{"id":1169,"date":"2011-11-07T08:53:14","date_gmt":"2011-11-07T13:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.wabash.edu\/fyi\/?p=1169"},"modified":"2011-11-07T08:53:14","modified_gmt":"2011-11-07T13:53:14","slug":"a-win-for-the-seniors-and-a-win-for-josh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/2011\/11\/07\/a-win-for-the-seniors-and-a-win-for-josh\/","title":{"rendered":"A Win for the Seniors and a Win for Josh"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Mike, Debbie, and Chad LInthicum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jim Amidon \u2014 For about 15 years, I\u2019ve taken senior photos at Wabash College sporting events. The drill is almost always the same: Line up the seniors and their parents before the start of the last home game\/meet\/match and snap a photo of the senior, the coach, and the family.<\/p>\n

I say \u201cdrill\u201d because for my part, it\u2019s pretty consistent from sport to sport and season to season. But I do consider it an honor to take those photographs. The parents are usually beaming with pride (moms will occasionally shed a tear) and the student-athletes exude confidence and accomplishment.<\/p>\n

At the moment I snap the shot, I think about that particular senior and the mark he\u2019s left at Wabash \u2014 in the sport and across campus. Most of the College\u2019s athletes have back stories \u2014 maybe they\u2019re actors or mathematicians; moot court competitors or economics tutors. When I take the photo, I think about the whole man and the opportunities he\u2019s seized during his four years at Wabash.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The seniors carry Josh Linthicum's jersey and memory into the conference championship game.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Saturday, 20 minutes before kickoff of Wabash\u2019s North Coast Athletic Conference championship game against Wittenberg, I was on the field as the senior football players gathered under the west goal posts. Coach Erik Raeburn stood on the goal line as each senior was introduced with his parents.<\/p>\n

I chatted with Wes Chamblee, the All-American kick return specialist and national qualifying hurdler. I told him I was proud of him. He responded by saying, \u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot more to do before you can be proud of us.\u201d And then he told me he\u2019d catch up with me in a couple of weeks. For the second time, he\u2019s editor of the X-Position<\/em>, the magazine of the Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies.<\/p>\n

It was heartening that moments before one of the biggest games in his career, Wes had no interest in celebrating his past accomplishments. He was looking forward \u2014\u00a0and even thinking about his duties as editor of that magazine.<\/p>\n

(By the way, he caught a touchdown pass in Wabash\u2019s championship victory.)<\/p>\n

C.J. Gum, Wabash\u2019s fiercest fifth-year senior ever, had a look of focused determination as he gathered with his family before the player introductions. Eyes forward and emotionless when I took the photo, Gum walked across the field with his parents holding each of those mammoth arms. As usual, he let his play do the talking \u2014 crushing tackles, forcing a huge interception early in the game, and covering a late onside kick.<\/p>\n

If ever there was a lead-pipe lock for a repeat conference defensive player of the year, Gum is that player.<\/p>\n

The hulking senior offensive linemen \u2014 Jack Ruddy, Jake Shaffer, Bryan Elliott, Quintin Burkett, and Chris Daniel \u2014 have gotten little recognition during their playing careers. They just show up and do their jobs. On Saturday, each man had a face and a name, and earned the accolades they richly deserved. And by game\u2019s end, they enjoyed the ultimate tribute \u2014 their blocking paved the way for a punishing rushing attack that tamed the Tigers.<\/p>\n

The most gripping moment came last. After the final senior football player had been introduced, the stadium grew completely silent. A proud father, forcing back tears, propped up his sobbing wife as Josh Linthicum\u2019s name rang out over the public address speakers.<\/p>\n

Josh was one of those hulking offensive linemen; bigger than all of them, in fact. It was to have been his senior day. It was to have been a day when a proud family could stride across the field to celebrate his Wabash career.<\/p>\n

It was not.<\/p>\n

Josh died from complications during what was thought to be routine surgery over the holidays a couple of years ago.<\/p>\n

His passing was a crushing blow to Wabash, to the football team, and to scores of parents who think little of those \u201croutine\u201d off-season surgeries so many athletes undergo.<\/p>\n

For Mike and Debbie Linthicum, it was the ultimate loss, and no parent can ever imagine a tragedy that strikes so quickly and painfully.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m told that his parents have gained strength by knowing the impact Josh had at Wabash, the friendships he made here, and the easiness of his personality that made him an instant buddy with every person he met. I can\u2019t imagine they would have returned to Wabash for senior day had they not felt a profound connection to the College and Josh\u2019s senior teammates.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know that Coach Raeburn had to give any kind of \u201cWin this one for Josh\u201d speech. I do know that Josh\u2019s presence was felt by every senior in every game they played following his death.<\/p>\n

Each man who stepped on the field Saturday did so with the number 70 on the back of their helmets and with a little piece of Josh in their hearts. Yes, the win brought another conference championship to Wabash. More important, it provided a meaningful tribute to the seniors\u2019 fallen brother.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jim Amidon \u2014 For about 15 years, I\u2019ve taken senior photos at Wabash College sporting events. The drill is almost always the same: Line up the seniors and their parents before the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"w_featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2011\/11\/LinthicumWeb-1024x682.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1169\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}