The 2019 class of the UW Athletic Hall of Fame has been selected and one new member will be announced each day from June 25 - July 6.
Visit UWBadgers.com each day to celebrate each new member of this distinguished and historic class of Badgers!
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Otto Puls flipped the light switch and carefully headed down the steep basement steps to what was once an entertainment area in his Middleton, Wisconsin home.
Today, it serves as a de facto Man Cave for the 86-year-old Puls.
"We used to have a lot of parties down here," he said wistfully.
At the bottom of the staircase, he motioned to a side wall.
"This is my Wall of Fame right here," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "All nice stuff."
The mounted plaques establish a timeline ranging from the "W" that Puls earned in 1953-54 as an infielder on the Wisconsin baseball team to his undergraduate degree from the School of Pharmacy to his public service commendations for working with area youngsters to his Hall of Fame inductions.
The latter frame his career as an athlete and official.
Clearly, the handwriting is on the wall in the form of plaques from:
The Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
The Madison Sports Hall of Fame.
The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Hall of Fame.
The Madison East High School Athletics Hall of Fame.
Does one plaque hold more meaning than another?
"The next one," he said without hesitation. "The one that I'm getting."
This fall, Puls will check the final box with his induction into the UW Athletic Hall of Fame.
He will be recognized for special service for a half-century-plus as men's basketball's official scorer.
Gallery: (6/27/2019) Hall of Fame 2019: Otto Puls
While not meaning to slight the others, he has always had his eyes on this Hall of Fame.
But why would it be more special?
"This is the epitome," Puls said, "of all the things I've done."
Moreover, it has everything to do with the company that he will be keeping.
"Just look at all the people who are in it," he said.
At that, Puls has a keen appreciation for what it takes to get into the UW Hall of Fame since he has been an active voting member on the selection committee for years.
When the 2019 class came up for a vote last March, Puls was unaware the committee had tabbed him for induction. Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez broke the news to Puls during the meeting.
"I was stunned," admitted Puls whose response was relatively muted. "I guess I was so surprised when he said my name, I couldn't believe it. What? Are you kidding me? It didn't sink in right away."
When he got home, he immediately sought out his wife Barb.
The Puls have been married for 64 years, so there are no secrets.
"Guess what?" he posed.
Not really waiting for an answer, he told her of his selection to yet another Hall of Fame.
"Is this what you really wanted?" she asked.
"Heck, yes," he said. "This is the one I always thought would be nice to have.
"This would be number one by far."
• • • •
Without prodding, Puls was delighted to lead a tour of his Man Cave.
Memories abound in the basement wall hangings.
"I do get nostalgic," he said.
The first stop was in front of a couple of Rose Bowl keepsakes.
Puls was the Big Ten field judge in 1977 (Vince Evans led USC to a 14-6 win over Michigan) and 1982 (Washington skunked Iowa, 28-0. Alvarez was Hayden Fry's linebacker coach.)
Posters from other postseason assignments adorn another wall.
Puls officiated in the 1978 Tangerine Bowl, the 1981 Orange Bowl, the 1985 Gator Bowl and the 1989 Citrus Bowl (Barry Switzer's last game at Oklahoma).
Over two decades, Puls was a Big Ten football official for 238 games.
"One of the neatest things I have down here," he said, "is this Schembechler letter."
Turning to a far wall, Puls shined a light on a framed letter on Detroit Tigers stationary.
Bo Schembechler, the legendary Michigan football coach, was the president of the Tigers in the early '90s and he showered praise on Puls upon his retirement from Big Ten officiating in 1991.
"With Bo Schembechler gone, why in the world would you retire?" Schembechler teased Puls in the letter. "All of your striped buddies tell me it's a piece of cake nowadays."
Puls laughed while it was read out loud.
"Seriously through sports," Schembechler continued, "we meet many people that we learn to admire and respect — players, coaches, trainers, administrators and, yes, even officials.
"Even though we didn't always agree, I always looked at you as an honest, dedicated, hardworking official. Believe it or not, I felt secure that the right calls would be made by you.
"I wish you well in your retirement from football … Best wishes, Bo."
Not far from that testimonial was another: a framed newspaper story from Madison's Capital Times written shortly after Wisconsin hired Alvarez from Notre Dame.
The accompanying picture shows Alvarez, then the Irish defensive coordinator, on the sidelines, leaning over and mouthing something in the ear of an official who had his back to the photographer.
Puls was the official.
Alvarez wrote a caption in longhand over the photo — "Otto, I'm going to explain this to you one more time" — and signed his name.
"I really cherish that," said Puls.
The room is full of football memorabilia. But there's also two autographed baseballs sitting atop a small refrigerator. One was signed by Mickey Mantle; the other by Henry Aaron.
"Both are legitimate," Puls said, matter of factly.
On his way up the staircase, Puls paused in front of the Madison East plaque.
"A lot of good athletes played there," he said. "Pat Richter among others."
He was happy again to be in such good company.
• • • •
Unless it's Richter, the former UW star receiver and athletic director, nobody may be prouder of their East Side roots in Madison than Puls, who was raised off Fair Oaks Avenue.
"I grew up at Olbrich Park," he said, fondly recalling the pickup games in softball, baseball and hockey on the diamonds and rink along the Lake Monona shoreline.
"I was there all the time after school and on weekends.
"I would have played hockey in high school if they had a program."
Instead, Puls was all-city in baseball at Madison East High.
"Too small for basketball," he lamented. "I was only 5-foot-6."
Growing up a Badgers fan, Puls used to sneak into games at the UW Field House.
"Couldn't afford them otherwise," he said.
But he had the 25 cents for the bus ride from the East Side to Monroe Street.
"So, I'd go early and hold open the door for people to come through," he remembered. "Every so often, someone would give me a ticket."
Or a kindly ticket-taker would let him pass through the gate just before the tipoff.
Puls also would sneak into football games at Camp Randall Stadium.
"Went over the fence in the Breese Terrace area," he said. "Got caught a couple of times."
But they let him go without a hassle.
"I wasn't going to hurt anybody," he reasoned.
After graduating from East High in 1950, Puls enrolled at the University of Wisconsin.
"I didn't have many choices," he said. "My dad passed away when I was 12 and my mother raised my sister and me. I didn't have a scholarship.
"Back then, tuition was $35 a semester. And then it went up to $50 and $75. I worked summers driving a tractor and cutting weeds in empty lots for the city because I needed the money."
Puls played on the freshman team and earned his numeral.
As a sophomore, he split time between JV and varsity.
Standing in his way at shortstop was Harvey Kuenn, who ended up playing 15 seasons in the Major Leagues (2,092 hits, a .308 career average) and managed Harvey's Wallbangers in Milwaukee.
After Kuenn left school early to turn pro, Puls capitalized on his opening for more playing time and lettered twice as an infielder. All along, he was motivated to get his degree which he did in 1955.
It was during his tenure as a pharmacist that he began officiating UW intramural games and that led him to an accomplished officiating career. In 1964, he took over as the official scorer for men's basketball games.
Puls turned a favor for former coach John Erickson into an experience for the ages.
Last March, he was singled out for his 55 years on the job prior to the Penn State game.
The school announced the scorer's table at the Kohl Center would bear a plaque in his honor.
"Oh, boy, it was unbelievable," he said. "I knew absolutely nothing about it."
It was also revealed that Puls was a member of Wisconsin's 2019 Hall of Fame class.
That will necessitate finding another spot on the basement wall to hang a plaque.
"We'll find a spot," promised Puls, the twinkle in his eye returning.
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UW Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2019
