Rugby, Mud, and Mardi Gras
As torrents of rain descended on New Orleans during Mardi Gras weekend, so did 24 former members of the Dartmouth Rugby Football Club, alumni from the classes of '71- '78 who gathered to play together at the Hammond, Louisiana, Mardi Gras Tournament, regarded as one of the top events in North American rugby.
The presence at the tournament of so many alumni from places as far flung as Boston, Chicago, New York, Minneapolis, Grand Rapids, San Francisco, and Honolulu can be attributed to the popularity of an idea frequently proposed at reunions and parties, the organizing ability and persistence of Brian Deevy '76, the physical and social satisfactions of the game itself, an element of "old boy" school spirit, and, not least, the attractions of the New Orleans festival. The Dartmouth All Green, as they called themselves, had never before played as one team, but they came out of the event as the best of the 64 teams entered, defeating a Minnesota team in the semi-finals and beating the aggressive St. Louis Falcons for the championship.
Hotel, airline, and tournament arrangements were made in December, invitations went out and were accepted in January, and team members arrived in town Thursday evening, February 22, with a day of practice slated for Friday and the tournament scheduled Saturday and Sunday. As it turned out, because of the weather, passing drills in the airport lobby and an hour-and-a-half workout on Friday was the only practice the Dartmouth side had before the first match against the University of Missouri.
"It was obvious that the players were all good at the fundamentals," Deevy said, "but the timing a team develops as a unit was a concern. ... It was a good, strong side, but we didn't know how strong."
The fields on Saturday were so muddy thai officials soon had difficulty distinguishing one side from another, but Dartmouth beat Missouri, 16-0, in the opener, defeated South Bend, 10-0, in the second round, and downed Crescent City, 10-3, to get into the quarter-finals. The rain continued Saturday night and conditions Sunday were worse, with fields inches-deep in mire, a strong wind blowing, and temperatures in the mid-40s. Sunday morning V.M.I, fell to the Green, 16-0, and then Winona (Minn.) lost, 20-0. The final match against the Falcons got off to a rowdy start with an early warning to both sides about unnecessary roughness and the ejection of a St. Louis player for dangerous play. Dartmouth dominated, however, and went on to win, 12-0.
A journalist covering the event for Rugby magazine reported, "The real story of this year's tournament was the mud - which was everywhere. . . . Everything one does or expects in a rugby match had to be altered. The ball would not bounce; it resisted healing in the set pieces; it was unkickable, unpassable, and uncatchable. The suction created by the mud sometimes pulled boots off feet and made running nearly impossible."
The conditions couldn't have been much worse, but the Dartmouth players maintained they couldn't have had a better time. Recalling his invitation, Mike Brooks '71 said, "Some guy I'd never met called and said he was getting a Dartmouth team together for Mardi Gras, and to send him $100. I had no idea who the guy was, but I sent him a $100 check. Well, this weekend was worth every penny of it."
After admiring their sizable trophy, the team sent it back to Hanover with instructions from Wayne Young '72 to "Put it in a trophy case where we can all look at it during reunions."
Above: Dartmouth All Green scrum halfKirk Andrus '72 scoops the ball out of themud in the final match against the St.Louis Falcons. Below: Dartmouth cameout on top of the 64-team Mardi Gras tournament after defeating St. Louis, 12-0, inthe finals. The All Green set a 6-0 tournament record and gave up only three points.
