CJ at third? Why not?

No surprise here that three weeks to the day after news broke that her ex-teammates had re-formed into a new squad, legendary Halifax skip Colleen Jones has attracted a talented new team... for which she will play third (ie. "mate" in Atlantic Canadian terminology).

And why not? If one trend sees big-name skips dropping down to third, second or even lead stone to form a "super-squad", why not the reverse (see Morris, John earlier this week)?

Jonesy is no stranger to the position. She won the national mixed championship twice, in 1999 (with skip Paul Flemming) and in '93 with skip/husband Scott Saunders. She also played third at three other national mixed events in the 90s.

Here's what CJ told the Daily News:

I absolutely loved that position. Your shots are massive. You just have to watch the great thirds, like Randy Ferbey, or Mark Nichols of the Brad Gushue team. Sure, the skip saves an end, but the three people in front of them are the ones who make or break the deal. And I think it's a position I'm dying to get at. And a position I just want to be really strong at in every way.

This marks the first time that three members of the 1982 Scotties championship team – with a rookie Jones skipping at only 22 years of age – have reunited on a team (we think). Skip Kay Zinck had this to say:

She was looking for a change. She's kind of burnt out from skipping and leading a team. She's had the gun on her back and the pressure on her for a long time now. Where some of us might just take a year off to rebuild, she's looking to refresh herself with just a change.

Speaking of, check out this "That Was Then" feature in the Chron: Another Team Jones, ripping up junior curling way back in '76 (second paragraph from the bottom).

Elsewhere, sounds like Saskatchewan curling is in trouble, and we're not talking about Benny Heebz' departure for Calgary. The new president is facing all kinds of problems – everything from plummeting team entries to financial woes – and now there's a movement to put provincial finals back into curling clubs. Saskatchewan once led the way in moving events from clubs into arenas – the men's provincial has been staged in arenas since 1992, while the women's championship moved to arenas in 1998 – but as George Regnier told Monday's Regina Leader-Post at the recent AGM:

I don't think it's going backwards. Times have changed and we're finding the crowds aren't as large. You have to work really hard to get people out for a Tankard and women's championship. It's not that simple anymore.

What's definitely not simple – it's actually quite baffling – was the previous arena strategy: it somehow excluded the big centres of Regina and Saskatoon. Said Regnier:

Is it not better for our game to have the championships in the biggest markets in the province? You have a lot more people to draw from. I'm not saying anything bad about the smaller communities, it just gives other places a chance to play host to the championships.

Well, yeah! So why not allow arena provincials in those cities? Why does the event have to revert to a curling club? Are there no small arenas – minimum seating for 800, TV considerations etc. – in Regina or Saskatoon that would fit the bill? Bueller?

Alberta would argue this is indeed "going backwards." According to today’s Calgary Herald (subscription only) there's a rush to put Alberta women’s provincials into arenas, and it could happen as early as 2008. As the delightfully-quotable Heather Rankin told Allen Cameron:

That would be fantastic, as long as we have a good icemaker who makes swingy ice. If we're playing on straight, quick ice, that does nothing for us. I actually believe that's the reason Alberta hasn't done well over the last 10 years, because we play on bowling alleys most of the time, and when you get to a Canadian championship, it takes us four games to figure it out.

Some curling bullet points for your weekend:

• Brad Gushue and Jennifer Jones were jetted into Guelph, Ontario last weekend for the Canadian Curling Association's Coaching in Curling clinic. Gushue gave two presentations and was part of a panel discussion, and he quoted – to the Guelph Mercury – precisely what The Curling News asked him about back at the Regina Brier:

I think it was about 1993 or 1994 when I started, and that's when the announcement was made that curling was going to be an Olympic sport. Even before that I grew up watching the Olympics. I always wanted to be an Olympian, and the only sport that I played was hockey. You dream about that, and the first time I started curling I quit hockey. So then it switched over to that, I wanted to curl in the Olympics. Most high level competitive curlers dream about the Brier. That's their original dream. For me, I'm probably one of the first in this generation to have this dream of the Olympics.

Kudos also to Gushue for a willingness to help get the peak age of competitors down from the mid-30s to mid-20s... and TCN agrees that coaching, begun at an earlier age, is one way of helping.

• All kinds of curlers up to no good (just kidding) this weekend: Gushue golden boy Mike Adam will be in Winnipeg, along with various other athletes including the Flying Canucks... maybe Adam will drag some Olympians out to Team Kristy Jenion's unique fundraiser, a Wing Ding at Hooters Restuarant, where the gals – back-to-back Manitoba finalists to go to the Scotties TOH in both 2005 and '06 – will fundraise for next season, using beer and a barbeque (genius!), a silent auction, and even an NHL jersey as a prize. We won't comment on the possibility of tight T-shirts and orange shorts also making an appearance (looks like we just did!)... and we did mention a sayonara to Toronto's Mike Harris – soon to be an Albertan – taking place in west-end T.O. on Saturday night as well, right?

• Speaking of Winnipeg, will their wildly successful BDO Classic Canadian Open Grand Slamarino take place again in early January – and will that get confirmed soon? – so that it might not conflict either with women’s provincials or the MCT Championship? Just asking. And as for the lead position on JJones' squad, it has returned to local city limits as Winnipegger Dana Allerton will replace import Georgina Wheatcroft, who returns to B.C. and just might hook up again with Kelley Law...

• More Turin curlers – Canadian bronze gals Shannon Kleibrink and Amy Nixon – will bash with bats as part of a Stampeders charity softball game next month...

• More stories on country music star Toby Keith and his wayward curling dreams; these cowpokes seem to think we throw a "huge metal disk" (sigh) and here's an on-ice challenge to mister fancy-hat himself...

