The Olympians are coming

EDMONTON – Oh, the stories they’ll tell.

The Olympians are coming. No, not the handful of medallists among the competitors at the Roar of the Rings, which starts Sunday... they will soon be the stars of the show, as we all know.

We’re talking about the members of teams Sandra Schmirler – minus one, sadly,  of course – and Mike Harris (Karuizawa, 1998)... and teams Kevin Martin (incl. the two Dons) and Kelley Law (Ogden, 2002)... and even a couple of bodies from teams Kleibrink and Howard-slash-Gushue, from Pinerolo, 2006.

The Canadian Curling Association is flying them in for the opening weekend, which starts tonight with the Opening Banquet; continues Saturday with opening night At The Patch; and peaks with the start of play on Sunday, with the Opening Ceremonies and appearances in the Keith’s Patch for some interactive “Up Close and Personal” sessions.

Good on the CCA for celebrating its Olympic Trials past, and welcome to The Roaring Game’s heavy medallists.

And the stories they’ll tell!

Missing out on Edmonton? Sure, TSN TV – in High-Definition all week, for free – will help make up for it, but there really is no substitute for watching the games live in person. In our humble opinion.

As for these Olympic stories, rest assured that The Curling News will take care of you... be your fly on the wall... through this here TCN Blog, and/or through the @curling Twitter feed, and/or via the post-Trials January issue, in our popular They Said It department.

And also through the lateral efforts of our commander-in-chief, The Curling Guru, who also writes a weekly Sun Media column.

All we ask in return is for you to subscribe to The Curling News, which is delivered six times per annum to your door in a protective polybag, via first-class mail. Please support us in our quest to provide the ultimate in essential curling news and information, across multiple media platforms.

We guarantee different content in all these deliverables mentioned, and your patronage will help us consolidate our position as number one in the curling media world.

And those who give the gift of The Curling News, aka subscribe a friend or family member over the next couple of weeks – say by December 18 – will see that recipient receive a gift card notice in time for the holidays, explaining your gift.

Tomorrow, later in the day, another TCN expert gives her Trials predictions, in addition to those four who have already seen their fearless forcasts appear in the December issue – world wheelchair champion and six-time Brier skip Jim Armstrong; TCN columnist and Calgary Herald curling wizard Allen Cameron; CBC talkie and Olympian Mike Harris; and four-time bronzed STOH skip Sherry Middaugh.

That’s a fifth expert, tomorrow, right here on the blog.

Sunday, just prior to the opening ceremonies, ace blogstar Margo Weber weighs in  with her first of many Trials postings. You remember Madge, and her partner Dalene Heck, blogging from last March’s Tim Hortons Brier in Calgary, right? (use search box at top left)

We’ll have lots from Margo, and some other surprise blogstars, throughout the week here in Edmonton.

And we do it all for curling. We simply love curling, and we know you do, too. Thanks again for your support, folks.


POSTSCRIPT: Have you been following our tweets? If not, make way and follow, because you have missed the following:

• Jennifer Jones, Glenn Howard first to arrive
• Randy Ferbey’s alternates anger; Glenn says relax
• Will the Mythbusters blow up a curling stone? Vote for it...
• Trials predictions: what does the math say?
• Another curling calendar gal takes it off (NSFW/age warning)
• Canadian provincial playdowns in high gear this weekend
• Mammoth European championships ready in Aberdeen
• Geez, this guy seriously dislikes The Ferb
• Hec Gervais, St. Albert native, would have been proud
• World Curling Tour event results and wrapups
• Ferbey credited with finding new CCA/WCF sponsor
• Curling meets Tailgating in Green Bay Packerland

... and more!

What's the difference?

Q: What’s the difference between an Olympic curling year and any other curling year?

A: Media. media. media.

Curlers in San Jose, California managed to get NFL football player Vernon Davis out onto the curling ice earlier this month, and in any other year, the story would have run in local media only. Perhaps with a photo.

We know this because various celebs have tried curling in the past couple of years... and we’ve promoted their experience, right here at The Curling News. Us, and local media where the experience took place.

However, with Vancouver 2010 less than three months away this story has exploded in this viral media universe, complete with video and multiple still pics.

Example: between 9:00am and 9:30am eastern time this morning, no less than 45 media outlets had posted the story online, and the counter was still running.

May we suggest more of these kinds of promotional efforts, from now until Games time. The recipe is simple: grab celeb; apply to ice; write and film.

Rinse and repeat.

Did you miss The Curling News Blog? This may be our first post since last Thursday, but there’s been lots to follow on our Twitter feed. Such as:


• Rizzo beats Kleibrink for 11K; McEwen wins on a measure
• Glenn Howard, Mike Harris and “Buttons” open The Dominion Curling Club Championship tonight
• When will they curl on Vancouver's super-cool new/old city rink?
• Wayne Middaugh would like to set the record straight:
• Canada loses to Japan at Vancouver wheelchair curling exhibition
• You can follow the Olympic Torch journey online
• No tolls on Team Gushue highway
• 30K raised in little Carmen
• Kevin Martin moves into top spot on Tour money list
• The Daceys are off to Chelyabinsk, Russia
• Vernon, BC gets a Grand Slam
• TSN HD channel available free during Olympic Trials

And so very much more. Click on "Follow" at the top left of this page...

[Photo by Associated Press]

Olympic Trials to Edmonton

by Jill Officer

WINNIPEG – It’s finally official. The Canadian Curling Association announced today that Edmonton will host the 2009 the Tim Hortons Canadian (Olympic) Curling Trials at Rexall Place, December 6-13, 2009 at the 15,000-seat arena.

The CCA also announced that the pre-trials qualifier – the last chance for those teams that haven’t earned a direct Trials berth – will be held in Prince George, British Columbia in November of 2009. The dates have only been tentatively set for this event.

