It’s closing time The spirit of the Friendly Games will be evident as competitors gather for the 2014 Alice Springs Masters Games Closing Ceremony tonight. Participants are encouraged to wear their medals to make it a glittering spectacular of gold, silver and bronze. After a week of excitement from the pool to the track and even the bowling alley, it’s time for competitors to let their hair down. The live entertainment kicks off with Alice Springs band Shadows on Blue followed by regular Masters entertainers In Tatters - but without singer Ray “Elvis” Smith who has left town. There will be about 15 minutes of official items including the lowering of the flags and the traditional goodbye wave from the Games Ambassadors. A fireworks display will precede an hourlong set by Adelaide band The Cast which will be followed by another hour set this time by 90s Australian rock royalty Chocolate Starfish. Then it’s on to the Neil Diamond tribute performance Forever Diamond by Peter Byrne to round out the night. Byrne, who originally hails from Ireland, has been touring the Forever Diamond show for 23 years. “It was an idea that came up when I moved to Australia. It was supposed to last five years,” he said. Bryne has been making the most of his first visit to Alice Springs and while it hasn’t
been Masters Games-related, he’s been getting among the sporting scene. “I have to admit, I am a keen golfer – when travelling, my golf clubs go in before my guitar goes in,” he said. “I do get my priorities right.” And the avid golfer is pleased with what Alice Springs Golf Course has had to offer. “It’s very much different to the one I play in Sydney. It’s a very challenging golf course,” he said. Byrne’s passion for Neil Diamond stemmed from his father. “He was always playing Neil Diamond and Frank Sinatra. I grew up with that classic ’60s and ’70s music,” he said. “I still look back at the idea of an Irish guy impersonating an American, Polish, Jewish man. It’s very different. “I’m grateful for the fact that my father wasn’t listening to Barry Manilow,” he said. Tailoring Neil Diamond’s 50-year career into an hour show ensures all the classics can be expected tonight. “We need to concentrate on the big ones,” he said. “A lot of songs from Hot August Night, a lot of songs from the Beautiful Noise album. “All his big hits.” Gates open at 5pm at Anzac Oval, and there will be food and drinks for sale.
Big hittin’ chilli dogs Baseball has literary been a big hit in the 2014 Alice Springs Masters Games. Most batters have been able to get bat on ball more often than some experienced campaigners have seen before. This was certainly the case in the cracking game yesterday morning between West Boomers and Adelaide Aces. Aces raced out to a seven-run lead early but Boomers gradually bridged the gap hitting the winning run in the bottom of the fifth, and final, inning to win the game 12-11. If this continues in the finals today, there will be some excellent baseball on show. There has been the usual theatrics that go hand in hand with baseball but it has all been in the spirit of the game. Catering has also been a hit with fans - the authentic chilli dogs proved so popular that 10kg was sold in one day. Baseball has been lucky to have brilliant officiating from Jeremy Breden, from Sydney NSW, and Kym Smith, from Adelaide SA, in particular. All the umpires at the Games have umpired at the ABL level at some stage in their careers. There have been almost 100 new balls used
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for the Games, with some lost as fly hits have cleared the back fence and gone bouncing along the Stuart Highway. Despite the number of hits, there have only been five or six home runs - although one of them gave Darwin Crocs a grand slam. There are about 120 registered baseballers at these Games, including the umpires, in nine teams which have been playing in three divisions. Six of the teams have come to Alice Springs for the Games with a third “home” side formed with players coming back to town for the Panthers club’s 50th reunion on Sunday. The reunion will include a variety of activities, plenty of catching up and possibly a hit of baseball. Today’s games begin at 8.30am with the 35+ competition bronze medal play off between West Boomers and Wild Weasels followed by the gold medal games. At 10.45am Bulls play Legends 45 in the 45+ social grade, at 1pm the 35+ social decider between Adelaide Aces and Darwin Crocs with the 35+ competitive decider between East Coast Slammers and Legends. With Speed Street being closed to traffic this morning, due to the Triathlon, people going to the Baseball should drive though TIO Traeger Park from Traeger Avenue to get to the diamond.
Issue Seven
Saturday October 18th 2014
WEATHER WEATHER FOREFORECAST CAST Min Max
SAT
17
33
20
36
21
37
Sunny SUN Sunny MON Possibly Cloudy Warning: With the Temperatures soaring and an Extreme UV Index don’t forget to hydrate regularly and cover up to avoid heat distress.
SPORTS HOROSCOPE Medal engraving October 18, 2014 will mark the start of a wonderful weekend. Be sure to leave all your troubles and worries behind and allow yourself to enjoy a day full of fun activities and entertainment. Indulge – you have surely deserved it!
ARIES Aries’ appetites are getting larger. Your emotional state may become unbalanced and irascible and your actions can be extreme. To avoid gaining weight, watch what you eat – don’t try to muffle your worries with sweets. There are some preconditions for fighting over power, benefits and territory.
