Spinal Tap Curling

Glenn Howard. Jennifer Jones. Pat Ryan. Hart-Laing-Savill. Ed Werenich. Joan McCusker. Sherry Middaugh. Mike Harris. Cathy Overton-Clapham.

Not a bad list of celebrity curling stars, who arrive in Thornhill, Ontario tonight for Saturday’s 18th annual Dominion of Canada Spinal Tap Mixed Bonspiel.

The little bonspiel that could has very quietly raised $250,000 for spinal injury research – until now, entirely without celebrities – since 1991, the year after a young curler named Ryan Durham broke his neck in a swimming accident and became confined to a wheelchair.

Nearly two decades later, Durham is still a fundraising dynamo for the Canadian Spinal Research Organization and its impressive Shoot For A Cure fundraising campaign, which has become very big in pro hockey (it’s also got a curling division, located here). And Durham is also the Business Development Director for The Curling News (ahem)... and, of course, he’s still running the Spinal Tap.

Last July, Thornhill Golf & Country Club hosted the Sandra Schmirler Golf Classic. You may even recall a great series of pics, shot by Anil Mungal, which showed Jennifer Jones agonizing over a missed putt.

Ryan Durham showed up later for cocktails, and did a whole bunch of convincing.

He convinced Glenn Howard to allow himself to be auctioned off as a celebrity skip some seven months later, at the Spinal Tap.

He convinced tournament sponsor The Dominion of Canada to allow a live auction item to suddenly join the proceedings, in fact as the last item of a long dinner/presentation agenda.

He convinced tournament host and emcee Mike Harris to be the auctioneer.

And some 45 minutes later, much Durham’s surprise and glee, no less than nine superstar curlers had been auctioned off for many thousands of dollars, with Capital One curling impresario Ian Cunningham agreeing to fly in the out-of-towners and put everybody up at nearby hotels.

The big day is tomorrow, with the celebs hitting the ice with their various teams at 10:45 am and again at 4:00pm. In between, at 12:30pm, they will gather for a four-end Skins Game rematch – Howard versus Jones – with a few twists thrown in, namely:

• two of the ends will be played from wheelchairs, with the official rules of Paralympic and world wheelchair curling in effect;

• Howard will play for Shoot For A Cure and Jones will play for the Sandra Schmirler Foundation, with a $4,000 pot up for grabs.

The details of this new celebfest have come together nicely. Thornhill is setting up bleacher seating to accommodate extra fans (no jeans, please). There’s a mammoth silent auction table ready to go, and special menu items are available in the adjacent cafe.

When Overton-Clapham had a cortisone shot earlier this week – she’s now been knocked off the ice, although she’s still attending – the combination of Pat Ryan and Peter Steski quickly stepped in. Rogers Sportsnet broadcaster – and ace Oshawa curler – Rob Faulds will emcee the dinner.

And there’s also some teams chock full of celebrity-worthy status, like the squad featuring recently-departed Alison Goring third Cathy Auld, Team Wayne Middaugh second John Epping and Team Julie Reddick member Leigh Armstrong... not that we would ever mention the name of the skip who blatantly stacked this formidable squad... right, mister President-of-The Dominion-George Cooke?

Congrats and thanks to the celebs, the participating teams, Thornhill G & CC and the sponsors for what will no doubt be a memorable day.

Oh.... and congrats and thanks to Ryan Durham, too.


It’s Friday, folks. And that means there’s still more going on in the wonderful world of curling...

• As of Friday morning Russ Howard was 1-1 in his drive to get back to Brier and, following that, his hometown worlds in Moncton ...

• Last night’s anticipated Alberta A-side matchup of Kevin Martin versus Randy Ferbey was, um, rather forgettable. Here’s the view from Calgary and another story from Edmonton.

Speaking of these two, is it possible that Martin and Ferbey are becoming buddies? Heavens, we should hope not.

And in our last bit on Alberta, did you know that ex-Martin lead Don Bartlett is back, with a great new back, and competing in the provincial?

• It was Mark Dacey over Shawn Adams in Nova Scotia last night; and here’s some more on the Bluenoser provincial ...

• In Quebec, Martin Ferland has qualified for the big A1 vs B1 game, while famed comeback kid Guy Hemmings is also at 7-1 ...

• Sean Geall is in contention out in British Columbia ...

• And let’s not forget the Moose Callers up in Northern Ontario ...

• Kerry Burtnyk is the top seed at next week’s Manitoba Safeway Select, and here’s a look back at his fateful win in 2001 ...

• DID YOU KNOW: that the 2009 Swiss Championships start Saturday? Here’s a brief preview ....

• Here’s a feature on curling in Brookline, MA, starring some high school students ...

• Students from francophone schools across Saskatchewan recently descended on Nipawin for some curling fun ...

• DID YOU KNOW II: that Saskatchewan’s Players’ Championship is underway?

• Paul Weicek says: extend the curling season ...

• Hmm... according to the Burlington Post, the lead for Team Peter Corner is Paul Moffatt. We actually thought it’s Brad Savage ...

