Despite recent health concerns it still seemed a cataclysmic death at the time. However, Doug would soon be followed by none other than Don Chevrier and then Don Wittman, making the 2007-08 season a stunning year of lost curling legends.
And we remember.
It’s the Brier, the Canadian men’s curling championship. And there is just so much out there to surf to, consult, read up on, etc. And, of course, to watch on either TV or your computer.
We can’t cover everything, but we will point you in a few directions. Then, we’ll wrap up some other curling stuff, and finish with our famous curling linkfest.
Item one: Jill Officer. The all-star second and Ford Hot Shots champion – not to forget 2008 Canadian women’s champion – can now throw a rock with her eyes closed (Kruger products photo by Andrew Klaver, above). That’s how easy the sport has become for this Sport Canada carded athlete. Just say “oooohhmmm”, open your hand, and be the rock. Oh yes, yogi, it’s that easy.
Now Jill will take a break from Ford Worlds preparations and staff the official Curling News-desk at the Brier media bench, blogging daily, right here, for one and all to read. She’s also writing an occasional column for the Winnipeg Sun (see points to follow) and ensuring the stacks of TCNs are on display in the Patch, Purple Heart Lounge, et cetera. Oh, and you might see this budding photographer out on the carpet, too, snapping some still images of her male counterparts. Naturally, the TCN servers will explode as viewers click here often to see how many of Jill’s favourite butt shots make these pages. Oh, behave!
So there you go. The Curling News Blog becomes Jill’s official playpen, starting tomorrow. Check back often.
Now, for those two Winnipeg newspapers, the Freep and the Sun. These guys will both go wall-to-wall over the next nine days, and while the Freep’s Brier portal just plain looks better than the Sun’s aging appearance, the Freepies are also boasting of AM draw coverage streamed live from their website. But then again, both CurlTV and CBC Sports Online are doing that, too.
Oh, and TSN.ca, too … after their live TV games you’ll be able to call up any games you missed online.
Like we said… where to start?
We’ve also decided to cut through the chaff and spotlight some cool Brier pre-stories, just for you. And they are:
– This feature on Manitoba’s quiet second, and the incident which drives him
– This look at curling’s true Odd Couple;
– This peek at curling’s Gambling Man;
– This mention that the fifth-end break of the semifinal – on the afternoon of March 15 – will feature a tribute to the big three of curling journalism, who all passed away in the last eight months: Don Wittman, Don Chevrier and TCN’s own Doug Maxwell. Don’t miss it.
– And finally, can it be true that TCN’s own Matt Hames was the only person to notice that the ice at the Scotties featured the brand new World Curling Federation expanded ice size of 15’7” (up from 14’2”)? We think so, and hold on to your seats folks, because the Brier features the same expanded ice, too.
And now, for your linkfest …
• DID YOU KNOW: that Canada’s William Dion finished first in the round-robin at the World Juniors, while Kaitlyn Lawes’ Canadian women are down 6-3 to Denmark midway through their tiebreaking match?
• DID YOU KNOW II: that the World Junior semis and finals are available on Curlingkanalen (which is Swedish for Curling Maniacs) and also on Eurosport’s Swedish website? The news is here …
• DID YOU KNOW III: that Kevin Koe has next year’s bye to the Alberta provincial? His squad is now thinking about a trip to Perth, Scotland next January for the big Masters cashspiel …
• Scotland’s Michael McCreadie plans to be back …
• Stranraer is rejoicing over two of their own …
• Teflon sandals? Vinyl brushes? Enthusiasm? You bet …
• Wow, these folks are organizing themselves early …
• And these guys, too …
• Dave curled in Finland the other day… maybe he’ll drop by Vierumaki tomorrow?
• Catester is quite peeved over the ridiculous slights to Colleen Jones and Kelly Scott …
• Here’s John Gushue, from St. John’s. And what are the chances there’s no relation?
• Was this truly the shot of a lifetime?
• Dude, you need a little more rotation on your throws …
• More pricing in Moose Jaw… will they ever see the finish line?
• Ken Peterson went curling in… Korea!
