Captain "Krunch"

Summer conditioning has long been a habit of good football players. It saves time, unnecessary injuries, and undue punishment in the fall. In the days of Red Grange, hauling ice was a celebrated summer pastime. In more recent times, the trend has been towards summer construction work. Ivy League rules prohibit spring practice, so for Dartmouth players summer workouts are all-important.

Alvin Merle Krutsch '59, Dartmouth's 1958 football captain, has taken his honored post very seriously since his election at the end of the 1957 season. With his football responsibilities well in mind, Al carefully looked around at the various summer opportunities. Rather than work for dollars, he decided to work on his conditioning. A fraternity friend who lives on the Island of Trinidad invited Al to spend the summer with him. Trinidadian ways usually soften up visitors, and this tropical spot would hardly seem to be the place for Al to go. Yet he and his host had other plans. Al played rugby all summer as a member of one of Trinidad's three amateur teams, the "Caribs." British ships visiting the island added to the rugby team population, and Al was able to practice all week and play at least one game on the weekend. This unique form of summer training paid off. September Ist found Captain Krutsch in the best physical condition possible.

Al enjoys rugby and plays center in the backfield of the Dartmouth Rugby Club. He likes to combine the hardhitting of football line-play with a little open field running in "rugger." Although he has traveled to Bermuda and Trinidad because of rugby, he thinks it is no match for his first love, football.

Football for Al started in Denver, Colorado, his home. He attended West High in that city and participated in three years of football, and two years each of wrestling and baseball. He also served as a student council member, and was elected class president his junior year. In the fall of 1955, he started the trek east to Dartmouth.

In his freshman year, Al though seriously of transferring to the University of Colorado. He had played fullback on the Pea Green squad, but found that his studies were giving him some cause for grief. Loyal alumni in the Denver area talked hard that summer, and Al was in the Dartmouth lineup at guard the following fall. He has started every game since midway in his sophomore season and has averaged some 43 minutes per game.

The 1958 campaign has found Captain Krutsch always in the thick of things. He goes just as hard on defense as on offense and has turned in a sterling performance every Saturday. Sports Illustrated selected him as "Lineman of the Week" for his play in the Dartmouth-Brown game. Other honors are surely headed his way with the closing of the 1958 season.

Teammates refer to their captain as "Krunch," yet off the field, to the casual observer, he hardly looks what the name implies. It is hard to realize that his 5' 11" frame conceals about 200 pounds. Al smiles easily with a friendly, sometimes impish, grin that immediately warms the stranger. If it were not for the smile, his handshake would be a somewhat terrifying experience. He is reserved and soft-spoken, and, when questioned, likes to think a bit before speaking.

Al has tried to keep himself free of responsibilities other than the football captaincy and his history major. His grades show that he is doing a solid job in the classroom as well as on the gridiron. He is a member of Sphinx senior society and Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, and is the College intramural heavyweight wrestling champ.

Al Krutsch has not thought much of the future. It means military service shortly, but eventually he hopes to return to Denver and join his father in the construction business. Before he does, he had better get rid of that nickname "Krunch." People won't be sure whether he makes 'em ... or breaks 'em.

Al Krutsch '59