Martin, Koe, Howard, and Stoughton face off at Casino Rama.

RAMA, Ontario – A solitary sheet of ice on the floor of the Casino Rama Entertainment Centre is ready for a weekend of top notch curling. This year the invited teams represent the four most recent Canadian skips to win the World Championships.

The teams will battle for a cash purse worth up to $75,000. The game format is “Skins” … and no, this does not mean that Johnny Mo will be playing without a shirt. In Skins curling, a “Skin” is awarded for each end won, with the Skin value for each end increasing as the game progresses. A Skin is awarded if the team with the hammer scores two or more points or the opposing team steals the end. If neither of these occur the Skin is carried over to the next end and the total value at stake grows. At the completion of eight ends the team with the most Skin value wins the game.

The 1pm (ET) match on Saturday features the 2008 World Champions and returning Skins Champions, Team Kevin Martin, vs. 2010 World Champion Team Kevin Koe. The 8pm match features 2011 World Champion Team Jeff Stoughton vs. 2007 World Champion Team Glenn Howard. The winners of these two matches will advance to the final on Sunday at 1pm.

Friday consists of on-ice practice, and an evening cocktail reception where the players get a chance to socialize.

The Curling News will be blogging all of the games live from Casino Rama, right here on these pages, and tweeting (@curling) as well, so stay tuned folks!

For a look at previous Skins Game blog postings, why not browse around our pages? Pick a search term, such as “TSN Skins” or “Casino Rama Skins”, type it into the search bar near the top right of this page and bingo… you are now exploring past Skins curling content.

Enjoy while we await the start of the 2012 edition!

Cheryl Bernard (left) and her 2010 Olympic silver medallists will battle the boys at the 2011 TSN Curling Skins Game.

Bernard and her Calgary women’s team will take on the Vancouver 2010 Olympic men’s champions from Edmonton, Team Kevin Martin, in one of the two event semifinals played January 22, 2011 at Casino Rama just outside of Barrie, Ontario.

The other semi will feature the 2010 defending champions, Team David Murdoch of Scotland, against the new world men’s champions from Edmonton, Team Kevin Koe. The two semifinal winners will compete in the final on January 23.

The Skins Game is a three-match, made-for-television competition featuring four teams in a unique style of play. Money – a total of $100,000 – is the key to scoring, and teams must either score two or more points with the hammer or steal a point to win a “skin”. The total amount of money earned determines the winner.

All three matches will be televised live in High-Definition on Canada’s TSN (The Sports Network).

“We’ve never had the opportunity to take on such a high calibre of men’s teams so we jumped at the chance to participate in the TSN Curling Skins Game,” said Bernard in a news release. “The venue, format and interaction with the fans will definitely make for a fun weekend of curling. But watch out guys – we are playing to win.”

Team Bernard is only the second women’s team to compete in the Skins Game. Two years ago, Winnipeg’s Team Jennifer Jones battled Glenn Howard at Casino Rama and were crushed, scoring just a single skin over the eight-ends of play.

Bernard’s inclusion means Team Howard will not compete in the 2011 event. Howard, who resides in nearby Midland, has been invited to the three previous Skins Games and enjoys a large local following.

It also guarantees another summer and fall of off-ice debate, regarding the ability of female curlers to compete with their male opponents. Here’s an excerpt of a recent interview between Canwest News and Team Martin third John Morris:

CANWEST: If your team, the men’s Olympic champs, played 100 games against women’s champ Anette Norberg of Sweden, how many would you win?

MORRIS: Oh, I’m going to get myself in trouble for this answer, I bet. I would say 90.

CANWEST: Why such a disparity? Why such dominance by the men?

MORRIS: Well, you can compare it to (the gender difference) in tennis or golf. First of all, the sweepers are a lot better in men’s curling. And being able to throw the rock really hard can be a big weapon. So, the advantage of sweeping and the advantage of throwing the rock harder would be enough to unbalance the scale, I guess.

