Brewster, Ulsrud score gold

Scotland’s Tom Brewster went to Prague and came away from Saturday’s outdoor podium ceremony with the European Mixed Championship crown, plus trophy (Brewster photo above by Mr. Volfik). His squad defeated Denmark 5-1 in the final, while England grabbed the bronze. It is the second such trophy in three years for the oft-runner-up Scottish men’s finalist.

Moments ago at the Swiss Cup in Basel, Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud stopped his own recent run of silver and bronze by beating Sweden’s Niklas Edin 8-7 in the final. It was a wild affair which saw Usrud hold leads of 2-0 and 4-2 before Edin grabbed a deuce in the fifth and a big three-count in the seventh to tie the score 7-7. Ulsrud managed to end it in the eighth.

The Swedes had upset world champ David Murdoch in the quarterfinals, while the two Swiss Olympic contenders, Ralph Stoeckli and Stefan Karnusian, lost the semis. Danish Olympic squad leader Ulrik Schmidt and German veteran Andy Kapp both lost in the quarters. All in all, that’s an awful lot of Vancouver 2010 Olympic teams that qualified for the playoffs.

In Canada, Japan’s Moe Meguro – another squad headed to Vancouver – came from behind to beat 2007 world champion Kelly Scott 5-4 in a semi and then whomped Cheryl Bernard 6-1 in the final of the Twin Harbours Invitational in Vernon. On the men’s side, Kelowna’s Bob Ursel almost scored the threepeat but lost the final 7-5 on an extra-end steal of two to Edmonton’s Kevin Koe. Legends Kerry Burtnyk and Rick Folk lost in the semis, and Glenn Howard made it to the quarters before losing to Burtnyk.

In Regina, Pat Simmons won his first tourney of the season with a 7-1 shellacking of Brennan Jones in the final.

Of course, those of you who follow The Curling News on Twitter knew about most of these results yesterday.

Come, and follow...

Time Warp Trulsen

It’s the early part of this weekend’s Tour action, but indications are that week three could prove to be quite... eventful.

First, France’s Thomas Dufour beats defending world champion David Murdoch and is now 3-0 in his pool at the Oslo Cup.

Second, the U.S. Olympic women’s team loses to 10-0 to Sherry Middaugh in opening draw action at the Sandra Schmirler Charity Curling Classic in Regina. In two ends. Take three, steal seven.

Finally, Norway’s Pal Trulsen (with Rocky Horror friends above) has reunited his now-retired 2002 Olympic champion squad for the Oslo Cup... and they are also undefeated at 3-0.

Wow. Talk about a Time Warp!

[Photoshop by Anil Mungal. Apologies from TCN.]

Grey Power World Cup of Curling

The big news today concerns the “Toronto Slam” as the event has been re-branded as the Grey Power World Cup of Curling.

Formerly known as the Masters of Curling, the Grey Power World Cup of Curling runs October 21-25 at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, just minutes from Toronto’s main airport.

As the first tournament in the new Capital One Grand Slam of Curling season, the event would normally be big enough on its own. However, as The Curling News has previously reported, this one is worthy of it’s new World Cup name.

No less than 10 of the international teams headed to February’s Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games will take part, challenged by four of the top dogs headed to December’s Canadian Olympic Trials: Kevin Martin, Glenn Howard, Randy Ferbey and Kevin Koe.

A fifth Canadian team will also take part. Brad Gushue’s foursome, fresh off their victory at the first World Curling Tour stop of the season, will compete at the Hershey Centre. The Gushues are looking to win a spot into the Trials at the last-gasp qualification event at Prince George, B.C. in November.

As The Curling News reported last winter, Grey Power first jumped into the Slam sponsorship world by taking title rights to the season-ending Players’ Championship in Grande Prairie.

“We’re thrilled to be increasing our involvement with one of Canada’s favourite sports through our partnership with the World Cup of Curling,” said Catherine Smola, President of Grey Power Insurance Brokers Inc.

“We are hugely impressed by the passion Canadians have towards curling and we believe these world class events represent a tremendous opportunity for us to further connect with our customers.”

Today’s announcement comes from the Slam, the Tour and also from an organization called iSport Media and Management. This is the new home of Kevin Albrecht, the man who first built the Grand Slam property at IMG Canada and took it to Insight Sports some three years ago.

“The ability to extend our partnership with Grey Power to include two of curling’s biggest international tournaments reinforces the growth and popularity of the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling series,” said Albrecht.

“Grey Power’s brand and services have proven to be an ideal fit for curling’s passionate fan base and we are looking forward to building on the success of last year’s Grey Power Players’ Championship.”

Among the international Olympic teams headed to Hershey are reigning World champions David Murdoch of Scotland, reigning World bronze medallist Thomas Ulsrud of Norway, 2007 World silver medallist Andreas Kapp of Germany, 2006 Olympic bronze medallist John Shuster of the United States, 2008 World fourth-place finisher Fengchun Wang of China, defending World University Games champion Niklas Edin of Sweden, France’s Thomas Dufour and Denmark’s Ulrik Schmidt.

The final nation to compete in the Grey Power World Cup is Switzerland. A best-of-seven series between Ralph Stoeckli and Stefan Karnusian will declare their Olympic rep, who will then appear in Mississauga.

Ticket packages for the Grey Power World Cup of Curling are currently on sale, with seats available through Ticketmaster or by visiting the Hershey Centre box office.

