“He’s Still Accusing Us of Cheating, and I Didn’t Like It”

NOTE: The incidents quoted in this follow-up story are described here... and a follow up to this follow up (!) can be found here.

The temperature hadn’t fully cooled after men’s curling session four at the Olympic Winter Games in Cortina.

What follows is verbatim post-game interview transcripts from OIS, the Olympic Information System.  

“I don’t like being accused of cheating after 25 years on tour and four Olympic Games,” said Canada third Marc Kennedy.

“He (Oskar Eriksson of Sweden) pulled a hogline official on us to make sure we weren’t double touching. The hogline official was there for six ends. Never said a thing.”

In the mixed zone, journalists asked about Kennedy swearing at Eriksson, one of multiple incidents that took place in the Canada – Sweden tilt.

“He’s still accusing us of cheating, and I didn’t like it,” Kennedy continued. “So I told him where to stick it, because we’re the wrong team to do that to. 

“So I don’t care. He might have been upset that he was losing.”

Kennedy’s later words had a twinge of sadness.

“I have a ton of respect for Oskar Eriksson. He’s one of the best players to ever play. And I just told him, ‘I would never do that to you. I would never accuse you of cheating.’”

Then it was Eriksson’s turn to speak.

“We want a game that is as sportsmanlike, honest and clean as possible, so we call it out as soon as I see that the Canadian No. 2 is, in my eyes, there poking the stone,” said Eriksson. 

“He drops the handle, so it gets a green light and that’s okay, but you can’t then poke it in any other part than the electronic handle and according to us, they did that.

“The umpires came out and it is hard to see for them. There is a sweeper sliding in the way, but for something to happen, perhaps a stone needs to be taken (off). In the rules, it says that it has to be very clear before the hogline and in our eyes, it really isn’t.”

Eriksson was asked about Kennedy’s use of foul language against him.

“That’s on him,” said Eriksson. “I said what we’d told the umpires because we thought some of them were touching the stone, on or after the hogline, and that’s not allowed. 

“He probably hadn’t heard it before, so he asked straight out, ‘Who is doing that in our team, then?’ and I pointed out their No. 2 and No. 3 and he got very upset, apparently.”

In terms of the official’s decision:

“I can’t judge that really, but the umpires didn’t think that (it was cheating), so they must’ve been correct.”

The Swedish third was asked if he had ever experienced anything like that in the past.

“Not really. In the world championships last year, there was a team there touching the stone quite obviously, but unfortunately no one dares to do anything about it. 

“We hope, looking forward, that it gets better in the next competition, or that in the second half of this tournament, they (the umpires) dare to remove a stone, so that the game gets honest and everyone can play by the same rules. 

“Curling should be a gentlemen’s sport, but perhaps it’s come to a stage of professionalism where we drift away from that as some people think it’s too important to win.”

On the suggestion he was playing mind games:

“It almost worked out, if that’s what they think I did. It was our best game so far. Then we have a shitty eighth (end) that allows them to win the game. 

“I’m proud of our performance until then, but it’s a poor round from us and now we’ve got our back against the wall and need to start winning matches. 

“We need to win six straight games and we’ll see if that’s enough. That’s our goal right now.”

Canada skip Brad Jacobs is no slouch when it comes to standing up for his teammates.

“From what I saw, from my perspective, Oskar was a little bit unhappy about some things that were going on, and he was voicing that, and I think just acting, trying to act a little tough, and we’re not going to have it. 

“In the heat of the moment, heat of battle, and if you’re down and you’re losing and things aren’t really going your way, the emotions can run high, especially in the Olympics. 

“So it’s all good. We played those guys a million times, let that roll right off our back and no big deal.”

On his third’s response to Eriksson:

“I’ve seen Marc hot a few times. Marc’s a big boy. He can take care of himself. As a matter of fact, when Marc gets heated like that, it pumps all of us up and we love it even more.

“I thought it was funny because, what’s going to go on out there, right? What's going to happen? There’s going to be a little bit of chirping back and forth. 

“They weren't happy about something, and on top of that they're losing the game at that point, so probably just a little sour and not wanting to lose. 

“But if you think that we're going to put up with anything from those guys or anybody, period, you're wrong. It’s just not going to happen.

“I think if they were unhappy about something or thought we were doing something inappropriate, you got to bring in the official. If you want to come at us head-on, okay, we’re game. No big deal.”

On the officials:

“I think the officials should let the men play, let the big boys play. And we’ve got hogline sensors on the handles now. That’s a very objective thing, it’s not subjective. 

“I don’t think officials ever need to be at the hogline now as long as the handles are working properly, and so far they are. So my opinion would be stay away from the hog line, period.”

On the reaction of Sweden players:

“I was a little surprised that they got so heated. I don’t think I’ve really ever seen that before. I mean, I’ve seen Oskar chirp in funny ways and whatnot, and be playful. To have him be a little bit more serious was different.

“But if those guys wanted to go have a beer right now, we would, 100%… we would go have a beer and bury the hatchet. 

“Regardless of what happened out there, now we’re off the ice. It’s over. That’s what men do.”