1911 and baseball in 1912 at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. He coached football in the 1913 season and men's basketball in the 1912-1913 and 1913-1914 seasons at Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
About 1916, the family moved to Alberta, Canada, with dreams of becoming rich when "irrigation was to come to the dry land prairies," she said. Wet weather helped produce bumper wheat crops and financial success. However, the good weather was followed by about five years of grasshopper plagues and severe drought. Farmers' resources were drained and most, including the Lever family, were broke. During these Canadian years, Lever used his engineering abilities while working on the Lethbridge Northern Alberta Irrigation project.
In about 1921, the Levers returned to the United States, settling in a Yakima, Washington, farming area. Later, they moved to the southern Oregon coast, where Henry managed a large ranch at Wedderburn. Soon thereafter, apparently, the Levers moved up the Oregon coast to Myrtle Point, where he taught algebra and geometry and coached football, basketball, baseball, and track at Myrtle Point Union High School.
An ability to coach "all sports" and his reputation as a hard-worker and leader at Myrtle Point convinced Linfield College President Leonard W. Riley to hire Lever in 1930. It was a wise decision. Serving the college until 1949 as athletic director, he coached football, basketball, baseball and track and field. He became know as the "Grand Old Man" of Linfield athletics and, to some, “The Fox.” An issue of Oak Leaves, Linfield's student yearbook, said his initials, H.W., stood for "Hard Work."
Photo of Henry Lever from 1956 book "Linfield's Hundred Years: A Centennial History...", edited by Kenneth L. Holmes. Paul Durham wrote the book's sports section. Cutline for this photo: "Coach Henry Lever, the 'Grand Old Man' of Linfield athletics since 1930.
During summers, he helped recruit Linfield students, including Irene Hartman, who later became wife of Linfield President Harry Dillin. She remembered Lever serving during World War II as Linfield's purchasing agent and college commons manager.
Lever was the Linfield Wildcats' football coach from 1930-1938 and 1940-1942. His career record is 30-54-7 (.368). His 1935 team was the first for Linfield to win a Northwest Conference football championship. Serving as men's basketball coach for 15 seasons, Lever compiled an overall record of 173-109 in 1930-1941 and 1942-1947. His winning percentage of .613 is the best in school history for basketball coaches with at least two seasons on the job. He coached men's track and field from 1931-1935 and 1941-1943. In addition to coaching Linfield baseball -- and leading the Wildcats to its first Northwest Conference title in that sport in 1947 -- he also served as a scout for the Cincinnati Reds major league professional baseball organization.
During the Lever Era, he was "mainly responsible for lifting the performance of Linfield athletic teams to a respected position in the Northwest Conference and on the Pacific Coast," said Paul Durham.
His ability to get consistently strong effort from players with abilities in many cases not comparable to that of opponents, gained him the utmost respect of his players, the people of McMinnville, and the opposing coaches, players, and fans, Durham said.
According to an article in the McMinnville News-Register, Harry Dillin said Lever had a "wide range of talents and abilities. He was an indefatigable worker. He was a great person, one of the most tremendous persons I have known. He was gracious and talented. He had a great sense of humor."
Durham added, even more important than Henry Lever's ability as coach was "his contribution to the character development of the students with whom he worked."
During his years at Linfield, Lever had an offer to "return to Wisconsin – where he coached previously – “at more than twice my Linfield salary" according to an account he wrote in the November 1975 Linfield College Bulletin alumni publication. However, Lever turned down the offer, saying, "My beloved wife voted with me to stay at Linfield, where there was much work yet to do."
Margaret Lever Dement said her father was blessed with able assistant coaches during his time at Linfield. They included Orile Robbins, Wayne Harn and Hal Smith. Robbins is best known as a successful head football coach at McMinnville High School, where the "most inspirational" award is named for him.
Harn,a former Oregon State University football player, was Linfield head football coach in the 1939,1946 and 1947 seasons. Smith, like Lever in the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame, was an outstanding football player at Washington State University. In addition to coaching football at Linfield, Smith served as the college's head wresting, track and field and cross-country coach, as well as head of the Linfield Physical Education Department.
Margaret Lever Dement remembers her father put his engineering skills to work at Linfield when he laid the plans for the first grass football field in the Northwest Conference, Linfield's Maxwell Field. According to Harry Dillin, Lever also helped develop plans for old Riley Gymnasium and Memorial Hall, a residence hall built into Linfield football and track and field's Memorial Stadium.
As a job in the summer of 1942 -- in the early part of World War II -- Henry Lever's engineering background was helpful when he was involved in the construction of what is now McMinnville Municipal Airport. He and Luther Taylor, a Linfield chemistry professor, were runway grade inspectors. There were two runways. He inspected one runway and Taylor inspected the other. Construction was a wartime project funded by the U.S. Army.
Durham said Lever and his wife Marguerite "loved to do things for others." Wildcat athletes looked to him as a leader and to her as a mother figure, said Dement. "Many times she fed hungry athletes, especially during the Depression years."
Durham, who lived in Portland and graduated from Portland's Franklin High School in June 1932, started at the Linfield as a student in September of that year. He knew of the college because his older brother was a Linfield student. Lever came to Portland and promised Durham a “job in a restaurant for food, a bed at Macy's funeral parlor in downtown McMinnville, and half tuition for academics and athletics. In the heart of the Depression, I needed all the help I could get" he said.
