Yes, it’s true. She said she’d never, ever do it.

But she did.

Vancouver Olympic silver medallist and curling heroine Cheryl Bernard is one of 13 female athlete models unveiled today in the new 2011 Women of Curling Calendar, an all-Canadian product now on sale for charity.

The glossy wall calendar features Calgary’s Bernard, Winnipeg’s four-time and defending Canadian champion Jill Officer (left, from Team Jennifer Jones) and even the legendary Colleen Jones, the five-time national women’s champion from Halifax, who has returned to competition this fall after a brief hiatus from the sport.

The 2011 Women of Curling Calendar, which features curling ladies from coast to coast, also includes national-level athletes, former junior champions and even a novice recently attracted to the sport following the excitement of Vancouver 2010.

“I know I said definitely not, no posing in a calendar,” laughed Bernard. “I think I said never, actually. But this one is not so much risqué, at least not in my case. At least I don’t think so!

“My image promotes fitness and health for all women. That’s what I want to project and that’s what this project offered.”

The first “Fire On Ice” women’s curling calendar debuted in the fall of 2005 and was an international media and pop culture sensation right through the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy.

That calendar, and more recent efforts, have all featured a majority of European curing stars. The 2011 edition, produced by The Curling News and aimed as a charitable fundraising project, features an all-Canadian cast of strong, confident and beautiful female athletes.

“These girls designed their own photo shoots, found their own photographers, and everyone contributed to it for charity,” said George Karrys, publisher of The Curling News.

“Some of these ladies went all out in terms of the creative concept, and things like wardrobe, makeup, you name it. The commitment they made is unbelievable.”

The calendar costs $29.95 each and is available online at womenofcurlingcalendar.com. It is also available through thecurlingnews.com and will also be available through other curling websites, such as teamjenniferjones.com.

Curling clubs, in addition to the athlete models, can access product at a discounted rate, which also makes the calendar a fundraiser for their local communities.

“We’ll be promoting this wherever we go in the curling world,” said Kari MacLean. who is one of two members of Team Krista McCarville – the Ontario champions and third-place finishers at the 2009 Olympic Trials – to appear in the calendar.

“Maybe Ashley (Miharija) and I will have a team contest,” said MacLean. “Who can sell more, the blonde or the brunette?”

Proceeds will go to Shoot For A Cure Curling, the sport-focussed fundraising and awareness campaign of the Canadian and American Spinal Research Organizations (CSRO/ASRO).

Shoot For A Cure, which is also supported by the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) is committed to finding a cure for spinal paralysis. The campaign also strives to increase awareness of the Paralympic sport of Wheelchair Curling.

The Curling News is the global media authority on the sport of curling. Founded in Canada in 1957, The Curling News publishes six issues during the annual curling season and also leverages itself via multiple online platforms including Facebook and Twitter.

The 2011 Women of Curling are:

December 2010: Colleen Jones, Nova Scotia
January 2011: Ashley Miharija, Ontario
February: Cheryl Bernard, Alberta
March: Chelsea Carey, Manitoba
April: Jill Officer, Manitoba
May: Kari MacLean, Ontario
June: Sarah Wark, British Columbia
July: Andrea Leganchuk, Ontario
August: Trica Affleck, Prince Edward Island
September: Sabrina Shibley, Ontario
October: Kristy Jenion, Manitoba
November: Teri Lake, Nova Scotia
December: Darah Provencal, British Columbia

One of these things – er, people – is not like the others...

There is lots of press oot and aboot these days concerning the new Canadian TV sitcom Men With Brooms, airing tonight (CBC, 8:30pm ET).

Some notable text come from the Winnipeg Free Press (where all but the pilot was shot), the Toronto Star, the newly redesigned Globe and Mail and an amusing, pleading blogpost entitled An Open Letter to the Creators of CBC’s Men With Brooms.

The Canadian Press also features this zinger of a quote with regard to alternate takes:

There was a little bit of streaking through the curling rink (and) the punching and the kicking and the biting and the nakedness.

Well. That certainly sounds like comedy. And for some readers who have been around The Roaring Game for a while, it kinda sounds like curling, doesn’t it?

(Hey, we did say some readers.)

The show website is now live, and features cast bios, six videos and a puzzle game. There is also the requisite Facebook fan page.

Because The Curling News was the only media organization to visit the set during filming of the pilot, way back in December in Ontario, it behooves us to publish a major feature – including behind-the-scenes content – in our upcoming November issue, which goes to press in a couple of weeks. Make sure your subscription is paid up, as you don’t want to miss it.

