Olympics and The Brier

by Margo Weber

And now to reflect on the events of the past week, re. the Olympics in Vancouver, and get geared up for The Brier.

(To any new American curling fans who have stumbled on this blog in their search for curling info, the Brier is the annual Canadian men’s curling championship, which starts on Saturday March 6, ends nine days later, is all over the TV airwaves and is awesome.)

My trip was short, and it was bittersweet. I went to Vancouver with one goal in mind, to cheer on my friend Susan O’Connor and her Team Canada crew. gk wrote in his blogpost about the massive amount of Olympic pressure that we saw here and mentioned that neither the men’s nor women’s final games were really that well-played. However, the women’s certainly was exciting.

The problem with this process is that you go into the final game knowing you’ve won either a silver or gold. So there’s typically a major feeling of loss for the silver medal ‘winning’ team that is obviously on the losing side. Or that’s the way it’s supposed to feel.

I realize this is going to sting Team Cheryl Bernard for a long time. But for me, as a Canadian, a fan and a friend… I didn’t feel that huge sense of loss. As soon as that last rock was thrown and missed, and Sweden’s Eva Lund planted her trademark smooch on the kisser of her skip Anette Norberg, our team got together as a team and hugged and smiled.

I have a hard time thinking of too many teams that would have reacted so classily in this situation. They acknowledged the crowd, they didn’t pout, they put on those grins we’ve been seeing all week, and man… was I proud to be a Canadian at that moment.

There was a little reception at Canada House for the girls after that game, and about 200 friends and family waited for them to arrive. We watched some gold medal-winning speed skating races, and we saw the men’s hockey team squeak out their win over Slovakia.

By the time the girls arrived, the mood was so light that there was spontaneous eruption of our national anthem right there on the top floor of the downtown Bay store. And it was loud.

During the closing ceremonies the first Canadian athletes you saw marching out, hand-in-hand with each other, were the curlers from Team Canada… and again, with huge smiles on their faces (it’s amazing how easy it is to spot Cheryl Bernard in a crowd. I think it’s safe to say that her partner Terry – or a hired gun– will be doing most of the grocery shopping  for a while!).

On the men’s side, I am thrilled that Kevin Martin and team finally have their crowning glory. Have you ever seen Kevin Martin this happy (photo by Anil Mungal, click image to increase size)? It’s like a giant weight has been lifted off his shoulders. Very cool. I really liked that team all week, and never doubted in my mind they would win the gold. I hope to now see a cooler, more relaxed Kevin Martin out there. There are retirement rumours everywhere, but it is not going to happen. Both of these teams will stick around for at least next year and who knows after that.

I probably sound a little less interested in the men’s side of this tourney. I was just so biased towards the women’s side. However, we’re just two days away from my FAVORITE event of the year, the 2010 Tim Hortons Brier and that means I will soon be ALL about the men.

I am beyond stoked for this event. For me, the Brier isn’t about having the 10 best teams. It’s about province against province, and the cool stories and new stars that come about. Man, the Brier is fun (who knows what those wacky Gushues are going to do for this year’s TSN intro?). I wish I could go hang out in the patch and have a few Keiths’ (um, like last year? – Ed). But alas, pregnancy calls and I will enjoy TVs Linda, Vic, Ray, Bryan and Russ from the comfort of my very cozy couch. Will send some thoughts your way.

For those of you in Halifax who will miss Team Martin, the defending Brier champions who are of course not competing in this Brier, they will be there tomorrow and Saturday for a series of special guest appearances… one of which is an interactive Up Close and Personal session from ice level.

So at least you can plan to get a picture of yourself taking a big bite out of that big gold medal!