Durham was one of Lever's Wildcat athletes and went on to become the college's football coach, men's co-basketball coach with Roy Helser and athletic director. Durham succeeded Lever as football coach. Lever stayed at the college during the 1948-1949 academic year, turning the reins as athletic director over to Durham in 1949 when Lever retired.
Durham said Lever "meant a lot to me." He was a "solid leader and example. His influence as a Christian gentleman still carries on in men like (former Linfield football coach) Ad Rutschman and the men Ad (coached)."
Henry and Marguerite had been interested in Oregon's High Desert area. She died of cancer at age 62 in 1952. In 1953, he moved to Madras, Oregon, in the High Desert. He farmed briefly there before earning his real estate license at age 80. Later, he earned his real estate broker's license. The motto for his real estate firm, The Henry Lever Agency, was "Service with Integrity."
Linfield has the Henry W. and Marguerite S. Lever Fund, through which students receive scholarships. When the college was affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the fund was named for Marguerite and scholarships were given to student-athletes. The scholarship recognized Marguerite as and an outstanding college basketball player and Lever’s service as a Linfield coach. When the college moved from the NAIA to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III, the scholarship was changed because Division III does not allow athletic scholarships. The Lever family decided the scholarships should support Linfield students studying music, since Marguerite was a talented singer.
Henry Lever died July 1, 1980, after being hit by a truck as he was running across a busy state highway in Madras. He was 97 years and the oldest active real estate broker in Oregon.
Henry Lever's memorial service was held at Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in McMinnville with speakers including Linfield representatives and his Linfield football players as his pall bearers. Both Henry and Marguerite are buried at the cemetery.
Photograph:
Henry Lever, age 94 in 1977, in his Madras, Ore., real estate office. Photo by Margaret Lever Dement, his daughter
Although he moved from McMinnville, Henry Lever came back to McMinnville and Linfield several times, including:
Lever was the Linfield Wildcats' football coach from 1930-1938 and 1940-1942. His career record is 30-54-7 (.368). His 1935 team was the first for Linfield to win a Northwest Conference football championship. Serving as men's basketball coach for 15 seasons, Lever compiled an overall record of 173-109 in 1930-1941 and 1942-1947. His winning percentage of .613 is the best in school history for basketball coaches with at least two seasons on the job. He coached men's track and field from 1931-1935 and 1941-1943. In addition to coaching Linfield baseball -- and leading the Wildcats to its first Northwest Conference title in that sport in 1947 -- he also served as a scout for the Cincinnati Reds major league professional baseball organization.
During the Lever Era, he was "mainly responsible for lifting the performance of Linfield athletic teams to a respected position in the Northwest Conference and on the Pacific Coast," said Paul Durham.
His ability to get consistently strong effort from players with abilities in many cases not comparable to that of opponents, gained him the utmost respect of his players, the people of McMinnville, and the opposing coaches, players, and fans, Durham said.
According to an article in the McMinnville News-Register, Harry Dillin said Lever had a "wide range of talents and abilities. He was an indefatigable worker. He was a great person, one of the most tremendous persons I have known. He was gracious and talented. He had a great sense of humor."
Durham added, even more important than Henry Lever's ability as coach was "his contribution to the character development of the students with whom he worked."
During his years at Linfield, Lever had an offer to "return to Wisconsin – where he coached previously – “at more than twice my Linfield salary" according to an account he wrote in the November 1975 Linfield College Bulletin alumni publication. However, Lever turned down the offer, saying, "My beloved wife voted with me to stay at Linfield, where there was much work yet to do."
Margaret Lever Dement said her father was blessed with able assistant coaches during his time at Linfield. They included Orile Robbins, Wayne Harn and Hal Smith. Robbins is best known as a successful head football coach at McMinnville High School, where the "most inspirational" award is named for him.
Harn,a former Oregon State University football player, was Linfield head football coach in the 1939,1946 and 1947 seasons. Smith, like Lever in the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame, was an outstanding football player at Washington State University. In addition to coaching football at Linfield, Smith served as the college's head wresting, track and field and cross-country coach, as well as head of the Linfield Physical Education Department.
Margaret Lever Dement remembers her father put his engineering skills to work at Linfield when he laid the plans for the first grass football field in the Northwest Conference, Linfield's Maxwell Field. According to Harry Dillin, Lever also helped develop plans for old Riley Gymnasium and Memorial Hall, a residence hall built into Linfield football and track and field's Memorial Stadium.
As a job in the summer of 1942 -- in the early part of World War II -- Henry Lever's engineering background was helpful when he was involved in the construction of what is now McMinnville Municipal Airport. He and Luther Taylor, a Linfield chemistry professor, were runway grade inspectors. There were two runways. He inspected one runway and Taylor inspected the other. Construction was a wartime project funded by the U.S. Army.
Durham said Lever and his wife Marguerite "loved to do things for others." Wildcat athletes looked to him as a leader and to her as a mother figure, said Dement. "Many times she fed hungry athletes, especially during the Depression years."
Durham, who lived in Portland and graduated from Portland's Franklin High School in June 1932, started at the Linfield as a student in September of that year. He knew of the college because his older brother was a Linfield student. Lever came to Portland and promised Durham a “job in a restaurant for food, a bed at Macy's funeral parlor in downtown McMinnville, and half tuition for academics and athletics. In the heart of the Depression, I needed all the help I could get" he said.