• Scotland might finally have a new curling academy, worth 1.5 million pounds. Sounds exciting, but sadly this will merely replace the Gogar Park CC, which closed two years ago to make way for a new corporate headquarters...

• In U.S. news, communications dynamo Rick Patzke is the new honcho of USA Curling... as this U.S. journo agrees, no Double-A baseball player can possibly win a name award in an Olympic curling (hello Markku U-15) year... remember Salt Lake City 2002? The local blat looks both backward and forward at the sport in that town, four years later... now we've got Purdue (Indiana) students taking on curling...

• Finally, we're not sure how we missed this one during Torino 2006, but this timewaster (look for "game") involves cows and a "real chocolate vodka shake." So there you go.

Alberta in turmoil

Once the rumours were confirmed – see yesterday's TCN Blogpost, below – the discussions burst forth, and there's more fallout today.

There’s a free on-screen interview with workmates – and new teammates – Kevin Martin (photo) and Marc Kennedy available on the CurlTV homepage... Martin also spoke to the ConMan... and Kevin Koe has confirmed that he in talks with another Edmonton skip, Blake MacDonald – he throws skip stones, but doesn’t call the game – which would further damage the men’s competitive scene in Calgary. Note the above story, scribbled once again by TCN wizard Allen Cameron, also reveals that Bob Ursel and Jim Cotter have joined forces in B.C., and that Mark Dacey’s 2004 Brier championship squad is in fact sticking together for the 2006-07 campaign.

In Saskatchewan, the departing Ben Hebert has spoken out, while former world junior champion skip (and Hebert teammate) Steve Laycock has been announced as Hebert’s replacement. Laycock has already played lead for Pat Simmons once before – with Hebert at second – at the first Grand Slam of last season, The National in Port Hawkesbury, where the squad lost the final to Toronto's Wayne Middaugh.

Said Hebert to RLP curling scribe Murray McCormick:

We had three good years together, they were my best friends and they will be for the rest of my life. They know it was a career move and I just didn't quit their team for no reason. I was moving for work and it turned out fortunate for me that I got on a really great team.

Sometimes life takes you funny places. It worked out well for everyone and they got a good player to fill my shoes.

Alberta may be (arguably) the place to live – and curl – and the 2007 Kia Cup provincial men's final is certainly going to be a doozy. And new import Mike Harris – yes, he of 1998 Olympic and CBC commentary fame – may still change his mind and decide to compete once he heads west. There's a sendoff for Harris in west-end Toronto this coming Saturday night at 7:30pm...

Martin, Morris on path to 2010

After it was all said and done – and carefully considered for about a month – the young skip went and signed up with the fellow he's been calling The Old Bear.

In an exclusive print scoop, today's Calgary Herald reports that effective today, youthful John Morris (photo) and veteran skip Kevin Martin have joined forces in a four-year curling pact to win Olympic gold at Vancouver 2010.

Edmonton’s Martin, the 2002 Olympic silver medallist, has parted ways with all three Olympic teammates: the two Dons (Walchuk and Bartlett) and youthful second Carter Rycroft.

Morris, the occasionally tempestuous Calgary-by-way-of-Ottawa skip, drops to third stone, and has brought regular second Marc Kennedy along for the ride. At lead stone is Saskatchewan import Ben Hebert, a key cog in the successful Pat Simmons foursome from the past two seasons.

Today’s story by Herald curling writer Allen Cameron – also a top scribe for The Curling News – is in today’s edition and also appears throughout the CanWest Global news empire, including the National Post; in papers located in Regina and Saskatoon; in Victoria and also in Ottawa.

In a TCN exclusive, we spoke with Morris, who said:

I know that these other three guys share my desire and passion for the sport of curling, and I think with some hard work we can have a pretty deadly foursome.

We’re all very excited and are looking forward to putting in a lot of hard work for 2010.

Hebert, just 23, is moving to Morris’ HQ city of Calgary. Kennedy lives in Martin’s hometown of Edmonton, and in fact works for Martin at his curling/tennis supply shop at the Saville Centre. Both previous Martin and Morris squads were sponsored by Bruce Saville, the magnanimous curling sponsor who also steers the ownership group behind hockey’s Edmonton Oilers.

Said Morris:

I’m really looking forward to my new role at third, to being in a more supportive and sharpshooter type of role... even a little bit of sweeping in there is gonna keep me in better shape. We’re gonna work hard in the off-season and hit the gym, and be ready to go for next year.

The Martin/Morris merger brings together two of Alberta’s top squads. Martin won the 2006 Alberta title – breaking arch-rival Randy Ferbey’s string of five consecutive crowns – while Morris finished third. Morris also finished third at the Olympic Trials in Halifax, behind runner-up Jeff Stoughton of Winnipeg and the eventual Olympic gold medallist squad of Brad Gushue and Russ Howard.

For the castoffs, some are assured of bright futures. Both Rycroft and former Morris third Kevin Koe will be tremendous additions to any squad, at any position...including skip. That happens to be Koe’s natural position: he returned there this past weekend and won the final celebrity/charity event of the season, the 25th anniversary Heart to Heart Bonspiel in Thunder Bay.

The two former leads are out of the local picture – Bartlett is taking the 2007 season off while ex-Morris lead Paul Moffatt is moving to his original home province of Ontario. Longtime Martin third Walchuk, constantly on pins and needles with his skip (Martin asked Morris to play third prior to the 2004-05 season, but Morris declined) could return to skip stone, which he played for a couple of years in the mid-1990s, or could retire: he suffered from a serious stomach illness this past season. Earlier rumours had him shuttling down to road to Red Deer to hook up with returning Alberta legend Pat Ryan.

Here, there and everywhere

We've been here, there and everywhere the last few weeks, and the season is just about over... one more trip for a charity spiel in Thunder Bay, the venerable and 25th Heart to Heart, and that's a wrap for an exhausting season.

