Arguably the most recognizable person on campus, emeritus athletic trainer Mike Linkovich holds frequent court in Thorne Dining Hall.
Interview by assistant football coach .
Photo by Jason Paige Smith.
Tell me about becoming an athletic trainer, and how you got to ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿.
After high school, I worked in a steel mill in the forging department. I was there for a few years, and I went into the service for three and a half years, over in Europe with the infantry. After the war, I returned to my hometown in Monaca, Pennsylvania, and went back to work in the steel mills again. I worked there for five years—I always felt that a lot of the good athletes in that area ended up going just one year to college because the money in the mills was so good—then I decided maybe I would be better off going to school because of the GI Bill. Uncle Sam would pay me to go to school. I went to Davis and Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia, and I got my degree in physical education. I hoped to coach baseball and basketball and decided to go to Springfield College for a master’s. The coaching plan changed because a professor got me into athletic training.
³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ was looking for a trainer, and my professor thought it would be a good place for me to start. I thought, “Well, I’ve never been up to Maine, so I could go see what this looks like.” The facilities were good, except they didn’t have much for athletic training. So, I went back and I told my professor that I didn’t really think it was the place for me. Then, I got another call. They asked me to come back, which I did, and I took the job, figuring I’d just be here for a year or so. “If you stay here, you’ll never regret it,” Dickie Morrell ’50 told me. He was right. I’ve enjoyed a lot of good friendships with a lot of good people. So, things kind of turned out well in the long run.
Who’s the best athlete you’ve worked with at ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿?
That’s not a fair question. I wouldn’t think to say that Kevin Loney is better than Mike Linkovich. Well, that’s debatable. We’ve had some good athletes here, you know—the Soule brothers, Jimmy MacAllen ’66, and Joanie [Benoit Samuelson] ’79, of course. I didn’t work a lot with Joanie. Jeanne d’Arc Mayo was here then, and she took really good care of Joanie. Joanie’s time at ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ was great. She surprised a lot of people when she won the Olympics. She is a good representative of the College. [Joan Benoit Samuelson’79; the Soule family—father William ’36 and his sons, Paul ’66, Mort ’68, Jim ’77, and Phil; James MacAllen ’66; and Jeanne d’Arc Mayo are ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ Hall of Honor inductees.]
Favorite ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ athletic moment?
I think one of the biggest all-time wins was when the football team beat the University of Maine 7-0 up in Orono in 1963. [³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ and the University of Maine played football against each other from 1893 to 1964. The 1963 victory was especially sweet because Maine had announced that it would be dropping ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ from its schedule after the 1964 season. The Black Bears had crushed Bates (49-0) and Colby (53-12), and they were looking for their third straight State Series Championship. On a rainy day in Orono, ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ beat the heavily favored Maine team to earn its final four-way State Championship.]
What are some of your most memorable ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ experiences?
Having my son Steven ’84 go to ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ is one of the big ones. Another was the Olympics in 1980 [as a trainer for the US hockey team at the Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid]. And my relationships with professors, especially Professor [Herbert] Brown, who I really enjoyed having conversations with nearly every morning over coffee. [Herbert Ross Brown was a professor of English at ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ College from 1925–1972.]
Every time I talk to an alum, anywhere I go, if they played sports, they ask about you.
If you stay here sixty-five years, you’d probably know somebody, at least one person, who had something nice to say about you.
Mike Linkovich established and perpetuated ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿’s legacy of outstanding athletic training over a forty-year ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ career that began in 1954. He’s held several national positions in the training profession, was a two-time US Olympic team trainer, and is an inductee in several sports halls of honor, including the Athletic Trainers Hall of Fame in Seattle, Washington, and the ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ Athletic Hall of Honor.