Durham was one of Lever's Wildcat athletes and went on to become the college's football coach, men's co-basketball coach with Roy Helser and athletic director. Durham succeeded Lever as football coach. Lever stayed at the college during the 1948-1949 academic year, turning the reins as athletic director over to Durham in 1949 when Lever retired.
Durham said Lever "meant a lot to me." He was a "solid leader and example. His influence as a Christian gentleman still carries on in men like (former Linfield football coach) Ad Rutschman and the men Ad (coached)."
Henry and Marguerite had been interested in Oregon's High Desert area. She died of cancer at age 62 in 1952. In 1953, he moved to Madras, Oregon, in the High Desert. He farmed briefly there before earning his real estate license at age 80. Later, he earned his real estate broker's license. The motto for his real estate firm, The Henry Lever Agency, was "Service with Integrity."
Linfield has the Henry W. and Marguerite S. Lever Fund, through which students receive scholarships. When the college was affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the fund was named for Marguerite and scholarships were given to student-athletes. The scholarship recognized Marguerite as and an outstanding college basketball player and Lever’s service as a Linfield coach. When the college moved from the NAIA to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III, the scholarship was changed because Division III does not allow athletic scholarships. The Lever family decided the scholarships should support Linfield students studying music, since Marguerite was a talented singer.
Henry Lever died July 1, 1980, after being hit by a truck as he was running across a busy state highway in Madras. He was 97 years and the oldest active real estate broker in Oregon.
Henry Lever's memorial service was held at Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in McMinnville with speakers including Linfield representatives and his Linfield football players as his pall bearers. Both Henry and Marguerite are buried at the cemetery.
Photograph:
Henry Lever, age 94 in 1977, in his Madras, Ore., real estate office. Photo by Margaret Lever Dement, his daughter
Although he moved from McMinnville, Henry Lever came back to McMinnville and Linfield several times, including:
- during the spring of 1968, when he attended a banquet honoring Durham, whom he coached at Linfield. Also at the banquet was Ad Rutschman, who was coached by Durham at Linfield. In total, they were the Linfield Wildcat head football coaches, starting in 1938 and ending in 1991, with three seasons during that span being coached by Wayne Harn.
-
in 1977, when he was honored for his contributions at halftime of a Linfield football game. During that halftime photo shows Lever on the left and Charles U. Walker, Linfield president, on the right.
Lever was honored by Linfield when:
- the McMinnville City Council changed the name of Stadium Street to Lever Street in 1961, according to Joe Dancer, who served from 1960-1986 as McMinnville City manager. Lever Street borders the college's athletic complex, football field and baseball diamond. The name change came at the urging of Linfield President Harry Dillin. For more information, see
1961: Street named for Coach Henry Lever.
-
he was posthumously enshrined in the Linfield College Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998. The others included Paul Durham, Roy Helser, Henry Lever, Ad Rutschman and Ted Wilson. Daniel Lever represented his father at the enshrinement event.
POSTSCRIPT -- Henry Lever's coaching successes at Linfield included leading the Wildcats to their first Northwest Conference titles in football (1935) and baseball (1947). The 1935 football title was the first NWC championship in any sport for the Wildcats.
........................................................................
Of the nine Lever children, seven graduated from McMinnville High School, four going on to earn degrees from Linfield:
"Hank" Lever, Henry W. Lever Jr., born April 4, 1913 in Dixon, Missouri, was a firefighter in Portland, Oregon. A McMinnville High School grad, he died November 8, 1990.
Deborah R. Lever, born 1915 in Dixon, Missouri, graduated from McMinnville High School and Western Oregon University. She taught school in Oakridge and Coos Bay. She died in 2001 in Springfield, Oregon.
Robert W. Lever, born 1917 in Coalhurst, Alberta, Canada. He served in the U. S. Marine Corps. A McMinnville High School grad, he lived in Snohomish, Wash., and died in May 2005.
Clarence James Lever, born July 1922, in Wedderburn, Oregon. A graduate of McMinnville High School and California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, James Lever served in the U.S. Army. During Word War II he served in Africa. After Italy he went to Italy. There he was among American Army troops to "fight all the way to Rome. The big guns that were used in that campaign are the reason he is deaf now. He (is) helpful, kind, and has a sense of humor!," said a family member. He lives in Newberg, Oregon.
Richard N. Lever, born November 1929 in Myrtle Point, Oregon. A grad of McMinnville High School and California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps. He lives in Seattle.
Margaret D. Lever Dement, born August 12, 1911, in Dixon, Missouri, she lives in Madras, Oregon. She graduated from Myrtle Point High School and, in 1934, from Linfield with a B.A. in English and Music. At Linfield she played tennis for coach Harry Dillin, then an economics professor and later Linfield president. Her background includes teaching high school in Glendale, Oakridge, Vernonia and Myrtle Point, Oregon. Former manager of the Jefferson County Historical Society Museum in Madras, she is a former news correspondent for the Oregonian and Oregon Journal daily newspapers of Portland, Oregon.