The format for the Trials will be an eight-team round robin with only three teams making the playoff round, unlike the usual four-team page-playoff that you see at all of our national championships. Moreover, the Trials used to feature 10 men’s and women’s teams, but that’s been chopped down to eight.

And for the pre-trials qualifier, it will be a triple-knockout: the A and B winners and C finalists will all qualify for the Trials in Edmonton.

Back to the Brier and the on-ice action!

British Columbia’s Bob Ursel defeated Olympic Gold Medallist and 2007 Brier finalist Brad Gushue of Newfoundland this morning in a tiebreaker. So that sets up our first round of playoffs... they’re in the first end right now, with B.C. taking on Ontario’s Glenn Howard in the 3 vs 4 playoff game. This is also a sudden-death match that could eliminate the defending champs if the Lotuslanders – who are now 8-1 after a poor start to the Brier – have anything to say about it.

Brier Blog stars an Officer

Where, oh where, are we supposed to start?

It’s the Brier, the Canadian men’s curling championship. And there is just so much out there to surf to, consult, read up on, etc. And, of course, to watch on either TV or your computer.

We can’t cover everything, but we will point you in a few directions. Then, we’ll wrap up some other curling stuff, and finish with our famous curling linkfest.

Item one: Jill Officer. The all-star second and Ford Hot Shots champion – not to forget 2008 Canadian women’s champion – can now throw a rock with her eyes closed (Kruger products photo by Andrew Klaver, above). That’s how easy the sport has become for this Sport Canada carded athlete. Just say “oooohhmmm”, open your hand, and be the rock. Oh yes, yogi, it’s that easy.

Now Jill will take a break from Ford Worlds preparations and staff the official Curling News-desk at the Brier media bench, blogging daily, right here, for one and all to read. She’s also writing an occasional column for the Winnipeg Sun (see points to follow) and ensuring the stacks of TCNs are on display in the Patch, Purple Heart Lounge, et cetera. Oh, and you might see this budding photographer out on the carpet, too, snapping some still images of her male counterparts. Naturally, the TCN servers will explode as viewers click here often to see how many of Jill’s favourite butt shots make these pages. Oh, behave!

So there you go. The Curling News Blog becomes Jill’s official playpen, starting tomorrow. Check back often.

Now, for those two Winnipeg newspapers, the Freep and the Sun. These guys will both go wall-to-wall over the next nine days, and while the Freep’s Brier portal just plain looks better than the Sun’s aging appearance, the Freepies are also boasting of AM draw coverage streamed live from their website. But then again, both CurlTV and CBC Sports Online are doing that, too.
Oh, and TSN.ca, too ... after their live TV games you’ll be able to call up any games you missed online.

Like we said... where to start?

We’ve also decided to cut through the chaff and spotlight some cool Brier pre-stories, just for you. And they are:

– This feature on Manitoba’s quiet second, and the incident which drives him

– This look at curling’s true Odd Couple;

– This peek at curling’s Gambling Man;

– This mention that the fifth-end break of the semifinal – on the afternoon of March 15 – will feature a tribute to the big three of curling journalism, who all passed away in the last eight months: Don Wittman, Don Chevrier and TCN’s own Doug Maxwell. Don’t miss it.

– And finally, can it be true that TCN’s own Matt Hames was the only person to notice that the ice at the Scotties featured the brand new World Curling Federation expanded ice size of 15’7” (up from 14’2”)? We think so, and hold on to your seats folks, because the Brier features the same expanded ice, too.

And now, for your linkfest ...


• DID YOU KNOW: that Canada’s William Dion finished first in the round-robin at the World Juniors, while Kaitlyn Lawes’ Canadian women are down 6-3 to Denmark midway through their tiebreaking match?

• DID YOU KNOW II: that the World Junior semis and finals are available on Curlingkanalen (which is Swedish for Curling Maniacs) and also on Eurosport’s Swedish website? The news is here ...

• DID YOU KNOW III: that Kevin Koe has next year’s bye to the Alberta provincial? His squad is now thinking about a trip to Perth, Scotland next January for the big Masters cashspiel ...

• Scotland’s Michael McCreadie plans to be back ...

• Stranraer is rejoicing over two of their own ...

• Teflon sandals? Vinyl brushes? Enthusiasm? You bet ...

• Wow, these folks are organizing themselves early ...

• And these guys, too ...

• Dave curled in Finland the other day... maybe he’ll drop by Vierumaki tomorrow?

• Catester is quite peeved over the ridiculous slights to Colleen Jones and Kelly Scott ...

• Here’s John Gushue, from St. John’s. And what are the chances there’s no relation?

• Was this truly the shot of a lifetime?

• Dude, you need a little more rotation on your throws ...

• More pricing in Moose Jaw... will they ever see the finish line?

• Ken Peterson went curling in... Korea!

• A nifty curling graphic from SINC located here: topical as many a curling fan shall be dining in front of the TV in the coming days!

• DID YOU KNOW IV: that 2002 Olympic champion Rhona Martin appeared before a special Scottish sport participation committee inquiry last week (here and also here)? Here’s the wrap-up, but you can apparently view the proceeds online, too ...

• And finally, it looks like we forgot about our Ithaca friends and their glorious championship, held in late December. News story here, and a plea from the ARSI for Olympic status in 2010 located here.

Our apologies ...

Here in the Hat

MEDICINE HAT – We’re here in the Hat, for their second Con Cup hosting in the past four years.

This one is the rubber match, with North America and Europe tied at two Cup wins each.

Yes, the NA’s look all-powerful on paper, and well-rested, while the Euros are tired. They just got in from Füssen, which is literally their biggest event of the season. Key players are missing, like Uli Kapp... and Euro champion skip David Murdoch even has a Swede, Niklas Edin, playing third for him.

