Youth Olympians headed to Innsbruck

by Jill Officer

REGINA – It was a packed house last night as Team Canada stepped on the ice. You couldn’t even hear the lone bagpiper during the pre-game march because of the loud Canadian fans.

In front of that same crowd, the Canadian Youth Olympic curling team was introduced at the fifth-end break. The Youth Olympics is a new initiative from the International Olympic Committee that is like the Olympics, but for youngsters between the ages of 16 and 18. The first Summer Youth Olympics was held last year in Singapore, so now the first Winter Youth Olympics will take place in Innsbruck, Austria in January of 2012.

“It was unreal,” said Thomas Scoffin, the skip of the team, after the introduction in front of the large Canadian crowd. “I’ve never been part of anything like that before.”

COME OOOONNNN!

The team, made up of two girls and two boys, was selected after a comprehensive process that combined on-ice performance at the recent Canada Winter Games as well as a formal application process – and that included a written essay, academic consideration, involvement in their communities and interest in other athletic and cultural activities.

Wow – I don’t know any curler that has to go through all that to get on a team! These guys, and gals, must be good!

The lucky athletes that were selected are Scoffin, who is from Whitehorse in the Yukon; Emily Gray of O’Leary, Prince Edward Island; Corryn Brown of Kamloops, BC and Derek Oryniak of Winnipeg.  The team leader and coach will be Helen Radford of Halifax. It was nice of the Canadian Curling Association to fly them all in for the on-ice presentation, which saw them march out in their different provincial jackets and then be presented with their new Team Canada colours!

The team will execute some preparations and team building in the fall leading up to the event. “We’re going to meet up a couple of times in the upcoming months,” Brown told me. “We need to figure out how everyone plays, and each of our different releases.”

This is interesting for a number of reasons. First of all, this is only the second Canadian national team that is selected – the other being the wheelchair curling team. All other national teams “win to get in” and there are always a few people calling for coaches and officials to select all-star teams for other competitions… like the regular Olympics.

Jon Mead shows Jeff Stoughton his “Hulk Face”

And here’s something really interesting: there will be two types of events taking place at the Youth Olys. The first is the regular mixed event, and the second will be… Mixed Doubles, which was not put forward by the WCF for Olympic consideration (this is important as five new disciplines were approved this week, from women’s skip jumping to things like team figure skating and mixed relay biathalon… but that’s another debate).

But the real twist is that these mixed doubles duos will be made up of two curlers from different countries! I wonder how that will work with language barriers?

The editor informs me that my fellow TCN columnist Roger Schmidt, who is based in Switzerland, wrote about the approaching Youth Olympics stuff almost two years ago, and commented at that time how the WCF was scrambling to get its member countries to ensure that they could even field a team. Apparently, that youth age curling bracket is really underdeveloped around the world, and that is easy to understand when we in Canada have a U18 championship that is a) combined with the U.S. and also includes teams from Japan, b) named after a charity and c) isn’t sanctioned by any official associations.

Sweden plans to rock hard today

Now back to the event we’re all watching right now!  The men’s worlds are down to the crunch. Whether I’m sitting on the media bench or competing down on the ice, I love playoff time. The music gets pumpin’ between ends, emcee extraordinaire Stu Brown entertains the crowd and the atmosphere is awesome.

Unfortunately, the Page playoff 1 vs 2 game itself wasn’t so awesome. Not that it was terrible, but it certainly didn’t have the entertainment value that people hope for in the playoffs. It was played reasonably wide open, and Scottish skip Tom Brewster missed a few late shots, and all that matters (to me!) is that Canada won and are into the world championship final on Sunday!

Earlier in the afternoon, the red-hot Norwegians beat the scrappy French 5-4 in a tiebreaker and will face Sweden in the Page 3 vs 4 game this afternoon. Earlier in the week, Team Thomas Ulsrud had to accompany Team Niklas Edin out onto the ice before their game against Canada, bow before them, and serve them with their brushes and curling shoes on bended knee… like servants! Pretty funny stuff, and all this was because of a bet the two teams made during a couple of pre-worlds practice games – and the Swedes won both games!

Something tells me today’s game, while friendly, will be taken very seriously. At stake is a spot in tonight’s semifinal (for the winners) while the losers will be bumped down to Sunday’s bronze medal match.

Anil Mungal photos copyright The Curling News® – click on image to increase size

NOR vs CAN by Leslie Ingram-Brown

by Jill Officer

REGINA – Wow, that was one wild end-of-round-robin-Thursday.