We were in Lowell, Massachusetts, to see America host the men's worlds in an atmosphere of excitement for the future. Sure, crowds were small during the week but both weekends were big... and loud. As one of the Canucks on the media bench said, Man, I wish our fans were as loud as this.

Two stories, from TorStar and CP, on the end result (Canadian perspective) and naturally a) lots b) of c) Scottish d) coverage e) as well. Not to be outdone was some fun stuff from locals, including the Boston Herald (a few gaffes, naturally, such as the line “laying one in” and their belief that Menard won Olympic gold) and of course the new star on the block, the Lowell Sun, which wrapped it all up nicely in this piece and also had a postscript worth noting.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press is one fellow who was given the curling beat in Turin and seems to be off and running with it: here's his championship piece – featuring a delicious Robbie Burns quote – plus here's his story from the semi as well.

As for final Lowell thoughts: what happened to Pete Fenson, who looked so darn good the first few days of the round-robin?... critic AdJab really liked the Lowell TV ticket adverts (thanx to Blog readers Table 23 for the link)... new Canuck hero – you should have seen the sea of red and white fans and noise in Lowell – Jean-Michel Menard reflects on his year, in Joe The Throw’s final Ott Stun column... and finally this glorious feature, which ran in the Montreal Gazette on Lowell's opening weekend, charmed us to the core; we remember many an hour (or three) spent in the basement of the Lobel home, growing up with all things curling plastered to the walls, the floor (the homemade table-top game) and of course looped constantly within the guts of the ancient VCR. Charming and meaningful because homeowner Art Lobel played third for Jim Ursel, the last (and first) Quebec team to win the Brier, back in '77.

We were in Calgary during the final weekend of the worlds, checking out Cheryl Bernard's incredibly successful Curl For A Cure charity bonspiel. Over half a million dollars raised for the fight against breast cancer in the last three years... and this year's single-day event brought in an incredible $350,000.

If we can track down any photos of the incredible costumes the fun-filled participants wore – including the wild heavy-metal getups of the Calgary Stampeders squad – we will display them here. For now, here's a heartfelt note Cheryl wrote in this year's event program:

I truly believe that everything you do is a statement to the rest of the world of your personal character. Thank you for showing such character, and for giving the gift of hope to all those fighting the battle of cancer.

Let's Tour-talk some cashspiel curling... yes, we'll get to the World Curling Tour's Players' Championships in a moment, but did you know there was another whopping $76K up for grabs at the new Bear Mountain Arena Classic in Victoria? It wasn't well-promoted but here's one piece from Vernon, and another from Saanich, plus this wrap from the Victoria News.

Now for Players'. Media coverage was generally fair – not a comment on bias, but on quantity – but should have been bigger, particularly in an Olympic year. There were pre-event stories, many of which highlighted the fact that this was the first-ever Tour championship for women, and few mentioned that this was the first time women would compete on Tour ice tech Mark Shurek's ice... and the native of Stonewall, Manitoba was only 19-for-19 – a perfect 1.000 batting average – coming into the event. That's right... 19 Grand Slams and 19 displays of perfect ice, satisfying the most finicky of male curling critics dating back to the fall of 2001.

The stage was thus set for the best women's show of the season and, with all due respect to the very well-played Olympic final and also the exciting Ford World Women's final, women's curling needed to go out on a high note. It was not, it says here, a particularly great year for the women's game.

Did it happen? Doesn't look like it. Kelly Scott skips a mildly aggressive team, and for her to score a seven-ender (hi there Janet Harvey) and later an eight-ender (hello Cathy King) in the Players' Championship is, in a word, unbelievable. As finalist Cheryl Bernard commented after the event: "I'm done now and I don't want to play anymore."

Now comes the fun part... team changes and switcheroos for next season. For example, the worst-kept secret in Saskatchewan's women's curling broke before the PC; prior to that, a very dark secret – out of Halifax – created quite a shockwave... and John Morris ended his season – and his team – with a loss to The Ferb in Calgary, but there’s a big announcement coming this week on his new squad for 2006-07.

And you'd already heard about Bubba, right?

• The final curling column for BC's Lyndon Little points out that no Vancouver-area universities will be adding curling to next year’s new CIS programme...

• Hot on the heels of next year's world women's in Aomori, Japan comes the news that Korea will host the 2009 world women's...

• Hey, there's a pretty good ex-junior world champ looking to latch on to a team in Edmonton...

• Soon after the world Seniors came this year's – er, next year's – Canadian Seniors, and the reunited "rookie" squad of Al Hackner and Rick Lang won the men's title for Northern Ontario. Big Al Laine and Brian "Blackie" Adams anchored the front end. On the women's side, Ontario's Anne Dunn won her fourth title in the last five (or is it six?) years, a remarkable accomplishment... which you can't read anywhere, since there was zero media coverage and event the Canadian Curling Association event page doesn't have the results. Remarkable.

• Speaking of seniors, how 'bout them Masters... teams from Kelowna and Halifax captured this year's shootouts, and you might have heard of the women's champ before...

• As first reported in her column in the April issue of The Curling News, Jennifer Jones second stone Jill Officer will make a leisurely climb (say what?) to the base camp of Mount Everest...

• What's up on the U.S. grass roots curling front, you may ask? We're glad you did: word has it that the sport may take deeper root in places like Aspen, Colorado... and in northwest Arkansas... and lo and behold, there’s an open house this Sunday in Ontario, California, home of the fledgling SoCal Curling Club. You go, folks.

• Props to curling's voice over at Blogcritics, The Suss-Man, for a great season of CurlBlogging. He wraps up this fascinating 2005-06 season here...