Mixed Doubles was fun to watch, and as the WCF reports here, it was fun to play, too. At least for Russia’s Liudmila Privivkova and new Mixed Dubs teammate Murdoch (standing), although they did lose to NA’s Jennifer Jones (holding the brush) and Bill Todhunter. This CCA photo is courtesy of Michael Burns, BTW.

Latest results from this afternoon saw Privivkova upset Jones 6-5, Deb McCormick smack Angelina Jensen 11-3, and Kelly Scott avenge yesterday’s loss to Kelly Wood by a 5-4 count.

North America currently holds a 48-24 lead. The winning team is the first to get to 201 or more points.

Allen Cameron is here, naturally, and is doing a bang-up job on his blog, which now sees him toting a camcorder around to add a new video angle to things.

Anything else?

• Wanna design the Vancouver 2010 medals? Why not?

• ConMan is braying for Edmonton to host Canada’s 2009 Olympic Trials, but it’s gonna be a battle... meanwhile, he also previews this weekend’s women’s Canada Cup Qualifier here ...

• Joe Pavia has a neat report in from Ottawa’s men’s Canada Cup Qualifier, including the news that The Gushues are being followed around by the Rainbow Rockers. Here’s another report, too ...

• The latest webisode of Mike Harris’ Capital One Curlers Corner is online now, and the show just keeps getting better and better. And not just because of The Curling News references...!

• Dan says we must vote for curling. We agree with Dan!

Couples wins!

RAMA – Couples wins!

In the pre-game, Wayne Middaugh called himself the Fred Couples of the Casino Rama Skins, meaning organizers invite him to Skins games regardless of his current curling record. Still, he’s proven he deserved the invite by defeating Glenn Howard in the first semi-final.

The picks helped.

Three picks in all. The first came on both of Glenn’s rocks in the sixth. That gave Middaugh a skin. Then Glenn’s first rock in seven picked, leaving a tough straight-back double for the skin. It was a makeable shot, but after three straight picks, Howard was shaken.

It’s new ice, and a new carpet, too. The rug was put down a few days ago after a Rita McNeil concert.

Perhaps Brad Gushue was being prophetic. The first part of his prediction has come through. Now he simply has to beat K-Mart.

This game had another interesting anomaly. More guys on the ice lift the rock in their backswing than don’t.

Glenn Howard, Richard Hart and Ian Tetley lift on every shot. Jon Mead and Wayne Middaugh lift on hits. Scott Bailey, and Brent and Craig don’t lift.

But if you’re counting, that’s five lifters versus five no-lifters. And these days, it’s not often you see that.

You won’t at tonight’s second semi-final game. Both skips are no-lifters. In fact, Martin is one of the most famous of the no-lifters, given his shocking ability to throw massive hit weight with mere leg drive.

Enjoy it while it lasts. Because we think it will be a rarity to see more lifters than no-lifters.

Forgetting

RAMA – They just did a little feature about Wayne Middaugh between ends.

Wayne has the most TSN Skins Game experience of anyone in the field. Anyway, in what appears to be a line he might regret, Skins rookie Brad Gushue said that he is looking forward to playing Wayne at this Skins game.

We overheard Craig Savill give a chuckle at Gushue’s line. He, of course, has something to say about who plays tomorrow.

We’re not sure if Kevin Martin heard Gushue’s comments, but his front end sure did. They’re sitting in the stands scouting the game. Why is it always the front end that has to sit in the cold and scout?

Anyway, you don’t see Wayne miss too many out-turn peels. Give him an out-turn center line ripper and he’ll make it nine times out of 10. Maybe 99 times out of 100. This, however, was one time he missed, giving Howard a steal of one in the fourth end. It was an end that Middaugh controlled from the get-go.

We think he’s still thinking about it.

There’s a chance that Wayne will come back and win this game. Ends six, seven and eight are where the money is. However, to win, Wayne is going to have to forget.

And that isn’t easy.

Casino Rama Skins: Preview

by Matt Hames

RAMA, ON – When you’re watching the TSN Skins game, you’ll be watching an ongoing debate unfold.

A few years ago, Kevin Martin famously gave up a steal, on purpose, to Jeff Stoughton in order to get last rock in the last end. That was in the days of the three-rock rule.

In fact, we’ve seen him do this a couple of times. The last time he tried it, I think his effort went for naught.

Anyway, I forget how many times he’s tried it.

Kevin forgets stuff, too. Like when he brought out the corn broom, not once but twice, at the 1991 Safeway Worlds in Winnipeg. Kevin forgot all about that on yesterday’s TSN talk show Off The Record which pitted the four Skins skips – KMart, Glenn Howard, Wayne Middaugh, Glenn Howard and Brad Gushue – in the debating pit (photo courtesy TSN). Wayner called KMart on it, and KMart said nothing. Did you see that? No? Then go here and watch it... look for the EVENTS tab/link. Wow.

Four of the best teams in the world will, starting tomorrow, help us answer this question: would you rather be up one coming home without, or down one coming home with last rock?

The Skins Game is really just the last end played over and over. If you have the hammer, you need two. If you don’t, you need to steal. Essentially the situation in the last end of a one-point game.

The BDO Black Book of Curling says the odds favor the team up one with. But I think we’re all still working out how to play the last end. In a non-skins match, the team up one without last rock throws it top four foot. If the team that needs two wants to generate offense, they need to throw a guard. In doing so, they leave the team that went first with a free guard on the possible steal point.

I know. It’s all so technical. But I can’t wait to see how the team without the hammer plays the end. I suspect they’ll just throw a center guard and get with it. But, they do have some options. And in thinking about the options, they’ll let us know if they like the hammer, or if they don’t.

Anyway, I’ll be there, blogging live right here at The Curling News Blog, with ace TCN photographer Anil Mungal alongside. That means you need to watch it on the telly and also keep a free hand on your computer. It’s going to be fun, so hit “Refresh” often.