It was no surprise to me that Team China gave Canada a game in the morning. Although I’m not totally sure how that happened because the Chinese didn’t exactly play “lights out”. I think there were just a few fine shots made, here and there, that kept China in the game. But make no mistake, Jeff Stoughton and his team really did have control of the match despite being tied coming home, before Stoughton made his draw for the win.

The skipper said after the game that he felt his opponents were trying to keep the game close. But one of the biggest questions in the game came when the Chinese, without last rock, threw their lead’s first stone into the house in the ninth end. No one is really sure what the strategical thinking was on that call, but the Canadians were obviously happy they could blank it out. On Stoughton’s last rock of the ninth end, he had to opportunity to do his famous spin-o-rama, but he didn’t… and the crowd booed him for it! Even lead Steve Gould apparently booed him!

Speaking of Gould, he had some harsh thoughts after the match on Team China’s on-ice tactics, and the big c-word was mentioned (cheating)… which you can read about by clicking here. What do you think?

Stoughton was asked after the game if (hypothetically) he was one of the other teams playing against his team, how would he have played that ninth end? Stoughton responded by saying “very well.” And after a brief silence in the scrum, he added “I’m not going to tell you!  They (opposition) read the papers too!”

Who are you calling a cheater!?

I’m getting the sense that many curlers won’t admit if they have any superstitions before their games. They call them “routines.” I did a little story for Global Regina today on whether there are some players that have any superstitions, but few would admit to any.

Scottish Skip Tom Brewster acknowledged a couple; he said that  if he found a lucky penny before the event he is sure to carry in his pocket, and that he doesn’t change his socks! Meanwhile, Swedish third Sebastian Kraupp said that he has a lucky pair of underwear that he wears for championship games. Unfortunately for him, he spent 40 minutes the other day searching his bags looking for them, with no success, so he’s sure he left them back home in Sweden. Oops.

I don’t really blame any athletes for declining to acknowledge superstitions. I’ve recently wondered if my pre-game and overall event routines actually are superstitions… but I also don’t want to admit it!

Hats versus Pants! Who wins?

Did you know that Neil Houston, 1986 world men’s champion (with skip Ed Lukowich) and current Event Manager of the Ford Worlds was the mind behind the invention of the sensored hog-line handles? During an Up Close and Personal session in the Patch yesterday, Houston talked about the idea. He said he remembers the year that Randy Ferbey was playing in the Worlds in Switzerland and his team suffered three hogline violations in one game. After that, Houston thought “Enough! Something has to be done to remove the human error.”  He pursued the idea, which included discussions with Canadian cross-country ski officials, as they use a similar technology in their sport. Then, a group of students from the University of Saskatchewan took it on as a project and it ended up being manufactured by a Saskatchewan-based company. The first time the handles were used? The Continental Cup, in December of 2001… just nine months after Ferbey’s hogline problems in Switzerland.

Canada’s one-dimensional support team

Last night there was still the possibility that five losses could make it into the playoffs, and officials dropped off a big fat booklet outlining all the scenarios. Crazy. In the end, Stoughton missed his last shot in a colourful battle with the Norwegians and France beat the U.S. meaning that Sweden gets third place, and it’s NOR vs FRA today in a tiebreaker for fourth place!

Canada, of course, finished first and Scotland second, meaning those two teams will clash in the Page 1 vs 2 game for a spot in the final.

There was more craziness, between Norway’s pants (of course) and Team Canada’s stovepipe hats… and of course the Canadian coaching staff, which brought out some life-size cardboard cutouts of themselves in the fourth end, so that they could take some popcorn into the stands with a rowdy group of fans. I went up and asked the coaches whose idea this was, and while they all pointed at coach Norm Gould (who refused to take credit for the idea). They had the cutouts printed here in Regina through an event sponsor.

But the best part came between the ninth and 10th ends of the game when Coach Norm, along with alternate Garth Smith and National Coach Rick Lang began yelling and cheering, which caught the attention of the squad down on the ice. Turns out there was a group of nine of them – the team, coaching staff, national coach Paul Webster plus the team’s driver) that had purchased 50/50 tickets… and lo and behold, they won the $18,840 pot!

Are you kidding me?!

Photos 2 through 4 by Anil Mungal copyright The Curling News® – click on all images to increase size

Who will you root for, curling fan?

From a curling perspective, Vancouver 2010 was always going to be the Olympic sport’s high-water mark.

In just under three years, the world will gather in Sochi, Russia for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games and boy, we were surprised when they won that bid!