The 2009 Grey Power World Cup of Curling is being lauded as the first major international curling event to be held in the Greater Toronto Area since 1986, when Toronto hosted the World Men’s Curling Championship.

The Toronto Curling Association has been a strong partner of the Grey Power World Cup of Curling with strong support from all of the TCA’s 23 member curling clubs.

Following the Grey Power World Cup, the 2009-10 men’s Capital One Grand Slam of Curling series continues with The National, taking place at the Sleeman Centre in Guelph, Ont. from January 6-10, 2010; the BDO Classic Canadian Open, from January 20-24, 2010 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg; and concludes with the Grey Power Players’ Championship, an event featuring separate men’s and women’s draws, to be hosted in April (dates and location TBA).

Two additional women’s Grand Slam events get underway next month, with the Calgary’s Trail Appliances Classic on October 9-12 and the Manitoba Lotteries Women’s Curling Classic scheduled for Winnipeg on October 23-26.

Gushue scores Swiss opener

BADEN, Switzerland – Brad Gushue, sporting some playoff scruff, won his second Baden Masters tour victory of the past three years with a 6-3 victory over Norway’s three-time world bronze medallist Thomas Ulsrud in the 2009 championship final.

The 2006 Olympic championship squad, which now features former Winnipegger Ryan Fry at second position, stole the third end and added a deuce in the fifth to hold a 4-2 lead after five ends.

The St. John’s foursome added a final steal in the eighth for the victory, which was worth 10,000 Swiss francs to start the 2009-2010 Olympic curling season.

Ulsrud was consoled with SF 5,000 for second place.

In the semifinals, the Gushues took out defending world champion David Murdoch from Scotland by an 8-2 count. In the other semi, Canada’s resurgent Randy Ferbey fell victim to a stunning five-ender in the second frame against Ulsrud, who went on to win the match by a 9-4 scoreline.

In the second round of the tournament, the Ferbey Four had dropped a fiver in the first end against France’s Thomas Dufour, but made a stirring comeback – stealing five points over the final three ends – to win by a 10-6 count.

In the third-place game, Ferbey defeated Murdoch 5-2.

Murdoch and Ulsrud are confirmed to represent their countries (Murdoch will represent Great Britain) at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Ferbey is confirmed for the Tim Hortons Canadian Curling (Olympic) Trials at Edmonton in early December, while Gushue will need to advance from a special domestic pre-Trials competition at Prince George, B.C. in November.

[Photo by Urs Raeber]

Scots aim for Olympic splash

You’re the world champion. You’re expected to get a medal.

This was one of the first questions directed to Vancouver 2010 golden hopeful David Murdoch, during his recent radio interview with BBC Radio 5.

We note that this wasn’t really a question. But “Muddy” handled it with his typical media smoothness.

The interview highlights his team’s training schedule, and Murdoch makes particular mention of his appearance at the Capital One Grand Slam at Mississauga (Toronto) in October.

The two-time world champion also points to his summer training, in which both the men’s and women’s UK Olympic teams cross-trained at a camp in Cyprus.

Sure, the weather was lovely... but the training was somewhat rocky, as this video of the women’s team shows.

The Murdoch interview is posted here.

NOTE: the GB women, skipped by Eve Muirhead, are in Canada far earlier than the men... this week, in fact. They start Thursday at the Ontario Curling Tour Championships in Oakville, with a match against Lynne Middaugh of Orillia.

2010 Olympic curling schedule

The World Curling Federation has released the draw for the Curling Competition at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

The draw is available via direct download at the WCF homepage, within the posting dated July 28.

Competition begins February 16 with three draws scheduled daily – alternating between men’s and women’s play – up to February 23.

Canada’s women’s team, which will be determined on December 12 in Edmonton, opens at 14:00 against Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott, the only curling athlete in history with two Olympic medals (silver in both 2002 and 2006).

Canada continues with matches against Japan on Feb. 17, Germany on Feb. 18 and Denmark’s Angelina Jensen, the 2007 world finalist, on Feb. 19.

Canada’s major crunch comes on the final three days of the round robin.

On Feb. 21, Canada battles 2003 world champion Debbie McCormick of the United States and, later, defending world champion Bingyu Wang of China.

On Feb. 22, their opponent is the defending Olympic champion and two-time world champion Anette Norberg of Sweden.

On Feb. 23, the Canadian women face another two matches, against Great Britain – most likely skipped by three-time world junior champion Eve Muirhead – followed by the round robin finale against 2006 European champions Russia.

The Canadian women do not compete on Saturday, February 20.

Canada’s men’s team, which will be determined on December 13 in Edmonton, opens with two matches on Feb. 16, against Norway (most likely 2008 and 2009 world bronze medallist Thomas Ulsrud) and Germany’s Andy Kapp, a two-time Olympian and multiple world finalist.

Following a full day off on February 17, the Canadians face two next-day opponents: Sweden (most likely the defending world university champions skipped by Niklas Edin) and then France’s Thomas Dufour.

On Feb. 19, Canada challenges Denmark’s Ulrik Schmidt.

On Feb. 20, Canada faces Great Britain’s David Murdoch, the two-time and defending world champion, in the evening draw. Murdoch defeated Canada’s Kevin Martin three consecutive times to win last April’s 2009 Ford World Men’s Championship in Moncton, and as reported by The Curling News, has been training specifically to defeat Canada for Olympic gold at Vancouver.

