There were wild scenes at the Grand Slam Masters in London, Ont. last night as a small army of pubcrawling university students hit the carpeted lounge situated just behind the sheets.
Banana-costumed fans first became a Slam thing last spring – they seem to enjoy chanting for “peels” – but their numbers were bolstered by the official Banana Bar Crawl group, which recruits college and university students in the U.S. and Canada for selected nights of yellow-themed mayhem.
Partyers get a costume, access to various pubs and bars with drink specials, free giveaways and prizes.
Canadian Banana Bar Crawlers also enjoy a sponsorship activation by Fireball, the Canadian whisky infused with cinnamon that has also become popular in the American curling community.
London, home to the sprawling University of Western Ontario campus, had some 3,000+ attendees for a massive crawl the previous weekend but enough students – probably tied into the UWO curling teams – had the gumption to make a second appearance at the Masters arena, the Western Fair Sports Centre.
An impressively large gorilla also made an appearance.
What was the reaction from the competitors? It generally ranged from astonishment to delight. Fans will recall just last November, when Slam curlers endorsed more noise (including boos) and raucous elements from their live fanbase.
Brad Gushue also weighed in, and suggested stuffy traditionalist fans might need to “grow up and move on.”
It remains to be seen how many bananafans remain throughout Friday’s crossover games and into the playoffs.