Shortly thereafter, we gave you a sneak peek on the cities that were assembling a bid for the 2018 Winter Games.

The list of 2018 candidate cities has been whittled down to just three – Annecy in France, Munich (Germany) and PyeongChang, South Korea – and the big decision will be made in less than three months, on July 6.

All three cities just finished selling themselves at today’s session of SportAccord, the massive international sport conference in Monaco. How massive is this annual gathering? Well, it’s big enough to attract World Curling Federation Secretary-General Colin Grahamslaw who would otherwise be in attendance at his organization’s flagship event in Regina, wouldn’t you think?

Here’s the lowdown on the candidates – from that curling perspective…

Was ist los? Schwimmensstockschießen?

ANNECY – The last time a tiny French town hosted the Winter Games was Albertville in 1992. Although curling was only a demonstration sport that year, The Roaring Game was tossed into an even smaller town – Pralognon-La-Vanoise – and it was a complete disaster. Nobody showed up to watch – and we mean nobody – and two of the four sheets of ice melted and were unusable for the entire tournament. Yes, France desperately needs a curling boost and yes, it is great to see the wonderfully stubborn Thomas Dufour playing so well in Regina, but who is to say that a decent curling showcase in Annecy will make any difference to the sport’s shameful level of domestic ignorance?

MUNICH – The German city lost out on a chance to host next year’s world men’s curling shootout (to Basel, Switzerland) but they just might land the Olympic Winter Games. The event would be hosted in the same European time zone as Annecy and the Germans, like the French, are also desperate for grassroots curling growth. Based on what we’ve seen to date, Munich would be great for curling; the organizing committee has shown some dynamic creativity in including the sport throughout its marketing activities (see the photo at left). And something tells us the German people would be more enthusiastic for our grand game than our Gallic friends.

PYEONGCHANG – A betting man would pick the Koreans to win this one, hands down. This is their third consecutive bid to host the Winter Games (they finished a surprisingly strong second to Vancouver in 2010 and they also lost the 2014 vote to The Vlad Putin Show) and they are determined to win this one. Plus, Sochi is pretty close to Europe, which could be a negative for both Annecy and Munich, and 2018 will mark the 10th annniversary of the Beijing 2008 Olympic (Summer) Games.

From a curling perspective, the Koreans have done their share of winning at the annual Pacific Championships to qualify for various worlds over the years. This year alone, Korea qualified for both the worlds in Esbjerg (women’s) and Regina. Moreover, Korea hosted the last Asian worlds  – the 2009 world women’s in Gangneung, located fairly close to PyeongChang – so they have a venue ready to go.

So there you go. If you were an International Olympic Committee bigwig – and a curling fan – which candidate city would you vote for?

Click on images to increase size

by Jill Officer

Chris Svae – troublemaker!

REGINA – We’re back to red and white here at the worlds today after a very successful Green (Tues)Day. Pretty much everyone and everything here was green except the beer in the Patch! I thought that would have been the icing on the cake if they’d have done that.

Guess what? Turns out that the charismatic and good-looking skip of Team Norway, Thomas Ulsrud, would like to have dinner with my skipper, Jennifer Jones. In the “Getting To Know You” questions of the daily paper, the Eye Opener, he listed Jennifer as one of the three people, living or dead, that he would invite to a dinner party. He also said, however, that if he could be a star in any other sport, his choice would be… ballet! Ballet?! Seriously?!

I found out later that Norwegian second Christoffer Svae was the one that actually filled out the Q & A for him. Maybe it’s Svae that wants to have dinner with Jennifer? Ulsurd did say, of course, that “it wouldn’t be a bad thing” if he could invite her to a dinner party.

When Pat writes, you’d better read!

Denmark continues to struggle. Tommy Stjerne said after the game that his team has had a hard time adjusting to the ice. The conditions here are very different from what they play on at home. He says there is so much more curl and the speed is much faster.

Stjerne says this is his last world championship. After he beat his son Rasmus in the Danish championship final, he said he would never do that again. The young Stjerne really is a bright spot for curling – he beat Canada’s Brett Gallant to win the 2009 world junior title, and he lost the recent European championship final to Ulsrud.

USA skip Pete Fenson and some attractive reporter

Random Thought 1 of 2: I’m waiting for Canada third Jon Mead to take out his skip – or one of their opponents – with his rubber gripper. Jon always tosses his gripper about 20 feet in the air in an attempt to get it behind the boards before he throws his stones. So far he’s been on target with both his gripper and his rocks. So far.