Canada then battles Switzerland on Feb. 21. The Swiss defeated Canada for Olympic gold at Nagano in 1998 and captured bronze at Salt Lake in 2002, and also scored demonstration gold at the 1992 Games in Albertville.

On Feb. 22 the Canadians meet John Shuster of the United States. Shuster was a member of the 2006 U.S. Olympic curling team, skipped by Pete Fenson, which scored the bronze medal.

On Feb. 23, Canada concludes the round robin with an afternoon match against China’s Fengchun Wang, the surprise fourth-place finisher at the 2008 world championship. This will mark the fourth consecutive day in which the Canadian men’s team competes only once.

February 24 is reserved for tiebreakers with the semifinals scheduled for February 25.

The Women’s Final takes place February 26 and the Men’s Final on February 27.

Canada has never missed the podium in Olympic medal-status competition, winning gold in 1998 (women’s) and 2006 (men’s) while scoring two silver medals in men’s play and two bronze medals in women’s play.

Venue photo by the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation

Murdoch: not really the first

Okay. Not that we wish to correct TSN, The Sports Network, when they declare that Scotland’s David Murdoch will become the first international team to compete in the third annual Casino Rama Curling Skins Game in January, 2010.

Because they’re right. In the three-year history of this event, only Canadian teams have featured. So let’s call today’s story a... clarification.

Because when we look back at the last three decades of TV skins curling, there have actually been a few international skirmishes. Before Casino Rama’s time, of course.

The first is pictured above, from the cover of the December 1993/January 1994 edition of Canadian Curling News (click on image to zoom in).

Do you remember this edition of the old McCain/TSN Skins Game? The 1993 event, hosted in Ottawa, was a doozy.

Russ Howard – with brother Glenn and the front-end tandem of Wayne Middaugh and Peter Corner – had just won the Brier and Worlds, and looked very good early on in their semifinal against unheralded Milt Sinclair of Abbotsford, B.C. Howard won the first three skins over the first five ends.

But it began to unravel and the left coasters then took the lead. It was only on the last stone of the match that Howard pulled it out, grabbing a $3,000 skin for a narrow $9,000 to $7,000 victory.

In the final, Howard met up with the first international team to ever be invited to the Skins: David Smith of Scotland, who had upended Ottawa’s Bill Walsh in the other semi (Walsh won $7,750 in another tight match).

Curling fans may remember the very public and vitriolic reaction from Eddie “The Wrench” Werenich, who of course missed out on the chance to compete because of the invitation given to Team Smith. The Wrench was, er, not very happy.

And it was all-Scotland through much of the final. In fact, as the photo shows, the Howards were blanked through the first eight ends, down $15,000 to zero, and Russ was clearly reeling. One wonders if Smitty was actually beginning to feel sorry for him. If so, big mistake.

Russ and Co. had blanked the seventh and Smith had blanked the eighth, leaving an $11,000 skin on the table in the ninth. Howard finally cashed in, making a tap-back to score the skin and make the 10th end meaningful, as it almost always is/was (Casino Rama Skins Games are now eight ends in length, of course).

And lo and behold, the Wounded Moose pulled it off in the final end too, stealing the final $6,000 skin and the victory when Smith missed a last-ditch runback for the win.

The champs took home $37,000, which also included the $10,000 winner’s bonus and another $1,000 for winning the pre-event draw to the button.

This was also the first Skins Game in which all three games went down to the last stone.

And there are two more international skins appearances to remind you of.

We are pretty darned sure – and please correct us if you think we’re wrong – that Norway’s Pal Trulsen appeared in the McCain/TSN shootout soon after his Olympic triumph in 2002.

And another Scottish team, skipped by Tom Brewster, appeared in one of the short-lived M&M Meat Shops Skins events – and made it all the way to the final of the six-team event – televised by rival broadcaster Rogers Sportsnet. Remember that one, folks?


Anything else going on, you ask?

• Wednesday is “Camp Day” at all Tim Hortons stores across Canada, a special day where every penny earned in coffee sales goes to a worthy cause: the Brier sponsor’s Tim Horton Children’s Foundation. Don’t be surprised to see some of Canada’s top curling stars slinging coffee and donuts at various store locations tomorrow ...

• The twin sons of TSN curling colour man Ray Turnbull – affectionately labelled “in-turn” and “out-turn” – were in the news last weekend...

• Brad Gushue’s hometown St. John’s Telegram recently published a look back at his squad’s – er, sorry, Russ’ squad’s – 2006 Olympic triumph ...

• SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION 101: For some reason, Canwest News recently recycled this online story from March’s Brier frenzy, in which The Curling News boss George Karrys was quoted on the rarely-discussed question of curling songs ...

• Speaking of curling songs, Skip Cottage liked our recent highlight of the bizarro Jamie Jay Singh song, reposted here... and this here video tribute to Seattle’s Granite Curling Club boasts its own original curling song...

• Less than two months after the successful Ford Worlds came to New Brunswick, that province’s Interscholastic Athletic Association will vote today on whether or not to throw five sports – including curling – off the provincial high school athletic roster ...

• Finally, would anyone care to guess why these apartments for rent in Hoboken, NJ have been called Curling Club apartments?

In Hoboken, New Joisey?

Somebody help us understand. Please.