• Still need your curling fix? Head on over to Dean Gemmell's place, as The Curling Show continues to conduct informative and entertaining interviews with the people who shape the sport. Right now you can find the quiet (according to most North Americans) Swedish star Anette Norberg venting her spleen...

• Okay, here’s the first report that revealed that country music star Toby Keith was big into curling. And in today’s Vancouver Province (and other CanWest Global family papers) Ken Gilchrist has tons more, including some quotes from Sean Gerster, the Ontarian who led Keith out onto the ice for his virgin experience...

• Finally, what the hell is puckhead Bob Hartley talking about?

The Curling News: April issue

LOWELL, MA – Welcome to the Worlds. For our initial thoughts, check out our guest Blogblat on CurlingZone's host event Blogpage.

The World Curling Fed had their elections today, and fresh new blood has been instilled at the top rungs: Canada's Les Harrison is the new President, Scotland's Kate Caithness is the new VP, and 1998 Olympic champion skip Patrick Huerlimann of Switzerland was elected to the Board on the first ballot. There are other rookies on the board as well, but we at TCN are big fans of those three. Great things could be afoot for our sport moving forward.

For the latest and greatest in the world of print, check out the final issue of the 2005-06 season (cover photo), available by subscription now. In this new April issue:

• Sverige! Anette Norberg completes the troika;
• Al Cameron on the Parti Gras Brier;
• Al Cameron – again! – on the last Scott Tournament of Hearts;
• Larry Wood's busy scratchpad on this amazing 2005-06 season;
• Shot Tracker: yet another new statistics system rocks curling fans;
• Doug Maxwell wraps it up until November: TCN's 50th year!
• Adam Daifallah on the reverberations of Quebec's shocking Brier win;
• Blogspot: TCN was there for Quebec's big party night;
• Players' Championship: $250,000 up for grabs in Calgary;
• Mary-Anne Arsenault: behind-the-scenes of the Colleen Jones team split;
• Matt Hames on crazy curling border crossings;
• Jill Officer on "hiking" up Mount Everest;
• TCN's Torino Insiders: not one but TWO behind-the-scenes spies tell all about the 2006 Olympic Games (the second is online at The Curling News homepage);
• TCN TV Guide for April: where to find your TV curling fix!

Jon Mead steps down

Word this afternoon from Winnipeg that there are major changes to Team Jeff Stoughton for next year's 2006-07 campaign.

First, longtime Stoughton second Garry VanDenBerghe announced his retirement, with youthful skip Ryan Fry taking his place.

Now comes word that Jon Mead, Stoughton's hot-shooting third since 1998-99 (resulting in a Brier win and silver medal at the Ford Worlds in Saint John that year) has stepped away from the team. Fry now moves up to third stone, former Kerry Burtnyk second Rob Fowler comes in and Steve Gould remains at lead.

Mead will not reappear with another squad: he reportedly wants to take some time away from the sport.

After Manitoba's disappointing Regina Brier campaign, word spread of a knee injury Mead had been battling since the provincial championships.

Prior to the Brier, Team Stoughton had been on a hellish roll since losing the finale of the Olympic Trials to the Brad Gushue/Russ Howard combination. They won their hometown Grand Slam, the BDO Classic Canadian Open, and sailed through their Safeway Select provincial championship.

VanDenBerghe is supposed to compete with Stoughton at the final two stops on the World Curling Tour circuit: this weekend's Bear Mountain Arena Classic in Victoria and the season finale, the Calgary Herald Players' Championship in Calgary. It is anticipated that Mead will also compete with Team Stoughton in the squad's swan song, but that news is unconfirmed.

Lowell rocks world this weekend

All kinds of speculation on how this weekend's World Men's Championships will eventually play out, with the home-squad USA team skipped by Pete Fenson (photo) of great local interest, and Canada's Jean-Michel Menard also at the heart of many discussions.

A quick note to The Curling News from third Francois Roberge, who is ready to rock:

We thought that our win will help curling in Quebec... it is much bigger than what we expected... it is huge. All the media are still talking about it, we did so many interviews. We are ready to take on the World... they better be prepared for us!

Lowell certainly looks ready to host; here's a look back at how they got the gig to begin with... and don't forget CurlTV, the only place to catch the round-robin action (apart from Eurosport) until the weekend's playoffs on CBC-TV.

• A U.S. wheelchair curler has won a major "spirit" award... did you know Manitoba third Jonny Mead was nursing a bum knee in Regina? He's also welcoming a new teammate to Team Stoughton for 06-07... Speaking of the Brier, CBC’s Nancy Lee has confirmed the Brier’s TV numbers were "quite a drop" from the previous year...Olympian Shannon Kleibrink is on the school circuit, discussing bodyguards, gelato and Mats Sundin...

• On ice, Nova Scotia has its new Mixed champs; some big names are into the Canadian Senior men’s playoffs... and in the women's, too... and Saskatoon’s Scott Coghlan will play for former skipper and good buddy Mark Dacey at the Players' Championship. This is probably a good thing: the last we saw of Dacey and regular third Bruce Lohnes (in the Brier semi) they wanted to strangle each other...

• Grass roots problems in Slave Lake, Alberta... typical challenges, really, which curling boosters can never lose sight of...

• These guys are going for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, and don’t think for a moment they’re not a threat to get it. Vancouver, you may recall, came from nowhere to just beat PyeongChang for the right to host 2010... and the six other potential sites are, with the exception of Salzburg and Sofia (curling fans may recall a world junior and a European Championship hosted in the Bulgarian capital), far from household names. Here’s how the contenders rank, according to GamesBids...

• Here’s a weird – and annoying – one... the University of Saskatchewan (Huskies) just won the Canadian University Men’s Championship, but are refusing to add the sport to its list of competitive sports for next year's title chase...