Canada is still very loose – laughing with each other, chatting with the crowd and even raising their arms when the wave in the arena comes around. Jeff Stoughton was asked after Team Canada’s afternoon win over Sweden if he was worried about Jon’s play earlier in the week. The skip said, “I was never worried, but Jonny’s back.”

Ramdom Thought 2 of 2: The editor sent along some curling tweets that he deemed to be “random and weird” and, well, I somewhat agree. Here’s a couple:

From @bulechka: can someone please buy a pair of black socks for Jeff Stoughton?

From @data_wonk: Is there anything stranger than Russ Howard smiling at the camera during TSN’s curling intro?

From @ottguy: Just want to point out the last time I saw John Baird he told me he had never tried curling. How unCanadian.

Another reason I’m in Regina this week is to do some on-camera work for Global Television. Pat Simmons, the five-time Saskatchewan representative at the Brier, and myself have been providing analysis of the games during the station’s live sportscasts. I have also been doing some fun little pieces on the event.

You can see Pat’s blog Simmons Says and you can watch some of my stuff at (hee-hee) Officer’s Patrol! Let me know how you think we’re doing!

Anil Mungal photos copyright The Curling News®

Good heavens!

by Jill Officer

REGINA – Green Day is here!  No, not the American punk-pop band, but rather a day here at the worlds where everyone is encouraged to wear green… including Team Canada! As many know, Saskatchewanians are very proud of their provincial colour, which also happens to be associated with the much-supported CFL team, the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

It’s evident here today that we are indeed in Rider country. Fans were encouraged to wear green to the games today, but looking around here, 95 per cent of the people wearing green are actually wearing Riders paraphernalia. Even the Riders themselves are involved today; a few of them dropped in to the Keiths Patch for an “Up Close and Personal” interview session with emcee Stu Brown.

Funny-looking Gappers, eh?

Of course there was a big cheer for Team Canada as they entered the building for the pre-game march wearing the much-talked-about green Canada jackets, of which this here blog boasted the first pictures!

Team Canada skip Jeff Stoughton even donned the jacket for the beginning of the game, but took it off a short time into the first end and was playfully booed by the crowd. Stoughton said after the game that the official told him that he had to remove the jacket (Why? – Ed.) However, when the game was over, he put it back on as he left the ice surface, to a huge cheer from the fans.

Seems to me that the Canada boys were pretty loose going into today’s match. During pre-game practice, third Jon Mead was bopping along and even singing to the Black Eyed Peas, and Stoughton has been seen chit-chatting with the crowd. That easygoing attitude is paying off for the Canucks as they took complete control of their game against France, scoring a three-ender to start things off and adding another treble soon afterward.

Good heavens! Again!

One team whose attitude is not so loose right now is Norway. They sure don’t seem like themselves on the ice – the team has been struggling since the beginning of the week. Skip Thomas Ulsrud said yesterday that he feels they are throwing it well, but not getting results… but today he simply said his team is playing like “crap.”

I also spoke with their coach, Ole Ingvaldsen. Ole says they are struggling, and then they’re pressing too hard, and when they are still not getting results they are losing confidence.

We all know that curling teams are a tight-knit group, but the Chinese team seems wound a little too tightly.

When the Eye Opener – the daily event newspaper – asked the question “What three people, living or not, would you invite to a dinner party?” all four members of the team said they would invite their teammates! Most other players, if you are wondering, mention celebrities such as Barack Obama, Tiger Woods and Tom Hanks. Then again, perhaps Team China’s questions were answered by a team “official”…?

Big showdown tonight, with first place on the line: undefeated Canada versus undefeated Scotland!

Leslie Ingram Brown photos for The Curling News – click on images to increases size

EXCLUSIVE!  EXCLUSIVE!  EXCLUSIVE!

Visual proof was required for some!

Kudos to Jill Officer of The Curling News for chasing down a bonafide scoop at the worlds in Regina!

Here they are – are the first-ever photos of the green jackets Team Canada will wear on the ice later today when they challenge France (1:30pm local on TSN) and Scotland (7:30pm local on TSN). UPDATED: apparently the boys will march out for each game wearing the green, but will not compete in them. Too bad!

Judging by the photos – you can see a third image on the official TCN Facebook page – our intrepid reporter barged into Team Jeff Stoughton‘s rooms at the athlete hotel to get the pics. Attagirl!