For now, here’s a couple of recent cast quotes, exclusive to The Curling News. Just to tide you over until the first issue…

“I hope that we do justice to this sacred sport,” intoned Siobhan Murphy, who plays April, the new girl in town. “Although we may not always have most professional-looking throws and moves, we invite people to laugh at our folly.”

“Be patient with us, said Joel Keller, who portrays Bill, the club manager. “It is a curling show but it’s not just about curling. I think people will enjoy some of the curling humour, but you’ll enjoy the comedy off the ice… people will relate to the beer afterward.”

Serendipity Point Films photo by Allen Fraser

What are they wearing now, we wondered?

So there we were, logging in to catch the end of the Thomas of Norway challenge match – Olympic silver medallist Thomas Ulsrud versus former teammate Thomas Due – as the Oslo Cup got underway. The media vehicle was trusty LAOLA1 TV, which is webstreaming curling matches all through this weekend’s event, but our first thought was: Geez, It’s Hard To See What Kind Of Pants The Ulsruds Are Wearing, With All That Advertising In The Background.

Then came a closeup… and we couldn’t believe our painful, bleeding eyes.

These pants are two shades of pink, with a touch of green.

How wonderfully, perfectly appalling. Feel free to click on the image (below left) and increase your own level of sweet, visual agony.

This event will also feature a few new team debuts, such as Canada’s Jennifer Jones (now with Kaitlyn Lawes, as first predicted by The Curling News) and Sweden’s new Team Anette Norberg. And the return of a curling titan… M-15, otherwise known as Finland’s 2006 Olympic hero Markku Uusipaavalniemi. Uusis – who is Still Quite Mighty – also appeared at the Baden Masters in Switzerland a couple of weeks ago, so he just might be back on the ice lanes for more than a brief vacation. Stay tuned.

Pain! Wonderful, appalling pain!

We’ve received some notes from fans who miss the more regular postings here at The Curling News Blog. To those who pine for the days of multiple daily postings and lengthy links provided, we share your wistfulness. On one hand, we are still providing a mammoth tonnage of curling links for your enjoyment – nearly 4,000 since last September, in fact – via our Twitter account, and if you aren’t following that vehicle, you are definitely missing out.

On the other hand, it has been quite frustrating to see subscription revenues for The Curling News, our core print product, actually stagnate during and after an otherwise successful Olympic curling season. Sure, of course, the print medium is in decline around the globe. But we are a specialty publisher, with 54 years of branded history behind us, and we feel that all curlers and curling fans should subscribe to the only hardcore, independent, Canadian curling publication that exists.

Call us crazy, call us obstinate… but this is what we believe.

And we would like to think that websurfers, aka rabid consumers of free content, would understand this frustration. If you do, dear reader, then please understand how we have stepped back from the TCN Blog, somewhat, to focus on our core product, which is due to relaunch for year number 55 next month.

If you happen to agree with us, and/or you don’t want to miss all this content we’re talking about, head to our online subscription page. And if you act quickly, you’ll dodge the price increase we are anticipating in the coming days.

Aaaaargh. Our eyes!

The 2011 curling season, if you haven’t noticed, is now underway.

In some ways, that glorious 2010 Olympic season never really ended. After the various world championships wrapped up in early May, the European summer spiels took place… followed by various World Curling Federation camps and clinics… then the regular winter season for Australia and New Zealand, as well as various U.S. summer recreation leagues.

Followed by Canadian summer camps, spiels and leagues… the Great Brazilian Curling Adventure™ right here on this blog (of course)… and now, the “official” fall season.

And there’s lots to watch, too. On Thursday night, CurlingZone launched online webstreamed coverage of the Ontario Curling Tour Championships in Oakville, Ontario utilizing the UStream platform. That first recorded game is archived here, and their live channel coverage (including a chat board) can be found here.

Just a few hours later, on Friday morning in Switzerland, the Baden Masters event kicked off Europe’s Curling Champions Tour. And by the time folks on Canada’s west coast had gone to bed, the new Brad Gushue/Randy Ferbey combination had won their first game of the season, 8-7 over Switzerland’s Dominik Maerki (the Swiss held leads of 3-0 and 5-2 early on).

The second round of play sees Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud taking on Russia’s Andrey Drozdov, with the Olympic silver medallists displaying new lime-green pants worthy of their Loudmouth Golf sponsorship (screen shot above). At this time of writing the match was being streamed live on LAOLA1.tv, with the Russians holding a 3-1 lead after five ends of play.

Some 10 matches will be streamed online during the tournament, including all pre-playoff games scheduled on sheet two. So there you go.