I’m off to play some blackjack; we’ll see you here tomorrow. And the TSN show will be on High-Definition TV, a North American curling first ...

Nomes ondulando brazilian grandes

We’re feeling kind of silly today, and faithful readers know that this means... brace yourself, and get ready for anything.

So, on that note, here (above) is what Randy Ferbey’s soccer jersey would look like.

If he was Brazilian.

Yup. There’s now a website, located here, that claims to change your name to the single-word nickname that makes Brazilian athletes famous.

The four-time world curling champion would like this, we think. The translation is roughly “Big Ferb” and moreover, his team checked out a Real Madrid game, live at The Bernabéu, a couple of years ago.

Ferbey might also like the fact that arch-rival Kevin Martin’s name is the same as Brazil’s greatest female footy athlete, whose team lost the women’s World Cup final yesterday.

We plugged in some other famous curling labels, and got multiple options when we doubled up first or last names. A sampling:

Guy Hemmings – Hemmão or Hemminho
Colleen Jones – Collealdo Santos or Colleson Pau
Jennifer Jones – Jonisco or Jennifaldo
Wayne/Sherry Middaugh – Middacos or Middaaldo
Wes Richardson – Wa or Werto
Bob “Pee Wee” Pickering – Pee Weandro or Bildo
Vera Pezer – Verito or Pezildo
Andy Kapp – Io or Kio Santos
Elisabet Gustafson – Gustafsimo or Elisaba
Ed Werenich – Ildo or Werenaldo
Paul Savage – Paildo or Savagaça
Neil Harrison – Neundo or Neimo
Brad Gushue – Brildo or Gushuson
Jamie Korab – Jamildo or Korildo
Pål Trulsen – Pildo or Trulsimo Peres
Kelly Scott – Kildo or Scildo
Glenn Howard – Gla or Howinhosa
Richard Hart – Hisco Da Costa or Hinho

Even the famous flying Finn – Markku Uusipavaalniemi – gained a few letters, as his monikers came up Uusipaavalniemico or Uusipaavalnieminho (M-17 or M-18).

Okay, okay... back to curling.

• Speaking of M-15, his appearance in this story on “former Finnish sporting legends” just two years after Turin may or may not stick in his craw, depending on his intentions for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Suffice to say it would be great to see Uusis back on the ice in Vancouver, and also on the podium, if only to push the word “former” aside. For another year or two, anyway ...

• Predictions are that Wednesday will see Victoria, BC named as the host city for the 2009 Scotties Tournament of Hearts ...

• The latest on the Windsor CC sees one of the punks make a court appearance; items like championship banners and the Tankard are lost forever; and now two levels of government – one federal! – have pledged to help rebuild the club, inspiring this vow from the club president.

Hmph... it would have been nice to see that kind of committment from politicians in north Toronto (Avonlea closure), Winnipeg (Thistle arson job) and other cities. Right?

Some good news, however: as it turns out, an ancient inter-club curling trophy was saved, although writer Monty Mosher tells The Curling News that one aspect of the tale has since proved inaccurate: the trophy was actually in a safe elsewhere in Windsor; the prized record books were in New Brunswick ...

• Speaking of ancient awards, the Yester CC in Scotland embarked on a missing trophy search that dated back to 1879, and found success ...

• The Welsh Dragons won a shocker yesterday to defeat Denmark in the final of the European Mixed, and kudos to Curling Today for some great day-by-day coverage. This local observer even labelled the Scottish outfit the “semioficial” blog of the tournament!

One of the teams – the Dutch – also kept a fairly active blog, but there was also a bit of media coverage of this event, from AP photographers to media in the host city of Madrid; in Hungary (here and here); in Slovakia (here and here); and even in Estonia.

As for the locals, there were many blogposts expressing curiosity – ¿Qué es el Curling? – and we’ve spotlighted some of them, located here... and here... and here... and here... and yet another here... and and even this short vidclip, too ...

• Congrats to Thunder Bay’s Bill Charlebois on his induction into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame last Friday night. In his present role as the Dutch national curling coach, he was unable to attend ...

• This past weekend’s tour stop in Vernon saw Bob Ursel win the men’s crown while Calgary’s Heather Rankin upset city rival Shannon Kleibrink in the women’s final. Kleibrink had upset Kelly Scott in the semis. No B.C. teams made the playoffs, which also saw teams from the U.S. and Switzerland qualify ...

• In Selkirk, eight teams are into tonight’s semis at the McMillan Insurance Classic ...

• How would you, as a spiel organizer, like to have a field like this confirmed a full six months prior to your event? We bet you would ...

• Meanwhile, this coming weekend will see some decent names duke it out in New Westminster ...

• The new Pheasant Classic field is also quite good, but they’ve booked CanRock legends Prizm to play the Saturday night. Now you’re talkin’ ...

• This bitter and twisted rant against curling is a couple of years old, but just came to our attention now. Of course, it’s not funny, which is the biggest sin the writer actually made ...

• See, now this is actually funny. That’s how you do it ...

• Brampton, Ontario’s growing junior spiel now has 48 teams (including Quebeckers and Americans), a prize purse of $12,000, and some new sponsors to boot ...

• The Chicks won’t be in Brampton, but they were in nearby Oakville over the weekend ...

• A couple of ex-Junior stars have joined forces in Thunder Bay ...

• Look at this... it’s a rare bird, otherwise knows as a promotional curling media story from Quebec! Hopefully there will be more of these as the first Grand Chelem draws closer ...

Yes indeed, curlers are whiners

Well, well... what have we here?

Winnipeg is in an uproar today as the internal news of Asham’s cancellation of that city’s major Asham World Curling Tour event has now exploded into the public forum (also located here).