• Congrats to radio’s Harvey Kroker of Altona, MB, a big curling fan, on his lifetime achievement award...

• Have you tried YouTube today? Check it out by using the search term “curling” in the top right corner... ignoring the barbell videos that crop up, of course... there’s tons of rookie American efforts as well as lots of stuff on the Japanese Olympic women’s team (use “Onodera” to get most of them called up on one search page)...

• More fun n’ games for your weekend... tried Monkey Curling yet?

Sverige caps stunning season

We’re on deadline today for the last issue of The Curling News – the April edition – so there’s not much time to spare on today’s Blogpost.

If you watched the outstanding Ford World women’s final from boomtown Grande Prairie, either live or on CBC, you saw the Old Barn – home to two Briers and two world championships – refuse to fall; you saw a snippet of Hammerfall (and company) and you also saw one hell of a world championship final, featuring the two best teams – sorry Kelly – going at it in a point-scoring slugfest.

Links to various stories of Anette Norberg's remarkable triple for Sweden – European, Olympic and World championship gold – are 1) all 2) over 3) the web, and let's not forget the great showing from the U.S. team skipped by Debbie McCormick. Their 10-9 loss was very nearly an upset victory.

As for Canada's Kelly Scott, she simply says that Until you're here, until you're playing in this atmosphere, you have no idea. People can say or think what they want, but as long as we're happy, that's all we care about.

• Curling will become an official CIS sport next year, but this year’s informal Canadian University Championships saw the winners get some cool stuff: funding, training and a trip to Italy for the World University games. How cool is that?

• Did you know: that the Ferbs are up for a Canadian Sport Award? And that they’ll be in Toronto on Friday?

• Did you know: that Brad Gushue will be in Halifax this weekend with RBC and VANOC?

• Only two major events left before we break out the golf clubs... next up is the Men's Worlds in Massachusets. The Lowell Sun submitted about 20 media accreditations the other day (deadline was March 1, but that’s another matter) and curling delirium has officially started... and, of course, they'll root-root-root for the home team...

• Hey... is curling starting to catch on in Quebec? Maybe... this news is only a month old, but hey, it's a start... sigh...

Another dance: SWE vs USA

A year ago in Scotland, Sweden's Anette Norberg decimated the USA's Cassie Johnson to win her first – and long overdue – world title. Sunday the two nations will boogie again, as Norberg meets the USA's Debbie McCormick (photo), the 2003 world champion, in the final of the 2006 Ford Worlds.

Norberg breezed through McCormick in Friday's Page 1/2 game, and did same during the round-robin. The Americans will definitely be in tough against this Swedish machine, also the 2006 Olympic champions. Who, believe it or not, are not even throwing practice rocks today... the gals say they're tired. Who can blame them?

McCormick drew for the winning deuce this afternoon to beat Canada's Kelly Scott 8-7 in the semi-final. The see-saw affair will be remembered for some bizarro strategy calls – the Canadians have been driving critics bonkers all week, and today was no exception – while the Yanks got away with a stunning boo-boo early in the 10th.

So, no Canada (woe Canada) in tomorrow's finale – only the seventh time in 26-odd women's worlds the Canucks have lost the semi (plus three other times losing earlier) – which is televised live on CBC-TV at 12:30 ET. Too bad... the Kelowna gals were just starting to have fun.

Hey, did you know The Seniors is on? Neither did we. No offense, it's just been a looooong season....

World curling: Canada joins final four

GRANDE PRAIRIE, ALTA – No, they're not waving goodbye just yet.

Against all odds, Team Canada's Kelly Scott pulled a Houdini last night, and is through to this afternoon's Page 3/4 playoff game.

First there was biiiiig trouble with a morning loss to the currently skipless Danes. Facing a must-win evening joust with Norway's Dordi Nordby – turns out if the Canucks had lost, they would have still been involved in tiebreakers thanks to Germany's defeat of China – they were down 6-2 and the writing was on the wall. But a big three-ender in nine, a steal in 10 and another extra-end steal gave the Canadians a wild 9-8 win over the hapless Norwegians.

We snuck in, Scott told CanWest's Vicki Hall. But it's nice. It's very rewarding for a really tough week. I was tougher than we ever expected, to tell you the truth. And we don't know why.

The sold-out crowd was surprisingly boisterous as Canada flailed about early in the match. The volume rose further with Canada's first deuce, and the three-ender raised the roof with a outlandish roar, shocking the media bench out of its stupor.

Scott again: They never give up, those fans. Even when we were doubting it, they aren't and we really do appreciate how they've stuck by us all week.

Perhaps the fans are used to seeing a national women's team struggle? Calgary's Shannon Kleibrink, who defeated Scott in December's Olympic Trials final, was a mess throughout the Olympic Games and caused much long-distance gnashing of teeth amongst Canada's curling fan base... and they still managed to regroup to win bronze with very little actual fan support, and a whole lot of ailments.

Scott takes on veteran Andrea Schoepp of Germany, while the Page 1/2 sees powerhouse Olympic champs Sweden, skipped by Anette Norberg, lock up with 2003 world champ Debbie McCormick of the USA.

Watch for fire between Germany and Sweden, if the Germans can get there... speaking of the Swedes, they haven’t had much time to chase down golden eggs, but they’re not optimistic of finding endorsement or sponsorship success. Why is this so?

Elsewhere around the rings:

• Have you heard? Of course you have: Team Colleen Jones is toast, but don't be surprised to see Jonesy back with a new team, which could include Mary-Anne Arsenault. Watch for the season-ending April issue of The Curling News for an exclusive behind-the-scenes column from mrnn...

• Have you heard? Of course you have: Bubba’s back, inspired by 50-year-old Olympian Russ Howard. Welcome back to a living legend...

