www.islandstats.com will continue to broadcast the LIVE SHOW “A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE”.
This show airs every Tuesday Evening beginning at 7:30 pm, with Earl Basden, and Dennis Brown.
In tonight’s show, we will be talking Softball, reliving the memories of the Big Blue Machine team in the 70's.
The big Blue machine team captured the Gold Medal at the 1978 CAC Games.
Bermuda sent its first National team to the Caribbean Amateur Softball Tournament in 1972 and they placed third.
Chosen as the hosts of the next event, Bermuda won that Championship game 4-2.
In 1974, Winston J.R. Jones took over as head coach with a five-year plan to take the women to the top. His philosophy was that "no one player was bigger than the team". He also changed players positions to where he thought their strengths lay and had the team train nine hours per week.
It all paid off, when in 1975 and 1976 Bermuda won back-to-back CAST Championships. Unfortunately, the team fell to third place in 1977 which was probably the reason their trip to the 1978 CAC Games was not funded.
The same day they were headed to Colombia, they were told they couldn't go. Joe Brown, a former League President, came down to Bernard Park to find the women crying and with a half hour he arranged the purchase of 16 airline tickets through sponsors.
Once they arrived, the women were focused and ready to "Win this for Bermuda". In eight games, the team outscored the total opposition 56-6, to become the first Bermudian team to win a Gold Medal at any of the four major sporting events.
The 1978 Big Blue Machine consisted of Olivette Armstrong, Angela Bean, Charlene Cann, Beverly Clarke, Suzy Clarke, June Durrant, lva Forbes, Sheila Gardner, Rose Hart, Ellen-Kate Horton, Lauren Perinchief, Debbie Saltus, Rosalind Simmons, Joanne Smith, Donna Trott, LuVern Ward, Roseann Williams, Veronica Zuill, and manager Winston J.R. Jones.
Members of the team will join the conversation Live at 7:30 pm.