TAURUS Taurus may face big conflicts in its family or at work. Despite innate peaceful attitude, many Bulls may have a sharp reaction to such phenomena. You may witness an argument between your neighbours or get to observe some political, scientific and social scandal.
GEMINI The circumstances predispose to financial adventures as well as large investments in innovatory projects or network business. Perhaps, you will have to spend money on expensive pleasures like buying a trip to a prestigious resort. Gemini parents may have to spend extra on their children’s educational needs.
CANCER Today Cancer is prone to blowing things out of their proportions, claiming more attention and able to make a jump up the career ladder. The Crabs can behave in a provocative way and try to either protect or expand their domain.
LEO October 18, 2014 is good for those Lions who care for balance, lawfulness, justice and nobility. Do appreciate the unexpected gift from above and don’t expect more; then, your mood will be wonderful and things will be just great.
VIRGO Virgo’s innate scepticism is battling its hope for a miraculous turn of events. Even if you don’t believe in powerful magicians, you will be prone to rely on good luck. You may be counting on the generosity of your patron, friend or partner and exaggerating their virtues and abilities at the same time.
Another Alice Springs Masters Games is drawing to an end but winning competitors can keep a personalised momento of their 2014 efforts by having their name and other details engraved on their medals. Alice Springs company Trophy Central is offering the service at the Alice Plaza in the Todd Mall.
Trophy Central will be open from 8am to 4pm today and 9am to 2pm on Sunday.
Happy Birthday
William Willis Terry Nisbet Marlene Niland Christine Douglas Grant Allan Inge Camilleri Sharon Anderson Gaylene Russ Tricia Bruce Jennifer Steer Anthony Holding Frances Whitty Jason Lebas Maree Hayes Lisa Marriott
LIBRA Today will prove crucial for Libra who’s got its eye on the career, popularity and power. Stars believe you’ve got wonderful perspectives, but you will hardly get what you want without working for it. Perhaps, you will have to deal with a rollercoaster of a partner or prejudiced group of people.
SCORPIO Scorpio may acquire additional honorable duties and additional troubles along with them. You may be invited to work along a foreign company or train young inexperienced staff members. The day will be tense and full of changes if you work on a degree, teach, go abroad, partake in litigation, etc.
SAGITTARIUS Sagittarius’ every effort is required today, including the efforts of their soul. It is very well possible that you will have to use others’ finances or family resources. Under critical conditions you can have an inspired, bold and creative approach to things.
CAPRICORN On this stressful day it will be difficult for Capricorn to fully rely on anyone but itself. Your partners, patrons, relatives or household members can let you down at the worst possible moment. During this time mutual claims are getting more pronounced including the territorial ones.
AQUARIUS Failures will hardly discourage true Water Bearers on October 18, 2014. Instead, they will give them new energy and inspire them to try harder and explore more. During the day the euphoria may give way to despair and fatigue, but the moments of pessimism will be quickly replaced by new inspiration.
PISCES Your whims and your significant others’ caprices are not cheap, but the enjoyment you receive is certainly worth all the expenses. You may be seduced by an adventure, interesting deal, new computer game, trendy extreme recreations or an opportunity to spoil your child.
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The Friendly Games
Photo of the Day
Masters Games equestrian rider Sam Hill navigates the course at Blatherskite Park
Photo by Justin Brierty, The Centralian Advocate
telling tales from around the Games... Golfers Tony and Luke Richardson will never live down the 2014 Alice Springs Masters Games. The father and son team were out on the course with dad Tony caddying for son Luke, who is from Alice Springs. They were using their new beaut selfpropelled electric golf buggy and feeling pretty proud about it too. Imagine their surprise then, when lining up for a shot on the fifth, they suddenly heard the clatter of golf clubs. They turned around in time to see the buggy careening across the course and into the scrub where it landed upside down with wheels spinning in the air. Seems Tony from SA, had forgotten to turn the buggy off. The Mt Isa Granites women’s cricket team is strong on tradition.
The pre-game ritual has always been to just arrive, walk on to the playing field and play. The youngest member of the team, who is a first time Gamer, decided to do the unthinkable and warm up before playing. The result was a pulled groin muscle. Needless to say the original pregame ritual won’t change. There were an amazing 63 Alice Springs Masters Games records set in the pool this week. Only three of those were completely new records. This means 60 records were broken because the standard of the swimmers keeps improving with each Games.
Two of the new records came in the 400m individual medley where Anita Saviane, who broke three other records during the program, in the 70-74 group and Tubby Ramsay in the 8084 group were the first in their divisions to do the swim. It was no surprise that Tubby set the mark, as he holds the record for the event in the 70-74 and 7579 age groups. The other new record was by Owen Colbran in the 25-29 year old 800m freestyle. Amazingly he is the only young swimmer to try this distance in the history of the Alice Springs Masters Games so he could not fail to create a record and win one of his seven gold medals.