• The Kevin Martin rumour mill is swirling... the young Olympian with the bold new attitude will present a Juno award... and a charter TCN advertiser, Asham Curling Supplies, is now sponsoring the Canadian University Curling Championships...

• To the USA: Lowell excitement is heating up and they've got a wicked piece of public curling art on display... we've got more U.S. grassroots success stories to tell, from a couple of different markets, also from somewhere in PA, and even from faraway Springdale, Arizona...

• Have you heard? Of course you have: it’s now the Scotties Tournament of Hearts... more Ana Arce calendar stories, this one from Edson, Alta... here's a Toronto blogger who tried curling...

• And finally, two Hollywood flicks have a curling angle on display. The promotional plans of the new (April 7) shlock-comedy The Benchwarmers, starring has-beens David Spade, Rob Schneider and hopefully-not-yet-a-has-been Jon Heder has the filmhouse creating a Benchwarmer's Day; a holiday that purportedly celebrates everyone who has ever been an underdog. Revelers are encouraged to participate in easily winnable games, such as kickball or curling... hmph. For more information, and to submit your own sob stories of the times you were picked on as a kid, visit here...

• As for the second, did you know the Disney animated comedy The Wild features curling? In the movie, the characters play an animal version of curling, which may or may not be quite amusing (we're betting it IS). Incidentally, there are also lots of Canadian in-jokes... Canada geese who joke about Canadian border-crossings, and a penguin (the MC) who is voiced by famous Canuck hockey announcer Don Cherry...

Electric, and infectious

It was well past midnight and National Team coach Jim Waite was still lecturing on uniform sizes, documents and other stuff. Suddenly, the Regina hotel salon was invaded by a horde of clapping, chanting curling fans, many clutching cases of beer.

Hold on, yelled Waite. We have to get through this, and then you can party with them, just give us five more minutes.

Six minutes later the Canadian Curling Association bureaucracy was finished, and the latest round of leaping, hugging and backslapping began.

Just being around Canada’s first francophone Brier champions is inspiring. The excitement is electric and infectious.

It’s not hard to imagine a similar party with Team Ontario – or Manitoba or Alberta – being a much quieter, businesslike affair... all in a day’s work for the big-name teams, and low-key satisfaction of a job well done.

Instead, it becomes apparent that Team Quebec’s Francois Roberge (photo middle-front) – who dropped himself from skip position three years ago and recruited Jean-Michel Menard (photo left) from faraway Gatineau to man the tee – is quite possibly the most excited champion in the history of curling. Three hours after the match, his feet are still far off the ground.

Roberge and lead Maxime Elmaleh (photo second from right) both speak passionately of their love of curling and the Brier. I cannot believe it, says Roberge, who is called "Frankie" by teammates and opponents alike. I have watched every Brier final since 1985, I watch like crazy, declares "Max".

Roberge, the all-star third, confirms that he too is a Brier TV junkie, whereupon he is asked if he wants to hear The Call – the last words pronounced by CBC commentator Don Wittman during Menard’s winning throw– right then and there, or if he would rather wait to see it on videotape. Now, now, tell it to me now! Roberge exclaims.

Jean-Michel Menard... trying to become the first Francophone team to ever win the Canadian Men’s Championship... will he do it? (whack) He does!

Simple yet classic. The veteran Witt timed it perfectly; “He does!” came just after the final rock made contact and just before the athletes exploded into the air in celebration.

Roberge was in tears, listening to the words. He balled his fists together and shook them with his eyes closed... and promptly went in for another hug. Of course.

Later, a fan shows off the video of their victory stone, shot on a tiny digital camera from far up in the stands. The boys crowd around, then start screeching and hugging again. Frankie watches it twice.

The team – which includes second Eric Sylvain (photo second from left), himself a former skip – are all big U2 fans, and like many athletes use music – and other superstitions – to support their mental approach to the game. During (the Quebec provincial) the song I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For was on, and that was not good, says Roberge. I said turn it off, it’s negative!

Then, here at the Brier, we have the hotel room number 2006, and I say that this means something! And the first song in the van is the first line from the U2 song Sunday Bloody Sunday ... “I can’t believe the news today”...

Through Brier week there was much media coverage of the challenges Quebec curlers face to grow the sport in their province. Prior to Regina 2006, Menard’s team took the unpaid job of such self-promotion very seriously, and now they find themselves to be the driving force of what is sure to be a renewed effort in publicity, promotion and participation. Menard himself won the Brier’s Ross Harstone Award, a sportsmanship honour bestowed by his fellow players, which also includes in its critiera a committment to promoting the sport of curling.

Roberge had one of the best media quotes of the week: What I want is for Quebec to stay in Canada, so I can get back to the Brier. But first comes the World Championships, and Roberge reports that immediately after the final, the first 25 Quebecers were committed to making the 7-hour drive to Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Mass. The team hopes many more will take advantage of the close proximity and make the trip.

The squad – minus their skip – returned home to Quebec City yesterday and a victory party was held at their home Victoria Curling Club. Menard lives in faraway Gatineau, just outside of Ottawa, and enjoyed a victory celebration of his own at the airport.

Here’s an on-the-scene report from a TCN spy:

JM arrived late. Lots of TV and radio reporters...TVA, CBC French and English, TQS, CTV, Le Droit newspaper and a few that I am not sure about. He had to do a few interviews over the phone for the radio and other reporters that couldn’t be there. Lots of friends and family were there. The Rideau Curling Club manager and members; the president of the Gatineau Curling Club that is not built yet; friends from his work... his uncles... a few members from the Ottawa Curling Club... I would say around 50 or so! JM was very happy!

Leaving Regina on Monday night, gold medallist Russ Howard spoke about the Quebecers. It might have been difficult for Howard to watch his brother Glenn lose the final, but the Olympian spoke almost proudly of the newest champions.