The Curling Show was quick to get Arnold Asham himself on the horn, and while there are varying reasons why the event has been cancelled, there is one idea percolating which The Curling News must sadly agree with: curlers – in particular the competitive breed – are indeed among the biggest whiners in the world of sports.

This phenomenon has actually been discussed in some major boardrooms of the sport, and many believe it’s a simple consequence of the very nature of curling as a self-managed and self-policed sport.

Think about it. Opposite to most other amateur or professional sports, curlers are somehow permitted to:

• “hire” and “fire” their own team members
• operate with or without a coach or alternate, if they so choose
• police their own game, except at various provincial, national and world championships

This is so ingrained into the sport of curling – and so alien a concept to so many other sports – that curlers reading this are probably getting hot under the collar at the phrase “permitted to.”

In many other sports, even the equivalent of a top curling skip is told – by various sport coaches, managers, owners and/or bureaucrats – what to do and when to do it. And what’s more, you’ll darned well like it, mister!

Even the nature of the curling governance structure lends credence to this concept. Some other sport leaders would shake their heads if told that Canada’s national curling association is merely an umbrella organization, with limited to non-existent power to actually direct the strategy and activities of the provincial associations.

And you can rest assured their jaws are still lying on the floor, two years later, over the public spectacle of irate curling fans forcing that governing body to tear up a multi-year television contract and redo the entire thing... by unleashing a torrent of bad press and even going so far as to threaten sponsors.

From an outside-the-sport perspective, you’ve gotta be kidding!

In this context, curlers get away with murder when compared to other athletes in other sports and will obviously not hesitate to bray loudly if something irks them.

What is tragic is the curler’s tendency to bray the loudest when his or her competitive team is adversely affected by a given situation. It’s hard to ignore the level of selfishness that often ingrains itself into such a self-governed sport.

Then again, curlers still aren’t “paid” very much for their services, are they?

Or aren’t they?

And is that not an entirely different kettle of fish?

Or not?


Elsewhere:

• The Curling Show also has a segment with icemaking madman Shorty Jenkins ...

• In Brockville, Glenn Howard beat Brad Gushue to win the Shorty Jenkins Classic, in a repeat of the Brier final result from last March. Reigning champ Kevin Martin lost the semi to Howard, while Wayne Middaugh’s super-team with Jon Mead and Graeme McCarrel – and Ian Tetley and Scott Bailey – lost the quarterfinal to Howard. Russ who?

On the women’s side, Debbie McCormick most enjoyed the vibrant Canadian dollar, as her Team USA upended Quebec’s Eve Bélisle in the final match ...

• In Galt/Cambridge, the BDO Galt Classic was a big hit in the shopping mall and on Rogers Television... at least the men’s final, as Darryl Prebble surprised Mike Harris with a 6-5 victory for the championship, which was also The Battle For Scarborough (Prebble represents Scarborough Golf Club, while Harris appears to be back at neighboring Tam Heather).

The women’s final was a dud as Julie Reddick made it two spiels in a row with a 13-5 bombing of Colleen Madonia, but Hollie Nicol’s junior team from Kitchener-Waterloo impressed by losing the semi-final to Reddick by a 7-6 count.

“After losing, we said give us five minutes and we’ll be happy with the weekend,” Nicole told The Record. “Our goal was to make the playoffs, and we did that.”

• Over in Edmonton, the locals must be smarting over the fact that a couple of visiting teams waltzed into their town, kicked everyone’s butt and left with the big cash. Bingyu Wang of China crushed Glenys Bakker of Calgary 8-1 in the Boston Pizza women’s final, while Saskatchewan’s Pat Simmons beat Kelly Row, Randy Ferbey and then Brent MacDonald to win the men’s cheque ...

• The same thing happened over in Norway, as Canadian invaders took out their European opposition at the Radisson SAS Oslo Cup. Edmonton’s Kevin Koe took out the perhaps-not-so-retired Pål Trulsen 7-2 to win the men’s crown, while Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones defeated Saskatchewan’s Sherry Anderson 7-6 in an all-Canuck women’s final. A couple of Scottish teams, skipped by Kelly Wood and Claire Milne, made the semis.

• The second Grand Slam of Curling event has been announced, and once again the small Cape Breton city of Port Hawkesbury will play host to The National, this time running Dec. 20-23.

“Having the Grand Slam of Curling returning to Port Hawkesbury for a third consecutive year is a tribute to the local community, businesses, volunteers and organizers as each group has been instrumental in making The National such a success,” said Port Hawkesbury Mayor Billy Joe MacLean. “We’re looking forward to hosting the top curling teams from Canada, the United States and Europe in late December and this prestigious world class event will serve as a welcomed early holiday gift for the residents of Port Hawkesbury.”

The Grand Slam events feature a pile of Canada’s top men’s squads including Martin, The National’s defending champion, along with Ferbey, Gushue, Glenn Howard and 2003 Tylenol Players’ Champion Jeff Stoughton.

The top 15 Canadian men’s teams, along with two European squads and one entry from the United States of America, will compete in The National. A complete list of participating teams will be announced in November ...

• BalancePlus has sent out a cool notice summarizing the “Battle of the Brushes” this past weekend; ie. they’ve just announced the teams wielding their new tapered blue and orange BalancePlus brushes this season: Teams Harris and Peter Corner (semi-finalist in Brockville) and also Team Sherry Middaugh (lost semis at Galt).

These teams will help BalancePlus raise funds for Prostate Cancer Research via an end-of-year auction of each brushe, which will be covered in autographs. The funds raised from the auction will be split between Prostate Cancer Research and the Canadian Paraplegic Association.

BP’s pink brushes, now widely available, will continue as a fundraiser for Breast Cancer. You can add to the support by purchasing one of these charity-connected items today ...

• Finally, a sad occurrence in Japan over the weekend ...

