I feel I didn’t write very much this past year. I got busy with work, was busy trying to put together a new curling team, and then just got busy.

That is unfortunate, as there were so many compelling curling stories to write about, both in my life and in the curling world in general.

Year of the breakup

On the men’s side, team breakups are probably the biggest news story of the year. After Brad Gushue won yet another Brier by being almost boringly too good, the No. 2 team in Canada felt they needed to shake things up. Shockingly, Brendan Bottcher got fired. And around the same time, so did I!

My men’s team split, and then re-formed with my guys playing for another skip. People look for sinister motives, but the reality is that team chemistry and unity is a fragile thing. What seem like small cracks in the beginning can become gaping chasms under the pressure of big games and big events. Teams—with good people who like each other—break up.

It does raise a question for elite Canadian teams. Other countries have taken the curlers out of the decision-making process. Scotland, for one, assigns teammates at the elite level: “You will find a way to like each other.” Is this the right way to build high-performance teams? It seems wrong for curling, a sport where you spend so much time off the ice with a very small group of people.

Either way, I have landed with a new squad featuring Charlie Richard, superstar Quebec import Emile Asselin and Punit Sthankiya. By the way… Team Fournier is still seeking sponsors for next season!

Big news

On the women’s side, there were a few big stories including Rachel Homan winning everything, and The Scandal.

Homan was just simply dominant this season. They were unbeatable in big games, they were clutch, they were smart and Rachel is making runbacks look as easy as open hits. That’s the best curling I have seen them play, and I was at the 2014 Scotties in Montreal where she destroyed the field.

The other big story that stands out for me is the Ligandrol doping scandal regarding Team Einarson’s Briane Harris. I will say I have no idea what has actually happened or how she came to have a banned substance in her system. I was surprised at the contradictory versions of the narrative that played out in the media.

On one hand, curlers were saying it makes no sense for a young mother, a curler, to take a banned substance … so it must all be a mistake.

On the other hand, some in the media implied that curling was not a real sport. And curlers united and jumped on the Twittersphere to point out the physicality and strength required to sweep at an elite level.

You can’t have it both ways. The sad fact is, in today’s curling world, there is absolutely an incentive for an elite front-end player to look for any edge they can get to be stronger. I don’t pretend to know what happened here, and I sincerely hope that this is a tragic error and Briane will be reinstated. But we need to acknowledge, for better or for worse, that we have created a world where there is an incentive for high-performance competitors to look for every possible edge.

Can’t we all just be friends?

I was off curling socials for a while, then suddenly noticed some weird postings of late. My friends Lori and Mary at the 2 Girls and A Game podcast have been somewhat vilified of late for some commentary.

Their comments were poking fun at how teams are using social media poorly, and posting annual workout videos or extremely boring and self-serving content.

A few thoughts on this: Lori and Mary have done more to grow the sport than most of the teams have. They actually care about the soul of the game, and do not deserve to be outcasts. They have elevated storytelling and helped create a platform. Storytelling is how you grow the game and build brands.

For the people taking shots at them: Shame on you. Learn to take a joke. If you are looking to have curling become a mainstream sport, then people will talk about you. If you put yourself out there, and expect sponsorships and money, people will talk about you. Deal with it.

If you have a beef with Lori and Mary, who are just extremely nice people trying to be entertaining and honest, you are picking the wrong fights in life.

Broomgate

A plug for curling podcaster John Cullen, who has put out a six-episode podcast series called “Broomgate: A Curling Scandal”. It’s about the sweeping fabric controversy that pretty much ruined competitive curling for at least a season, and has left scars in the competitive curling world that have not healed.

The podcast is excellent; an absolute must for even casual fans of the Roaring Game. John is emerging as the poet laureate of the curling world.

Travel with Mike

I am slightly excited by this year’s off-season activities, and this space is now becoming a travel blog for the next week.

I will soon depart for an absolute bucket-list trip to Scotland, to play some epic links golf on a number of British Open courses with my son.

Big thanks to the folks at Golf Away Tours who helped me plan this adventure. I plan on documenting the adventure in almost-real time, so follow along as I live out a golfer’s fantasy life for a week.