A roundup of event results, and more, starting with the Ontario men.
In Woodstock it was pretty much all Glenn Howard, all the time. His one loss in the round-robin came on a sweeping error, and then – slightly miffed – he proceeded to win his next two matches by a combined score of 18-0.
Peter Corner’s gang of impressive part-timers kept things interesting in the Page 1-2 game, taking Cliffy down to last stone, but the championship final was a debacle – 3-nil out of the gate, 6-nil and then 7-nil. It mercifully ended well in advance of the requested TV minimum number of ends... actually in five, we think.
Speaking of Rogers TV, they continue to improve each year on what is a comprehensive level of event coverage. There are still some shocking mistakes, of course... such as immediately after the Page playoff, when host Matt McCooey explained that Corner would go on to face “the Lobels” in the semifinal (it was actually Joe Frans) and then Marilyn Bodogh opened her winner’s interview by calling Glenn “Russ Howard” at point-blank range. Sadly for Glenn, he must be used to it by now, because he carried on like a trooper, without even a blink.
Of note is the record Howard set: his 11th provincial title (fourth as a skip), breaking the record he had previously tied with Ed Werenich. It was also the fourth straight title for his squad of Richard Hart, Brent Laing and Craig Savill, tying a record for the most consecutive titles by a foursome.
That’s right, Richie... that’s actually four, not two (TCN photo by Anil Mungal).
Howard set that original mark with his older brother Russ, Wayne Middaugh and – of course – Corner, from 1991-94.
There’s some rocky editing involved, but here’s some audio – plus pics – from Howard, Hart and Corner... and here’s some thoughts on Woodstock’s hosting job, crowd numbers etc.
Finally, here’s a nifty innovation: an online write-in poll asking “What Dream Team of any curlers could beat Team Howard?” ...
Elsewhere:
• Brad Gushue is back into the Brier, and this piece from mid-competition has some, er, interesting public comments posted below the story ...
• Pat Simmons couldn’t make it five in a row, and accomplished rookie Joel Jordison is off to the Brier. Saskatchewan scribe Murray McCormick dubbed it a strange Tankard ...
• The Kirkness sisters are back in the Scotties representing Manitoba, and this completes the field for Victoria ...
• PEI’s Brett Gallant and Manitoba’s Kaitlyn Lawes are off to Vancouver for the World Juniors... and so is Scotland’s Eve Muirhead, the two-time and defending world junior women’s champ. Graeme Black will represent the Scottish men. Scot story and pics here and more pics here, and here’s a bit more on Lawes, who won world bronze last year ...
• CTV’s Olympic website went live today, which includes a curling page ...
• The B.C. men’s provincial starts today, and here’s a preview ...
• Likewise for Quebec, which starts today, too ...
• Bob Weeks has some weekend thoughts plus a new column today ...
• This story on Saskatoon’s application to host another Brier might be interesting 10-15 years ago. The truth these days is that the Brier rotates among only seven Canadian cities anyway, and Saskatoon is one of them ...
• DID YOU KNOW: the Hope Classic in Thunder Bay raised more money in its first five or six years than the Heart to Heart Bonspiel ever did?
• First Guelph, then Welland, as the Jennifer Jones tour of Ontario continued ...
• Last year Laurier’s men and women swept the Ontario University Athletics curling championship; this year it was the Stangs, whose coach was named top gun of the year before the championships had even finished ...
• For a moment, we thought the “Camp Trillium” that received $10,000 in this bonspiel fundraiser was the famed Trillium Junior Curling Camp...
• Krista McCarville is the latest to appear on The Curling Show ...
• And finally... to the most awesome background music of Journey’s classic Caddyshack song, some really cute Little Rockers took to the ice between the Canadian Junior semifinals ...
In Woodstock it was pretty much all Glenn Howard, all the time. His one loss in the round-robin came on a sweeping error, and then – slightly miffed – he proceeded to win his next two matches by a combined score of 18-0.
Peter Corner’s gang of impressive part-timers kept things interesting in the Page 1-2 game, taking Cliffy down to last stone, but the championship final was a debacle – 3-nil out of the gate, 6-nil and then 7-nil. It mercifully ended well in advance of the requested TV minimum number of ends... actually in five, we think.
Speaking of Rogers TV, they continue to improve each year on what is a comprehensive level of event coverage. There are still some shocking mistakes, of course... such as immediately after the Page playoff, when host Matt McCooey explained that Corner would go on to face “the Lobels” in the semifinal (it was actually Joe Frans) and then Marilyn Bodogh opened her winner’s interview by calling Glenn “Russ Howard” at point-blank range. Sadly for Glenn, he must be used to it by now, because he carried on like a trooper, without even a blink.
Of note is the record Howard set: his 11th provincial title (fourth as a skip), breaking the record he had previously tied with Ed Werenich. It was also the fourth straight title for his squad of Richard Hart, Brent Laing and Craig Savill, tying a record for the most consecutive titles by a foursome.
That’s right, Richie... that’s actually four, not two (TCN photo by Anil Mungal).
Howard set that original mark with his older brother Russ, Wayne Middaugh and – of course – Corner, from 1991-94.
There’s some rocky editing involved, but here’s some audio – plus pics – from Howard, Hart and Corner... and here’s some thoughts on Woodstock’s hosting job, crowd numbers etc.
Finally, here’s a nifty innovation: an online write-in poll asking “What Dream Team of any curlers could beat Team Howard?” ...
Elsewhere:
• Brad Gushue is back into the Brier, and this piece from mid-competition has some, er, interesting public comments posted below the story ...
• Pat Simmons couldn’t make it five in a row, and accomplished rookie Joel Jordison is off to the Brier. Saskatchewan scribe Murray McCormick dubbed it a strange Tankard ...
• The Kirkness sisters are back in the Scotties representing Manitoba, and this completes the field for Victoria ...
• PEI’s Brett Gallant and Manitoba’s Kaitlyn Lawes are off to Vancouver for the World Juniors... and so is Scotland’s Eve Muirhead, the two-time and defending world junior women’s champ. Graeme Black will represent the Scottish men. Scot story and pics here and more pics here, and here’s a bit more on Lawes, who won world bronze last year ...
• CTV’s Olympic website went live today, which includes a curling page ...
• The B.C. men’s provincial starts today, and here’s a preview ...
• Likewise for Quebec, which starts today, too ...
• Bob Weeks has some weekend thoughts plus a new column today ...
• This story on Saskatoon’s application to host another Brier might be interesting 10-15 years ago. The truth these days is that the Brier rotates among only seven Canadian cities anyway, and Saskatoon is one of them ...
• DID YOU KNOW: the Hope Classic in Thunder Bay raised more money in its first five or six years than the Heart to Heart Bonspiel ever did?
• First Guelph, then Welland, as the Jennifer Jones tour of Ontario continued ...
• Last year Laurier’s men and women swept the Ontario University Athletics curling championship; this year it was the Stangs, whose coach was named top gun of the year before the championships had even finished ...
• For a moment, we thought the “Camp Trillium” that received $10,000 in this bonspiel fundraiser was the famed Trillium Junior Curling Camp...
• Krista McCarville is the latest to appear on The Curling Show ...
• And finally... to the most awesome background music of Journey’s classic Caddyshack song, some really cute Little Rockers took to the ice between the Canadian Junior semifinals ...