Today is, of course, Saskatchewan Day at the Regina worlds at the Brandt Centre. In late March, word first broke that event organizers – and we suspect Canadian Curling Association event manager Neil Houston of having something to do with this, by the way – had  managed “to convince the Manitoba team to put on green Team Canada (jackets),” said Derek Boe, chair of the event.

“I don’t know if they’re (Winnipeg Blue) Bomber fans or not, but they’ll be wearing green for at least one day,” said Boe.

Indeed, the squad are in fact big fans of the Winnipeg-based Canadian Football League team, and that could have thrown a wrench into today’s plans. However, the Winnipeg foursome has been assured that Green Day is in honour of Saskatchewan — and not the arch-rival Roughriders.

SASKATCHEWAAAAAN!

Stoughton confirmed his Bomber pride to Kirk Penton of the Winnipeg Sun. “Oh yeah,” Stoughton said firmly. “We’re blue and gold through and through, so when we checked we said, ‘This isn’t going to turn into a Rider Pride thing.’ We’re all for Green Day, and that’s our bottom line.”

Penton then told a story about Riders GM Brendan Taman, a big curling fan who spent 10 years in Winnipeg. Never afraid of a little self-deprecation, Taman hoped the green wouldn’t rub off too much on Stoughton. “Let’s hope he doesn’t lose in a championship like we have in the last two years,” Taman said.

The GM then joked he could have a spot for one member of Team Canada member in his training camp. “Maybe Steve Gould,” he said, “as a linebacker.”

There’s more. It turns out that Canada third Jon Mead was born in Regina, and moved to Winnipeg at age four.

“I’m one of those CFL fans who likes the Bombers and hopes everyone else gets lost on the way to the football field,” Mead told the Regina Leader-Post. “I love Saskatchewan, but wearing green is not going to make me cheer for the Roughriders next season.

As we mentioned on Saturday, The Curling News Blog will be hopping with activity during the men’s worlds in Regina. And here, now revealed, is our blogstar for the event – second stone superstar out of Winnipeg, Jill Officer!

You’ve seen her stuff before – eg. the 2008 Brier in Winnipeg – and here she is again! She’s barely unpacked her bags and there’s already mayhem afoot!

Can I sit here? What about over there?

by Jill Officer

REGINA – Sorry I’m late, folks! I just arrived here this afternoon, and now I’m in the blogzone for The Curling News here at the Ford World Men’s Curling Championship!

Why am I late to the party? Our foursome, Team Jennifer Jones, was competing in the Victoria Curling Classic on the weekend and we were victorious, with a win over Shannon Kleibrink of Calgary in the final on Sunday.  But now on to more important things….world curling in Regina!

As I entered the Brandt Centre today, I quickly remembered walking around this place just three years ago when we were Team Manitoba at the STOH in 2008.  It’s a great facility.

The first thing I did was hit the lounge – not for a drink, but for some lunch. I had literally only been on the ground here in Regina for an hour when something very interesting happened in the Sweden versus Norway game. As I ate lunch, I was looking at my Twitter feed on my phone and hey preston… that’s how I learned that the two teams were in the process of replaying the second end of their game.

As soon as I got hooked up on the media bench (the photo of CCA media guy Jeff Timson and myself is by Kirk Penton of the Winnipeg Sun) I found out what happened. It was on third stones in the second end, and Sweden was throwing. Now for those of you who don’t know, each and every stone here has a sensor in the handle to monitor hogline violations. If a rock is released before the hogline, the light on top of the rock turns green until about halfway down the sheet, when it shuts off. Most stones react this way, and that’s a good thing.

But if the rock is released after the hogline – a very, very bad thing – a flashing red light appears, indicating a violation. If that happens, the offending team is to stop the rock and remove it from play before it comes to rest. That stone is toast!

In this case, the two little lights on top of the rock turned both red and green! The Swedes, not knowing what was wrong – or what to do – let the rock play out, but in the confusion of it all, they also didn’t sweep the rock to make the shot that was being called.

What to do? The "Lightgate" debate

Head Official Rae Kells said she wanted “to do what was fair for both teams.” Initially she was going to allow the shot to be replayed, but when the two teams could not agree on the original positioning of the stones prior to the incident, it was agreed that the entire end had to be replayed.

The end resulted in a steal of two for Norway and a 4-0 lead, after Swedish skip Niklas Edin rolled out on an open hit. Although Sweden tried to make a comeback, Thomas Ulsrud and Co. held on for the win.

In the postgame interviews, both skips said they have never, in their careers, ever had to replay an end before.

