12 ends, corn brooms and bad rocks

Buried Treasure

Vol. 18 No. 2 & 3

Feb/Mar 1974

The next two Buried Treasure articles will look at the previous two Briers held in London, Ontario. Here’s the first, from 1974.

It’s surprising to see the Forest City has only been the host three times, including this year.

The ’74 Brier content was spread across two issues, February and March/April.

What else was going on at the time? Quite a lot …

• Steve Miller’s The Joker hits No. 1 in January but lasts only a week. Barbara Streisand’s The Way We Were reaches number one on Groundhog Day and lasts for most of February.

• Watergate is also at the top of the charts, with U.S. president Richard Nixon refusing to hand over tapes in early January and by March a grand jury concludes he was involved in the Watergate coverup.

• Happy Days airs for the first time on ABC on January 15. It will be 90 episodes later in the fall of 1977 that Fonzie (Henry Winkler) and the show gift humanity with the phrase “jumping the shark.”

• The Miami Dolphins defeat the Minnesota Vikings 24-7 in Super Bowl VIII at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas. Being a two-year old fan, I slept through this loss (along with their next two Super Bowl losses) but luckily have been able to see every other disappointing collapse since. Skol!

• Good Times, a spin-off from Maude, premieres on CBS. Jimmie Walker is unable to walk in public without bystanders hollering “dy-no-mite.”

• The oil embargo by Arab countries on exports to the United States is lifted, ending the crisis of 1973. During the embargo, oil jumped from $2.90 to $11.65 per barrel. The current price is around $77.00.

• Gordie Howe comes out of retirement for $1 million from the Houston Aeros of the WHA. He will finish his career six years later in 1980 with the Hartford Whalers.

• The last Japanese soldier surrenders in the Philippines, 29 years after World War II ended. This unbelievable story was also the plot of a Gilligan’s Island episode from 1965, So Sorry, My Island Now.

• Jefferson Starship, formed from members of Jefferson Airplane, begins their first tour. It would be a few more years before they would build their city on rock and roll.

The Canadian men’s curling championship began on March 4, 1974. A reminder that these games were 12 ends long and corn brooms were the norm. Eleven teams competed in a full round robin, 10 provinces and Northern Ontario. The winner was declared based on final standings. If two teams were tied at the end of the week, a one game playoff would determine the winner.

Hec Gervais and his Alberta squad of Ron Anton, Warren Hansen and Darrel Sutton won with a record of 8-2. On the final draw Ontario’s Paul Savage, appearing in his third Brier, defeated Saskatchewan’s Larry McGrath 11-8 while Gervais defeated Jim Ursel of Quebec 4-2. 

Larry, a three-time Canadian mixed champion, won his only purple heart in 1974. Saskatchewan had lost on a stolen extra end to Ursel earlier in the week and finished a game behind the friendly giant at 7-3. Paul

Savage shared a story on the Curling Legends Podcast (episodes 22 and 23) of tipping a few with Gervais in a hotel room the night before those final games, and of Hector being the last man standing. I can only speculate if this led to this headline …

There’s some great 70s sideburns from Darrell and Hec in that photo but it places second to the shot of Team Gervais on the cover of the February issue of CCN after winning the Alberta Tankard. It’s possible that four years later, Jack Nicholson used this photo of Warren as inspiration for the character of Jack Torrance in The Shining.

If you listen to the Curling Legends Podcast you’ve likely heard several guests comment on the terrible conditions at many of the Briers in the 1970s. As this article by Neil MacCarl points out (below) the rocks were so bad that nine of the 11 skips at the 1974 Brier petitioned to have the Dominion Curling Association (DCA) stones replaced.

In Legends episode 53, Harvey Mazinke revealed that the transport company would sometimes slide stones down a ramp onto concrete ground.

Bob Cole mentioned in episode 32 that prior to the Newfoundland Brier in 1972, he was advised to load the DCA stones onto a boat, sail out to sea from St. John’s and then sink the boat.

In the summer of 1974, the stones were sold and never used at a Brier again. The CCA (now Curling Canada) would not own a set again until purchasing the stones from the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

A murderer’s row of the finest curling scribes of the era weigh in with their predictions for the London Brier. Several zingers include Earle Ross with “The friendly giant is back and heck, he might make it again”, MacCarl and Jack Matheson both referring to Gervais “the fat man” and Woody with “Paul should be more Savage if the pressure isn’t.”

Also note the insert on slide rule enforcement. This isn’t just for your hand releasing the stone, the entire body had to stay behind the hogline for the delivery at this time. The rule was changed after London and the 1974 Brier was the last time a competitor would have to stop the motion of his body at the hogline after releasing the stone from his hand.

The final stone delivered under the old rule was thrown by Savage, who’s stone had been removed because of the rule infraction in the opening draw.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VEbV7EFXKA[/embed]

Everyone loves a high school yearbook photo; here’s another sampling of 1974 Brier curler mug shots. 

Careful ladies, some of these suave and sophisticated gentlemen are already spoken for.

Finally, a recap of the first London Brier by Jack Matheson. Lines we wouldn’t read today include “It wouldn’t have been the first time Breathless Bill had entertained a donkey” and (It was a) “Streakers’ Brier, through the courtesy and co-operation of a heavy-breasted young girl and a skinny boy …”

There’s no mention of the memorable unveiling of a new product, Pro Glove curling gloves. Bob Weeks shared this story in The Brier of how the Toronto Curling Mafia, headed by Alfie Philips Jr (Legends episode 29) and Peter Birchard had provided a hotel suite for select teams and other notables for the launch of their new product. The reveal was entry of three women walking into the room wearing the deerskin gloves … and nothing else.

Reminder … it was 1974.

It was mentioned that London hosted the best-ever Eastern Brier, drawing 48,170 for the week. Why did it take 37 years for them to host another one?

In the next Buried Treasure we’ll have a quick look back at The Curling News’ coverage of the 2011 London Brier.

BONUS ITEM: Remember that I’m promoting each Buried Treasure column on the Curling Legends Facebook page ... here’s one of the other “promo” stories from these 1974 issues.