I played in a spiel with my son just the weekend before the (Olympic) Trials in Quebec, and they (Team Menard) were there. We played them twice. They are just great guys. Everybody at that event was so happy to see us there, and we were just four guys who drove through the middle of the night from New Brunswick. They treated us like kings.

I was near the ice after they won, and Maxime leaned over the boards to me and he was crying his face off. He yelled You’re my hero and I told him You’re MY hero.

Russ added that he was very nearly laughing at Elmaleh, whose emotional state was so powerful that his anguished face looked more hurt than happy. Amazing to see, said Howard.

Congratulations Quebec, on winning only your second Brier title in 77 years (following Jim Ursel at Montreal’s Veladrome in 1977) and the first for a true francophone team. As stated earlier:

In an Olympic year, which saw five Newfoundlanders and a living legend from New Brunswick-by-way-of-Ontario win the first-ever men's Olympic gold for Canada, nothing should surprise any of us anymore.

Links:

CCR Scotty Harper award winner Allen Cameron
Terry Jones
Perry Lefko
Jim Bender
The Bender Awards
Donna Spencer

Vive Le Quebec Fantastique!

REGINA – Think about it.

The first-ever Francophone team to win the Brier... 77 years after the inception of the Canadian Men's Curling Championship.

Defeating a titan of the sport, who had effortlessly beaten them twice earlier, and who dominated all week in both the murky world of statistics and the crystal-clear reality of on-ice performance.

Merveilleux.

Congrats to Jean-Michel Menard for daring to dream the Brier dream and seeing it all blossom with a stunning 8-7 win over Ontario, avenging Guy Hemmings' 1998 Brier loss to Wayne Middaugh. Before the game, the three-time Brier rep (and two-time skip) had this to say:

I think it's about time for Quebec to win another Brier.

To people in Quebec it would mean a whole lot. People in Quebec often see curling is a sport that is dominated by people who speak English and people who speak French might not be as good. If we can win it will show them if you've got faith and heart and you dedicate yourself, it is possible to be a good curling team.

Here's what he said afterwards:

Right now in Quebec, it's hockey, hockey, hockey. So now maybe we can show kids that throwing rocks on ice is fun.

In an Olympic year, which saw five Newfies and a living legend from New Brunswick-by-way-of-Ontario win the first-ever men's Olympic gold for Canada... nothing should surprise any of us anymore.

For Ontario, tremendous heartbreak after said domination, which saw the Canadian Curling Reporters vote all four members onto the two all-star teams – three of them on the first squad – with third Richard Hart and skip Glenn Howard voted in unanimously.

Elsewhere, gold (men's) and silver (women's) for Canada at the World Juniors... Kelly Scott rebounds and sits at 2-1 in Grande Prairie... and we're off to the Patch for the final time. Look for more Brier Blogging Tuesday AM...

QUE def. NS on Field of Cowflop

REGINA – First of all, check out the stylin' Brad Gushue (CurlingZone photo)... resplendent in his Italian Olympic gear.

Gushue and third Mark Nichols threw their first rocks since Pinerolo this morning, prior to the Brier semi-final. More tales from their "official" appearance yesterday can be found here and here, with Gushue's thoughts (along with others) on the new 2009 Olympic Trials system over here.

Big Brier win – 7-6 – for Quebec's Jean-Michel Menard over Nova Scotia's Mark Dacey in that semi. Yes, sloppy to be sure, but now it's the battle of Canada's founding provinces – Upper and Lower Canada – in tomorrow's final, 7:00pm ET on CBC.

• Gold for Canada – Paralympic, that is – as Team Daw steals a 7-4 win over Great Britain in Pinerolo's wheelchair curling event. Don't forget the Canucks also stole the semi, too.

• Also, the finals are set for the World Juniors – both Canadian teams are set for action – with a summary here and more details – and photos! – located here.

• The Ford World Women's are on the air right now on TSN, with Canada's Kelly Scott up against Japan, and Sweden's Olympic golden gals aiming to repeat...

• Not only is Pete Fenson's pizza business on fire, so is his sport of curling down Stateside...

• One last Brier thought... we missed this, and frankly we're glad we did!

• OK, we lied, we have one more Brier thought. We just saw the CCA stats – the players shooting percentages, and they look like this:

QUEBEC –– NOVA SCOTIA
Elmaleh–83 –– Gibson–91
Sylvain–83 –– Harris–81
Roberge–85 –– Lohnes–66
Menard–74 –– Dacey–74

The Curling News summarily declares just about all of these numbers to be complete and utter cowflop. That's right, cowflop. Perhaps we should call it "complete and udder cowflop".

What a pile that is. Almost as bad as what we witnessed in person in Pinerolo, where in just one example British lead Euan Byers – shooting 98 at the time – wrecked on his 19th rock of the match and his percentage suddenly plummeted to 89. Who let the inmates into the statistical asylum?

Here's CurlingZone's new Shot Tracker stats (click on the "final score" of the Game Day Scoreboard) on that same Brier semi, for comparison (includes degree of difficulty and tons of other logarithms and vectors and Houdinis and whatever else they've thrown in there):

QUEBEC –– NOVA SCOTIA
Elmaleh–79 –– Gibson–81
Sylvain–76 –– Harris–66
Roberge–76 –– Lohnes–74
Menard–70 –– Dacey–65

So... let the debate begin... which set seems to be more accurate, hmmm?

Ontariooooooo

REGINA – Three posts in one day... BOOYAH!

Ontario is now one game away from confirming double-Howard domination in this year of Our Lord, 2006.

Glenn Howard, 9-6 winner over Quebec in the Page 1/2 game:

I can honestly say I've never had so much fun curling. It's not because I'm skipping, I don't know what it is. We're having a ball out there, I'm personally focussed but we're just having fun. I have no idea what it is. Whatever happens happens... maybe we can finish this thing off on Sunday.