2007-08 Season Launch

The curling season is underway.

In fact, this was first declared by the Scots – who have the divine right to make such a declaration, we say – back on September 3, but it really hit home on Sunday, as the results of the first major cash tournament of the year came in.

Item number one on both the World Curling Tour Europe and the Asham World Curling Tour was Switzerland’s Baden Masters, and 2006 Olympic winner Brad Gushue is the champion (photo by Urs Raeber). The new Gushues defeated recent Ford World runner-up Andy Kapp of Germany in the final, 5-4 in an extra end (the ninth), while Switzerland’s Andi Schwaller and Bernard Werthemann both lost in the semis. Big names also made the quarterfinals, in the person(s) of Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud and Scotland’s David Murdoch.

“Because we didn’t have any ice going into the event we didn’t know what to expect,” Gushue told The Curling News. “We’re excited to get off to a such a good start.”

A big announcement occurred in Atlantic Canada just moments ago, as the World Curling Federation made it official: the 2009 Ford World Men’s Championship will be hosted in Moncton, New Brunswick, April 4-12 of that year.

It will mark the 51st world men’s titleshoot, and follows Moncton’s legacy of hosting grand events, for the world (1980 Silver Broom) for Canada (1985 Brier) and for those who love money (1990 Moncton 100)... and 50th anniversary celebrations should be in full swing, as recently proposed by curling legend Doug Maxwell shortly before his death. The same Doug Maxwell who, incidentally, was the major architect of the Moncton 100, amongst his many, many sporting accomplishments.

We’ll have a full report on Maxwell’s recent memorial service, including thoughts from some of the many curling heavyweights who journeyed to the service, in the first print edition of The Curling News, coming out in late October. We invite you to subscribe, naturally.

And to anyone who dares think the 09 Worlds might not be a spectacular event, you are forgetting the mayor of Moncton is former CCA President Lorne Mitton. And that the current WCF President, Les Harrison, lives about 10 minutes away from the arena. And that the current CCA Vice-President is also a New Brunswicker.

Clearly, New Brunswick is well on its way to becoming the new epicentre of curling power. What’s next... will a prominent curling internet wizard, for example, relocate to some beachfront property near Fredericton? Could happen, but who knows. We’re just speculating.

Elsewhere, the curling news has been piling up ...

• Here’s a closer look at Niagara Falls native Greg Stremlaw, the new CCA CEO ...

• Is British Columbia’s Salmon Valley CC in trouble?

• Two members of the USA Senior Women’s team recently engaged in a new business startup – their own bank ...

• Curling has returned to Salt Lake City, as the Wasatch Curling Club’s Friday league – and Learn To Curl sessions – will wrap up soon, after September 21. Location is the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns ...

• Sounds like Midland, Minnesota will be getting a new curling club... while the Green Bay CC in Wisconsin is celebrating its 50th anniversary ...

• Remember the 2002 Worlds in Bismark, North Dakota? Their local media has gone bonkers over their one-in-three chance to host the 2009 U.S. Nationals, which will also serve as the U.S. Olympic Trials for 2010. Read all about it here, and here, and here ...

• Still with the U.S. – holy smokes! – they say that Hibbing will host the U.S. men’s and women’s national shootout. The men’s champs will head just down the highway to Grand Forks, North Dakota for the 2008 World Men’s ...

• Recent Canadian Brier competitor Jon Solberg is headed to Whitehorse to lead that city’s curling club, which will also host another WCT event in November ...

• First a brand new curling facility (as profiled in The Curling News); and now the gift of ancient stones in Swift Current, Saskatchewan ...

Will Canada lose its gold medal champion?

Curling continued to kick ass this week with the announcement of yet another official 2010 Olympic coin – make that Paralympic coin – dedicated to the sport; the second of three released since February.

This time, its Paralympic wheelchair curling that gets the honour, officially released on Tuesday at a news conference featuring Chris Daw, the skip of Canada’s Paralympic gold medal champion team (photo). See a TV report here, a print report here and the news release here.

Daw is a fiercely patriotic and powerful fellow adorned with Canuck tattoos who makes regular speaking engagements across Ontario. He offers much as a multi-sport Paralympic and world championship athlete who has competed in wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby aka Murderball, wheelchair athletics and sledge hockey. He’s been caught on camera doing wheelchair motocross, bungee jumping off a cliff, parasailing and even scuba diving.

He was also instrumental in hooking the Canadian Curling Association up with the Canadian Paralympic Foundation and the Toronto Stock Exchange earlier this year, in a landmark deal which will see the CCA set up a new Office of Inclusionary Services – catering specifically to disabled curlers in categories including wheelchair and blind – via a tidy TSX donation of $400,000.

It’s no surprise then to hear rumours, now circulating, that he is being wooed by rival nations – more than one, we hear – who want him to uproot from Canada and set up shop overseas.

What is stunning, and hard to believe, are the rumours that he is seriously considering the offers.

Daw knows his stuff, and on the curling ice, he can make shots no other wheelchair curler can. We know this, personally, as we have seen him lead his squads to exhibition game victories over able-bodied teams skipped by Glenn Howard and Mike Harris among others.

Daw spoke to The Curling Show a year ago, but there were no hints about any post-Turin troubles, just a nonchalant “we’re looking forward to 2010.”

What has changed in a year, to make Daw consider leaving Canada, and lend his considerable expertise to a rival country in advance of the 2010 Paralympics in Vancouver?

The very question makes it easy to disbelieve the rumours, but in reality the exportation of Chris Daw would simply follow the able-bodied script, which has seen a multitude of Canadian curlers oversee national team coaching and/or development programs on four continents. So while Canadians would grow nervous, the rest of the curling world would improve their growth and skill set in what is the fastest-growing disabled sport on the planet.