Ford World Curling: Farewell

MONCTON – The Moncton Coliseum was full to the rafters Sunday night, and I was able to witness a rather amazing 50th anniversary men’s world championship final.

From my part, I'd like to thank gk for the opportunity to blog from this event. It was a blast!

Kudos for Moncton for the organization: everyone here ensured that the event is a success. Even the nightlife of a relatively small city offered plenty of entertainment throughout the week and I must tell you, those long nights are starting to show.

To quote the three-year-old daughter of a Finnish curling legend: “Mommy... Daddy smells like curling again!”

Thankfully, I’ve got no spouse nor kids waiting at home.

In addition to sleep deprivation and liver poisoning, I will go home with plenty of memories and new friends. After seeing a major curling event in Canada, I’m definitely tempted to come and check out another... perhaps next year’s Tim Hortons Brier in Halifax?

While I was disappointed for my brother Kalle (with me in the photo) and the Finnish team, I know they enjoyed themselves, from the moment they started their training camp in nearby Amherst, Nova Scotia to the final round of drink tokens in Sunday night’s Keith’s Patch.

And now that the week is over, it is also time to announce the winner of our “Hottest Player of Worlds 2009” vote.

Although I felt like an utter and complete bimbo for organizing it, the people in Moncton seemed to enjoy a bit of cheeky fun... and even the local media was happy to feature it to emphasize a different aspect of these big curling events.

When choosing my list of candidates, I consulted the media guys who were happy to help, once they had gotten the “I’m not gay, don’t ask me!” out of their system.

In addition to the voting possibility here at the blog – check out the first six candidates (and comments) here, and the final six candidates here – there was a paper vote available at the arena, and hundreds of ballots were cast.

For starters, all 12 nominated players received votes so there truly is an abundance of hot men in this game!

Also, three other gentlemen outside of our vote had caught the eye of the female spectators, and are nited for the record: Switzerland’s Markus Eggler, French front-ender Jan Ducroz and Scottish third Ewan MacDonald.

The result of the balloting went down to the wire. The difference between the winner and the player who came second was only two votes and our top two hotties hogged more than half of all the votes for themselves.

Ladies and gentlemen, here is your Top 5:

1. Thomas Ulsrud (Norway)
2. John Morris (Canada)
3. David Murdoch (Scotland)
4. Andreas Lang (Germany)
5. Tied: Thomas Dufour (France), Jan Hauser (Switzerand) and Jiri Snitil (Czech Republic).

Thank you Moncton... and farewell!

Ford World Curling: The Final

by Katja Kiiskinen

MONCTON – Since I have now successfully dodged the subject of the actual curlingcompetition for the entire week thus far, it might be time to bring it up.

For the first five days of the competition it was Canada versus The Rest of The World.

Team Martin had no problem reading the ice (which was at times a bit tricky) and they were making every shot. With the exception of their Germany game on Monday, Canada seemed to have every game won in the first five ends.

Still, their first loss was coming all week and some might suggest that Canada’s loss in that last draw against Scotland was the worst possible timing.

When you’re finally challenged and beaten after a week of “easy” games, suddenly adjusting your mental approach to the game takes some effort.

And lots more effort if you then find yourself with two losses in a row.

For the rest of the teams who still had a chance to make it in the top four, it was time to buy some beers for the David Murdoch’s Scottish boys.

Team Kevin Martin definitely knows how to win, but once Scotland had them by the throat on Thursday, we could actually see an inkling of uncertainty in the hometown team’s performance.

Then, in Friday's playoff (CCA photo by Michael Burns) we saw more than just an inkling. And I can’t blame them – in front of this crowd, losing can seem like a scary prospect. The “Go Canada Go!” cheers we heard here on Friday sounded like they were almost demanding their boys to step up their game.

At the beginning of the week, if you had asked me who would win this thing, I would not have hesitated to say Canada, even though Scotland and Norway were also standout squads. Despite a couple of losses, Scotland and Norway were both performing consistently and seemed like sure candidates for the top four, and the ones to challenge Canada.

However, after having the courage to mix it up, Russ Howard’s Team Switzerland found the confidence and started improving their play, game by game, and became part of the equation.

After a much more convincing performance, Canada will be part of the final after all.

For me, this week has clearly shown the importance of a team’s mental strength and willpower. The body language and commitment of Team Martin tonight was miles away from what we saw yesterday against Scotland. They have been able to pull it together.

Still, if you ask me now, I think Scotland is no longer merely a contender. Because they were able to shake the ground under Canada, it will be an even, and hopefully entertaining, championship final tomorrow, and the pressure is definitely on Canada.

Ford World Curling: Spring part I

by Katja Kiiskinen

MONCTON – Recent work days have consisted of taking pictures of an alien, a bird and four men in their underwear.

I need to keep reminding myself that this is a major curling competition.

“Spring is in the air... everywhere I look around...”

You can definitely tell we are heading towards the end of the curling season and here’s some proof of that... starting with Bernie.

You know how birds migrate back home from the south at this time of year? Well, in addition to our curling-stone-shaped mascot (named Skip, who was created by the WCF) we have our own Bernie the Birdie (TCN photo courtesy Tomi Rantamäki).

This little one felt the good spring vibes of our tournament and decided to settle inside the rink. Bernie most often stays close to the ceiling, but whenever the more inexperienced curlers are struggling with tactics – such as Kevin Martin or David Murdoch – or the cameramen are about doze off, Bernie lands on the ice to cheer everyone up.