• A nifty curling graphic from SINC located here: topical as many a curling fan shall be dining in front of the TV in the coming days!
• DID YOU KNOW IV: that 2002 Olympic champion Rhona Martin appeared before a special Scottish sport participation committee inquiry last week (here and also here)? Here’s the wrap-up, but you can apparently view the proceeds online, too …
• And finally, it looks like we forgot about our Ithaca friends and their glorious championship, held in late December. News story here, and a plea from the ARSI for Olympic status in 2010 located here.
Our apologies …
The truth is, such writing is proving to be exceedingly, agonizingly difficult. And now, we are getting somewhat angry. What a disaster the last six months have been. The legends of our sport are dying, seemingly all in a row, and the legacy of curling is hurting, plain and simple.
Witt’s passing has brought forth a ton of great memories, and some of our favourites come from Murray McCormick, from Kirk Penton, from Ted Wyman, and from yet another Winnipegger, Paul Friesen, who attended yesterday’s funeral.
And leave it to the curling media, naturally, to talk loudest about Witt’s legendary sense of humour. Bob Weeks does so here, and he also points out here that competitors in this week’s Grand Slam will be wearing special “DW” crests on their uniforms.
Finally, we have Al Cameron, who in turn leads us into this fabulous, conclusive piece by Paul Wiecek. And one of his tales rings familiar.
The publisher of The Curling News, George Karrys, spent two years in the CBC Championship Curling broadcast booth, right beside Wittman, as the network’s research guy. At the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Karrys found himself hanging around the rinkboards – a favourite Witt haunting ground – on practice day, just before competition was to start.
“Witt was telling the story of how he was the first on the scene at the terrorist incident at the 1972 Munich Games,” said Karrys. “Everyone’s been writing about what he did to get so close, but they haven’t mentioned how he and CBC were there ahead of everybody, including the U.S. network which got all the credit for ‘on-the-spot reporting.’
“But Witt pointed out, in Turin, that CBC wasn’t running his stuff. Not until the Yanks, and the rest of the world, had arrived on the scene and started beaming their stuff out. Somebody at CBC management ‘chickened out’ right ast the start, and didn’t use his reports, and a huge opportunity was missed. ‘I couldn’t believe it’, said Witt. But typical of him, he probably didn’t talk about it much.”
It was at that point that Karrys turned to the veteran and said “Dammit Witt, I should write your book.”
“Witt turned to me and said, ‘Do you know any publishers?’ And when I said yes, he said ‘Well why don’t you look into that, Jorge.’ And, like Wiecek, I only turned in a perfunctory effort… perhaps thinking there would be lots of time.”
Karrys agrees that the world has lost a great man… not just the curling world, or the sports world, or even the broadcast world. Witt had time for absolutely everyone he came into contact with, and he was thinking of others – particularly his family – right up to his final day.
And now, in the dying days of CBC’s Season of Champions curling coverage, Witt’s famous, legendary championship calls won’t be a part of the final chapter.
As we said, what a disaster.
Watch for more special tribute content in the upcoming February issue of The Curling News.
Elsewhere… because this is just too damned depressing …
• Witt’s situation has thrown CBC’s curling coverage for a loop, but here’s a great story from Scott Russell on his attempt to fill the great man’s shoes – and the role “the curlers” played in helping Russell fit in …
• BLOGALERT: There’s new curling content in the blogosphere, folks, courtesy of Regina Leader-Post and SWEEP! Magazine writer Murray McCormick. We suggest you check out Bloglines on a regular basis …
• The Scotties are coming… and with two teams declared thus far – Quebec’s comeback kid, Marie-France Larouche, and PEI’s stalwart Suzanne Gaudet – the other provincials are up, running and wrapping up this Sunday. Here’s the list of provincial events and here’s some assorted updates and/or stories on…
Saskatchewan (and another one here), Alberta – with the Edmonton view here and thoughts from Calgary, here and here – Manitoba, courtesy of the Sun and the F-F-F-Freep… Ontario, thanks to Canadian Press, Nova Scotia, located here and here …
• Kevin Martin starts another Grand Slam run tonight in Saskatoon at the Masters of Curling – look for lotsa daily draw coverage webstreamed live at this page – and some media are actually starting to take notice of his five Slams-in-a-row win streak. As the story points out, there are some who wonder if KMart’s success is actually bad for the Slam property, and if fans are beginning to tune out.
