Hall of Fame
In stark contrast to today's age of specialization in college athletics, Otis "Hooter" Loose literally did it all during his intercollegiate athletic career at Macalester.
Known as Macalester's "triple threat" halfback throughout the Minnesota college football conference, Loose possessed a delicate blend of speed, power and poise on the gridiron. It was not uncommon for the talented workhorse to play a full game without substitution.
Loose was a first-team All-State selection for the Scots in 1941 when he led the conference in individual scoring with 49 points, and a second-team selection in 1940 when he recorded 34 points to end up third in the final league totals. He helped lead the Scots to a third-place finish in the conference team standings in 1939, followed by back-to-back runner-up finishes in 1940 and 1941.
"Just the best all-around back in the league," declared Scots Head Coach Ollie Olson in the Nov. 11, 1941, issue of the Minneapolis Tribune. "A few may have outshone him in single departments, but figuring in all departments, no one could touch him."
Taking his act indoors during the winter months, Loose played at a guard position for the Scots basketball team during the 1939-40 and 1940-41 seasons. In the spring he played center field and pitched for the Scots baseball team, in addition to throwing the discus for the track squad, placing fifth in the event at the 1941 state college meet.
A member of Macalester's Athenaean Society, Loose received the club's outstanding athlete award in the Spring of 1942. Not limiting his talents to the athletic arena, he played the part of Kalenkhov, the Russian, in the school's play entitled "You Can't Take It With You."
A shoulder injury sustained during early-season practice for the 1941-42 basketball season prematurely ended Loose's college athletic career. Although he did not graduate from Macalester, he did receive his B.S. degree in accounting from Mankato State University in December, 1973.
Loose entered Army Air Force Aviation Cadet Training School on Nov. 5, 1942, and flew 22 missions over Europe with the 8th Air Force out of England as a B-24 bomber pilot. After working as a manager/salesman at a New Ulm auto parts store, he became a co-owner in a retail/wholesale sporting goods and athletic equipment firm in 1950.
In 1962 Loose was elected Brown County Auditor and nine years later he was appointed county administrator. He was elected president of the Minnesota County Auditor's Association in 1972 and selected to fill the same post for the Minnesota County Officer's Association in 1980.
Loose and his wife, the former Peggy Hammond, have a family of two sons, two daughters and five grandchildren. The couple resides in New Ulm.