Parts II and III coming soon!

Ford World Curling: Hotties part II

by Katja Kiiskinen

MONCTON – The editor apologizes for the delay, but apparently the Canadian Prime Minister arrives this morning – big curling fan that he is – and that seems to have quite a few people scurrying about.

And here we are, finally, with the rest of our hotties who are easy on the ice... or should that read eyes?

7. NORWAY

The entire curling world knows he is gorgeous, so maybe it would have been time to go with someone else... but then all of you Thomas Ulsrud fans out there would have been raising a riot. With the addition of the young and talented Petterson and Svae on the front end, Ulsrud’s impressive curling career seems to be picking up the pace with every year that passes by.

8. UNITED STATES

We were very tempted to go with the sweetheart skip of the team, John Shuster, but ultimately decided we would let you vote on third Jason Smith, who spends half the year charming the Floridians.

9. SWITZERLAND

Our Swiss playa has got an inexplicable way with the ladies. Any members of the cuter sex who have been in his vicinity will know this. If there’s a girlfriend reading, you should not be alarmed – despite his amazing charisma, Jan Hauser always behaves.

10. SCOTLAND

This hot piece of crumpet and his team are responsible for offering us some of the most enduring moments of curling. That’s right, we’re talking about Scotland’s very own David Murdoch. He is known for his incredible versatility as a player and an intense focus on the game, which make him oh-so-captivating to watch.

11. JAPAN

Look at this cutie! Say hello to Kosuke Morozumi, the brother of Japan skip Yusuke Morozumi. He’s only 20 – the average age of this young team is only 22 – and they were targeting the 2014 Olympics when they surprised the field at the Japanese final.

12. GERMANY

We were tempted to go with alternate Daniel Herberg, but we simply cannot resist the lure of Andreas Lang. He first arrived with the veteran Team Kapp to install some youthful vitality to the squad, and just like that, the squad is confirmed to represent Germany next year in Vancouver.

So, there they are! Your nominees for the hottie vote. Be sure to check out the first group, if you haven’t already, and leave a comment so you can make someone’s day!

The Curling News: January 2009 issue

Happy New Year to one and all.

The January 2009 issue of The Curling News is in the mail and should be arriving any day now.

And as we draw closer and closer to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, we think you should definitely become a subscriber.

We will be using this blog to highlight some of the content non-subscribers have been missing over the past months, just to illustrate how neither one – blog and print edition – can really work without the other.

You need both. One is free, the other costs just 35-odd bucks a year. That’s all.

So subscribe today, and you’ll get stuff like this, every month, first in line ...


• Is Scotland’s David Murdoch the Neo of curling? Regardless, Canadians should be wary;
• European Championships report from O’vik;
• Larry Wood asks if today’s curling ice is actually too good to be true;
• John Morris dons the gloves and Jennifer Jones goes sailing in new CCA ticket drives;
• The Dominion Club Corner looks at curling liners – the Easy Sheet – as a real option for your curling club;
• Matt Hames, new American citizen, is back on the curling ice;
• Wayne Middaugh robs Brad Gushue at The National, Larouche on fire and Gushue/Lawton lead Capital One Cup standings;
• They Said It: our monthly look at quotable quotes includes Walchuk, Lang, Jones, Murdoch, The Ferb, Johnny Mo, Howard (both of them) and even a CurlingZone chatter;
• Kimberly Tuck dishes on the Canadian Mixed in Iqaluit;
• The Curling News Book Blowout: there’s still time to grab one of five awesome classic curling titles from our vaults;
• Rodger Schmidt exposes the crazy world of Swiss curling, Olympic-style;
• The Other Kevin Martin – no, not the Old Bear, but a Guinness World Record breaker;
• Martin on the haunting of Lloydminster, the Calgary Brier and his disdain for the Hall of Fame... Johnny Mo doesn’t feel like an outsider any more... Swift Current grabs the 2010 Ford Worlds, and more!

Le Gruyère European Championships 08

ÖRNSKÖLDSVIK, Sweden – Two great final games, one an up-and-down rollercoaster, the other a tightly-wound study of tactical maneuvering, have brought the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008 to a stunning conclusion.

Scotland’s David Murdoch won an improbable second straight men’s victory with a shocking comeback win over Norway. On the women’s side, Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott buried some five years of frustration by finally defeating the mighty Anette Norberg of Sweden not once, not twice, but thrice in as many days... and in Sweden, no less.

That’s Swiss third Carmen Schaefer – you know her as Carmen of Curling, versions one and also two – celebrating upon the impact of her skip’s final takeout. Swedish third Eva Lund (background) knows what’s coming, Swiss third Valeria Spaelty (left) is rapidly getting airborne and of course WCTV cameras are right in there (WCF photo by Urs Raeber).

Another great photo of Swiss elation can be found here, taken by AFP.

Did you know that in just four days Ott and Norberg will become teammates, together with Bingyu Wang of China, as Team World takes on Team North America at the Continental Cup of Curling in Camrose, Alberta, Canada?

The men from Finland are back in the Worlds – Ford edition, coming up in Moncton – but without M-15, aka Markku Uusipaavalniemi, of course. The 2008 Eurohosts are thus out of the worlds, and Sweden’s men’s program is in complete disarray. Spain and Ireland are back down to next year’s B-Pool in Aberdeen, Scotland.

