Stampeder Curling

What a ripoff.

The scene: Canadian Football League action on holiday Monday. The Calgary Stampeders are thumping the Saskatchewan Roughriders and TSN’s live feed inexplicably crashes early in the fourth quarter. The usual gang of suit-clad mouthpieces cut in, of course, to discuss various statistical whatnots around the table as attempts are made to reconnect to the live action.

When they do, another Calgary touchdown has occurred and scorer Nik Lewis seems to have tossed something (above). The camera stays close on him as he watches and then starts celebrating. The slo-mo replay doesn’t include any of the previous.

The previous was in fact Lewis throwing the football like a curling stone, which his teammates then started “sweeping”.

Ace TCN and Calgary Herald scribe Al Cameron was there, as were his rivals at the Calgary Sun and Cameron, for one, has declared this end-zone celebration to be simply the best ever.

We agree: it sends quite a message to Winnipeg that “Duck-Duck-Goose” just ain’t gonna cut it.

So, apart from a screen capture from TSN’s belated, missed-the-boat coverage (available here, at 13:12 of the fourth quarter) we have ZERO photo and video evidence of the greatest CFL scoring celebration of all time. We even have the CFL’s media department hunting for some images, but they’ve drawn a blank so far.

Our last hope is for some intrepid CFL fans, on site at the game, who might have captured this on video, on film, via a mobile phone pic, whatever. Please drop us a line via Comments below, or via our website, if you have the evidence.

Meanwhile, CFL legend Milt Stegall – a Blue Bomber, wouldn’t you know – has gone completely loco. For no apparent reason, he spoke major league heresy against both hockey and curling, two fo the most Canadian sporting ways of life. What the...?

Careful With That Axe, Eugene

OK... does anyone know this yahoo?

According to police in Vernon, British Columbia, this nitwit took a few chunks out of the Vernon Curling Club with an axe. Of all the noive!

You can read the brief story here, which includes another photo.

Turns out this happened on March 18, just before the start of the most awesome
2008 Ford World Women’s Championship. Of course, you recall what happened during that tourney – more crime!

There was a happy ending to that tale, however, as the Vernon community raised over $10,000 to reimburse the affected teams. Now, hopefully this axe-wielding dingbat will get what’s coming to him.

Still with B.C., the CCA has opened its 2009 Scotties TOH office in Victoria; the story is here and another photo can be found here.

What else is happening, you ask?


• One of our favourites, The Weakerthans, have made a video for their curling song, Tournament of Hearts. It’s an odd work of art shot in black and white which mixes genuine ancient curling footage with modern fakery. Watch for lovelorn curlers standing on tables at your club this coming fall, yelling “Why?” ...

• The Capital One Grand Slam event schedule has been released, and Richard Hart from Team Glenn Howard is pumped.

“It’s a great schedule,” Hart told The Curling News Blog. “Quebec last year hosted an amazing Slam, and Winnipeg has been a great Slam market the last couple of years. We won the Slam when it was held in Waterloo, so that will be great for us. And I hear the women’s worlds in Grande Prairie was awesome a few years ago, so bring it on.”

• Remember Rockstar Curling? Sure you do.

There was some general moping when the proposed curling reality show delayed tryout announcements until the coming fall, but the project still seems to be a go. A new official-looking YouTube membership was recently taken out, with not one but two videos posted in the last 24 hours. PS: have you signed up yet?

• Not one but two former WCF presidents have fallen: Dr. Don Barcome Sr. in the United States, and Canada’s Clif Thompson ...

• Team World at December’s Continental Cup will feature Chinese teams for the first time, plus two rather big names behind the bench, as coach and captain ...

• The 2009 World Mixed Doubles Championships will take place in Cortina, Italy, the site of the 2010 World Men’s. The event runs late, in mid-April ...

• John Morris – and many, many others - beware: Scotland is making a move to punish the elite of the sport for leaning, grabbing and otherwise flopping on the ice after throwing. Other countries are sure to follow suit ...

• In curling club news, they’ve broken ground for the new Windsor CC in Nova Scotia; Quebec’s CC Lanaudiere is in trouble; and The Oshawa will survive: following last month’s ominous news, an extremely well-attended meeting has produced a new president and also a new plan of action.

“We’ll be putting together an aggressive membership campaign and are looking forward to another season of terrific curling on great ice!” said past president Rob Faulds.

We also hear the Toronto Curling Association has been helpful... but what of the Ontario Curling Association?

• And finally, the Quote of the Week comes from 1998 Olympic champ and CBC curling commentator Joan McCusker, regarding the influx of volunteers and sports fans from Saskatchewan who are expected during the upcoming winter Olympics:

“You know what that means – a lot of watermelon helmets going on in Vancouver 2010.”