Saturday, March 15, 2008

Kisses, Wheelies and Sask agony
















by Jill Officer

WINNIPEG – First of all, Savs can relax. No way is editor gk giving up that photo, he says. And I agree. Serious athletes are going for serious peak performances today and tomorrow, and its time for everyone to focus.

Having said that, we just can’t stop talking about the fun stuff!

Emcee Stu Brown has been entertaining fans here all week in the Keith’s Patch, but for the playoff games he has been entertaining fans with his antics in the crowd.

In between the fourth and fifth ends of the 1 vs 2 playoff game, Stu had the in-house camera focusing on couples in the crowd while he commentated. The funniest reaction, by far, occurred when the camera zoomed in on Alberta third John Morris and lead-slash-curling commentator Ben Hebert, who at the time were both at ice level watching the Jumbotron.

Ben proceeded to grab Johnny Mo and show him some love. They pretended to kiss, they hugged and the crowd cheered.

During fifth-end break tonight, the Canadian Curling Association featured an on-ice demonstration from both the Manitoba visually-impaired curling team and the Manitoba Wheelchair curling team (see photo). “The Wheelies” as they call themselves will be competing in the national championships later this month at the West Kildonan Curling Club right here in Winnipeg.

And finally, to the big story. Wasn’t Saskatchewan’s Pat Simmons looking great early on last night, stealing not one, but two deuces from Kevin Martin and Alberta during the 1 vs 2 Page playoff game?

The stunning disaster that followed, culminating in the open hit for the win which picked some debris, left the men in green absolutely shattered, and needing a serious pickup before meeting defending champions Ontario in today’s semi.

More on just how shocking last night’s result was can be found here and here.

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