England’s women stay in the A-Pool and send the Dutch down next year, along with the Czech Republic. Norway’s women, finally minus Dordi Nordby and also missing the elusive Linn Githmark, are back in the Worlds (courtesy of skip Marianne Rorvik) and shall book their tickets to Gangneung, Korea.

Home, James. We’ll catch you next week ...

Murdoch wins, Gushue praised

It’s all over in St. Petersburg, Russia, where David Murdoch’s Scottish champions upended Canada’s Brad Gushue, the 2006 Olympic champion, by a 6-3 score in the final.

Pal Trulsen’s 2002 Olympic champs won the bronze, defeating one of the Russian entries 5-4.

In the semifinals, Gushue edged Trulsen 6-5 in an extra-end while Murdoch took out the Russians 7-4.

In the WCT-E photo above (click to zoom in), we note a few things:

1. The event trophies are huge but the individual trophies are quite small!

2. Gushue (far left) deserves an award for fearlessly perching on the very edge of the silver podium without taking a tumble, while his teammates - front enders no less! – stand comfortably in safety. Lead stone Jamie Korab even gets to hold the big trophy!

3. Peter Smith of Scotland – the big guy – has just won way too many trophies in his long career.

4. Who is the new Norwegian lead? We thought coach Ole Ingvaldsen was actually throwing rocks during the week.

5. Note the coloured confetti on the ice. It probably exploded up into the air when the Scots received their championship trophy. But they probably didn’t bounce up and down, chanting, for fear of collapsing the podium.

6. Finally, we note the cool hair and duds on the Master of Ceremonies. That guy has it goin’ on.

So, it’s all over, and the event certainly looked to be a resounding success. We’ve got some comments from World Curling Tour Europe ED Armin Harder, who spoke to TCN about the Canadians:

“The Gushue boys are true sportsmen... they are great ambassadors for the game and for their country. The European Tour really appreciates their flying all that way from Newfoundland. They’ve been the stars here and an enormous boost to our cause, and a pleasure to have along.”

Russia’s Adamant Curling Cup

The ADAMANT St.Petersburg Curling Cup is just about ready to start. As you will recall, six international teams will battle it out along with Russian locals in an exhibition series hosted in a shopping mall.

Ice tech Peter Luck, at left in this photo (above) from Tuesday, is the man tasked with bringing the ice to life. Luck, who is 59, has over 30 years of experience in Switzerland – at Wallisellen, near Zurich – and has been the chief ice tech for the past five or so World Wheelchair Championships. He also steered a previous World Juniors in addition to active crew duty at previous World and European Championships.

He’ll head to Vancouver in 2010 for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, but first... St. Petersburg!

Action starts tomorrow and concludes on Sunday. The Brad Gushue, David Murdoch and Thomas Ulsrud teams are at full strength, while Pal Trulsen has coach Ole Ingvaldsen at lead stone and Andy Kapp has his brother Uli, who is recuperating from knee surgery, also at lead.

Follow the action here and stay tuned to this here blog site... we just might have some surprises posted through the event.

What else, you ask?


• Following another invasion of New Zealand, the Aussies have declared their World Mixed Doubles team for the 2009 Cortina Worlds ...

• This is the best darned curling ice in Michigan! So there!

• Here’s early notice that the San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club will be a part of a “get psyched for 2010” Olympic-themed open house on Aug. 24... their club blog is located here ...

• Memories of the Thistle (Hamilton, Ontario version) ... and here’s what it looks like these days, sadly ...

• Here’s a peek at new Canadian Curling Association Governor Jim Campbell ...

• And finally: ever wanted to help map out historical curling locations in Scotland?

Of course you have!

All you need is a computer and high-speed connection. The ancient sport’s archivists are looking for your help – click here for the scoop!

Shopping Mall Curling in Russia

World Curling Tour Europe – these guys, not these guys – have leaped into the headlines with word of an annual curling exhibition being hosted in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Date of the first event is almost imminent: July 25-27, 2008.

The format sees five international men’s teams of considerable heft being jetted into the city to join three local teams, as yet undetermined.

Invited and accepted are:

Brad Gushue – Canada
Pal Trulsen – Norway
Thomas Ulsrud – Norway
David Murdoch – Scotland
Andy Kapp – Germany

Key to the venture is new WCT-E partner Adamant Construction & Property Management, a rather large Russian developer that happens to own some 1.7 million square metres of property in that city alone.

They also own a few shopping centres, including a big one that happens to boast a small ice rink. A rink that has seen curling displays in the past.

As such, shopping mall curling has come to Russia, just as it came briefly to the world’s biggest mall in Edmonton, and more recently (but sadly no longer) to a mid-sized mall in Galt, Ontario.

“It’s a bit of a breakthrough for us,” said WCT-E chief exec Armin Harder, a Canadian who lives in Switzerland.

“Adamant are covering all the costs, and the idea is to do this quite a few times leading in to Sochi in 2014.

“We look forward to putting on a good show for these guys.”

And what do the players think?

“We were pretty surprised,” said Gushue.

“We were notified by Armin Harder that the event was in the works and they asked if we were interested in attending. Of course, we said yes. But we didn’t want to get too excited until we knew for sure that the event was a go. Once we heard it was a go we got really excited.

“We have our tickets booked and we are looking forward to it... should be a great experience. Hopefully the event will help raise the profile of the game in Russia and add another event on the WCT-E for down the road.”