Want more curling, all the time? Make sure you follow The Curling News Twitter feed, with daily postings on The Roaring Game. There was no summer vacation there, trust us!

Kevin Martin, circa 1991. We kid you not.

Huzzahs to our friend Bob Cowan at Skip Cottage Curling, the authority on all things Scottish in curling.

First, he recently launched a new blog design… and now, in recent months, he has begun transferring and posting all kinds of ancient videotaped curling footage onto the interweb. Oh joy.

In this posting today, Bob has showcased nearly 10 minutes of VHS footage from the 1991 Safeway World Men’s Curling Championship, featuring a young David Smith of Scotland and a remarkably young – and full-haired and moustached – Kevin Martin, the recent Olympic champion at Vancouver 2010.

As many curling fans are aware, this marked Martin’s adult debut on the world stage and, quite frankly, the peak of his unpopularity. This was mostly due to what we shall dub “Corngate”… and which we shall now explain.

In their round robin match, Martin trailed the Scottish team by a few points at the halfway mark, whereupon he and teammate Kevin Park pulled out corn brooms – the classic, original curling sweeping device – to give the ice surface some more, er, character. A move that was fully within the rules (at that time) but which was considered unethical by many… including the pro-Canadian crowd.

The expected rematch took place in the final, and once again the Scots took the early advantage and… again… the Edmonton squad pulled out the straw. The Winnipeg crowd was not appreciative of this move.

“Listen to the crowd booing and jeering. Quite right, too,” offers BBC commentator Richard Harding.

But the Scots had learned from this strategy, and with some help from some Canadian compatriots, they were prepared to counteract the sticky corn with hog hair brushes purchased from a local curling shop. Scotland went on to prevail, and captured their first world men’s championship in 24 years.

Fantastic stuff.

Click here for the Skip Cottage Curling story page, which will lead you to the video.

Teapot Guy v1 (left) and on ice last week

SAO PAULO – Let’s head back to the Neutrogena Curling Arena and one of the last “challenge” games of the former curling facility’s brief life, which took place last week.

And this story will interest social media experts and followers about as much as it will interest curling fans.

We are all familiar with the concept of viral videos, and their offshoots – the 21st Century phenomenon that occurs when a slice of digital content becomes a worldwide smash hit. Witness one of the first such phenomenons, the Star Wars Kid.

Nowadays, it’s all about the money. Corporate brands are constantly trying to break into this world – witness the Emmy recently awarded to the Old Spice Guy – and there are big bucks on the line to he, or she, who discovers then Next Big Thing.

The ultimate rags-to-riches tech viral success story is, of course, Justin Bieber. The Canadian lad was already a YouTube sensation when some guy named Usher called up, and explained to Bieber’s mom something you might call the STFD (Screaming Teenage Female Demographic). The rest, as they say, is history.

Brazil experienced a viral hit during the Vancouver Olympics. A single photograph (top left) buzzed through the Twitterverse and blogosphere, showing a man in his kitchen, delivering a teapot like it was a curling stone. He was armed with some kind of squeegee, and had tossed a few ice cubes on the floor.

Funny? To curlers and curling fans, not in the least; it symbolized the worst kind of ignorant, eye-rolling sterotypes. But to Brazilians, who were starting to watch the Olympic curling competition in rapidly increasing numbers, it was hilarious… and intriguing. And as the nation quickly became obsessed with this strange Olympic winter sport, that image began to summarize the huge knowledge gap between the game and its new South American fans.

This Terra story from February tracked down Fabio Chiorino, aka Teapot Guy, and explained his viral victory.

Team Chiarino

Sure enough, Chiorino showed up in Sao Paulo at the Neutrogena Curling Centre – the site of Brazil’s second curling-themed media success – with teapot in hand, accompanied by his family. He was mobbed by reporters, and eventually escorted onto the ice.

All that was left was a good old-fashioned schooling, and it fell to Brian Chick, one of the two Canadian curling instructors, to teach the lesson.

“I beat him 4-0 in two ends,” said Chick. “That wouldn’t surprise any knowledgeable curling fans, of course, but I don’t think (Chiorino) was too surprised, either.

“It’s been gratifying to see how quickly Brazilians understood how hard this sport really is. Everything they’ve been learning and experiencing, including the degrees of difficulty, has been genuine. Those that try it, they get it.”

Terra was there, again, to catch up with Chiorino The Curler, and to document the match. Click on “FOTOS” to see an additional five images.

“It’s hard to maintain speed and balance,” said Chiorino, who is himself a journalist.

“It’s nice, very different. It’s good to see that go beyond the kitchen. It is very difficult. But with time, I could have a better understanding and have fun.”

