Back row: Dick Rubenser, Dave Hovde, Al Reiners, Randy Dolven, Darrell Olsen
Front row: Terry Nealey, Tedd Nealey, Jerry Skaife, Jerry Reeves, Darrell Knott
(Click on picture to enlarge)
Local "Old Guys" Take Gold at Senior Games
Terry Nealey and Dick Rubenser lead a team of geezer b-ballers to the title at St. George, Utah.
By Ken Graham
What happens when a bunch of old guys from Eastern Washington refuse to act their age? No, they don't hit the bars – they hit the court!
The "Fab Sixties" basketball team recently won the gold medal for the 60-and-over division at the Huntsman World Senior Games Basketball Championship in St. George, Utah. The Huntsman World Senior Games is in its 11th year and has an Olympic Games format with many sports. Over 9,000 people – in various age groups, starting at age 50 – participated during a two week period in October.
Terry Nealey of Dayton, Dick Rubenser of Starbuck and Dave Hovde of Prescott were on the team. When Terry's brother Tedd, living in Spokane, learned of the games, he started recruiting players from Eastern Washington. Terry recruited Randy Dolven of Kennewick, Rubenser and Hovde to join the team.
The other players and their colleges were: Al Reiners (University of Nebraska) now living in Boise, Idaho; Jerry Skaife (University of Idaho), Spokane; along with Dolven (Eastern Oregon University) and Hovde (University of Washington). Other team members were Jerry Reeves of Pullman and Darrell Knott of Wenatchee.
The team opened with a victory over Sacramento 74 to 57 with Tedd Nealey leading the scoring with 18. The following day the team suffered its only loss - to Utah, 71 to 66, but bounced back with victories over Nebraska, 77 to 53, then defeated a Seattle team 50 to 47 after being behind by 14 points at halftime. Even though the aches and pains in the old bodies continued to increase, the final game turned into an 81 to 59 rout over another California team to win the gold medal.
"It was a wonderful experience and the team performed well despite only one practice," says Terry Nealey. "Reiners is 6-8, and Dolven and Hovde are both 6-6. It was fun to play with such height on a team." Nealey stands an unimposing 5-9 (so he says). He pointed out that the team also had quick, energetic guards (especially the Nealey Brothers). And the overall depth of nine players paid off well, as the Fab Sixties ran most teams into the ground. Randy Dolven led the team in scoring, followed by Terry Nealey and Tedd Nealey.
The future of the team is unknown, as age is always a factor. But looming ahead are the Senior Games at Stanford in 2008 and the Sydney, Australia Games in 2009.
[Editor's note: What bracket will you be in then, Terry?]
Copyright (c) 2007, Blue Mountain News