Turnbull (far right) at Vancouver 2010We've known this for a while, but we were sworn to secrecy.
However, an unidentified commentator spilled the beans on the air today, during live Grand Slam action on Sportsnet. So here we go.
Ray Turnbull, the legendary Canadian curling analyst for TSN (The Sports Network), will make his return to the microphone during Sportsnet's coverage of the Manitoba men's provincial championship on February 10.
The man known as "Moosie" retired after the 2010 Olympic season, and was replaced by Russ Howard. Now, for a brief cameo appearance, the Moose is loose again.
"I'm looking forward to it," Turnbull said on Friday, while watching the Manitoba women's provincial championship in Stonewall. "It's in Manitoba but I still have to drive an hour and half to get there, but it will be great to see it again.
"I don't have any inklings to return to curling (full-time), but this will be fun."
Turnbull was active in Manitoba radio and television curling coverage – on a local level – many moons ago.
"I worked a lot of provincials but that was way before TSN started covering curling in 1985," said Turnbull. "It led to 25 wonderful years (at TSN)."
It was also revealed that The Dominion Ontario Tankard will be handled by Sportsnet host Rob Faulds and analyst Mike Harris. That coverage will blanket both the week-long broadcasts on Rogers TV Ontario as well as Sportsnet's coverage of the semi and final.
Meanwhile, new Sportsnet curling analyst Richard Hart will road trip to Leduc to cover the Alberta provincial men's championship – on that same weekend as the Manitoba and Ontario provs.
The rather crazy broadcast schedule – which involves all four regional Sportsnet channels plus Sportsnet ONE – is detailed in the Curling TV Guide sections of both the January and February issues of The Curling News, while the January edition also lists this weekend's really crazy broadcast schedule of three women's provincials plus The National Grand Slam from Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia.
For details on this weekend's somewhat crazy lineup of curling broadcast talent, check out the TCN publisher's weekly curling column in theToronto Sun.
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