And on the western front:

“We are happy to be among those top teams that have been invited to this
event,” said Füssen’s Andy Kapp.

“St. Petersburg is a fantastic and booming city and to play a tournament in the middle of summer heat will be very interesting. In Germany and Switzerland we are used to playing tournaments in July and August, but not in a shopping center and not in Russia. If the ice isn’t melting, we will melt it!”

Kevin’s Conundrum

A special report to The Curling News from the Rock the Ralph with CurlingZone Blog

by Gerry Geurts

It seems that Kevin Martin hasn’t vanquished his demons yet, though that loss in the Page 1 vs 2 game to Scotland’s David Murdoch might have helped to keep his mind on the task at hand. A win last night would have left Kevin 36 hours before the final to overthink, and allow the doubts to creep into his mind.

Many of you may know Peter Smith, second on the Scottish team, a man who has been a big part of Kevin’s problems. Smith was part of the Scottish team skipped by Douglas Dryburgh that defeated Kevin in the 1986 World Junior final, and he was also a member of the 1991 Scottish World Championship team, skipped by David Smith, which knocked off Kevin in that final as well.

There’s plenty of history as three members of that team are part of this year’s Scottish contingent. Third Graeme Connal was then throwing third stones for Smith, with Peter at second, and current team coach David Hay threw lead stones.

Martin, trailing the Scottish team in the round robin by a few points at the halfway mark, pulled out a corn broom to give the ice some more, er, character. A move not considered ethical by many... and the Scots had problems and ended up losing the game.

The expected rematch took place in the final, and yet again the Scots took the early advantage and Kevin pulled out the old straw. The Canadian crowd – a Winnipeg crowd – was not appreciative of this move, and booed loudly in response.

But the Scots had learned from this move, and with some help from some Canadian compatriots, they were prepared with hog hair brushes from a local curling shop to counteract the sticky corn all over the ice. Scotland went on to prevail, and the second chink in Kevin’s armour was in place.

It’s going to be another historic final. Martin and his men looked to be on a mission in dispatching Norway in the semi, and overall the squad is looking much more focussed and composed.

But when Kevin Martin gets into the hack to throw his last stone, what thoughts will be going through his head?

World curling warmup

by Resby Coutts

WINNIPEG – Put competitive people on the ice and you’ll have great curling action... even if the original intent was a bit of fun, and for a good cause.

Tuesday at Winnipeg’s Pembina Curling Club, three international curling teams en route to Grand Forks for the 2008 World Men’s Championship played three local teams as a fundraiser-slash-awareness-generator for the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation.

Denmark’s Johnny Frederiksen took on Pembina’s Lionel Walz, a former Manitoba Senior Men’s champion; Czech Republic’s Jiri Snitil played Norm Magnusson’s Senior Men’s team (skipped by Lorne Hamblin, who coached the 2002 World Junior Champions) and Scotland’s David Murdoch took on some guy named Jeff Stoughton.

A full house crowd, including a pair of Japanese junior teams in town for the Optimist International Under-18 Championship, turned out to watch the fun and were treated to some great shotmaking in all three games.

Stoughton cobbled together a team that included Scotland’s Peter Loudon... a fellow who actually beat Stoughton in the final of the 1999 Ford Worlds in Moncton. Playing like high-stakes gamblers for much of the session, Stoughton came up short against a Murdoch team that is obviously set for a serious run starting this Saturday in Grand Forks.

Walz was forced to add Denmark’s new consultant-coach John Helston, a former Canadian champion for Mike Riley’s Brier-winning 1984 team, to his lineup. Walz was the gracious host. Facing a hit for two to tie coming home, Walz rolled out to give the Danes a one point victory.

Hamblin and his veteran team rose to the challenge of their first (and most likely only) game in international competition. Snitil and his young team showed they’re ready for their World debut with a solid display of shotmaking and strategy that impressed the Winnipeg onlookers. Tied coming home with the hammer, Hamblin's third Don Newbury made the shot of his season, sinking an out-turn draw into the four foot behind cover to set up the final victory point.

As mentioned, the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation was the big winner as some $400 was raised through a silver collection.


Resby Coutts has a fine weekly radio show in Winnipeg and is also the publisher of the equally fine webzine The Curler. Come back anytime, Res...

Connal kudos

Congratulations to Graeme Connal, who was given the Perth Guildry Sports Personality of the Year Award last night for winning December’s European Curling Championship as the third for David Murdoch. The photo by Urs Raeber shows Connal (second from right) with some of his mates on the podium in Fuessen.

Connal wasn’t even going to compete this season, but continued knee problems for Ewan MacDonald made Murdoch ring up Connal, who won the worlds eons ago – 1991 actually – with David Smith. In recent years Connal had played third for Tom Brewster, meaning lots of cash earned on many Grand Slam trips to Canada, but constant disappointment in the Scottish finals.

Hammy MacMillan now throws third for Brewster, and Connal had pretty much parked his competitive career... but suddenly, 16 long years after taking gold in Winnipeg over the Kevin combo – Canada’s Martin and Park – Connal has won a major title, is off to Grand Forks for the Worlds, and has now copped this local award.

Good on ya mate!

Rocking the boat

What an interesting Canadian women’s championship that was.