Not only do Martin and Sask rival Pat Simmons weigh in on this; Martin lead Benny “Heebz” Hebert has written a guest column in the upcoming February issue of The Curling News, coming soon to a mailbox near you. This column won’t be blogged or webposted, so you’ll need to find a hard copy of the paper. Good luck, as it’s a pretty popular tome… and we don’t send many bulk copies to clubs, as we’re sure you’ve noticed …
• Speaking of the Slam, Sask Curling is still miffed at the Asham World Curling Tour for scheduling the Masters on the same weekend as the provincial Scotties …
• Looky here, an all-Asham Curling Supplies team is still undefeated in the MCA Bonspiel …
• Way to go Waterloo, as a few brave souls did the outdoor curling thing last weekend. You can read about it here, and also view an exclusive video, featuring The Wrench among others, in the Jan. 21 posting Video Coverage …
• The curling rock episode of Discovery’s How It’s Made has made it’s way onto YouTube …
• Could southwestern Ontario be getting another curling facility?
• A salute to Doug Gillon, sportswriter for Scotland’s The Herald, who is helping his newspaper celebrate their 225th anniversary with this retrospective column (and we thought we have been around at 50 years!)
Gillon, of course, is the man who first brought the secret of curling’s official 1924 Olympic status to light, whereupon the IOC and WCF were pushed and shoved along to eventual super-confirmation by yours truly, the 50-year-old newborn …
• Speaking of Scotland, two locals made the finals of the successful new women’s cashspiel on the weekend, click here for the quotes and here for the news and great photos (postings from Jan. 18 thru Jan. 20) …
• Yeah, we love the 80s… the music, perhaps, but certainly not the hitting style of curling …
• Victoria has said yes to a curling academy …
• The Potomac hosted a successful open house the other day …
• And finally, NHL hockey’s Los Angeles Kings went curling the other day in Canmore, Alberta. They and some other teams – like the San Jose Sharks – tend to do this a lot. Here’s Kings goalkeeper Jason LaBarbera, to the Prince George Citizen:
I was on a team with Rob Blake, Mike Cammalleri, and (assistant coach) Nelson Emerson, and it was embarrassing. I’d never curled before, but we played three-end games and our team didn’t get one point. How do you not get a point?
(Anze) Kopitar fell on his butt on the ice once, that was funny. Some of the Euro guys had never seen curling before, they thought we were joking or something.
Tuesday saw a salute from the World Curling Federation and also from CBC, where Maxwell first plied his specialized trade of curling journalism.
Finally, today’s Owen Sound Sun-Times spotlights Maxwell’s impact on the Markdale community, and today’s Toronto Star also has a nice piece, with the print version including a recent photo of Maxwell at one of his beloved Skins Games (photo above by curling camera whiz Mark Snyder).
There’s even been a few calls for the world championship trophy to be renamed the Maxwell Cup.
We at The Curling News are in mourning, as Doug, or “DDM” as he was known, was more than simply a senior columnist. He was our Editor Emeritus, a title bestowned upon him after 20 years of owning the former Canadian Curling News, for which he also served as Publisher and Editor.
After rescuing CCN from certain collapse in 1980, Maxwell sold the paper in the fall of 2003, in the hopes that former CCN Associate Editor (and 1998 Olympian) George Karrys could carry the tradition forward. Four years later, The Curling News – plus this here blog – has solidified its status as the world’s top curling publication, turning heads with cutting-edge content, attractive design values, and even eye-catching TV commercials.
We started a new department for our 50th anniversary last fall, in which archived stories and photos from the past were reprinted – many of them written years ago by Maxwell himself – and the sheer degree of positive feedback will see us do this once again, as the calendar year will shortly carry us into our 51st publishing season.