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The whereabouts of injured cricketer Arnold “Arnie” Woithe has been the centre of a lot of speculation in recent days. Arnie took a couple of steps in the first day of competition and ended up on the ground with a broken leg. He has been recuperating in Alice Springs Hospital ever since. Rumours were rife yesterday that cricket-tragic had been discharged, or was about to be discharged, so he could watch the cricket finals. But a hospital spokesperson said he was still recuperating in the ward. It’s a real shame someone with such passion for the game should miss out.
Birds dominate hockey finals It’s finals day for the hockey competition in the Alice Springs Masters Games. There are six medal play-offs to be played - four for gold. The games begin at 10.30am with the women’s 41+ bronze clash between Darwin Lorikeets and Central Coast Cruisers from NSW. The final match is the men’s 35-45 clash between Goulburn Galahs (NSW) and Short Wind (Alice Springs). Galahs have been coming to the Alice Masters since day dot and have never won gold. They reckon this is their year. They have dominated the competition scoring 28 goals and only conceding six. Their style is no-nonsense hockey and they have strikers that can score from any part of the circle. The best players for Galahs have been
Steven Downey and Mark Robertson. Short Wind are the shock side of this year’s competition, with a few new veteran players to Alice Springs hockey. If their latest game against Crows is any indication, this is the side to take it up to Galahs. Their best players have been Ben Falzon and Johnathon Hodgetts. The 2.30pm women’s 30-46 play-off is between Desert Die Hards (from Alice Springs) and Fusion (SA). Die Hards are a well structured side with speed and skill to burn. They have won most of their games through a dominant midfield. This has set a strong platform for their clever forwards and left little work for their backs. The green Fusion girls hail from the Barossa Valley in SA. While Die Hards have stood out in this
division, Fusion have battled Savvie Oaks all week for second spot and only won out by a single point yesterday afternoon. The best players for Fusion have been Michelle Smith and Magret Greyvenstein. This will be a match worth watching for any women’s hockey fan. The other finals are; 11.30am - men’s 35-45 bronze medal match between Old Crows (SA) and Darwin Bulldogs. 12.30pm - women’s 41+ gold/silver match between Cairns Stingers and the Brown Eyed Girls. Both sides are long-time Games participants and have had many classic battles over the years. 1.30pm - men’s 46+ gold/silver match between Dead Ants and Old Crows.
SMS 0477 741 665 with your name, Accreditation ID (on your Accreditation Pass) and make a caption for today’s photo. The best caption will win a prize. Winners announced in each edition of The Friendly Times.
Yesterdays Winner “If I wear my hat like this, maybe no-one will notice my shirt” S Mulcahy
Games venue partnership Almost a half of 32 Alice Springs Masters Games sports are held at Alice Springs Town Council venues. The Alice Springs Town Council has a long history of supporting the Masters Games and is again proud to be a sponsor of this year’s ‘friendly games’ The Mayor Damien Ryan said “Council contributes to the Games both financially and with tremendous in-kind support. “The town, the sporting facilities and the public venues are all prepared
and maintained by the dedicated council team. “The Council team has worked tirelessly in preparation and for the running of the games. “This includes grounds preparation and maintenance, traffic management, cleaning facilities and litter removal, coordination of ablutions, grandstands and crowd barriers. “Council hopes all the participants have enjoyed the 2014 Masters Games.”
Rack em up!
The 45 eightball competitors at these Alice Springs Masters Games have had an enjoyable week potting balls at Club Eastside. Grand finals for the three men’s divisions and one of the two women’s competitions were played last night. Alice Springs Eightball Association president Brett Ireland said it had been a really good competition. “Five players have come from interstate to play and the rest are local residents,” he said. “We have also had 10 to 15 players who don’t play in the local competition. “They were very competitive and
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looked like they’d played a lot of pool. “They’ve enjoyed it and are looking to join in our regular competition. “We normally get four or five new players a year so to get this many in one hit from this event is tremendous.” And Brett said the players who hadn’t played competition before held their own with Steven and Andrew Healy reaching the doubles gold medal play-off, knocking out some of the association’s good players along the way. The competition had three age divisions in the men’s competition,
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two in the women’s and two in the doubles plus an open men’s and an open women’s division. All competitions had a double elimination format meaning a player stayed “alive” and in the competition until losing two games.
Pat Gallagher netball courts is one of the Alice Springs Town Council venues
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There was a Masters of Masters competition between the gold medallists in the various division. In one game Kevin Milnes cleared the table from the break, leaving opponent John Anderson to sit watching knowing there was nothing he could do.
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Alice Springs
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Whats on Today General Archery Baseball Basketball Golf Hockey Lawn Bowls Mountain Biking Tenpin Bowling Triathlon, Duathlon
5pm Closing Ceremony ANZAC Oval 8am ABA 3D 2 arrow rounds Alice Springs Shooting Complex 8.30am Competition Lyle Kempster Park 9am Finals Traeger Park Stadium 7am Competition Alice Springs Golf Club 8.30am Hockey Centre Traeger Park 9am Mens & Ladies Finals Memorial Club 8am Cross Country Alice Springs Scouts Hall 10am Competition Dustbowl
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6am Triathlon Alice Springs Town Pool
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