He even had his original teapot autographed by the imported Norwegian curling star, Linn Githmark.

“This kettle is already retired. So we bought another one already.”

Número um!

by Brian Chick

SAO PAULO – As of today, we’re halfway through the public lifespan of the Neutrogena Curling Arena. Five days down, with five days to go.

So far at least 500 people have come through. I’m not sure of the exact numbers. Many people have come more than once, and some kids came three times in two days. Last weekend there was literally a line out the door when we showed up. I recall Chad saying that weekends are the super-popular mall time.

The media continues to come out in droves Terra.com.br has come back three times and Disney TV was here yesterday, along with more  radio and website reporters, and two more TV crews are scheduled for today. Veja Sao Paulo – the highest circulated weekly magazine – listed their pre-launch story titled “Curling at Shopping Eldorado” as their number one retweeted article.

In addition, some of the Brasil-only video reports have begun to show up on YouTube. There is this feature from Super Esporte, and here is the famed Abel Neto and his Globo piece.

Isabella running the show

Our Brazilian crew has also become fairly independent. MacGyver (aka Kleverson) handles the ice, and has it all scraped and pebbled before we arrive. This morning he did some spot repairs where some divots/holes were appearing.

The ice is actually quite good, and certainly acceptable for a learning event in Brazil. I’ve played on much WORSE ice in Canada!

Our teams of instructors can now run their 45-minute classes without us, which affords Hollie and myself some time off to see Sao Paulo, and get some much needed rest… or  to shop… or to do our actual Canadian work. Hollie is busy with applications to law internships, and I’m trying to get my projects done… in between caipirinhas.

They still have the odd question for us, such as about the nuances of the the rules, strategy, or why the rocks at the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver had blinking lights on them. But for the most part, they’re running their own show.

This week’s edition of “Brian and Hollie’s Crazy Brazilian Experience” took us to a Capoeira gym. Fabio of Ginga,brasilis is a high level practitioner of this Brazilian martial art/dance, and wanted to ensure that we experienced it first-hand.

Fabio took us to BerimBrasil Capoeira where we learned the “basics” from Master Wellington. The basics include the basic steps, attacks, dodges, and of course one-handed cartwheels. This was a BEGINNER’S class. The point of a capoeira game is not to actually fight, but to make it look like you are… but all in an elaborate improvised choreography. It is quite a workout, and it was an amazingly fun experience.

Master Wellington and Fabio were both impressed with our first attempts, and I am seriously looking into classes back home in Toronto.  I’m also planning on using some of the moves I learned as part of my group’s warm up sessions next week… at the Trillium Curling Camp!

L to R: Chad, Fabio Coelho of Ginga,brasilis and Mark

by Chad McMullan

We don’t have an equivalent word in English, but I now understand the meaning of saudade.

It was Sunday morning when I first started typing these words at JFK airport as I waited for my connection to Toronto. I am completely and utterly exhausted – both physically and mentally, but at the same time also incredibly excited for what lies ahead.

History was made, and it was no gimmick. Make no mistake, the ultimate goal and reason this project even existed was to execute a successful marketing event for a client (Neutrogena) that thought it would be a cool idea to leverage the sport of curling. Mission accomplished. But what stands out to everyone involved in this adventure is the love Brasilians have showed for curling from day one.

Let me provide you with a quick background on my history with the country, as well as the short history of curling in Brasil. This was not my first time in Brasil – I have actually been there seven times now, all starting with a completely random, short-notice trip in 1999. I instantly fell in love with this country and its people, and I continue to come back.

My brother was one of my travel partners on that now infamous first holiday, and he took things to a whole other level. He is as carioca (Rio native) as a gringo can possibly get without having been born there; he now has a Paulistana wife and a house in Rio. Ironically, he just took a multi-year contract in Colombia – mere months before my trip to Brasil, so no family visit! – but they will return in time.

To make a long story short, when the initial call came from Ginga regarding this project, there was no chance in hell I would let it happen without me.

As for Brasil, prior to February 2010 many Brasilians did not even know there was a Winter Olympics. Vancouver 2010 was the first Winter Games ever broadcast on a major non-cable TV carrier in Brasil. And for reasons that we are still trying to comprehend, curling was the runaway smash hit, gripping the people almost instantly and refusing to let go. Over the past week I heard many a story of how families gathered to watch the curling games, and tried to figure out what exactly was taking place on their TV screens. How students did poorly on exams, because they couldn’t study while curling was on. It seemed everyone had a story to tell along these lines.

