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International Rugby Leaves Its Mark On RugbyTown USA
by Marco Cummings
Writer for and on behalf of the City of Glendale
One of the biggest sporting events in Glendale in the month of August, if not the entire year, took place last month when Infinity Park hosted the Serevi RugbyTown Sevens international rugby tournament.
Needless to say, the event left its mark on the City of Glendale, as 17 teams from around the United States and the world convened to compete for the $10,000 prize awarded to the tournament’s winner along with a berth in the Bayley’s Fiji Coral Coast Sevens tournament, a rugby tournament hosted in the homeland of Serevi namesake Waisale Serevi, known as the “King of Sevens,”
“It’s truly an international event, people from all over the world are coming out,” commented Glendale Mayor Mike Dunafon, prior to the event.
This year’s competition came from locales as far away as England and the Caribbean, but prior to the tournament’s conclusion, Serevi was “keeping an eye on” the USA Falcons.
As it turns out, it was the Falcons that took home this year’s Serevi RugbyTown Sevens Cup Championship, defeating the Denver 7s All Stars 36-19 in the tournament final.
A familiar face helped guide the Falcons to the championship as former Raptors fly-half Valenese “Nese” Malifa made his return to Infinity Park.
“I don’t miss the altitude,” Malifa joked.
But what he did miss was the experience Infinity Park offered to thousands of rugby fans and teams from around the world over the three-day weekend of events.
“It’s a good show they put out here. It’s family,” Malifa said.
The Denver 7s All Stars also brought familiarity to this year’s SRS tournament. The team featured a mix of players including some from Glendale’s rival, the Denver Barbarians.
“It’s a great tournament, we can’t wait to come back next year,” Denver 7s and Barbos fullback Maximo De Achaval said.
“It is a community building sport. It is played all over the world, and now we’re being recognized for it,” Mayor Dunafon added.
Unfortunately, the tournament hosting Glendale Raptors were unable to bring home hardware in this year’s tournament, after making a finals
appearance last year alongside the USA Collegiate All-Americans.
After an undefeated start in pool play, injuries started to pile up for the Raptors, eventually losing 35-7 to the Northeast Olympic Development Academy in the SRS Plate Final.
“With the new/reserve players coming in, we broke the continuity and needed to build confidence but it was too late to try and do it in a final,” Raptors head coach Andre Snyman said. “The reserves played really well and I’m grateful for their attitude and commitment to help the team at such a short notice.”
In addition to the Cup and Plate Finals, hardware was also contested in the SRS Bowl and Shield Finals as well as a third place match.
In the third-place game, Austin, Texas, area club Negro y Azul, defeated the crowd favorite U.S. Army. Azul defeated the Raptors 28-21 on Day Two of the competition in the Cup Quarterfinals.
Army was defeated in the third place match, but put together a strong tournament, winning the Military Championship with a 26-15 defeat of Air Force on Day Two of the competition. It’s the second Military Championship in three appearances for Army, who has defeated Air Force both times.
Another fan favorite throughout the years has been the Royal Air Force Spitfires. The RAF entered SRS having won hardware in each of their previous tournaments in 2014, but fell short in RugbyTown with a 19-12 loss to 2013 SRS Cup Champions, the Collegiate All-Americans in the Bowl Final.
Nevertheless, the Spitfires were ever grateful for what has become a yearly trip across the pond to Glendale.
“It’s brilliant coming here, it’s our third trip here. We love the city,” remarked RAF coach Tim Barlow, adding, “The tournament has grown over the last three years, the standard has gotten higher, the teams are better and more ranging.”
Although this year’s competition was largely dominated by American competition, one dark horse from an exotic locale was able to bring home hardware.
After failing to record a win over the first two days of the tournament, Bermuda was able to put together two wins on Sunday, concluded by a 29-14 win over the U.S. Coast Guard in the Shield Final.
“We were delighted to play and be back again this year, it’s a big step forward for our development,” Veteran Bermuda scrum half Tom Healy said following the win.
The competitive action on the field was certainly a sight to behold, but what also made this year’s SRS tournament a rousing success were the weekend’s off-field events, which included a “Bruises and Brews” beer fest on Day Two of the competition and a “Taste of Glendale” on the final day of the competition.
“The participation of people locally is fantastic,” praised Mayor Dunafon. “Combine it with the beer festival and the Taste of Glendale it’s over the top. It’s really what this is all about, introducing Colorado to the sport of rugby.”
