The ladies watch their performance on the big screen

by George Karrys

RAMA, Ontario – The boys did it. They met at the fourth-game break, hashed things out, and from then on it was a complete turnaround the rest of the way. The seventh end was their clincher, as the Men In Orange owned the frame, start to finish.

Ben Hebert made a big difference, as his lead stones outpointed those thrown by Bernard lead Cori Morris. As a result, the girls got into more early trouble – with second Carolyn Darbyshire and third Susan O’Connor throwing far more hits than draws in the second half of the match – and more pressure began to build on skip Bernard.

In the first hour of tonight’s TSN HD broadcast, all the pressure was on the boys.

Here in the Entertainment Centre, there is speculation that the Martin turnaround was caused by… Vic Rauter?! The TSN host interviewed Bernard at the midway point and pointed out that she was “curling 100 per cent”.

Oops!

“After 25 years you’d think he’d know that you NEVER say that to a player,” one fan grumbled.

Well!

For the record, Bernard made an open draw for the final $6,500 skin in the eighth end, and it was a beauty. Hugs all ’round, and an final of score of $11,000 to $10,000 made everyone feel just darn great.

Awwwww!

There was a large group of media here tonight, so watch for all the stories and pics later tonight and tomorrow morning. And we’ll see you tomorrow, of course, right here for the 1:00pm ET finale between Martin and Murdoch – Canada versus Scotland, one more time.

TCN photo by Anil Mungal

Sweep my rotating spinning tops, boys!

by George Karrys

RAMA, Ontario – Well, Kevin broke his slump and scored on a steal in the fifth end… by a hair, as Bernard just missed an angle runback.

Visibly relieved, but still intense (see Anil Mungal photo at left) The Old Bear managed to get another yeller into steal position in the four-foot rings. He threw a huge spinning top for a guard attempt on his last stone, and thanks to another humungous sweeping effort from Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert, he almost closed a port on the centre line. Almost.

Surprisingly, Bernard ignored the in-turn heavy tap and threw another out-turn angle raise attempt… and was rewarded with a partial success. She managed to bump one of her team’s red stones onto the Martin counter and just did sneak it out of the back of the four-foot for a carry-over.

Our score is still tied at $3,500 apiece, with a nifty $7,500 at stake in end number seven. And that is enough to win the game… so this frame should be a doozy.

The eighth end, BTW, will be worth another $6,500.

Celebratory brooms in the foreground air, Cheryl Bernard celebrates

by George Karrys

RAMA, Ontario – Nice shaaaaat, Cheryl Bernard!

Two shots, actually.

In the beginning, it was just another end of Team Martin mastery, featuring come-around after come-around. All yellow and no red.

Then Bernard, the Calgary skip, zigged past the guards and tapped her Edmonton opponent to the back of the button… almost far enough for shot, but not quite.

Another guard from KMart.

And then, Bernard threw the angle in-off, and zagged her shooter onto the Martin stone, and it was two reds for a skin. The first skin of the match goes to… the ladies. Casino Rama seemed to leap off its foundation as the crowd exploded.

TSN returned from commercial with a pre-game interview with Martin, in which he explained that Bernard is “different” from other women’s teams in her ability and interest in throwing high-difficulty shots, like angle raises. Martin reminded us all that Cheryl made “a ton of them” at the Olympic Trials. Cheryl, he declared, has a “skins advantage” over all other women’s teams.

Right on the money so far, Old Bear. $1,000 worth of money so far… how much more is in the cards?

Well, make that $2,000. Martin just missed a boomer for a deuce, and a Calgary stone stuck around close enough to count for a steal.

Hmmm…

TCN photo by Anil Mungal

Cheryl Bernard practicing, just a few minutes ago

by George Karrys

RAMA, Ontario – Just a few minutes before the start of another historic curling evening: Kevin Martin versus Cheryl Bernard.

Remember when the news was first announced?

Remember two years ago, and this photo of a disappointed young lady?

Well, it’s the Battle of the Sexes once again, and the Entertainment Centre here at Casino Rama is abuzz with anticipation. We’ll be with you once again, here on Da Blog and on Twitter and Facebook. So stick with us, and we’ll stick with you!

TCN photo by Anil Mungal

Woo-hoo! Contest time!

Well hello there. We have a contest deadline to tell you about. And that deadline is today.

