“The job was not easy”
The Curling News has learned that retired women’s fours skip Jennifer Jones will replace Joan McCusker on Sportsnet’s curling broadcast crew.
McCusker issued a statement today through CurlingZone, announcing that she “will not be joining my Sportsnet team for the Grand Slam series, and that makes me a little teary.
“The job was not easy, but I sure had a lot of fun with the people who bring you curling on TV. They are a big, loud group of professionals and I enjoyed being part of the fray.
“Well, except for Rob Faulds stealing all the good snacks. LOL.”
The addition of Jones to the talent crew of host Faulds, Mike Harris and Kevin Martin comes as no surprise to savvy curling fans, who have seen Jones make “select” appearances as a Sportsnet analyst over the past two seasons.
The curling star retired from the women’s fours game last spring with gala sendoffs in both Calgary and Toronto. As a strategic advisor to The Curling Group—the new Slam series owner—Jones’ move to the broadcast booth was all but a foregone conclusion.
McCusker had a 23-year run with CBC and later Sportsnet. The Olympic and two-time world champion second for the legendary Sandra Schmirler team joined with Harris, the 1998 Olympic silver medallist skip, to form a new CBC duo that replaced Don Duguid and Colleen Jones.
Sportsnet’s eventual return to Grand Slam coverage saw McCusker and Harris take the chairs previously occupied by Marilyn Bodogh and Ed Lukowich.
McCusker ended her CBC run a few years ago, and has been replaced on that network by freelancers including Jill Officer—Jones’ longtime second—and Joanne Courtney, who retired after success with the Val Sweeting and Rachel Homan squads.
“I love the sport and will continue to curl, coach and consult with high-performance teams,” said McCusker’s retirement announcement. “I have a special interest in encouraging more women to be involved in all aspects of curling and will continue to work in this area.
“Here’s hoping for more women broadcasting in the future.”
Jones’ debut with a microphone actually came 14 years ago in Vancouver. After losing out at the Canadian Olympic Trials, the future Olympic champion was snapped up by Yahoo! Sports as a correspondent at the Olympic Winter Games.
More experience was gained with Sportsnet during that network’s coverage of selected women’s and men’s provincial championships. Jones and other competitors—including Brad Gushue, Jeff Stoughton and Richard Hart—made their linear on-air debuts on those broadcasts.
Finally, the previous two seasons saw Jones added to the Slam’s “select broadcasts” when she wasn’t herself competing on the ice.
The broadcast team of Faulds, McCusker and Harris already expanded after Martin joined in 2014, and the Jones jump-ins usually led to at least one other team member sitting out.
Jones also teamed with U.S. Olympic champion Matt Hamilton to act as roving analysts—walking around and onto the field of play—at the North American Curling Club Championships in Colorado.