The Curling News has blogged live from all three previous Curling Skins Games, providing exclusive behind-the-scenes anecdotes and photos. You can catch up on previous coverage via our blog archive, during the months of January in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

After all, you never know what you’re going to see at the Skins Game. Like this.

[Anil Mungal photo copyright 2010 The Curling News. No reproduction is permitted]

by Margo Weber

There is so much amazing curling info bouncing around. Did you know, for example, that new curling clubs are sprouting up again stateside – such as in Charlotte, North Carolina – and there are efforts underway in Las Vegas, St. Louis and… Atlanta?

(Hint: I got all this from The Curling News Twitter feed… including a funny story about the Chinese Olympic men’s curling skip getting in big trouble when he arrived home in China. So follow it, or lose out, people!)

What is also amazing is that really curious Americans, Europeans, South Americans and everybody else can watch the great Brier curling coverage we get in Canada, through the TSN Video On Demand service. That’s right… my editor tells me that the games which are thrown onto the website after each live broadcast are not being geoblocked outside of Canada. And this means that the worldwide curling obsession can continue! Marvellous!

Go here and look on the right for the list of VOD games you can watch. And you may want to start with this one here, Alberta vs Newfoundland. Just a suggestion.

There has also been much debate, and lots of it right here on this blog, about the TSN TV curling commentators. The feedback thus far suggests that the newfangled team of Russ Howard and Bryan Mudryk, which handles the morning games, is perhaps a breath of fresh air in comparison to Vic Rauter, Linda Moore and Ray Turnbull, a threesome that has been teamed up as the main crew for over twenty years.

I’m an avid curling watcher. I would looove to be one of those people that go to the Brier and watch it in person every year. But there are plusses to sometimes watching from home. You learn about the players, and hear different opinions on shot calls. Besides, it’s easy to get distracted in the stands when you have four simultaneous games to watch and a beer in your hand.

By now I kind of feel like I know the commentators. Is that crazy? Never met them… still I feel like I’ve gotten to know these folks on a semi-personal level. And I’ve even grown fond of Ray at times. This is his last year, mind you. So in my own review, herewith, I’m going to be nice…. haha! But nobody else is getting off that easy. Not even Russ Howard, who by the way tends to read this blog. Hey, Russ. Whutsup.

With Ray departing at the end of the season, this possibly opens up a spot on the commentating teams. Who would fill such a spot, you ask? Aha. I shall answer, at the end of this blogpost, about who I think it may be.

For now, let’s discuss the commentators.

Linda Moore – I like her, I don’t love her. She’s pretty serious and doesn’t have the pizzazz that perhaps curling needs to continue the youthful rap it got after the Olympics. She is knowledgeable, but I would love to see a bit more light-hearted scrapping about shot decisions. Perhaps with a change in broadcast members I’ll get my wish.

Vic Rauter – I don’t mind Vic. I think viewers feel that he’s predictable and a bit cheesy. I’m quite sure he knows more than he lets on. But he makes me chuckle and I’m okay with him for awhile. We do tend to hear the same things over and over with this crew. We know Vic’s favourite moment in life is when he gets to say ‘… and he backs it up!’

Ray Turnbull – Adios, Moosie. This guy picks his favorites. Hello, I GET the infatuations with Jill Officer and Susan O’Connor. But if he calls Susan ‘this lady’ one more time I’m going to encourage him to actually have a drink with her. Lady she is not. Love ya, Sue.

Russ Howard – I’m giving this one some time, although he definitely deserves the ‘most improved’ award. His Olympics coverage was more enjoyable and informative than at the Canadian Olympic Trials. He is good for the odd one-liner such as ‘That wasn’t plan B, that was plan Zed.’ Hahaha! He calls ’em as he sees ’em and we need more humour like that. Russ is always predicting the outcome of shots… ‘He’ll make this perfectly, here it comes. Oh… um… just a nose. Needed more ice.’ It’s actually kind of funny. At present time I would say Russ is my man.