Ulsrud said he left the decision up to Edin and the Swedes (as did the officials) to either replace the rocks at the correct angles or replay the end, but Edin said he didn’t feel right replacing the rocks because the Norwegians were unsure of the correct placement and angles.

It seemed Edin’s bigger issue with the whole situation was the fact that there was a dead battery in the handle. He said they should be checked before every game to prevent situations like this, as it was not the first time this week there was a malfunctioning light on a rock.

Both teams are now at two losses and both have yet to face undefeated Canada. Norway also has to face undefeated Scotland.

Here is the website of the company that created and manufactures the rock sensor technology, by the way. Just in case you’re interested.

And that wraps up just the first couple of hours of my time in Regina at the men’s worlds… and I haven’t even seen Team Canada play yet. This can only get better!

“Lightgate” photo by Leslie Ingram Brown

Show-offs!

With the men’s worlds poised to begin in Regina, Canada, there is still much to talk about as the final month of the 2011 curling season gets underway.

Team Norway, of course, was the subject of one of yesterday’s great curling-themed April Fool hoaxes, which you can read here. The other jest came from Scotland, and can be read here. Both were supported by yours truly, through our popular Twitter feed which, incidentally, recently crossed over two major plateaus – 5,000 “tweets” and 2,500 “followers”.

Team Thomas Ulsrud are also well-dressed for this shootout, as one might expect. In the Michael Burns CCA photo at left, the boys show off one of their pants plans for Regina, while this other design – a brand-new one – made its first appearance last night.

The final print edition of The Curling News (before we publish again in the fall) began arriving on Friday, and should hit western provinces and other parts of planet Earth early next week. As always, subscribers get the new xM content section while curling clubs do not, thus adding to the value of a personal subscription. A detailed list of this issue’s contents can be found here, while the subscription page is located here.

Go to our Subscribe page to get yours

Of note is a special apology to subscribers we have printed on page three. As some of you are aware, Canada Post decided to wreck havoc on our annual March (Brier) issue in ways that continue to baffle us. Club copies – which are shipped third-class – arrived days before first-class subscriber copies. Readers in Finland received their copy before readers in Guelph, Ontario. And too many subscribers got theirs in the mail a day or two after the Brier ended… a full two weeks after the issue went into the mailing system. What the hey?

At this point, it’s all we can do to apologize for something – something so strange – that hasn’t happened en masse in at least a decade. And as we wrote on page three, we are investigating what happened and we shall not rest until we have answers, and a strategy to ensure this never happens again. We don’t want to change our 2011-2012 publication deadlines, but we will if we have to.

Speaking of the worlds, Brier champ and April issue cover boy Jeff Stoughton looks resplendent in his new Team Canada gear – love the sleeves! – as the Michael Burns CCA photo at bottom left shows. This is one of three different uniform “kits” the squad will wear, the others being primarily white and red. Personally, we would wear black for special occasions only… such as a particularly raunchy morning game (after an evening at the Patch, for example) or to snap a losing streak. But we’re kinda old school.

Naturally, the Canadians have no intention of going on a losing streak in Regina; in fact they are quite bullish on their prospects. In this preview piece by Regina writer Murray McCormick – which also includes a semi-prediction from Team Martin lead Ben Hebert – Stoughton lead Steve Gould drops this zinger:

He's stylin'

People wonder if we can match what we did at the Brier. That won’t happen because we’re going to be better than we were at the Brier.

Stoughton says: Corn Brooms Rule!

by Kimberley Tuck

LONDON – The Keith’s Patch was hopping Saturday night as the excitement from an action-packed semifinal spilled from the arena to the bar. A really big bar. Make that bars with an “s”.

Organizers used 18 school buses to transport fans to and from the Patch at the London Convention Center which, according to the buzz, was a huge improvement from London’s STOH back in 2006. Each of the bars lineups were three or four rows deep, and pretty much everyone was walking around double-fisted due to the wait time. The entertainment was great – Chevelles are “Patch” regulars – and I’ve been told it was great all week.

There were some complaints about the party zone, of course, and the one that seemed to come up on a regular basis was the closing time of 1:00am. Some of the people that mentioned this to me would have stayed in the Patch all night if they were allowed (I told you I would blog your complaint for you, Rick A., so your voice has been heard).

I would think that organizing committee chief Peter Inch – whom I spotted, sleeves rolled up, collecting empties off the tables at 1:30am in the Patch by the way – has to be delighted on this overwhelming morning after. All of his committee chairs, the volunteer corps, the Canadian Curling Association guys should feel the same.

Kim The Statistician on the left. Distracted.