• Oich, some great news from Scotland regarding the famed but decrepit Thomson Tower, where the rules of curling were first drafted over 200 years ago; check out Curling Today and The Scotsman for the details ...

• Hold on, Edmonton. Just a day after Terry Jones declared that Canada’s 2009 Olympic Trials are a cinch for the City of Champions, the requisite denials have appeared in various CanWest media outlets. The latest sees rival Kamloops talking tough through its local blat, with former Strauss Canada Cup chair Norm Daley offering that Edmonton’s media reports might indicate “ a little fear on their part or something” and Kamloops city director Byron McCorkell suggesting that “it would appear” Edmonton is running scared ...

• Save a prayer for Cathy King and family, as they mourn the mysterious death of older brother Robbie King, a two-time Canadian junior champ (and world junior finalist) in 1974-75 ...

• So, do you agree that a sport like “curling” has significantly less exposure than “competitive gaming”? ...

• Brad Gushue castoff Jamie Korab is enjoying new life without his ex-skipper. He’s now got two teams – one skipped by Quebec’s Guy Hemmings – and two hometown landmarks – a road and a school gym – named after him ...

• According to the Globe and Mail, former National Post curling columnist Adam Daifallah has created the Conrad Black Fan Club on the popular Facebook social networking website. Black, a Canadian-slash-British publishing maven, is awaiting a Chicago jury’s verdict on fraud and racketeering charges. Daifallah is a youthful Conservative architect and writer, when he’s not eyeballing the Quebec curling scene for yours truly (former journalist our foot) ...

Skins Game squads

We kinda knew this a while ago, but we... er... forgot to pass it along (honest!), and TSN has made it official today: the four men’s teams confirmed for the Casino Rama Curling Skins Game this coming December are skipped by Glenn Howard, Kevin Martin, Wayne Middaugh and Brad Gushue.

Any bets on who plays whom in the December 8 semis? We’re not telling ...

June curling with Brad Gushue

And you thought curling was over.

The June 9-10 weekend will actually see not one but two curling events in Toronto. There’s the perennial East York Summer Spiel, which you never hear about because the following year’s event is always near-full by the time the current tourney ends. No need to advertise!

But the big news is yet another charity event, this time benefitting the world-famous Hospital for Sick Children, which gives Toronto curling fans a chance to raise money for one of the city’s great causes and rub elbows with some celebs, like Mike Harris and Jenn Hanna.

The big score the fledgling Curl For SickKids event has produced is the participation of Newfoundland’s Brad Gushue, who will be making his first appearance at a celeb-charity event in four years.

There are some spots available but curlers and fans are urged to visit the website, send an email or phone call soon to get in on the action. The top five fundraisers, naturally, get to select their skip ...

Gushue picks Noftall

There’s a big story in the Wednesday edition of the St. John’s Telegram, but The Curling News has it first: the search for Brad Gushue’s new lead is over, and the winner is... Dave Noftall of St. John’s (photo).

Noftall recently played lead for Mark Noseworthy, including the 2005 season which saw Noseworthy surprise the field to qualify for the playoffs at the Players’ Championship in St. John’s. Gushue also thrilled the hometown fans by making it to the final that year, eventually losing to Edmonton’s Kevin Martin.

Gushue spoke exclusively to The Curling News:

“Dave will bring a hard working, positive attitude to our team,” Gushue said. “He is a very calm, mature guy who will fit into the chemistry we are trying to develop.

“It was a long process trying to find the right fit, but we have. We had interest from all over the country; it came down to choosing who would be the best fit on the team, no matter where they were from.

“We are all extremely happy about having Dave as part of the team and we are looking forward to hitting the ice next season.”

Unconfirmed reports say the final choice came down to Noftall and an athlete from British Columbia.

Noftall was also a key player behind the scenes during the run of Grand Slam events at Mile One Stadium in St. John’s (2004, ’05 and ’06). He works for Destination St. John’s as Manager of Event Tourism, charged with attracting and booking big events such as the the Scotties Tournament of Hearts (2005), the Memorial Cup, the Juno Awards, and so on.

Perhaps another major curling event is in the offing, Dave? Looks like your upcoming season is destined to be a “major” as well...

Rocking the Vic

Harry is back home, the golf clubs are swinging, and there yet another musician front and center on The Curling News Blog.

Why, you may ask?

Simple... it turns out one of the best-kept west-coast-Canadian secrets in the world of music venues is in Victoria, BC... and specifically, the Victoria Curling Club.

Ever since one of our favourite bands – the Pixies – played VCC on their enormously successful 2004 reunion tour – this VCC concert photo shows lead singer Black Francis – we’ve noted more and more live shows booked for this curling club. After the ice goes out in April, of course.

But the legacy is much older... we found word of a Ben Harper show at the VCC dating back to May of 1997. That’s at least 10 years, folks.

Last Sunday saw a popular Finger Eleven gig – some clips can be seen on YouTube, but we’re not linking to them because, well, they suck – and this Saturday it’s another TCN fave, alt-rock heroes Metric. In July, there’s more in store with geezers, and bagpipe punks, a skafest, and so on and so forth.

The only time we’ve personally seen the club floor covered with something other than ice was during the 2005 Ford Worlds: the club became the Keith’s Patch and we could definitely see how it would also serve as a good live venue. Of course, that week the musical acts were the usual gang of cover bands we see at many Season of Champions events. The mighty Pixies, however... they’re simply at another level. Sigh.

Elsewhere:

• This Norwegian blog tells us that there were no spectator turnout for the recent Norwegian Mixed Championship. The local club president also wonders if its label as a “championship” scares away people, ie. players, who are more interested in having a good time – which is important to Norwegians at all times, naturally!

The last bit turns to some positives: that the event was played in the “western territories” – we assume Norwegian events aren’t typically hosted there – and while it’s sad that they still have to play in a hockey rink, says NCA general secretary Sverre Myran, a new rink will probably be built soon in Stavanger. Nice ...

