CBC Curling wins Gemini

CBC Sports has won a Gemini, the major Canadian television award, in the “Best Live Sports Event” category for their production of the 2005 Tim Hortons Brier final in Edmonton.

Last week producer Don Peppin (photo) accepted the award for the CBC curling team at the annual gala ceremony in Toronto.

The win saw the curling telecast beat out Game 6 of the 2004 Stanley Cup hockey final – another CBC production – and TSN’s Wendy's Friday Night Football.

In an e-mail to fellow staffers, a delighted Peppin said that his acceptance speech showed why he works behind the scenes and “not at a microphone.”

“I attempted to stumble through my speech and make the point that I was incredibly proud to lead a group of professionals who put aside all the controversy that swirled around us and focused on what mattered – the shows, the games, the players and our jobs,” said Peppin.

“And we were ready for every draw, every week last year but no more so than the Brier final – a great game and a great production.

“It’s always nice to be recognized.”

It should be noted that the chiefs of The Curling News and CurlingZone were a part of CBC Championship Curling last season, and are back on board in 2005-06, starting next month at the Olympic Trials.

In other news, Saturday's big voting day out in Vancouver wasn't just about a new mayor. The results saw the people say yes to $170 million in new spending, including $35 million on 2010 Olympic projects including the Olympic curling facility at Riley Park, which will be transformed into an ice rink and community centre after the Games.

Only the Olympic spending generated a blip of opposition. While three questions about road, police and general community-centre improvements got around 80,000 votes in favour and about 30,000 opposed, the proposed Olympic spend saw only 65,000 “yes” votes with 45,000 opposed.