• Speaking of errant writing: did you say... Furbey?

• That’s right, Charles and Ken... the joke is on you!

• Will Eugene Hritzuk’s last-minute Ashams do the job of 16-year-old Dacks?

• Curlers and officials in BC are both saying they would support the idea of a BC Curling Tour. But wasn’t something like that attempted last season?

• Brantford’s 63-year-old Johnson Wax bonspiel is fading, with only 16 teams entered this year...

• We have a science-curling crisis, folks. Apparently, outgoing Washington climatologist Phil Mote has “picked on curling” as an analogy for planet Earth’s climate sensitivity ...

• DID YOU KNOW III: that tre curlinghåp til ungdoms-OL? Er... now you do!

• This Brit skiier thinks curling is brill, man ...

• And finally, the winner of USA Curling’s eBay auction – where the winning bidder’s photo-of-their choice will cover the on-ice buttons at the upcoming U.S. Olympic Team Trials championship – has apparently gone to the dogs ...

Tonight: Off The Record with skins skips

Some big-name curling champs – Kevin Martin, Randy Ferbey, Glenn Howard and Jennifer Jones – are headed to the 2009 Casino Rama Skins Game this weekend.

All four skips are now in Toronto and en route to TSN studios at the Rogers Centre for a taping of Off The Record, the sometimes-incendiary sports talk show with host Michael Landsberg.

The all-curling show airs tonight at 6:00pm eastern time.

It might be repeated overnight or tomorrow morning/afternoon, and it is sure to be available online tomorrow, as well – Canada only, we think?

Practice ice goes tomorrow in the casino entertainment centre and play begins Saturday with Martin versus Ferbey (1:00pm ET) and then Howard versus Jones (8:00pm ET). The final goes Sunday, at 1:00pm ET.

Many of you will remember our extensive 2007 event blog coverage, which told you about the ice, the ice temperature, the rock-star intros, the special-guest piper, the picks, the team from Newfoundland which perhaps woulda-coulda-shoulda been in the final, and much, much more.

(Search back to December 2007 in our blog archives for that much, much more)

Last year Off The Record – OTR – also hosted an all-curling Skins preview episode, and things got very interesting. Wayne Middaugh was on fire, first reminding Martin of his corn-broom incident at the 1991 Worlds and then stating, unequivocally, that “the Olympics have ruined curling.”

Wayner is always sure to be a hoot on that show.

Jill Officer, who plays second for Jones and who writes for The Curling News, was unimpressed enough to write a column in last year’s January issue asking Wayne just what the hell he meant by that.

Of course, if you subscribed to The Curling News, you will have read that story already. Hint, hint.

So what will tonight’s OTR reveal?

It should be fun with Martin and Ferbey in the same room. Maybe TSN will seat them side by side. Giggle.

Jones will get asked about competing against men, and Glenn will joke that while he’s a really nice guy he’s just going to have to kick Jen’s butt, because the skins format is too volatile to do anything but try and squash your opponent. No Mr. Nice Guy here.

Jones, as some have suggested, is like a lawyer in her interviews. Guarded, formulaic and cliched. Well, she is a lawyer, in fact. Host Landsberg, meanwhile, has been know to get under the skin of some guests, and he may feel he has to roll up his sleeves and do just that today. Anyone want to take that bet, Jones versus Landsberg? Who wins?

Finally, a word about tickets. Southern Ontarians are complaining that Ticketmaster won’t give them any options to buy, with the site listing the event tickets as “unavailable”. There are whispers that the event is “Sold Out”.

We have the scoop. And we’ll reveal it – along with the exclusive way to go and get what few tickets remain - later this afternoon. Stay tuned ...

PS: Landsberg will be going back to his roots, at Vancouver in 2010. He is part of the massive consortium lineup of TV anchors, hosts and reporters who will be very busy at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. This story also reveals the names of the curling TV talent: Vic Rauter, Bryan Mudryk, Linda Moore, Ray Turnbull, Russ Howard, Cathy Gauthier, Dan Murphy, Michel Y. Lacroix and Guy Hemmings ...

Curling calendar media melee

Well, the ladies have once again caused a media ruckus.

There were major features on the 2009 Women of Curling Calendar in the Sun family of newspapers, in both Ottawa and Toronto... and other stories at Deadspin, at Gustafun, at No-Name 247, at Slanch Report, and many, many more...

... such as SBB, the infamous Fark, and the investigative Scanner.

There were also radio features on FAN 590, and TV features on Rogers Sportsnet and also on Global News Ontario (screen capture above). To see the Global segment, which stars calendar grrrl Chrissy Cadorin and TCN/Shoot For A Cure dynamo Ryan Durham, go here and click on the Sept. 25 show... the story arrives at the 31-minute mark.

Heck, even the Washington Post took a break from the financial metdown stories to take note.

In addition, we offer smiles and shrugs to the Curling Canada guys and finally, a huge thumbs-up to the very funny hockey fellas at Orland Kurtenblog.