Thomas S. Lever, born July 11, 1910 in Valley City, North Dakota, he died May 16, 2001, in Seattle. At Linfield, he played tennis for Coach Harry Dillin, then an economics professor and later Linfield president. A McMinnville High School grad, in 1934, he graduated from Linfield with a B.A. degree in political science. He owned an advertising business, Lever Appreciation Advertising, in Spokane, Washington.
Barbara L. Lever McLarty, Portland, Oregon, born 1919 in Alberta, Canada. She graduated from Linfield in 1941 with a B.A. degree in speech and English. She is a former teacher at Silverton, Oregon, High School and also taught in Ione, Oregon. She and her husband, Jack McLarty, are former owners/operators of The Image Gallery in Portland, Oregon. In Portland, they now own/operate McLartys' Choice, a gallery and art dealer.
Daniel Deforest Lever* He lives in Aurora, Ore. Born November 1934 in McMinnville, he is the youngest son of Henry and Marguerite Lever. After serving in the U.S. Army, he graduated from Linfield in 1960 with a B.S. degree in social studies and physical education. Lever played Wildcat football for Linfield coach Paul Durham, 1956-60. He was sometimes called “Danny.” In 1961, he earned a Master of Education degree. He started his teaching and coaching career at Madras, Ore., High School. Lever coached football and wrestling. Later, he moved to Newberg, Ore., High School where was head football coach in the mid-1970s. In addition to football, he was assistant wrestling coach to head coach Pete Russo when Newberg won a state wrestling title in 1970. He is married to JoAnna Dillon, who graduated from Linfield with a degree in music education.
Newberg, Ore., Graphic
Published:11/9/2009 12:45:56 PM
Daniel D. Lever
*Daniel DeForest Lever of Aurora, who has family in the Newberg area, diedNov. 2, 2009 . He was 74. He was born Nov. 17, 1934 , in McMinnville to Henry and Margeurite (Sherburne) Lever. He graduated from high school in 1953 in Prineville, then joined the U.S. Army. On Sept. 15, 1957 , he married Joanna Dillon. He was honorably discharged in 1961 and they made their home in Aurora Linfield College Madras High School Newberg High School U.S. Aurora Madras Portland First United Methodist Church Willamette National Cemetery Portland 207 Villa Road , Newberg , OR 97132
Published:
*Daniel DeForest Lever of Aurora, who has family in the Newberg area, died
Daniel Dean Lever He lives in Canby, Ore. A grandson of Henry and Marguerite Lever, he is the son of Daniel Deforest and JoAnna Lever. Daniel Dean Lever studied at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, Ore. He graduated from EOU in 1987 with a B.S. in education social Studies and physical education. He teaches social studies at Canby, Ore., High School. Lever and started his teaching (social studies and P.E.) and coaching (football and wrestling) career at Monroe, Ore., High School in Monroe Oregon. His athletic director was Linfield grad Del Coursey, a Linfield grad and former Wildcat athlete. (Coursey was an assistant to Coach Roy Helser when the baseball Wildcats won the 1966 NAIA World Series.) Lever was head wrestling coach and football and baseball assistant coach at Monroe. In 1991 as an assistant to head baseball coach Steve Luby, Monroe won the 2A state baseball championship. Lever says, “I was head football at Monroe my last year at Monroe, but was asst. 4 years I was asst. 5 years in baseball and head wrestling coach also for 5 years. At Canby, where I teach now, I was an asst. in football from 1992 to 2005. Most of my football coach was spent as head freshman coach. Mike Doty was the head coach I worked for and he still is the head coach at Canby. I also was an asst. in wrestling for the same time as football and the head coach was Dan Nugent.” Married to Anne Barry, a grad of EOU and Oregon Health Sciences University (B.S. nursing), she is a Willamette University nurse practitioner. The Lever family includes Linfield student/football player Daniel William Lever, a great-grandson of Henry Lever; Cate Lever, a Carroll College (Helena, Mont.) student; Margaret Lever, a student in the Canby School District.
Marian Dement Granby She lives in Madras, Ore. Henry and Marguerite's granddaughter, Marian Dement Granby, is the daughter of Margaret D. Lever Dement. She attended Linfield for two years and graduated in 1971 from Southern Oregon University with a history B.A. degree. She also holds a master's in education degree from SOU. She substitute teaches at Madras, Oregon, High School.
Among Henry and Marguerite Lever’s great-grandchildren children are Rob Lever, Anne Lever Reed, Kristina Granby and Daniel William Lever.
Rob and Anne are respective 1992 and 1994 Linfield graduates. Rob Lever lives in White Bird, Idaho, and works for the U.S. Forest Service. Anne lives in Portland, Ore., and is an interior designer. Kristina lives in Nevada and teaches sixth grade in Las Vegas. She is 1999 University of Oregon graduate in English and earned a UO master's degree in education in 2000.
As this is written (Oct. 2008), Daniel William Lever is a Linfield student (health & physical education major) and a running back on the Linfield Wildcat football team. On the left is a photo of Dan William Lever wearing uniform, #27, on the sidelines of a Linfield football game at Maxwell field during the 2007 (Oct. 6, 2007) season.