One year ago, a curling journalist summed up the women’s game by tearing an unexpected strip off virtually the entire gender. This was most surprising given the writer wasn’t really a writer... he was a competitor, a peer beloved by virtually all who play this roaring game. And he’s the last person we would expect to see “rock the boat.”

He said:

Ladies teams have coaches, psychologists, nutritionists et cetera. Fire them all and take responsibility for your own results and nothing is better than throwing a ton of granite.

I am sick of hearing that the men have better sweeping and are more powerful at clearing the guards out front. That is a fact, but you ladies have great deliveries and flexibility. You don’t have to be able to make triples and have your rocks swept 12 feet to win at this game. You should, however, be willing and able to make the simple shots with confidence.

I am so tired of hearing the pet phrases “risk and reward.” You are going to be in games where if you miss a certain shot, you are going to lose and if you make a certain shot, you are going to win. It can be that simple.

You ladies have to toughen up. How many times do you hear after a complete miss... “That’s okay.” “Nice try.” Geez Louise! It is not okay!

I am not advocating dirty looks and broom slamming, but quit celebrating misses. When players miss, they should be less than happy with themselves and the way to show it is by bearing down and making their next shot.

This year, if Neil “Harry” Harrison were still scribbing for SWEEP!, we suspect he would now be nodding his head in some satisfaction. Generally speaking, the bulk of the field seemed to play a better game of curling this time around. More rocks in play, a little more killer instinct, a style based more on winning than the fear of losing.

And that meant a better show, whether you were yelling in person from the Brandt Centre seats, crouched over your computer screen at work, or settled into the sofa watching plasma.

That’s a very general comment. Of course there were episodes of sheer madness – one writer shook his head all week over some suspect Quebec strategy – and over a nine-day rockfest everybody has an opinion. Winnipeg’s Jim Bender mused Saturday about eventual champ Jennifer Jones (Kruger Products photo by Andrew Klaver, above) possibly scaling things back, and, well, look where she is today (coming in to land right about now, actually). As for quantification, we certainly did not bother to look up CurlingZone’s in-depth numbers to analyze the differences between Lethbridge 07 and Regina 08.

But overall, we think Harry would be happy. Perhaps we’ll ring him up and find out..?

Some final Scotties thoughts – at least until you read the March issue of TCN:

– Is there a more up-and-down Canadian women’s skip than Suzanne Gaudet?

– News Talk 980’s Mitchell Blair was a busy fellow, but still wonders “Why didn’t I?”

– It looks like Regina organizers can relax for a while, but Victoria dare not ...

– Did you know that the closing Scotties banquet, the “social event of the curling season”, didn’t happen?

– And here’s a blog devoted to Michelle Englot, who made it through a rolling sea of emotions at the STOH.

And furthermore ...


• Something new for the debate about curling’s TV commentators. A Canadian amateur sport bigwig, Diana Davis Duerkop, was thoroughly unimpressed with CBC’s Mike Harris during Saturday’s semifinal telecast, and likewise during the final.

After accusing Harris of favouring Ontario in the semi, she herself shows favouratism to Joan McCusker. Meanwhile, the majority of curling fans we regularly hear from – including Bob Weeks – seem to prefer, or at least tend to agree with, Mr. Harris.

So does sports media observer Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star, the fellow who broke the reality-TV curling hullaballoo. Zelko seems to like everything that both commentators have to offer, and believes they both hush up at the right times.

Interesting.

Davis Duerkop also takes CBC to task for ignoring the Albertans once the final rock was thrown. And we agree with that criticism.

• Townie Bastard isn’t strong on the Scotties Newfoundland skip, but he is himself a curling champion this morning. Now is that the legitimately big curling news, or is there more to come?

• Speaking of the hullaballoo, Jef Spaleta is begging for a Rockstar Curling audition in Fairbanks, Alaska ...

• The Montreal Gazette came out with a strong review for Doug Clark’s book, The Roaring Game ...

• Six other international champions were declared over the weekend. In the United States, Craig Brown won his first American men’s title in eight years while Deb McCormick made history by capturing her third women’s crown in a row.

In Scotland, it was Euroking David Murdoch over defending champ Warwick Smith in men’s play but the women’s side produced a surprise in new champion Gail Munroe. Who is Gail, you might ask? Well, apart from riding a grand streak of wins over the past month or so – including a 4-0 record over the vanquished Kelly Wood in recent times – she happens to be Hammy McMillan’s sister!

And in Switzerland, Mirjam Ott clubbed former Olympic skip Luzia Ebnoether 12-5 in the women’s final, while the brand-new pairing of Claudio Pescia and 1998 Olympic champ Patrick Huerlimann – playing third – shocked Ralph Stoeckli 7-6 in the men’s final. To see a video report, click here and again on the blue “News” box.

Watch for an unusual photo of the Swiss champs in the March issue of The Curling News!

• Outdoor curling gets a third feature treatment in the aforementioned March issue (subscribe today!). Today’s Rochester Democrat & Chronicle throws a spotlight on 200 happy outdoor rockers, and there’s this video, too ...

• Amanda went ...

• We, too salute this curling hero, Jack Lockhart of North Bay, Ontario ...

• And finally, the memory of Sandra Schmirler – very topical given the recent 10th anniversary of the first women’s Olympic gold – is often disconnected from her husband and their children... who are now old enough to ask questions about mom and her legacy. Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post goes in depth with widower Shannon England, and it results in a lengthy but facinating read ...