We have our readers – in particular, our print subscribers – to thank for this success, but we have Doug Maxwell to thank for his direction, his work ethic, his standards of professionalism and, above all, his sheer love and passion for the world’s fastest growing winter sport. He was, and he remains, the inspiration of our commitment to first-class product. He was, and remains, a friend… who happens to command a remarkable curling legacy.
We are also in shock at the speed of his passing. In mid-August, Maxwell submitted a written proposal to the World Curling Federation, clearly indicated that despite recent health struggles, there was no stopping “Mr. Curling.”
However, an August 25 message detailed the bad news from doctors: his cancer had returned and was terminal, leaving only an estimated 5-10 months of opportunities left. Still, we all thought, we hadn’t heard the last from Doug.
Less than a week later, he was gone.
Gord Maxwell, one of Doug’s three sons, tells us that, if anything, his father left the impression he “was setting an example to me even in how he died.
“It was, to a certain extent, his program. He took (the bad news) the way he wanted, and it happened the way he wanted. There was no doubt in his mind, and he was calm and focussed.”
And so the curling world has lost another giant, just a year after the passing of Don “Buckets” Fleming, whom Maxwell himself labelled “an all-time curling character.” And as we prepare to gather in tiny Markdale, Ontario this Sunday, we shall leave you with some words from Doug Maxwell himself, as excerpted from his most recent book, Tales of a Curling Hack, which was published less than a year ago; an essential item for your bookshelf, now more than ever.
It’s been quite the ride since your first eight-ender, scored at Montréal in 1951, old friend. Rest well.
Being, on occasion, a modest sort of chap, I never thought much about my place in the world of curling. Oh, I knew that my commentator’s countenance on television, first with the CBC’s “Cross Canada Curling,” Brier telecasts, and a variety of curling shows in the sixties and seventies) and later with TSN (The Sports Network), gave me some sort of recognition. But I didn’t think it was anything other than the kind of notoriety that goes with boob tube familiarity.
I knew, too, that my 18-year stint as executive director of the Air Canada Silver Broom World Curling Championship had given me a certain profile among some of the elite players of the game, but I dismissed that as more face recognition than peer respect. After all, they were the stars of the show, and I was mainly the plumber, the promoter, the public presence of the event.
Then, following the publication of my 2002 book Canada Curls: The Illustrated History of Curling in Canada, I began to get letters asking questions or suggesting theories that the correspondents felt I could address. People seemed to think I might have a secret source of curling information, and, on the odd occasion, I realized maybe they were right. I had to admit that, yes, I might be the only one still alive who had some arcane detail or piece of curling trivia stuck in a recess of my mind.
I read in Bill Bryson’s fascinating book A Short History of Nearly Everything that when the British astronomer Sir Arthur Eddington was asked “Is it true you are one of only three people in the world who actually understands Einstein’s Theory of Relativity?” the famous Brit was silent for a minute and then replied, “I’m trying to think who the other two might be.”
Once or twice, over the past few years, I have felt like Sir Arthur E. – not about Einstein’s theory, of course – but perhaps, maybe, curling? Without being too immodest, I think I bring a variety of credentials to the challenge of this book. At one time or another, I have been a broadcaster, reporter, official, umpire, statistician, organizer, promoter, innovator, sponsor and, most recently, a historian of the game. So occasionally, just like Eddington, I’ve tried to think who the other know-it-alls might be. And then, as I came up with their names, I recruited them to add some of their comments to mine. The result, I hope, will be fun for all of us…
… I titled this chapter “Completing the Circle.” Here’s why. In Chapter 1, I imagined a conversation between Baron Pierre de Coubertin and Vince Lombardi. Now that I have passed my biblical “three score and ten,” I have finally accepted the fact I will never fulfill Lombardi’s injunction by winning the Brier or the World. I do think, however, that I might qualify for a pat on the back from the Baron.
I think I have stayed the course, taken part. I have, perhaps, triumphed in some things, and I know I have been a part of the struggle. I may not have conquered too often, but I allow as how I have fought well.
I began my curling journey by covering the first Schoolboy Curling Championship in 1950. By attending the 2006 World Men’s Curling Championship, I think I have completed the circle.