Bryan Mudryk – Totally cool. I think he’ll get more comfortable with experience. I like how he’s interested in the personal aspect of the players. He also poses insightful questions to Russ. He ain’t no dummy.

Cathy Gauthier – Okay, she’s seriously professional and knows what she’s talking about without relying on stats. She comes off, however, too rehearsed. And perhaps a little boring.

So. With Ray’s departure, it’s widely believed that Russ moves up to the night time crew. Who replaces Russ? Surely we can’t have Cathy and Brian in the mornings? Someone else must come into the mix.

I know who. I would bet a dozen cupcakes on it that Cheryl Bernard will be asked to consider commentating for TSN. Will she say yes? No idea. She’s probably itching to winter down south and still has some curling left in her without a doubt. But will she be asked? Of course she will. TSN would be crazy not to at least try to capitalize on the hype she created at the Olympics.

That’s my TSN review. With a future talent prediction. Agree? Disagree?

[CCA photo by Michael Burns]

One of our favourite Canadian sport Tweeters is Peter James, who works for Canwest News. He keeps his eyes on The Roaring Game, so it’s only natural that he is one of our faves.

Some of his Tweet Peeps recently suggested that the TSN curling “morning draw” twosome of Brian Mudryk and Russ Howard are now the preferred commentators, over the old faithful threesome of Vic Rauter, Ray Turnbull and Linda Moore (seen in this Anil Mungal photo at left, along with stat/font wizard Dino Bavaro).

This was a most unscientific “poll”, as the numbers came in at four for the AM crew and one for the Old Faithfuls.

Then again, when a completely unscientific poll from the Moncton Worlds (conducted in two parts, here and here and with the results revealed here) is quoted as law by a British newspaper (!?) then who is to say that a quick Twitter query isn’t a semi-accurate gauge of the public’s feelings?

Certainly not us.

So we throw the question(s) open to you. Mudryk/Howard (who are on the air at 10:30am ET this morning for their last STOH draw) or the Old Faithfuls? Whom do you prefer… and most importantly, why?

Are the new guys a breath of fresh air? Is the threesome just like your favourite warm blanket?

Has Howard ramped up his monotone delivery? Has Linda dropped the overuse of statistics? Do you agree/disagree? Do you care?

Are the Old Faithfuls tired, and showing it? Are they simply weary of this error-prone Scotties event, and waiting eagerly for the Olympic Games? How did they do at the Trials, the Juniors, the Skins? How did they do last season?

We wanna know. So let’s hear it. While you wait for the next installment of What is this? … coming later today …

[click on photo to increase size]

RAMA, Ontario – For the man from Lockerbie who once played goaltender on the hockey ice (yes, we kid you not) today’s Skins Game success was a brilliant shutout.

David Murdoch and his Great Britain Olympic squad blanked Team Randy Ferbey $57,000 to nil to win the 2010 Casino Rama Curling Skins Game (The Curling News photo by Anil Mungal).

Their total haul? $70,500 for two eight-end games.

For those who are interested, that’s some £42,000 in UK coin. Not at all poor.

And not at all unexpected from a “clever, methodical, calculating, cold-blooded killer.”

Crowds were strong for the event, with the 3,600-capacity Entertainment Centre counting an average of over 3,000 bodies for each of the three draws.

The athletes were, as usual, treated like royalty. Swag bags for each player included a GPS, shirts and sweaters, poker chips (but of course), a travel bag, gift certificates, and more.

Another year, another Skins Game. Thanks for following!

Well. That was quite a show, eh?

And that’s quite a photo from yesterday, eh? We like it because John Morris looks funny. Sorry, Johnny (click to zoom in).

You can watch the latest all-curling edition of TSN’s Off The Record on the OTR webpage, located here. Just click on the video player on the right, and you’re off and running.

You can also view the various segments through this page.

