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SITa Friday, June 23, 1995SportsAlamogordo Daily NewsFor Five Down Under, a dizzying, Aussie tourBy MICHAEL SHINABERY Daily News Sports WriterWhen they left Albuquerque’s airport, they were headed for the trip of their young lives.Even if their Boeing 747 did run out of gas.“We had to land in a different city, Brisbane (Australia),* said David McCurdy. “Then (the pilot) had to fly an hour in the wrong direction to get to our destination. He said he had just flown around a storm. He didn’t know he had as much weight as he had. He had a whole football team in there.That memory, though, will be just one tale of high adventure in a land down under that the/ll revel in when grandchildren sit on their knees.McCurdy was one of this year’s Five Down Under, Tiger athletes who graduated in May and were offered a chance to play in an annual tournament football game in Australia. Besides the regular slew of travelers on his flight, there were 90 fellow football players. Among them were his two Tiger teammates, David Scrivner and Anthony Ortiz.The three left June 9 for Australia. The trip started in Albuquerque, headed to Los Angeles International Airport.From LAX, they endured a 14-hour overseas flight. They arrived in Australia June 11, losing a day because of time zone differences.“Every year we go over there and we either play an Arizona-based team or an Australian team,” McCurdy said. “Last year we played the Australian team and this year we played the Australian ■ team again. Last year we won and this year we won bad, too.”As rock musician George Thorogood made famous in his hit song: Bad to the Bone. The defending Americans stretched the Australians over their own “barbee and roasted them 41-7.“First kick-off we ran a wall,” McCurdy said,TAKE-OFF TO ADVENTURE — On June 9,David Scrivner, left, David McCurdy and Anthony Ortiz were anxious to board their jet in Albuquerque to start their high adventure to the land“and Anthony (Ortiz) ran right through a big ol’ hole and ran all the way down and scored, firstplay.”The secret to the Americans’ win, Scrivner said, was several days’ practice in Las Cruces before the team left.“(The Australians) didn’t connect,” McCurdy said. “They just talked before the game.” McCurdy said athletes are chosen by New Mexico’s coaches from all district teams, then teachers and principals must nominate them.down under — Australia. The three were part of the Five Down Under, Tiger athletes competing in an annual football tournament.Alamo’s Five Down Under were able to go thanks to the generosity of countless people and businesses in the community who donated some of the $10,000 the five athletes had to have. They also held fundraisers.So just what tales will the five be able to tell in years to come?They snorkled in the Great Barrier Reef on the northeast comer of Queensland.“The water is clear everywhere, in the entirecountry,* McCurdy said. “The tap water is great. It was like our bottled water.”The athletes discovered a quirk of nature in the water.“I got dizzy everytime I looked at the water,” McCurdy said, “because it goes down the opposite way.’In the southern hemisphere, water spins down a drain in the opposite direction than it does in the northern hemisphere.“I kept wondering, everytime I went to the bathroom, why I got dizzy, McCurdy said. “They told me why.”Australians also get one or two American televi-son channels. However, that doesn’t mean what they see in advertisements is available to them in stores and restaurants.“They didn’t know what a tortilla was,” McCurdy said. “They didn’t know what a refried bean was. There’s no comprehension. They see it on TV but they have no idea what it was.”What Australians did like, McCurdy discovered, was steak and hot mustard.“If you eat their hot mustard it’ll clear your sinuses,” McCurdy said. “I thought I was allergic to it. It almost knocked me out.”To demonstrate, he made a strangling sound in his throat.“I think it would clear up a cold,” he said, “just like that.”The one regret McCurdy and Scrivner had was that they didn’t get to compete alongside the other two of the Five Down Under — Tres Thornton and Dale Kishbaugh.There are two waves in the annual summer games. The second group begins practice and training in two days in ’Cruces. Then they, too, will start their own Aussie adventure.Maybe they should pack a gas can with their luggage.
Newspaper Details
Alamogordo Daily News
Alamogordo, New Mexico, US
Fri, Jun 23, 1995
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
David M.
USA 07 Dec 2023
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