• DID YOU KNOW: that former Mark Dacey third Bruce Lohnes has an award named after him? Truro Curling Club juniors Adam Berry and Megan Annand are the 2007 winners of the Bruce Lohnes Award (which was presented by Lohnes’ father Ted) to the Truro CC juniors curlers who demonstrate participation, co-operation and sportsmanship through the season ...

• Speaking of award winners, the inaugural recipients of Newfoundland’s “Team Gushue Scholarship Awards”, worth $5,000 each, were recently announced, among many others ...

• Meanwhile, Canadian Press has hopped on the story about Jamie Korab’s new team, and the result is something like thirty stories running all across the country, some with wild headlines like Curler fuels feud on rock (Edmonton Sun) and the Globe’s hysterical Hell hath no fury like a curler scorned.

Congratulations Jamie: you have to be the first front-end player to get more ink than over half the skips on the World Curling Tour! ...

• TCN honcho George Karrys tries to wrap up a wild season over at The Curling Show ...

• Word is that New York Rangers assistant coach Perry Pearn and curling ace Kevin Martin have both entered their alma mater’s fundraising golf tourney on June 1 at Edmonton’s Coloniale Club. The annual event attracts up to 120 players and sends proceeds to the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology’s fund for athletic scholarships ...

• Looks like YouTube curling wizard sterlingwes got a boost from TCN Blog as his viewer numbers have jumped this week. If you haven’t started clicking on his collection of highlight-reel shots, we invite you to do so. Resistance is futile ...

Weston joins 2010

Here’s (left to right) curling golden boy Brad Gushue along with fellow Olympic medallists Beckie Scott (cross-country skiing) and Dominique Maltais (snowboardcross).

The athletes were in Toronto last Thursday to announce that Weston Bakeries has joined the Vancouver 2010 Olympic (and Paralympic) sponsorship family. Weston, which also sponsored the 1976 Montreal and 1988 Calgary Olympic Games, is currently celebrating its 125th anniversary. The company will also be a supplier to the Canadian Olympic teams headed to Beijing next summer and London in 2012.

In addition, the parent company – George Weston Limited – also announced a donation of $300,000 to YMCA organizations across Canada. The new Wonder Play, Dream, Grow Community Spirit program will fund community-based programs that help kids stay fit through play. The program will also include funding the building of several playgrounds and training facilities in communities across Canada.

Gushue flew in and out on the same day, but told The Curling News that he is scaling back his appearances after more than a year of crazy-busy scheduling. He also revealed he was recently acclaimed to the presidency of the Atlantic Chapter of Olympians Canada.

Photo courtesy of Argyle Communications

Team Gushue speaks

EDMONTON – Alberta native Chris Schille, the second for Brad Gushue, is here at the Ford Worlds, in the runup to Wednesday’s Tylenol Players’ Championship in nearby Calgary.

Moments ago, Schille was dispatched to the Rexall Place media workroom (photo) by his skip to meet the media and explain the unpopular decision to drop popular lead Jamie Korab.

Apparently, the team members had spoken “a lot of times over the past few weeks” and it had “been talked about prior to the Brier”, and the situation all came down to “some on-ice problems, and we had discussions about it throughout the year.”

It was “a real tough decision” and “it really broke our hearts to make this decision.”

It was “almost a clash personality-wise” and “near the end, Jamie seemed not to be in the direction we were going.”

When a reporter asked about Korab’s commitment, Schille said no way, Jose: “Not at all, his work ethic was terrific.”

Another reporter asked about a reported incident between Gushue and Korab at the Strauss Canada Cup, right after the team’s tough loss in the Brier final, and Schille confirmed it to be “an example” where “Brad was saying one thing and Jamie was hearing another… Jamie took it the wrong way.”

Schille said that Korab “started to get a little bit on the negative side… we were trying to build on something they did last year (the 2006 Olympic gold) and (Korab) seemed to be going in another direction.”

Schille also added that “Brad is being attacked about this, especially out east… it’s not really about winning at all costs, it’s about doing the right thing for the team.”

All-Alberta... plus one Lotus-lander

by Teri Lake

PORT HAWKESBURY, N.S. – Getting to The Hawk was just as much about having a beer as it was hitting the arena. Mind you, the bartender at dinner asking me if I wanted a glass – or not – with my Keith’s draught order sort of threw me... but I did get my beer!

And Port Hawkesbury is indeed pumped for curling! With hardly an empty seat in the Civic Centre, and lots more filling out the standing room areas, great curling is not going unnoticed in this small Capre Breton town. Perennial fan favourite, Brad Gushue, has his own cheering section of giggly girlies, and the more experienced cougs have an eye for this guy.

Speaking of Brad and the boys, they couldn’t be in Winterpeg for this announcement, but still more congrats are in order. Here’s a photo (above) of Brad straining his hand muscles, courtesy of the local blat.

Crowd-pleasing in the pseudo-Patch was traditional Maritimers McGuinty and they are straight from the Hali pub circuit. They put on a great show and the dance floor was overtaken by local ladies looking to impress the sharp shooters (one even rocked a shirt from… here, yikes). As the night wore on, the party moved to a local bar/Chinese buffet combo… seriously!

It’s playoff time already in this third of four Grand Slam events for 06/07. No real surprises in the teams making the quarters and victories by Kevin Martin over Shawn Adams, Randy Ferbey over Scotland’s Tom Brewster and Kevin Koe over Gushue will ensure a great finish here in the Hawk. Brier champ Glenn Howard got sent packing with Team Don Walchuk’s upset victory – with Vancouverite Brent Pierce guesting for Don – and complete the roster for an all-Alberta semi round.

Speaking of those semis, time to go …