Once again, the ladies looking for your support, so please click here. The original blogpost is located here.


Anything else?


• DID YOU KNOW: that 2006 U.S. Olympic skip Pete Fenson is, er, less enamoured by Brazil’s challenge for the second western hemisphere spot at the 2009 Ford Worlds? When asked – by Joe Pavia of the Ottawa Sun – if he would play against Brazil, Fenson said: “I didn’t express a whole lot of interest ... our goal is to win the Olympic Trials this year. We are really not that interested in veering from our schedule.”

Tickets are now on sale for the first Capital One Grand Slam of the season: The Masters in Waterloo, Ontario ...

• We promoted Monsanto Canada’s fine curling club support program last year, and we’re pleased to see the grants are back for 2008-09 ...

• Seems the travel bible Lonely Planet has listed the 2009 Moncton worlds as a top reason to visit Canada ...

• Capital One – and its curling focus – made this recent Globe and Mail marketing story ...

• Team Shannon Kleibrink won the Schmirler tourney yesterday over an exhausted Team Krista McCarville of Thunder Bay ...

• Remember the CKDU bonspiel in Halifax? The pics are now online ...

• Bob Weeks, and many Ontarians, remember Humber Highland’s Earle Hushagen ...

• The Blind River CC blog offers a neat story involving curling legend Hec Gervais ...

• Kalamazoo, Michigan – the former home base of The Curling Show – is in the running to host the 2010 U.S. championships

• Speaking of: Ted Appleman makes his debut on the most recent ep of The Curling Show ...

• There’s lots of Super League turnover in Brandon, Man...

• The PEI Curling Hall of Fame will induct eight new members next month ...

• Team Guy Hemmings is the latest to enter the blogosphere ...

• And so is ex-Ottawa shooter Lesle Cafferty, a self-described Sweepnfreak ...

• Has Vleitholf has discovered the secret to curling?

• Jim Davis experienced our game in Bowling Green, OH ...

• DID YOU KNOW II: that ice technicians want a union? This here Facebook group reveals the plot ...

• And finally, with Team Mirjam Ott safely out of Regina, her squad has suggested that Saskatchewan is, er, rather “flach”. Tell us something we didn’t know!

The Curling News: November issue

The November 2007 issue of The Curling News is out, and you can either take your chances on grabbing one at your local club – we don’t send many club copies out, BTW – or you can subscribe.

If you subscribe, you get it at least a week before the clubs, and via first-class mail in a polybag, so there you go. Whichever option you choose, enjoy.

FYI, this here blog complements the print edition: there is stuff in each issue that you won’t find us covering online. So again, there you go.

Inside this month:

• Larry Wood on the burned rock, Slam questions, eight ends becoming nine, and why is the CCA not in Calgary?

• Jill Officer on the new Colleen Jones

• The Dominion Club Corner: the Howards honour a special club volunteer

• Facebook: a look at 1,000 curling groups online at once (this story is also available on our website, as a “web special”)

• Teri Lake provides a five-step curling survival program

• A full spring, summer and fall calendar wrap-up

• Doug Maxwell, RIP and revisited: Corn brooms, blisters, raw hands and long nights

• TCN Newsdesk on the Casino Rama Skins, the Swiss Curling Tour, the Toronto 2009 mega-event and The Weakerthans speak

• Rodger Schmidt would have stolen a towel in Edmonton, but would never commit theft in Aomori

• The JVC Curling TV Guide (but of course!)

• Al Cameron has some free advice for CCA gunslinger Greg Stremlaw

• And more!

Speaking of “and more” ...

• And speaking of Facebook, have you checked out The Curling News Facebook Group? Lots of special stuff there, too. You need to be a Facebook user, and you’ll want to go here to find us. We’ve got almost 500 members so far; are you in, or what?

• Regina’s Leader-Post has a great headline piece today, and they also like our support of the burgeoning Movember movement. Kudos and thanks, Murray ...

• Here’s a peek at the Strongest new women’s team on The Rock ...

• Aussie Aussie Aussie! Curl Curl Curl! ...

• Here’s yet another Korbel news story ...

• Some Québec stuff today, located here and also here ...

• Finally, we continue to marvel at how things can change. Just six years ago years ago, curling was nearly torn apart by the athlete/CCA strife. Finger-pointing and media jabbering abounded and a wedge was also driven between the new “Grand Slammers” – led by Kevin Martin – and a distinct minority, led by Randy Ferbey.

Guy Hemmings, you may or may not recall, was caught in the middle, with both “sides” lobbying furiously for his support. He eventually chose the CCA side of things – and his “Rockin’ The House Tour” was born.

Now, everybody – and we mean everybody – is celebrating his imminent reception of the Asham World Curling Tour Ambassador Award, which will take place during “Guy Hemmings Day” at the BDO Canadian Open in Quebec City on December 1.

And, lo and behold, the CCA itself has posted the WCT news release. With the WCF president offering comment, no less.

That sound you hear? It’s the winds of (positive) change, continuing to sweep on by...