True, we haven’t seen you in a while. Here on The Curling News Blog, that is. No surprise really… we are the ones who haven’t posted here, and for many weeks now.

You may have noticed a couple of new initiatives that have, well, replaced this blog as the go-to place for essential curling news and information.

First is the Twitter revolution. If you head to our Twitter feed – which is the simple but important-sounding (and all-encompassing) @curling – you will note that we recently passed the 4,500 “tweet” mark… which means that the most awesome and incredible curling news, views and info can be found there, not here.

But does this posting mean there will be more action here at ye olde TCN Blog in the weeks or days to come? Possibly. Thanks to those who have written to inquire about the inactivity on the Blog – we appreciate your concern, but for now we still urge you to follow our Twitter account, less you just plain miss out.

And, of course, we urge you to subscribe to our print newspaper, now 54 years old and counting. This is new initiative number two, and that means we are saving the very best content for our venerable print edition, which now features special subscriber-only content in every issue.

This is content – stories, photos, features, The Curling News TV Guide and more – that you can’t find anywhere else…. not on the website, not on the Blog, not on Twitter, not even on our Facebook page.

And now the purpose of today’s TCN Blogpost… today is the last day to enter a major TCN contest, which we are offering in partnership with our good friends at Casino Rama!

We are giving away – that’s right, just plain HANDING OUT – no less than three VIP hosting packages to the 2011 TSN Curling Skins Game, taking place January 22-23 at Casino Rama, Ontario just north of Barrie. And the Grand Prize package includes hotel accommodation on site at the Casino Hotel, which equates to a whopping $400+ in value for one night – pass the Grey Poupon, monsieur!

Simply enter online via the CONTEST tab on our website homepage, or just click here. But act fast, because entries close at midnight TONIGHT… more specifically at 11:59:59 pm, Eastern Time. And yes, you can enter as often as you like.

We’ll be contacting our prize winners tomorrow, January 14… so enter now, and we just might see YOU at the Skins!

Yes, it’s true. She said she’d never, ever do it.

But she did.

Vancouver Olympic silver medallist and curling heroine Cheryl Bernard is one of 13 female athlete models unveiled today in the new 2011 Women of Curling Calendar, an all-Canadian product now on sale for charity.

The glossy wall calendar features Calgary’s Bernard, Winnipeg’s four-time and defending Canadian champion Jill Officer (left, from Team Jennifer Jones) and even the legendary Colleen Jones, the five-time national women’s champion from Halifax, who has returned to competition this fall after a brief hiatus from the sport.

The 2011 Women of Curling Calendar, which features curling ladies from coast to coast, also includes national-level athletes, former junior champions and even a novice recently attracted to the sport following the excitement of Vancouver 2010.

“I know I said definitely not, no posing in a calendar,” laughed Bernard. “I think I said never, actually. But this one is not so much risqué, at least not in my case. At least I don’t think so!

“My image promotes fitness and health for all women. That’s what I want to project and that’s what this project offered.”

The first “Fire On Ice” women’s curling calendar debuted in the fall of 2005 and was an international media and pop culture sensation right through the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy.

That calendar, and more recent efforts, have all featured a majority of European curing stars. The 2011 edition, produced by The Curling News and aimed as a charitable fundraising project, features an all-Canadian cast of strong, confident and beautiful female athletes.

“These girls designed their own photo shoots, found their own photographers, and everyone contributed to it for charity,” said George Karrys, publisher of The Curling News.

“Some of these ladies went all out in terms of the creative concept, and things like wardrobe, makeup, you name it. The commitment they made is unbelievable.”

The calendar costs $29.95 each and is available online at womenofcurlingcalendar.com. It is also available through thecurlingnews.com and will also be available through other curling websites, such as teamjenniferjones.com.

Curling clubs, in addition to the athlete models, can access product at a discounted rate, which also makes the calendar a fundraiser for their local communities.

“We’ll be promoting this wherever we go in the curling world,” said Kari MacLean. who is one of two members of Team Krista McCarville – the Ontario champions and third-place finishers at the 2009 Olympic Trials – to appear in the calendar.

“Maybe Ashley (Miharija) and I will have a team contest,” said MacLean. “Who can sell more, the blonde or the brunette?”

Proceeds will go to Shoot For A Cure Curling, the sport-focussed fundraising and awareness campaign of the Canadian and American Spinal Research Organizations (CSRO/ASRO).