Dan William Lever's Tualatin, Ore., High School head football coach bio as
of 8/24/2018 includes that he was hired (April 2017) to head the Tualatin HS Timberwolves
after serving as offensive coordinator at Moorpark College, a two-year school
in Moorpark, Calif. He played running back at Canby, where he graduated in
2005, and in college at Linfield. He was head coach at Class 3A Gervais in
2010. He was an assistant college football coach at Southeastern Oklahoma
State, Puget Sound, Santa Barbara City College and Moorpark. His Tualatin HS
coaching bio includes, "While down south (in California) Lever served as
both a Run Game Coordinator and Offensive Coordinator. Lever helped over 45
student athletes sign letters of intent to both Division I and Division II
schools in just 3 years. At Santa Barbara Lever helped guide the Vaqueros to
their first 2 bowl berths in 19 years. Lever has also positions as the
offensive line coach at Division III University of Puget Sound and tight ends
coach at Division II Southeastern Oklahoma. Levers first coaching job was as
the head coach at Gervais High School. He was a 3-year letter winner at
Linfield College and grew up in nearby Canby. Lever is extremely proud to be a
4th generation teacher and coach. Dan and his wife Corinne are happy to be a
part of the pack."
On the right is a photo taken during the Linfield's 2008 Homecoming football game (Oct. 11, 2008) of (left to right) JoAnna Lever, Daniel Dean Lever and Daniel Deforest Lever.
......................
.jpg)
Henry Work Lever (1883-1980) and Sophia D. Sherburne
(1849-1947), mother of Marguerite Lever) at Evergreen
Memorial Park, McMinnville, Ore. Photos by Wildcatville
taken 10/11/2012.
Linfielder Dan W. Lever: Continued success as a football coach
Written/posted by Wildcatville 6/15/2022
Linfiedler Dan W. Lever (Daniel William Lever, Class
of 2008), a great-grandson of Linfield legend Henry Lever, has had continued success as a football coach.
(Henry Lever was Linfield
athletic director 1930-1949 and "coach of everything” 1930-1945, He’s
honored on the Linfield campus in McMinnville with “Lever Street” which runs
next the Linfield athletics/p.e. building and behind Linfield football’s home, Memorial
Stadium/Maxwell Field/Catdome.)
Dan W. Lever was a running
back for the Wildcats, lettering in 2006, 2007 and 2008 With this story is a
Wildcatville photo of Dan W. Lever wearing uniform, #27, on the sidelines of a 2007
Linfield home football game.
He was a 3-year letter
winner at Linfield College. Dan was named “Physical Education major of the
year” in 2008 by the Linfield faculty. Lever is extremely proud to be a 4th
generation teacher and coach.
The newly appointed head coach of Silverton (Oregon) High School, Dan W. Lever previously was Tualatin (Oregon) high School head football coach, and He coached Tualatin to the state championship game in 2021.
Dan W. Lever is a fourth generation football coach.
Great-grandfather Henry
Lever was the head football coach at Oregon’s Myrtle Point High School (1925-29)
before moving to Linfield. Henry’s background included being head football
coach at Valley City State in North Dakota, Texas Christian University, and
Carrol in Wisconsin.
Dan W. Lever’s grandfather, Dan, was the head coach at Madras and Newberg in Oregon.
Dan, the father of Dan W. Lever was the head coach at Monroe and
an assistant at Canby. Both are in Oregon.
As a graduating student, Dan
W. Lever was named “Physical Education major of the year” in 2008 by the
Linfield faculty.
Dan W. Lever first head football coaching job was at Gervais (Oregon). He assisted in football programs at Southeastern Oklahoma State, Puget Sound in Tacoma and California’s Santa Barbara Community College before taking over at Tualatin.
#
Dennis Anderson's research discovered 'The Streak'
After the 1994 Linfield at Western Oregon football game, Dennis Anderson (right) interviews Linfield football coach Ed Langsdorf (center). Linfield won the game, 7-0, played in Monmouth, Ore., on WOU’s McArthur Field. Linfield's J.P. Green scored the only TD of the game on a 4-yard run and Brandy Alexander kicked the PAT with 3:24 left in the third quarter. Photo by Wildcatville.
.......................
In October 2005 (either Oct. 17 or Oct. 17), the McMinnville News-Register produced a special "The Streak"section about the Linfield football team assuring its50th consecutive winning season.
ON COLLEGE FOOTBALL;
A Small College With a Mean Streak
By Chris Dufresne
Los Angeles Times
Sept. 27, 2001
A Small College With a Mean Streak
By Chris Dufresne
Los Angeles Times
Sept. 27, 2001
You wonder what else can go right for Oregon.
Last weekend, the state conked USC and crowned a new Miss America on the same night.
Last weekend, the state conked USC and crowned a new Miss America on the same night.
Last year, Oregon State made Notre Dame look like an intramural squad in the Fiesta Bowl and this week awaits the chance to do the same to UCLA when the Bruins visit Corvallis.
We're green with envy. But wait, there's more.
Oregon is also caretaker of one of the more remarkable, yet little-known, feats in sports.
Folks at tiny Linfield College referred to it simply as "The Streak," and while most concede it can't last forever, no one is ready to surrender it on their watch.*
"Not while I'm here," running back David Russell says. "The streak is not going to end."
Linfield football has not posted a losing season since 1955, a stretch that spans 10 U.S. presidents and several moon walks. A private Division III school located about an hour's drive southwest of Portland, Linfield last year extended its NCAA-record streak of consecutive winning seasons to 45, although the Wildcats are, gulp, 1-1 entering this weekend's game against Pacific Lutheran.