There were several competitors in the Patch so it was nice to say “Hi” and catch up on the gossip. I also ran into my fellow mixed teammate who was letting loose (mostly due to his wife, my other mixed teammate, being out of town) and was double-fisting all night, but I’m not sure that was due to the wait time at the bar   So, good friend that I am, I made sure he got home safely and after a very late night (3:30am I think) I finally crawled into bed.

I figured I was due for a little sleep-in Sunday morning; this would be a relaxing wrap-up day as I was off duty for my official event task of statistical scoring. I decided to take my son Teegan (age four) to the JLC to watch the bronze medal game, and then head home and jump in my jammies to watch the final on TV!

Dustin Eckstrand in Brier bronze action

With all the advance hoopla about the bronze match, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Some media guys tweeted a prediction of a low-scoring, bang-bang all-takeout affair. I figured it would be a lopsided final score, as I had spotted three members of Team Alberta in the Patch – they were still there when I left at 1:30am – but also due to the fact that it had to be extremely hard on those two teams. Each suffered very close, highly emotional, pressure-packed playoff losses and now each had to try to get up for a game that, in the grand scheme of things, really meant nothing.

I got the clear impression from the chatter going on around me that with nothing to do all day – prior to the 7:30pm final, of course – that most fans felt they might as well come watch the 2:30pm bronze game. The Canadian Curling Association argues that the game is necessary to try and mimic the playoff format of the world championships but here’s the thing: the Brier and the STOH are not the worlds of the Olympics, where the third-place medal holds a lot more value than a third-place finish at the Canadians.

I am NOT retiring! It's a break! Honest!

The other point – and I know you are likely tired of hearing about this – is that the game is a way to get more ticket sales revenue and promote the sport… but then I found out the match was televised on TSN2, which is a subscriber-only channel. How does this game help market curling to the masses when most households don’t get the channel?

Of all the guys on the ice today, I think that Dustin Eckstrand (the Alberta fifth) enjoyed himself the most – it was a great way for him to gain some experience playing in the big show, in front of a big crowd, on the only sheet on the ice in play. Regular Alberta second Marc Kennedy had, of course, received permission to leave the Brier to be with his wife, who was expecting their second child yesterday.

This is what it's all about

I think Brad Gushue and Team Newfoundland and Labrador took a great approach to the game; they were really loose and the interacted with the crowd, even tossing shirts into the seats and taking the time to sign them (when they could) during the between-end breaks. This was stuff you hardly ever see at the Brier, as pointed out by my editor in today’s Toronto Sun.

I also believe the squad embraced their opportunity to compete one last time with teammate Mark Nichols before his hiatus from the sport, and that this helped them defeat Kevin Martin 10-5. Although meaningless in the standings the match clearly had great meaning for them, and especially for Gushue and Nichols, who have been teammates for some 13 years.

I snuggled up to focus my attention on the final, and the commentary of the TSN crew. With friends on both teams and great story lines – many runner-up finishes for ON and no titles since 1999 for MB – I kind of wished they both could win!

Team Ontario, stoic but silent near the end

It was really all Manitoba last night. With the precision of a surgeon, skip Jeff Stoughton made every shot for every extra point, and the play of second Reid Carruthers – the rookie on the team – was certainly impressive; he made it look like he’s been playing with those guys forever.

Although it was a pro-Ontario crowd that so wanted to see their hometown favourites hoist the Brier trophy, they were all curling fans and, regardless of your home province, you can’t be a fan of curling without being a fan of Jeff Stoughton.

As the Manitobans slide those Brier champion rings onto their fingers and look forward to the worlds in Regina, I am sure I can safely say that all of Canada will be behind them. And so, on behalf of all of Canada, congrats on the great victory and go get ‘em at the worlds!

Jon shows Steve how to Hulk Out

I as I watched the closing ceremonies I thought back over the week… and what a week it was.  I had a great time volunteering, and I would suggest that to everyone, and of course I enjoyed sharing my blog thoughts with all of you.

What sticks out the most for me – as a competitive curler – was the exceptional play, all week long, of Team Manitoba. You could just tell from day one that these guys were going to be tough. I can’t even imagine the great disappointment for Glenn Howard and his teammates – they are so strong, and after representing Ontario six consecutive times you have to wonder if and when so many runner-up finishes are going to take a toll.

I also note that for the first time in four years Alberta will not be taking that Tankard home, and that Team Martin finally lost their Brier game win streak at an amazing 30. There is local pride that London played host to the country and that once again Peter Inch and his committee did not disappoint.

