Congratulations to Dale Tuttle, our September Alumnus of the Month!
When did you play?
Arrived in Ann Arbor late 1982 and played until 1991.
What positions did you play?
Played mostly in the centers, last match was at fly against an Irish team in Ireland. Played every position except the front row at one time or another.
What got you started?
I had played with Dave Weber for the Church Street Barbarians and Dave said I ought to come up to Ann Arbor, play rugby and get a MBA while I was at it.
Any honors or awards?
Aside from winning a Fuzzy Man in the Jar award at my last Olde Boys match about 10 years ago, the honor was to play with every teammate that I took to the pitch with and to watch every player from every side represent Michigan. The awards are the memories and friendships that endure.
What are your favorite memories/teammates?
My favorite on the pitch memories with Michigan included dusting the Chicago Lions something like 60-0 at Mitchell Field. Winning the Big 10 against Purdue in West Lafayette was also an early favorite memory of success.
I used to love following Weber at scrum, Menyhart and Reboine on the flanks during loose play. Wherever they were headed was where the fun action would be because they would penetrate the gain line and provide a space of least resistance to capitalize on.
I absolutely loved the “nosebleed” scrums executed with Stone, Rose and Chapman in the front row. They would successfully demoralize the opponents by hoisting their bodies in the air, toes dangling above the turf, steal their put-in and will, with a tactic that has long ago been made illegal.
In the centers Hagan and I would chat calmly with each other as we chased down balls hoisted high. “I’ll take him low” Jeff would say, and I would reply, I’ll take him high”, whereupon Jeff would drill the ball receiver’s mid-section while I would leap for the ball and give the guy a hip to the head.
Playing with flare among Hartman, Tayer, Woodruff in the backs and speedy forwards like Ruf (were there any others?), or even imitating Tom Brady from a quick line out with an across the pitch spiral to Wooley the prop was always a joy.
Off the pitch following Chapman, Masso, Wooley was always where the fun was to be had. Argyle’s block party and the extreme social talents of Dave Perpich are impossible to forget, and impossible not to smile at in reflection.
Two other off the pitch memories burn vividly in my mind, the bottle rocket assault where me and Masso took on the coolest group John Tayer, Bill Silver, Rich and Hal inside the house that used to stand near Taco Bell and Red Hot Lovers across from the business school. It was the closest I ever had to come to experiencing war and love simultaneously. The last most powerful and favorite memory was sharing one last shot of bourbon and a fierce handshake with Arnold Cowmeadow at his home on the farm. His straight stare and firm handshake as his health was dwindling reminded me of his favorite lyric by Dylan Thomas “Rage into the night, rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
What have you done since Michigan Rugby?
Since Michigan rugby I have been raising five beautiful children, coached hockey for several years, golfed occasionally, and taught school.
How has Michigan Rugby affected your life beyond rugby?
Michigan rugby gave me a peace of mind that generalizes throughout my life. It helped me to understand that you should never harm the innocent, yet there are times when bad actors need to be acted upon severely.
Congratulations again to Dale Tuttle, our September Alumnus of the Month!
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I coached the Midwest Select side and Dale Tuttle was the best Center in the Midwest without a doubt. He had speed and power. You did not want to be tackle by Dale if he decided to “lunch” you. Between Dale and John Hartman we had a 1-2 punch that was devastating to our opponents. It was a true pleasure to play with Dale.
I played with Dale on a few occasions but mostly recall Dale and Perpich cheering on the B-Side after the A -Side had completed their dastardly deeds. His slender build confused opponents as he hit so damn hard. He also had this pseudo fake kick feint that was amazing to watch as he would present the ball towards the opponent only to then quickly retract it, perform the most amazing mouth and hip fake, and dodge pass the purported tackler often on the way to a try.
Congrats Dale! Other than your intermittent associations with Sparty I have nothing but good things to say😎
Nick “Evil” Sartor
Well, I cherish every minute I had on the pitch with Dale Tuttle and his on field antic….One of my favorite memories was having him share a room with me at the SAE house, one summer my junior year.. I had gone to the Ann Arbor art fair, and met a beautiful woman at the fair, and gave her my number, and then got moved to the second shift to General Motors Saginaw steering gear, and had to move to Saginaw for the rest of the summer. When I come back at the end of the summer there’s Dale with this huge shit eating grin on his face with that Tuttle twinkle in his eye. I asked him how his summer was an all, he replied, was Rhonda! it took a couple minutes to register, and then I remembered the name of that beautiful woman from the art fair it turns out she called my number while I was in Saginaw. Dale answered, pretending to be me and invited her over to look at his collection of rocks and poetry. One thing led to another, and they had quite the fun summer eventually he had to tell her his real name but by then of course she didn’t care, and neither did he!