Shoot For A Cure, which is also supported by the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) is committed to finding a cure for spinal paralysis. The campaign also strives to increase awareness of the Paralympic sport of Wheelchair Curling.

The Curling News is the global media authority on the sport of curling. Founded in Canada in 1957, The Curling News publishes six issues during the annual curling season and also leverages itself via multiple online platforms including Facebook and Twitter.

The 2011 Women of Curling are:

December 2010: Colleen Jones, Nova Scotia
January 2011: Ashley Miharija, Ontario
February: Cheryl Bernard, Alberta
March: Chelsea Carey, Manitoba
April: Jill Officer, Manitoba
May: Kari MacLean, Ontario
June: Sarah Wark, British Columbia
July: Andrea Leganchuk, Ontario
August: Trica Affleck, Prince Edward Island
September: Sabrina Shibley, Ontario
October: Kristy Jenion, Manitoba
November: Teri Lake, Nova Scotia
December: Darah Provencal, British Columbia

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]

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!

The most fascinating thing to come out of yesterday’s seesaw, nailbiting Olympic women’s curling final is a question:

Will either of today’s men’s finalist teams wilt under the Olympic pressure?

If curlers and curling fans ever doubted the very existence of “Olympic pressure” in their sport before, they must accept it now.

Look what we had here, at the rollicking Vancouver Olympic Centre. And think about it.

Olympic rookies who had, by and large, played over and above any pressure gauges for nearly two weeks… and same for an earlier week of Olympic Trials competition. The Canadian back end of skip Cheryl Bernard and third Susan O’Connor had, in particular, looked like Olympic veterans. Tight games? No sweat. Conservative strategy leading deliberately to tight games? No sweat. These girls looked like they were having fun. Betcha they were.

But it all came crashing down in the semis, and then in the final. Tentative releases, missed weight calls, errant shots and a new kind of nailbiting for their fans and followers. This was different. There were cracks in their force field. And it was there for all to see.

Sure, there were heroics. Bernard drawing against piles of Swedish granite in the early going, saving her team’s bacon. Gutsy. But still, things felt different.

As for the victorious Swedes… they weren’t much better. The Olympic veterans, the most decorated women’s curling team in history, went from a steamrolling semifinal juggernaut to a mental mess as the final wore on. The efficiency of two early deuces following Canadian mistakes began to evaporate as nearly every soft inturn curled off the sheet. By the time Norberg threw her draw against two Canadian stones in the seventh, she had lost it, and the stone fell far short.

Canada, heartened by this development, gained strength. Another gift steal, and a padded lead. Sweden’s strategy in the 10th end was, in a word, abysmal, whereas Canada’s choice to leave multiple stones in the house was merely foolish. Still, needing two to tie the match, Norberg left the door open and only a miss from O’Connor made a jam opportunity a reality and… it was, inevitably, up to The Curling Gods to decide: would Canada win, or would there be an extra end?

We all know what happened: Bernard missed a not-quite routine shot, on a newish patch of ice… but still, yet more evidence of this Olympic pressure thing.

In the extra frame, Canadian lead Cori Bartel wilted, and despite some hitting heroics from Carolyn Darbyshire, Team Norberg were pinching themselves. Junk everywhere, just what they dreamed of. Another miss from O’Connor. More junk out front.

In the end, Bernard had another shot for the win. A double takeout, but she knew she could save her shooter. It was right there, for the second time. But she missed again.

Norberg and her troops – the firecracker Eva Lund, Norberg’s sister Cathrine Lindahl and longtime lead Anna Le Moine (nee Svard nee Bergstrom) – are the world’s best, but at times they didn’t look good at all. Their mid-game switch from confident robotics to staggering confusion was shocking. Regardless, they have the history and the resume to back up this back-to-back Olympic gold.

As for the Canadians, they accomplished far more, dating back to the Trials in December, than was expected by many a pundit. They had a plan and they stuck to it. They picked each other up, constantly working a magical team dynamic to perfection. They experienced something firsthand, in front of teeming and screaming home crowds, that will never be experienced again. And after all those rassles with the pressure over the final days, they could still taste gold, on the last stone, on the final throw.

All in all, it made for thrilling and compelling sport theatre.

What are we in store for today?

[Photos copyright The Curling News by Anil Mungal. Click to increase size]