Serious allegations?

Serious allegations in the April 12 posting on the SWEEP! website, specifically, that:

“We are soon going to hear that the Canadian Curling Association is in dire straits. We are soon going to hear that the CCA is broke, and broken. We are soon going to hear that the organizing body of this beloved sport has been living in part truths. This envy of almost all other amateur sports organizations in Canada is not to be envied at all. Its senior executives and top Board members have been acting Enron-like. Hiding. Covering up.”

Discuss.

Meanwhile, the CCA is rumoured – thank-you Al Cameron – to be plucking Canada’s first Mixed Doubles representatives from this fall’s national Mixed competition, also rumoured to be hosted in Calgary Nov. 10-16. The chosen ones will travel to Vierumäki, Finland in March to compete in the inaugural World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship ...

Elsewhere:

• Scotland’s Rhona Martin is now an SIS coach ...

• Saskatoon’s Hub club officially closed last night, amid bittersweet news that the city will bid to host the Brier in either 2011, 2012 or 2013. Writer Doug McConachie offers, rather abruptly, that “even with the excitement of the Brier announcement, curling is gradually dying.”

Still in Sask, some neighboring municipalities are not supporting Moose Jaw’s multiplex efforts. One excuse may be a good one, as this story reveals: there’s another area curling rink in the planning stages ...

• Buzz is that Cory “The Doctor” Naharnie, the flamboyant lead for Team Kerry Burtnyk, was dropped from the lineup yesterday: no word yet on his replacement. My, there seems to be some openings at lead stone these days... Another lead is gone, this time from Jill Mouzar’s Halifax foursome, which is now known as Team Harrison with former third Meredith Harrison (nee Doyle) skipping, Mouzar at third, new face (and former Andrea Kelly teammate) Kristen McDermaid at second, and TCN contributor Teri Lake at lead ...

• Speaking of dispatched leads, Jamie Korab – accompanied by women’s skip Heather Strong – will be two of the local VIPs celebrating McDonald’s restaurants’ 15th annual McHappy Day in the St. Johns area on May 9. One dollar from every Big Mac, McMuffin and Happy Meal will go to the St. Johns Boys and Girls Club. The restaurants anticipate raising $25,000 from this and one other fundraiser ...

• Have to say we haven’t heard this one before. According to a book on a bygone era, mentioned here, Minnesota’s Duluth Curling Club once played a role in blowing the chances of a new hockey arena for the city ...

• Finally, please doff your hat to the memory of Fredericton’s Walter Nason, who passed away last week of brain cancer at age 72.

Nason apparently had the mind of a computer when it came to organizing, scheduling and recording curling matches in his capacity as president of the New Brunswick Curling Association. In a long-ago era he didn’t need a computer to tell which draw would best suit X number of teams; he could crunch the numbers in his mind and come up with the right formula.

Nason eventually hooked up with one of the best New Brunswick curlers in Dave Sullivan, and the two represented the province at numerous national events, including the 1994 Canadian Seniors, where they walked away with the championship title.