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    The Curling News
    The Curling News
    Aug 23, 2006, 11:59
    Bits & Biters


    All kinds of blurbs to pass along today...

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    • Paralympic golden boy Chris Daw (photo) is in The Curling Show hotseat. Meanwhile there are some disturbing rumours floating around that Daw recently turned down a 150,000-pound wheelchair job in Scotland (that's right, pounds, which would be over 300K in Canuck bucks) to stay in and show loyalty to Canada, but is now struggling to keep his head above water. Say it ain't so...

    • Meanwhile, two of Daw's arch-rivals on the Scottish wheelchair squad – which earned silver in Pinerolo – have retired. One of them, skipper Frank Duffy, has been struggling with ill health... in fact, Duffy suffered a heart attack after the competition and while still in Italy...

    • First, the Vancouver 2010 curling arena promised for a vacant lot in Vancouver at a price tag of $28-million will now cost $37.1 million and has been moved to a heritage ball park, which will be destroyed in the process. Now, the city of Whistler has voted against building a stadium to host Paralympic sledge hockey, which means that sport – and wheelchair curling – will now move down the hill to Vancouver. Which also means the legacy of having all Paralympic sports in one area (Whistler) for the first time is toast, and we may yet see more Paralympic sports depart the mountain city. The official news is here, with a couple of stories here and here...

    • So, you're a Canadian curler and you're upset that your national association is raising competitor fees. Our take? We're of two minds. First of all, $15 per event is a joke in this underpriced sport. You’re lucky you don’t pay between $500 and $1,000 per entry, like you do for a sanctioned World Curling Tour event. So quit your whinging! Secondly, as for the principle of the thing, that seems to be another story altogether...

    • More Buckets tales following Monday's funeral, from Terry Jones and ex-Journal and The Curling News scribe Ray Turchansky. Finally, a service wrapup from the Con Man...

    • Scottish national team members are now in dry-land training...

    • As expected, Winnipeg's fire-razed Thistle club may not survive...

    • A tale of McGill students charging forward with University curling...

    • And finally, a great outdoor curling/activity piece, and in a New Zealand newspaper to boot!