A Brasilian internet buzz started during the Games and has only increaased since. Brasilian curling blogs and Twitterers have taken over. Search #curling on Twitter: there may be as many tweets in Portuguese as there are in English these days. We had visitors that came from as far as Rio, Curitiba and other cities just to try this sport. They first fell in love with it months ago, and couldn’t believe they would soon have a chance to try it in their own backyard.

And whether it is curling in Canada, Scotland, Norway or Brasil, this game is always about the friendships made along the way, and this past week was no different. Massive thanks go out to the gang at Ginga,brasilis – one of the best groups of people I have ever worked with. This crew knew nothing about curling from the start but their belief in their ability to do the impossible made it happen.

Eight other agencies were also approached regarding this project, and not one of them had the ability – or the guts – to pull it off. They worked around the clock, sometimes spending multiple sleepless nights in a row, and yet still had time to entertain us and show us a small slice of this city of 20 million. Um abraco grande para: Fabio, Gui, Karol, Elder, Peixe, and even little Ginga! And of course big thanks to the rest of the supporting staff as well: Luiz (our driver), MacGyver aka Kleverson (Brazil’s first ice technician), Desiree and the gang at Ice Star, and everyone else we met along the way.

While Mark Shurek and I are no longer in Brasil, The Adventure is by no means over. Brian and Hollie will remain in Brasil, continuing to teach curling to this eager country, until the end of the promotion on August 22. Keep checking The Curling News Blog as they will have further posts… and I might just sneak in another as well.

Perhaps what I’m feeling is not the true definition of saudade since in this case I know I will be back, and more than likely some of those visits will be with a curling pedra in hand.

by Chad McMullan

Mark and I are back in Canada now – Brian and Hollie remain while Linn left for Norway yesterday – and shortly I will have some final thoughts for all our followers around the globe. But in the meantime, I wanted to issue a few thank yous to some people and companies whose help went a long way in making this whole adventure a reality.

A very special thank you to Canada Curling Stone and in particular Kim. Without all of her help in putting together our equipment and getting it on a plane to Brasil, we would likely be teaching the locals how to skate right now. Not sure about the others, but I am the last person you would want skating lessons from – yours truly is an ankle-bender extraordinaire. Kim put in a ton of effort and her expertise in international shipping is the reason we got everything down there and then through a tough customs group with little time to spare.

Huge thanks as well to Terry at 8-Ender and Amanda at Asham Curling Supplies for their help as well in supplying the brooms, and slider/grippers respectively. There might be a few sore Brasilians right now that wish the sliders hadn’t shown up though!

And finally a shout out to Jim Waite, legendary curling coach and mastermind behind the Trillium Curling Camp. Special thanks to him for allowing us to recruit a couple of his best instructors and take them down to Brasil while his camp is running. Note that Brian will be back in Canada and at the camp next week to sign autographs… but likely using his new Brasilian nickname Salinho.

by Chad McMullan

SAO PAULO – Day 7 in Brasil came far too fast. With last Friday marking the final night for both Mark and I in Sao Paulo we, of course, had to have a team celebration. And this being Brasil, dinner-plus-celebrations do not even begin until the wee hours.

Saturday kicked off with a private group sponsored by the AADA (Brasilian Atopic Dermatitis Association) which included 18 kids and their families. The artwork at left appears on the AADA website; dig the Norway vs Brasil pants!

Shopping Eldorado is one of the biggest malls in Sao Paulo, and as such it was absolutely jammed full on the weekend. It’s difficult to even get around in the place. Saturday saw long lines of people waiting to try curling, as well as a constant wall of viewers taking in the action from the side boards. The Brasilian instructors – or should we start calling them future Olympians? – are completely in love with curling and spend any free minutes they have practicing – or should we say training?

The media mayhem continued as the Globo piece taped Friday went to air, as did Record – live from the rink. Here is a UOL video showing just how small this non-regulation curling club really is… and here are not one but two more videos from R7… and there’s even some criticism from the Barba e Bigode blog, which seems to have been refuted by the Curling Brasil blog (Comments section).

Basically every major media outlet has given significant space and time to this occasion and there cannot be many Paulistanos that don’t know about it. By the time you read these words it is now Day 4 of being open to the public, but this project has to be considered a massive success, even based on the amount of media coverage alone.

Also by the time you are reading this I will have actually left the country, and returned to Canada… exhausted but exhilarated with what we have accomplished here – in Sao Paulo, in Brasil, and in South America, too.

I’ll have some final, departing thoughts in the next day or so but for now, the show goes on. The Neutrogena Curling Arena is still open to the public for another week, through August 22, and there are still lineups of people waiting for the crew to open for business each and every morning.

Fantástico!