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ORONO – He has been weakened by pancreatic cancer and chemotherapy treatments.
But Wes Jordan exhibited his trademark sense of humor while also fighting back occasional tears as the guest of honor at the fund-raising kickoff for the $1.25 million Wes Jordan Athletic Training Education Complex at the University of Maine’s Lengyel Gym.
“I am deeply honored and humbled,” said an emotional Jordan, who was the university’s athletic trainer for 32 years and is a member of three Halls of Fame, including the National Athletic Trainers Association’s hall. “This has been a dream of mine for years. It is badly needed.”
University of Maine graduate Mark Letendre, who was an athletic trainer for the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants and became Major League baseball’s first director of umpires’ medical services, is one of the co-chairmen of the fund-raising campaign along with Owen Logue, the assistant dean of academic services.
Jordan recalled student-trainer Letendre, who offered to work an extra week during the summer sports clinics.
“As it turned out, there was a cheerleading camp that week. I couldn’t find him all that week. He was chasing cheerleaders,” quipped Jordan while sitting in an overstuffed chair next to the podium.
He also took a good-natured poke at ESPN-NBC sportscaster and Maine grad Gary Thorne, who was the emcee.
“When it comes to those Russian names [in the NHL], Gary has no clue. But he can fake it with the best of them,” joked Jordan. “When Gary began his broadcasting career doing Maine hockey games in 1977, he and I used to room together on the road. His wife [Donna] used to give him a bag of peanuts. He would go to the library to study law and I would stay in the hotel room eating his peanuts.”
On a serious note, he had high praise for his two friends.
“Over the years, Rookie [Letendre’s nickname] has been one of the truly great friends I’ve had. I could always call him,” said Jordan.
As for Thorne, Jordan said, “There is no finer national sportscaster in the country than Gary Thorne.”
Jordan praised a number of prominent trainers including Bowdoin’s Mike Linkovich and Colby’s Carl Nelson and recalled his first days as a trainer at Maine.
“I wouldn’t have had the opportunity today that I had then due to today’s [high] standards,” said Jordan who credited Maine athletic director Rome Rankin, faculty athletic manager Ted Curtis and football coach Harold Westerman with giving him the chance to go from student-trainer to full-time trainer.
“When I opened my desk drawer on the first day, there was one sheet of paper in it. It was titled the ‘Legal Implications of an athletic trainer.’
“I wasn’t sure it was something I wanted to get in to,” chuckled Jordan.
He was deeply touched by the outpouring of support.
Letendre was also impressed by the turnout, which was in the vicinity of 500 people.
“I’m surprised but not surprised. Wes always told me ‘It’s nice to be important but it’s more important to be nice,” said Letendre.
“Wes was like a father to us,” said Bucksport High School principal and former Maine football standout Tom Sullivan. “He cared about us. He stood up for us. You would be willing to play hurt but Wes would say ‘he’s hurt and he isn’t going to play today.”
Former Maine two-sports star Jack Leggett, in his ninth year as the head baseball coach at Clemson University (S.C.), recalled how Wes took him under his wing during his painful freshman year at Maine in which his girlfriend died in a car accident, his parents divorced and he broke his leg.
“Wes helped me in a lot of different ways. He rehabilitated my heart and my mind. I learned a great deal from him,” said Leggett. “This [crowd] is a measure of his popularity and legacy.”
Former New York Yankee assistant general manager and manager Carl ‘Stump’ Merrill said Jordan has been “like a second brother to me. I can’t think of a more deserving person [to have the facility named after him].”
Letendre said the fund drive has gained two corporate sponsors.
One will be SwimEx Systems of Warren, R.I., which will establish the first-ever SwimEx Aquatic Research Institute at Lengyel. It will enable student-trainers to learn all facets of aquatic therapy rehabilitation, training and conditioning.
The other is the Chattanooga Co., which supplies medical equipment.
Letendre donated $10,000 out of his own pocket and urged the well-wishers to donate whatever they could.
Brown University’s Frank George gave Jordan a plaque and a check for $1,000 from the NATA.
Donations can be sent to the University of Maine Foundation, P.O. Box 2220, Bangor, 04402.
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