I had been part of my college rugby team for 5 years and learned little. Moving to Michigan was a fast tutorial on all aspects of the game, based on a system that was largely intact for the better part of 30 years — with Dale a wonder to watch and honor to take the pitch with. Two things:
In 1990 I showed up for the first winter practices in February, 5 years of rugby under my belt. Indoors at the Colosseum at Hill and Fifth. Unopposed, handball, live scrums, basketball. I knew it was a more serious rugby experience than I had ever seen when a fight broke out at my first practice. I’d seen scuffle and niggle at practice before, but Dale put a goose egg on the temple of one of our gnarliest loose forwards, Dag Jorstad. What got my attention was we hadn’t even stretched yet much less started practice. This happened turning the corner on our second lap around the gym — just taking a jog.
Second thing: favorite Tuttle move was the YoYo, his ball on a string juke– he’d extend his arm with ball in hand dramatically toward an opponent – mesmerizing them, taking their focus off the belly button and tackle. That brief moment of defensive hesitation reaching for the shiny object would be shattered by Dale spinning or stepping around said defender as he pulled the ball back tight to body and wiggled his way through befuddled opponents and well past the gain line.
Happened every game, every touch session, we’d all seen it and all fell for it time and again. A proud moment for me in UM rugby history was realizing I had spontaneously channeled Tuts with this move while spanking the Lions in the final of their own Sevens tournament in ’96. Of course I’m no bolter so the ball immediately went to Fastest Man In US Rugby Chris Collis who scissored past and flew 60m to score — but we both knew it was Tuttle who had created that try!
Dale:
It was great to reminisce over your many years of playing rugby with the All Blues. I’ll never forget looking up and seeing you score the winning try against the Valhallians on a dark, rainy and cold night on Vancouver, Island British Columbia. My perspective on the muddy field was perfect to watch Dale do his magic and as Arnold Cowmeadow and I would often sing along with the Lovin’ Spoonful after seeing King Tuts on the pitch in the 1980’s we did believe in magic.
Thanks for the memories Dale.
It is great to see Dale recognized and his significant contributions to Michigan Rugby highlighted. I value Dale’s skills on the pitch, artistic flair, intellectual depth and breadth, witty contributions and most importantly, his friendship. Dale played a big part in welcoming me to the club when I arrived in Ann Arbor in the fall of 1986.
The memories and stories are extensive, but a few experiences came to mind.
Dale was part of a strong Michigan club we took to the Cherry Blossom Rugby Tournament in Washington in the spring of 1987. Standing on the pitch prior to the beginning of the matches, members of a rival club approached Dale to see if they could garner a little inside information on our strengths and weaknesses prior to our upcoming match. He was asked about the quality of our forward pack and Dale put his hand on his chin and thought for a few minutes, before responding, “Well, we are small, but, we’re slow.”
During the course of the tournament, Dale tormented multiple defenders with the patented ‘yoyo’ (and spin) move referenced in Elmo’s earlier post. He left opposing players grasping at air and vowing to kill Dale if they could catch him. Unfortunately, Dale was also part of our experienced backline of Hartman, Lisi, Hagan, Leblanc and a few others, who somehow managed to lose track of the score in a key match. Thinking we were up by a try, when we were actually down by the same difference, our esteemed backs proceeded to slow the pace and failed to go on attack. The forwards knowing the actual score assumed that Dale and his back mates were concocting an elaborate counter attack. With only seconds left in the match, the forwards finally realized that there was no grand plan and it was too late to salvage the match.
Well after our formal playing days were over, I realized more about the renaissance man Dale had become. Occasionally during trips through Ann Arbor, Dale and I would try to get together for a drink or dinner. Dale was working in Lansing at the time and would need to commute back to meet me for dinner and a beer at Fraser’s. As the time of our meeting was getting closer, I received a call from Dale. He had diverted off I-96 to avoid traffic and had come across a fresh deer recently hit on a country road. He loaded it in his trunk and said he would need some extra time to dress it in his garage before he could make it to dinner.
After a number of years, it was great to see Dale at Olde Boys in September and appreciate Dale and his family hosting us one evening.
Congratulations and well-deserved, Dale