It starts with host Michael Landsberg and defending Casino Rama Skins champ Randy Ferbey (Up Front, 4:52). Some highlights:

Ferbey on arch-rival Kevin Martin: “I think he thinks too much of his team and not the sport, and other teams in general… as curlers we’re trying to grow the game and I think Kevin is too much into himself.”

Ferbey on teammate David Nedohin‘s injury: “Dave was working out, doing some squats and popped his S1 in his back, so he’s out indefinitely.”

Middaugh on his new teammate: “Back when I was playing with the Howard family I thought Randy was just another one of those western curlers that all they could do is throw it hard down the ice.”

Middaugh on tomorrow’s battle against Glenn Howard: “It’s been quote a while since (Glenn has) beaten a men’s team at the Skins.”

Randy on his curling future: “I feel I’ve got lots to offer; I’m not gonna quit until I have to.”

The show itself then followed, in two segments (7:31 and 5:21) and there was… much teasing.

Landsberg teased Murdoch about Tom Brewster; about Canada deserving two Olympic curling teams; about hockey; about his accent (eh?) and about winning silver in Vancouver (!!).

Landsberg (and Ferbey) teased Howard and Martin third Johnny Mo about the Brier being tougher to win than a Grand Slam.

And so on.

Anything else? Heck, yes.

Stay tuned to the video player for a highly amusing Next Question segment with Glenn Howard (4:17) and, finally, Really Off The Record boasting a final 4:52 of five-way banter to wrap it up.

As for the questions submitted by our faithful readers? A couple of them wriggled their way onto the show – well done peeps!

The Casino Rama Curling Skins Game gets underway tomorrow at 1:00pm ET in Rama, Ontario… and is televised live on The Sports Network, in High-Definition.

Bonus trivia question: at the very end of Really Off The Record, a specific word was bleeped out. What is interesting is that Landsberg then wondered aloud if, in fact, the word would be bleeped out during the editing process.

What was the word?

Another exclusive from The Curling News, from us to you: David Nedohin is out of this weekend’s Casino Rama Skins Curling Game, and guess who is in?

The defending champion Randy Ferbey squad will have a new, very temporary fellow throwing last bricks when they take on Team Glenn Howard on Saturday (1:00pm ET, TSN). And this fellow knows Team Glenn Howard, and specifically Cliffy, very well indeed.

This fellow also knows skins curling very well. Indeed.

Recognize the face? Recognize the uniform?

(Put the two together, as our ace photog Anil Mungal has done here, and we suddenly develop a mild headache. This looks so… not right.)

Suffice to say that Ontario curling fans who are upset about missing a certain high-powered matchup at next month’s Tankard in Napanee can now head to Casino Rama on Saturday, for a very special edition of such a missing matchup.

We don’t have the details why, as of yet, but no doubt all will be explained on tonight’s all-curling Off The Record Skins Curling Special, 6:00pm ET on TSN. Hey, perhaps this fellow will even phone in to the show.

Speaking of, have you submitted your question(s) to the curlers for today’s show taping? We’ve got six stellar queries so far, but with the taping scheduled for early afternoon today, this is your last call to contribute…

Tomorrow, Thursday January 14, is Curling Skins Day on the TSN talk show Off The Record (OTR).

Once again, the four skips taking part in this weekend’s Casino Rama Skins Game will be in the hotseats for a half-hour of jabbering, laughing, frowning and finger-pointing.

Make that three skips and one third.

Glenn Howard, Randy Ferbey and Scotland’s David Murdoch will be there. But Kevin Martin‘s chair will be taken by third man John Morris, which could make things quite interesting.

Remember, ace TCN blogger Margo Weber declared that Johnny Mo is going to be a star in Vancouver. Does that star begin ascending on Thursday?

Anyway, a question about questions. Specifically: what kinds of questions would you ask any of these curling stars, if TSN happened to invite your contributions?

Not to toot our own horn too much… but if you post your question ideas in the Comment(s) field below, you just might see and hear your question pop up on Thursday’s show.

TOOT!

[Morris photo montage by Anil Mungal]