CCA photo by Michael Burnsby Guy Scholz
CALGARY – I honestly thought I was sitting in McMahon Stadium in early November watching the Saskatchewan Roughriders invade Calgary, and confusing the poor southern Alberta fans about who the home team really was.
But no. I was at a sold-out North Hill Curling Club on a Saturday night in Calgary, watching the Canadian Junior women’s curling final between Saskatchewan, skipped by Trish Paulsen, and Team Alberta, helmed by Nadine Chyz.
There was green and white face paint, green wigs and green streaks, Saskatchewan provincial flags, Roughrider flags and jerseys, even a few Roughriders green good-luck beads. And on the red side – actually Alberta blue – there were similar fashion statements, including a number of morph alien outfits.
Over the years, Calgary has been known for really knowing how to celebrate national events. Back in 1948 (and no – I wasn’t around for that) it was Calgarians who started the football revelry that fast-tracked the Grey Cup to the celebration it is today. And it was Paul Gowsell and his Calgary-based junior men's rink back in the 1970’s (were you around for that, Guy? <grin> – Ed.) that helped take curling from a perceived conservative spectator sport to something which added, at the very least, a touch of color.
Saturday night was fun! Fans had a blast; it was loud and intense; and you could sense something significant was in the air. These were knowledgeable curling fans who seemed to live and die with each shot. The game itself was a nail biter – typical of what goes on at McMahon when the Riders and Stamps hook up. Chyz needed to make a difficult last-rock hit and flop to win the championship, and her stone rolled a bit too far. Almost like a tough 48-yard field goal that just blew by the goal posts. A typical Rider-Stamp heartbreak for one team, and joyous celebration for the other.
The Habs and Flames are promoting their Winter Classic at McMahon in a couple of weeks, but I seriously wonder if they’ll be able to capture the SK-AB rivalry that has its roots going back a couple generations, and on the gridiron and with granite. Saturday night's final was a match made in the organizing committees dreams. 245,000 Saskachewanites call Calgary home, making it the largest non-Sask city for Saskatchewanese in Canada. So it was more than fitting to have the host team match up with their curling-mad cousins who either live in Calgary or had relatives come in for this very well-run junior championship. It was the perfect final to fill up the North Hill.
Just throwing this out there – how about a curling winter classic at McMahon, featuring Team Alberta versus Team Saskatchewan in a Continental Cup-style event? Or Team West vs Team East? Or a Skins curling event? Just a thought.
I may have more thoughts later today or tomorrow on Sunday night's men's finale, so stay tuned to The Curling News Blog!