It’s another reason to check out next year’s edition of the Serevi RugbyTown Sevens tournament in addition to a chance to see the Glendale Raptors strive for another chance at glory.
“We can take a lot from this tournament and some of the younger players got a taste of what it’s like to play at the next level.” Coach Snyman said. “We look forward to regroup and get ready for next year’s tournament.”
Is It Possible That Apple Is A Chronicle Reader?
by Brian Zabroski
Is it possible Apple reads the Chronicle? Maybe my column? I apologize in advance. Studies show reading this column on a regular basis may result in reduced brain cells. Maybe that explains a few things… hmmm.
Apple announced two recalls in August: One, to replace the wake/sleep iPhone5 button. Check out the recall at: http:// bit.ly/iphonebuttonfix to learn if your phone falls under the recall period. Two, an iPhone5 battery replacement program. What? The battery is terrible in the iPhone5? Seriously? [insert sarcasm here] Check out this link to learn if your iPhone5 is eligible to receive a new battery: http://bit.ly/iphone batteryrecall.
Apple is not calling either of these programs a recall, rather a replacement program. The battery replacement program states that a very small percentage of their phones were affected. By small percentage, they mean everyone. Mrs. App is the lucky iPhone5 user with a bad battery and inoperable wake/sleep button. Then again, her iPhone hasn’t missed a sidewalk in Glendale. An app called Normal may be an alternative solution. This app displays potential battery draining apps on your device, and the suggested battery life improvement by closing certain apps or by making settings adjustments.
Apple expects to announce the iPhone6 during the first week of September. The new phones are available typically 10 days later. The iPhone6 may be ready by September 16. The new software, iOS7, for existing users will be ready at the same time. To learn about the new iPhone and software features: http://bit.ly/iphone6ios7.
I Know You Opened My Email
It isn’t uncommon for me to receive a phone call from someone telling me they just sent an email. Now that I think of it, I’ve done this to a bunch to other folks. Personally, I don’t feel confident enough that my email was read in a timely manner. Enter Signals, an email response app: www. getsignals.com. The service is free and has a basic concept, generate an immediate pop-up alert when the email recipient has opened and viewed the email. You’ll need to enable Chrome as a browser, although you are not required to keep Chrome as your default browser. The website provides a history of your viewed emails and how many times each message was viewed. The best part? It’s free. OK, the real best part is the recipient isn’t alerted that Signals is notifying the sender about their viewing. There are add-ins for browsers and Outlook, as well. I still call after sending an email, except I now call when I know they have viewed my email. The response is typically, “I was just looking at your message.” Just don’t say, “I know.” Creepy!
Cool Apps
Packpoint… an app that creates travel planning templates. Enter the trip info, and the app will suggest items to pack based on the weather and length of trip. Templates can be saved for future trips. May be a time saver rather than packing the morning of a flight. | Cloze… a social media app that merges email and social media activity for the most active contacts. The one downside? If the person that interacts with you via email and social media the most isn’t a favorite, then… well… | bitcasa… a cloud-based storage app, which provides 20GB for free. How big is 20GB? Most iPhones are only 16GB, so this free storage can handle more than the base iPhone model. In other words, depending on compression, it can handle 3,000 songs, or 20,000 pictures or 20 hours of video. | Looking for place to grab a cold drink? Try Untappd, an app focused on delivering adult beverage establishment suggestions. Think of Yelp for beer drinkers.
How are you, and or your business using mobile technology? Are you using this technology to entice new hires to join your company? Are you eliminating hardware and going cloud? Has it allowed you to hire employees from outside your area? I’d like to hear your story for a future column.
Do you have a favorite app you’d like to share? Contact Brian at brian@brianzabro ski.com, on Twitter @BrianZab or LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/brianzab.
Brian, a Corporate Account Executive with NetSuite, has spent nearly 20 years in the telecommunications and software industry. Businesses use NetSuite software to run and manage all of their business applications. It’s web-based, so businesses can access their information from anywhere; It’s flexible, which allows the software to be customized for their business; and, it is built on a single platform, which businesses appreciate since they can often eliminate multiple software solutions. Trending companies, such as Box, GoPro, FitBit and Dropbox use this software to run their business. Reach out to Brian to learn how your business can benefit with this software.