Lowell rocks world this weekend

All kinds of speculation on how this weekend's World Men's Championships will eventually play out, with the home-squad USA team skipped by Pete Fenson (photo) of great local interest, and Canada's Jean-Michel Menard also at the heart of many discussions.

A quick note to The Curling News from third Francois Roberge, who is ready to rock:

We thought that our win will help curling in Quebec... it is much bigger than what we expected... it is huge. All the media are still talking about it, we did so many interviews. We are ready to take on the World... they better be prepared for us!

Lowell certainly looks ready to host; here's a look back at how they got the gig to begin with... and don't forget CurlTV, the only place to catch the round-robin action (apart from Eurosport) until the weekend's playoffs on CBC-TV.

• A U.S. wheelchair curler has won a major "spirit" award... did you know Manitoba third Jonny Mead was nursing a bum knee in Regina? He's also welcoming a new teammate to Team Stoughton for 06-07... Speaking of the Brier, CBC’s Nancy Lee has confirmed the Brier’s TV numbers were "quite a drop" from the previous year...Olympian Shannon Kleibrink is on the school circuit, discussing bodyguards, gelato and Mats Sundin...

• On ice, Nova Scotia has its new Mixed champs; some big names are into the Canadian Senior men’s playoffs... and in the women's, too... and Saskatoon’s Scott Coghlan will play for former skipper and good buddy Mark Dacey at the Players' Championship. This is probably a good thing: the last we saw of Dacey and regular third Bruce Lohnes (in the Brier semi) they wanted to strangle each other...

• Grass roots problems in Slave Lake, Alberta... typical challenges, really, which curling boosters can never lose sight of...

• These guys are going for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, and don’t think for a moment they’re not a threat to get it. Vancouver, you may recall, came from nowhere to just beat PyeongChang for the right to host 2010... and the six other potential sites are, with the exception of Salzburg and Sofia (curling fans may recall a world junior and a European Championship hosted in the Bulgarian capital), far from household names. Here’s how the contenders rank, according to GamesBids...

• Here’s a weird – and annoying – one... the University of Saskatchewan (Huskies) just won the Canadian University Men’s Championship, but are refusing to add the sport to its list of competitive sports for next year's title chase...

• Congrats to radio’s Harvey Kroker of Altona, MB, a big curling fan, on his lifetime achievement award...

• Have you tried YouTube today? Check it out by using the search term “curling” in the top right corner... ignoring the barbell videos that crop up, of course... there’s tons of rookie American efforts as well as lots of stuff on the Japanese Olympic women’s team (use “Onodera” to get most of them called up on one search page)...

• More fun n’ games for your weekend... tried Monkey Curling yet?