In 1998, Linfield established the NCAA record with its 43rd winning season in a row, eclipsing the mark of 42, previously shared by Harvard and Notre Dame.
At 39 and counting, Nebraska holds the longest current streak of winning seasons among Division I schools.
"Yeah," Russell says, "but we've got 45. But it's not about publicity. We're Division III, we're not too concerned about the public eye."
Football jewels can be unearthed in the most unlikely hamlets. Two years ago, Division III Mount Union of Ohio broke Oklahoma's hallowed mark of 47 consecutive victories, yet what Linfield has done may be more impressive.
The streak means everything to Linfield players and fans. It is considered a sacred trust, passed down from class to class.
And were it to end?
"All those people who were here before, you'd let them down," defensive end Chad Barrett says.
There probably would be no streak talk if not for Dennis Anderson, a sportswriter for the Honolulu Advertiser who played on the 1954 Linfield team that finished 3-6.
When Anderson's son, Bryant, chose to attend Linfield in the 1980s, Dennis became enamored of the program, then coached by the legendary Ad Rutschman.
"When you watched Rutschman conduct practice, there'd be guys all over the field," Anderson says. "He'd say one word and they'd be running full tilt. He didn't have to blow a whistle. He had a command about him."
Anderson was so impressed he begin using his vacation and comp time to spend football seasons at Linfield to help out as an administrative aide.
Anderson has spent 14 of his last 16 falls in McMinnville.
In 1986, while working on another project, Anderson independently started compiling information on consecutive winning seasons. He says the NCAA didn't keep such information. Anderson established the record was shared by Notre Dame and Harvard at 42 and that Linfield was creeping up the list.
The streak took on a life of its own, culminating with Linfield's 20-19 victory over Willamette on Oct. 17, 1998, which secured the school's 43rd consecutive winning season.
Fans tore down the goal posts.
Linfield has added two more winning seasons since, and its cumulative record since 1956 stands at 338-88-10.
Yet, some players think obsession with the streak can be a burden because it lowers expectations, since it only takes a 5-4 season to maintain the record. It's rumored the school does not schedule 10 games because that would require six wins to preserve the record.
"We don't talk about it," Barrett says of the streak. "We expect to at least not have a losing season. That's the minimum."
Close calls? You bet.
The 1987 team started 1-4. Joe Brimm, an offensive lineman, started the chant "33!!!" as a rallying cry.
Actually, the streak at the time was only 31 seasons, but it was the thought that counted.
"He got the math wrong," Linfield Coach Jay Locey, the defensive coordinator on the 1987 team, says.
Late that season, a Linfield player batted down a fourth-down pass against Lewis and Clark to preserve a victory and go to 3-4, then the team won its last two games to finish 5-4.
In 1996, Locey's first season as coach, Linfield had to win its last two games to finish 5-4.
"That might have been my first and last year," Locey jokes.
There is no easy explanation as to how Linfield has maintained the streak for more than four decades.
"You have to be lucky a bit, to keep something like that alive," basketball Coach Larry Doty, who played receiver at Linfield in the 1970s, says.
Continuity has been a key. Linfield has had only four football coaches since 1948: Paul Durham, Rutschman, Ed Langsdorf and Locey.
Rutschman is considered the spiritual backbone of the program, leading the Wildcats to three National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics national titles and 24 consecutive winning seasons before he retired in 1992.
Linfield moved to Division III in 1998.
Rutschman, a Linfield graduate, set the standard for excellence. He is known as "The Lombardi of Linfield," a man who devoted his life to the school. Many say Rutschman could have been a top coach at any level, including the NFL, but chose to work his magic in a small circle.
"That doesn't make him any less of a coach," Doty says. "In some regards, it makes him more of a coach."
Rutschman was recently inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and he says 120 of his former players went on to become head coaches.
Mike Riley, the San Diego Chargers' coach and a one-time Linfield assistant, is Rutschman's most accomplished offspring.
Asked why he stayed, Rutschman says, "I've never been a person who has looked ahead. I've had only two jobs in my life, and I didn't apply for either one."
On a much smaller scale, he likens the program's template to Nebraska's, which moved seamlessly from coaches Bob Devaney, Tom Osborne and Frank Solich en route to 39 consecutive winning seasons.
Rutschman was a straight arrow. He did not allow cursing or his players wearing caps in public places. The team motto, etched above the locker-room entrance at Maxwell Field, is: Are You a Better Football Player Today Than You Were Yesterday?*
As for the streak, Rutschman offers: "If you absolutely had to come up with a reason why, you could sum it in one word: performance."
Rutschman was a great tactician and disciplinarian, but he also developed important out-of-state recruiting pipelines. While playing NAIA, Linfield was allowed to offer scholarships.*
Not so now. Rutschman was opposed to the school's decision to join the Northwest Conference in joining NCAA Division III. Some think not being allowed to offer scholarships puts the streak at risk.
Folks will get antsy if Linfield falls to 1-2 with a loss against rival Pacific Lutheran this week.
"Man, I don't want to be part of the team that ruins the streak," running back Russell says. "You'd have to leave the state ... seriously."
