[Editor’s Note: Superstar TCN Blogger Dalene Heck will appear on CBC Radio’s Calgary Eyeopener with host Jim Brown at approximately 6:22 am local time tomorrow, Friday March 13. Dalene will talk about the Tim Hortons Brier, set up the playoff picture and possibly describe her Keith’s Patch adventures from the previous evening. Hoo-wah. Tune in to 99.1 FM, 1010 AM or via the internet from anywhere ... ]

by Dalene Heck

CALGARY – Thursday night at the Brier. A weird buzz overall. Craziness. Last-minute wrestling for a playoff spot. Standing ovations from the crowd (CCA photo by Michael Burns) to those who are headed home. It’s electric.

And, of course, there is beer.

Every day, the event daily Tankard Times churns out profiles on different players. I can’t help but question whether some of the players allow their friends to complete their forms for fun, or perhaps they have ingested a few wobbly pops before putting pen to paper?

Here are a few that have gotten me wondering…

• Nova Scotia third Bruce Lohnes’ nickname is apparently Juicy Brucey. I’m not sure I’d be advertising that little fun fact myself.

• New Brunswick third James Grattan described himself as “sexy”. While I can’t disagree with him (Hello? All star HOT third!) I never pegged him as the narcissistic type.

• The British Columbia team obviously had fun with their profiles. Skip Sean Geall’s profile stated that he loves curling because “there is beer”. Second Kevin Reckseidler described himself as “classy, gassy and sassy”, while lead Mark Olson is “huggable and kissable”. However, third Brent Pierce apparently wasn’t a part of this game as his profile is lacking some pizzazz!

• When asked why he loves curling, Jamie Koe of The Territories responded with: “Two words, The Patch”. I have to say that I believe my good friend JK completed his profile with all honesty. That is the JK we know and love.

PS: This will officially be my last mention of James Grattan. I can smell the restraining order…

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When I weighed myself this morning I was three pounds lighter than I was yesterday morning. My intake for the day included one large malt, one piece of Hawaiian pizza and about 15 vodka and diet cokes.

Ugh.

So this is my post-patch update. I wish I could tell you I remembered it all. But I can’t… I started off the night playing “flips” with some friends. For those of you not familiar with this game, it’s a Brier Patch favorite.

Four people play odd-man-out coin flipping until there is only one person left. That person buys the round. I played five times and lost four. Do the math, people.

At $6.00 a drink that’s $96.00. My $80.00 budget for the night was no longer sufficient and I found myself at the Patch bank machine in no time. Needless to say, I stopped flipping and starting buying two drinks at a time for myself.

Fellow blogger Dalene Heck and I spent some time with Ontario’s classy Richard Hart (I think I’m coming around to cheering for Team Ontario, ha ha!) We also threw in a couple high fives with Craig Savill who looked like he was having a great time.

And we had a couple minutes to buy Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories a Bud Light or two… he needed it after yesterday’s 0-2.

I ditched the morning draw in favour of hanging out with my family, but am on site at today’s action. Might make another Patch appearance tonight, although I can pretty much guarantee it will not be a do-over. Ouch.

Patch entertainment tonight? The Ryans, aka three-time Brier champion skip Pat Ryan (photo above) and his hawtie daughter Lynsay Ryan, who is an orginal Women of Curling calendar girl, too.

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