A special thank you must go to my hubby for holding down the fort while I spent more time at the JLC than I did at home this past week! I’d also like to thank editor gk for inviting me to blog for all of you lucky readers of The Curling News   Congrats once again to Jeff, Jon Mead, Reid, Steve Gould and to all the playoff teams… heck, congrats to all the teams. You just competed in… The Brier!!

Anil Mungal photos copyright The Curling News®.  Click on each image to increase size.

by Kimberly Tuck

Marc Kennedy delivers for Alberta on Saturday

LONDON – So here is the blogpost I wrote and sent last night. Which never arrived. And which I was not aware of, because my phone died. And which has now been re-sent to the editor just before the championship final gets underway AAAAAHHHHH!

Yes, it’s been a long week.

You can tell it’s Brier playoff time – the games and the JLC arena environment have that “do or die” feel to them. Saturday’s Ontario versus Alberta playoff was a fantastic game that was made even more enjoyable by the involvement of crowd. Definitely pro-Ontario, of course, but very respectful of both teams on the ice.

There’s always a comedian in the crowd and the Page 3 vs. 4 playoff was no exception. I’m not sure how well it was picked up on TV, but during the eighth end Kevin Martin and his team were having a discussion on what shot to play. A fan yelled from the stands: “Listen to your skip, he got you a gold medal” which caused a crowd guffaw. Martin gave a chuckle, and thanked the fan for his input. Very cool.

It wasn’t a game of stellar curling; I think both teams made some great shots but they certainly had some misses. Overall, Ontario outplayed their opposition but Glenn Howard needed his team, as he was the low guy on the totem pole (at 76 per cent overall) while each of his mates finished in the mid 90′s.

Okay. That WAS close.

The game became a ton of fun – and quote tense – when head official Keith Reilly had to arrive in the ninth end to declare which team had scored – by eyeballing two stones! Both were too close to the centre pinhole for the measuring stick, so math and science went out the window and Keith had a tough call to make. He played it pretty cool, but at that moment I wouldn’t have wanted to be in his shoes.

That decision went to Alberta, but the final cheer that reupted 15 minutes later gave me goosebumps… the home team had won the game and would be moving on to the semifinal. The only thing better than hearing that was watching the excitement on the faces of Team Ontario; joy that they would be playing in the semi but also joy that maybe, just maybe, they have finally gotten that Martin monkey off their backs.

Martin’s team – in fact, all of the playoff teams – were NOT impressed about having to play today’s bronze medal game, but both the Albertans and Brad Gushue‘s NL team mixed things up a lot. Many great shots and the nearly 7,000 people in the stands loved the increased interaction with the players.

Team Ontario whoops it up

With all those thousands of people in the stands – with nothing to do during the TV break between ends – the CCA has enlisted Stuart Brown to emcee the event. His duties include not only between-end entertainment but also the arena introductions of teams and players before the draws and co-host duties at the Keith’s Patch after the games.

I first met “Stu” at the 2005 Canada Cup in Kamloops, where he was emceeing and I was competing. Stuart has been working with the CCA since 2002 when he first emceed theSTOH in Brandon.  Throughout the Season of Champions event calendar you can find Stuart ca– at the Continental Cup, the Canada Cup, the STOH, the Brier and either the men’s or women’s world championship (whichever is being held in Canada that year).

Stu has a natural way with the crowd and believe me when I say: This guy is hysterical! When I asked Stuart which event is his favourite, he very politically replied that he “enjoys them all equally”… but he said that each event has its own feel, and “the Brier is more dressed up”. It was no surprise to hear him say that his favourite part about his job is the people: “The people make the event, I can’t do what I do without the responses I get from them, I feed off them” he chuckled.

Part of Stu’s schtick is to poke fun at certain fans, and you might think it hard to embarrass someone who makes his living embarrassing others. But when I asked Stu about his own most embarrassing moment, his answer was a beauty: “During the semifinal of the men’s worlds in Moncton, I accidentally called Kevin Martin ‘Kevin Howard’ in a big WWF voice!”

OOOPS!

Stuart is from Barrie, Ontario and is a freelance announcer… so if anyone out there is looking for a fantastic emcee, you need to look him up: I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!

And now, the final. This match will showcase two great veterans in Jeff Stoughton and Glenn Howard… prediction complete!  Shall I go on and forecast a winner…? Nope, I’m not sure I’m ready to put myself out there like that (hehehe) but I can tell you – it will be a hell of a game!