Hurry-Up Offense
Coach in crisis, Part I: Bob Davie, Notre Dame: The university's patience will be tested if the Irish fall to 0-3 for the first time in school history with a loss at Texas A&M. "I didn't know we were 0- 3 yet," Davie snapped this week. Notre Dame's problem is more than a plodding offense that has scored two touchdowns in two games, both of which were set up by special teams. Notre Dame's problem is that it recently rewarded Davie with a five-year contract extension that pays him $1 million a year through 2005. Alabama has no problem passing the hat to buy out a coach's contract, but Notre Dame is supposed to serve a higher purpose. Gripes, it let Gerry Faust hang around five years. But make no mistake: A defeat at Texas A&M will set off cries for Davie's ouster and make men in collars squirm.
Coach in crisis, Part II: Joe Paterno, Penn State. We never thought we'd live to see it, but a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist this week called for Paterno to retire at the end of the season. Penn State is 0-2, has lost 12 of its last 18 games and Paterno still needs two victories to pass Bear Bryant on the major college all-time victory list. Penn State faces the distinct possibility of losing at much-improved Iowa this week and then faces a Big Ten gantlet of Michigan, Northwestern and Ohio State.
The Nittany Lions at 0-6? It could happen. Paterno, though, shows no signs of concession. "When I accept a loss, then you guys can write stories about my retirement," he said at his press conference this week. "I am excited about the challenge. I am angry."
Coach in crisis, Part III: Bobby Bowden, Florida State. OK, the word crisis is relative here, but the Seminoles' drop to No. 18 in the polls this week after a 41-9 loss to North Carolina indicates a clear lack of consumer confidence. Bowden's teams have bounced back from losses before. In fact, Bowden has posted only one perfect season in his remarkable career, the 12-0 run to the 1999 national title. Florida State rebounded from a defeat against Notre Dame in 1993 to win the national title, and earned a place in the 1998 title game after an early season loss to North Carolina State. "Will we respond from an ugly defeat? That's what it's down to," Bowden said. The problem is this season's team, already young, has suffered nine injuries and is woefully inexperienced at quarterback. Florida State still has to play Miami, Florida and Georgia Tech. Barring a quick recovery, this could be the Seminoles' first three-loss season since they went 7-4-1 in 1986.
Rutgers has been outscored, 111-0, in its last two Big East Conference losses to Miami and Virginia Tech, the most the Scarlet Knights have been outscored in any two-game stretch in the school's 113-year history.
We're green with envy. But wait, there's more.
Oregon is also caretaker of one of the more remarkable, yet little-known, feats in sports.
Folks at tiny Linfield College referred to it simply as "The Streak," and while most concede it can't last forever, no one is ready to surrender it on their watch.*
"Not while I'm here," running back David Russell says. "The streak is not going to end."
Linfield football has not posted a losing season since 1955, a stretch that spans 10 U.S. presidents and several moon walks. A private Division III school located about an hour's drive southwest of Portland, Linfield last year extended its NCAA-record streak of consecutive winning seasons to 45, although the Wildcats are, gulp, 1-1 entering this weekend's game against Pacific Lutheran.
In 1998, Linfield established the NCAA record with its 43rd winning season in a row, eclipsing the mark of 42, previously shared by Harvard and Notre Dame.
At 39 and counting, Nebraska holds the longest current streak of winning seasons among Division I schools.
"Yeah," Russell says, "but we've got 45. But it's not about publicity. We're Division III, we're not too concerned about the public eye."
Football jewels can be unearthed in the most unlikely hamlets. Two years ago, Division III Mount Union of Ohio broke Oklahoma's hallowed mark of 47 consecutive victories, yet what Linfield has done may be more impressive.
The streak means everything to Linfield players and fans. It is considered a sacred trust, passed down from class to class.
And were it to end?
"All those people who were here before, you'd let them down," defensive end Chad Barrett says.
There probably would be no streak talk if not for Dennis Anderson, a sportswriter for the Honolulu Advertiser who played on the 1954 Linfield team that finished 3-6.
When Anderson's son, Bryant, chose to attend Linfield in the 1980s, Dennis became enamored of the program, then coached by the legendary Ad Rutschman.
"When you watched Rutschman conduct practice, there'd be guys all over the field," Anderson says. "He'd say one word and they'd be running full tilt. He didn't have to blow a whistle. He had a command about him."
Anderson was so impressed he begin using his vacation and comp time to spend football seasons at Linfield to help out as an administrative aide.
Anderson has spent 14 of his last 16 falls in McMinnville.
In 1986, while working on another project, Anderson independently started compiling information on consecutive winning seasons. He says the NCAA didn't keep such information. Anderson established the record was shared by Notre Dame and Harvard at 42 and that Linfield was creeping up the list.
The streak took on a life of its own, culminating with Linfield's 20-19 victory over Willamette on Oct. 17, 1998, which secured the school's 43rd consecutive winning season.
Fans tore down the goal posts.
Linfield has added two more winning seasons since, and its cumulative record since 1956 stands at 338-88-10.
Yet, some players think obsession with the streak can be a burden because it lowers expectations, since it only takes a 5-4 season to maintain the record. It's rumored the school does not schedule 10 games because that would require six wins to preserve the record.
"We don't talk about it," Barrett says of the streak. "We expect to at least not have a losing season. That's the minimum."
Close calls? You bet.
The 1987 team started 1-4. Joe Brimm, an offensive lineman, started the chant "33!!!" as a rallying cry.
Actually, the streak at the time was only 31 seasons, but it was the thought that counted.
"He got the math wrong," Linfield Coach Jay Locey, the defensive coordinator on the 1987 team, says.
Late that season, a Linfield player batted down a fourth-down pass against Lewis and Clark to preserve a victory and go to 3-4, then the team won its last two games to finish 5-4.
In 1996, Locey's first season as coach, Linfield had to win its last two games to finish 5-4.
"That might have been my first and last year," Locey jokes.
There is no easy explanation as to how Linfield has maintained the streak for more than four decades.
"You have to be lucky a bit, to keep something like that alive," basketball Coach Larry Doty, who played receiver at Linfield in the 1970s, says.
Continuity has been a key. Linfield has had only four football coaches since 1948: Paul Durham, Rutschman, Ed Langsdorf and Locey.
Rutschman is considered the spiritual backbone of the program, leading the Wildcats to three National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics national titles and 24 consecutive winning seasons before he retired in 1992.
Linfield moved to Division III in 1998.
Rutschman, a Linfield graduate, set the standard for excellence. He is known as "The Lombardi of Linfield," a man who devoted his life to the school. Many say Rutschman could have been a top coach at any level, including the NFL, but chose to work his magic in a small circle.
"That doesn't make him any less of a coach," Doty says. "In some regards, it makes him more of a coach."
Rutschman was recently inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and he says 120 of his former players went on to become head coaches.
Mike Riley, the San Diego Chargers' coach and a one-time Linfield assistant, is Rutschman's most accomplished offspring.
Asked why he stayed, Rutschman says, "I've never been a person who has looked ahead. I've had only two jobs in my life, and I didn't apply for either one."
On a much smaller scale, he likens the program's template to Nebraska's, which moved seamlessly from coaches Bob Devaney, Tom Osborne and Frank Solich en route to 39 consecutive winning seasons.
Rutschman was a straight arrow. He did not allow cursing or his players wearing caps in public places. The team motto, etched above the locker-room entrance at Maxwell Field, is: Are You a Better Football Player Today Than You Were Yesterday?*
As for the streak, Rutschman offers: "If you absolutely had to come up with a reason why, you could sum it in one word: performance."
Rutschman was a great tactician and disciplinarian, but he also developed important out-of-state recruiting pipelines. While playing NAIA, Linfield was allowed to offer scholarships.*
Not so now. Rutschman was opposed to the school's decision to join the Northwest Conference in joining NCAA Division III. Some think not being allowed to offer scholarships puts the streak at risk.
Folks will get antsy if Linfield falls to 1-2 with a loss against rival Pacific Lutheran this week.
"Man, I don't want to be part of the team that ruins the streak," running back Russell says. "You'd have to leave the state ... seriously."
Hurry-Up Offense
Coach in crisis, Part I: Bob Davie, Notre Dame: The university's patience will be tested if the Irish fall to 0-3 for the first time in school history with a loss at Texas A&M. "I didn't know we were 0- 3 yet," Davie snapped this week. Notre Dame's problem is more than a plodding offense that has scored two touchdowns in two games, both of which were set up by special teams. Notre Dame's problem is that it recently rewarded Davie with a five-year contract extension that pays him $1 million a year through 2005. Alabama has no problem passing the hat to buy out a coach's contract, but Notre Dame is supposed to serve a higher purpose. Gripes, it let Gerry Faust hang around five years. But make no mistake: A defeat at Texas A&M will set off cries for Davie's ouster and make men in collars squirm.
Coach in crisis, Part II: Joe Paterno, Penn State. We never thought we'd live to see it, but a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist this week called for Paterno to retire at the end of the season. Penn State is 0-2, has lost 12 of its last 18 games and Paterno still needs two victories to pass Bear Bryant on the major college all-time victory list. Penn State faces the distinct possibility of losing at much-improved Iowa this week and then faces a Big Ten gantlet of Michigan, Northwestern and Ohio State.
The Nittany Lions at 0-6? It could happen. Paterno, though, shows no signs of concession. "When I accept a loss, then you guys can write stories about my retirement," he said at his press conference this week. "I am excited about the challenge. I am angry."
Coach in crisis, Part III: Bobby Bowden, Florida State. OK, the word crisis is relative here, but the Seminoles' drop to No. 18 in the polls this week after a 41-9 loss to North Carolina indicates a clear lack of consumer confidence. Bowden's teams have bounced back from losses before. In fact, Bowden has posted only one perfect season in his remarkable career, the 12-0 run to the 1999 national title. Florida State rebounded from a defeat against Notre Dame in 1993 to win the national title, and earned a place in the 1998 title game after an early season loss to North Carolina State. "Will we respond from an ugly defeat? That's what it's down to," Bowden said. The problem is this season's team, already young, has suffered nine injuries and is woefully inexperienced at quarterback. Florida State still has to play Miami, Florida and Georgia Tech. Barring a quick recovery, this could be the Seminoles' first three-loss season since they went 7-4-1 in 1986.
Rutgers has been outscored, 111-0, in its last two Big East Conference losses to Miami and Virginia Tech, the most the Scarlet Knights have been outscored in any two-game stretch in the school's 113-year history.