The vanquished Jean-Michel Menard, fourth-place a year ago in Edmonton and now up to bat in Saturday's semi versus the streaking Mark Dacey of Halifax:

Glenn played a pretty good game. As a team we were outplayed in the first five ends, but in the final five ends it was pretty equal. We'll be ready (tomorrow).

In addition: a Gushue story, as promised... some text on Dacey's eviction of Alberta earlier today... a story on the new Trials system... Sweden's golden gals are not taking Grande Prairie for granted... and the Brits are pumped for Paralympic gold...

Off to the Purple Heart Lounge... the Patch is apparently packed and doors are closed for a while!

East ousts West at Regina Brier

REGINA – Mark Dacey (CurlingZone photo) is pumped after his brilliant soft double-takeout for two points on last rock, for his 6-5 win in the Page 3/4 game.

Moments earlier, Dacey exulted with his broom high in the air. At the same time, and through the next five minutes, second Rob Harris was the epitome of a somewhat shorter (and less green) Lou Ferrigno, as he hulked and pumped away like a madman. Urrrrgh, Hulk likes to win game.

And it's not every day you beat the mighty Kevin Martin twice in 24 hours and send him packing from the Brier. The last western team in this western Brier.

Dacey moves into tomorrow's CBC semi-final, versus the winner of tonight's all-eastern Page 1/2 game between Ontario and Quebec.

Dacey, the former Saskatchewanese, has a great record against Albertans in Brier play, which is the exact opposite of what happens on the Grand Slam circuit. They just pound us at the Slams, said Dacey (now 3-5 versus Martin lifetime). There's no rhyme or reason to it.

At the Slams, three or four and out is our normal. I think it's different when you get into something you're 100 per cent committed to and motivated for.

Oops. Wonder what Slam gatekeeper and Players' Association chief Paul Boutilier would say about that? Come to think of it, where did Boutilier go? One moment he was at the CCA news conference, seemingly ready to answer media questions about why he is supporting the CCA's Jeff Stoughton fine, and the next moment he was gone, without answering anything. Hmmm.

More Dacey, on the pundits who predicted the top three teams to be Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta... ie. his team's lack of respect from the curling world:

You guys (the media) are writing that stuff. This is sports after all and we all know crazy things happen. We don't care about what outsiders think (of us), we're a team that focusses internally.

Kevin Martin's last words at this Tim Hortons Brier:

We were struggling out there. If we go out there and try to play a curling game, we're off (losing) in six ends. So we tried something different. Mark (Johnston) suggested we run up and down all game and try to nip him (Dacey) at the end. It almost worked.

Helluva shot, right guys? Geez, what a shot. There's not much else to say.

Pardi Gras: Fun and Games

REGINA – Fun 'n' games during last night's final draw... as one grumpy observer has already noted:

Could Stoughty vs. Howard have been more of a love-in? Someone better start throwing punches today to balance that out.

Jeff Stoughton did a couple of spineramas, with Glenn Howard hopelessly trying one, as Ontario heads into tonight's Page 1/2 game versus Quebec. The Bison boys are heading home, with Alberta (CurlingZone photo of Carter Rycroft from yesterday aft) and Nova Scotia locking up in this afternoon's 3/4 match.

And, of course, the CCA's $1,000 fine continues to be topical. But check this out: here’s one report on Stoughton’s reaction to the fine and, unbelievably, here is (one of) two more that both tell a completely different story.

Who is right and who is wrong? Was Stoughton having fun with the media – and spoofing himself – or was he a rampaging viking? How is it possible that reputable sportswriters – from the same media organization, no less – could get it so different?

Guess what, folks... if that isn’t a clear warning not to believe everything you read, then we don’t know what is.

Anecdotes galore: TCN was walking through the arena last night when from the stands comes an ancient party battlecry from the 1998 Nagano Olympics... "Hey Now." It's none other than Sami Jo Small, Jennifer Botterill and Fiona Smith, three players from Canada's national women's hockey team: gold (twice) and silver in the past eight years.

The gals have always bonded well with the Olympic curlers, with Small appearing on ice for a personal lesson with Team Gushue shortly after the by's' gold medal triumph in Pinerolo. Indeed, there were a dozen or more hockey gals whooping it up at that golden final.

Furthermore, the gals often compete in an afternoon of challenge curling once a year during their world training camps – it serves as a team-building excercise and breaks the monotony of hardcore training (note that the Calgary Flames and L.A. Kings are just two NHL teams who are also known to trade in their sticks for brushes once in a while).

Watch for Small to make an appearance on CBC Sports Saturday tomorrow, where (if it happens) she'll explain more about her team's connection to the Roaring Game.

The Curling News then took the gals up into private box territory to catch up with the Gushues, who were hosted by sponsor and curling hero Bruce Saville of Edmonton. Saville also sponsored Fiona Smith in her pre-retirement days, and a happy reunion ensued. Meanwhile, the Gushues were eventually whisked out of the building by security – always walking, never stopping – and only re-emerged at a news conference this morning.

The thoughts and opinions of the Golden Boys will be front and centre in tomorrow's media roundup – and TCN will of course supply the links – but eager readers can watch for the stories to include personal memories of Turin; the huge crowd of 2,000 greeting them at the airport; the thrill of sharing the gold with wide-eyed kids; and a few thoughts about the future.

There are also some candid thoughts about this here Brier: in one example Russ Howard apparently picked his brother Glenn to win the Brier... but made the prediction right after the Trials (Gushue witnessed the call). In another, Gushue spoke strongly – as did other team members – against the lack of opportunity to qualify for this Brier. While acknowledging they would have to struggle to refocus following the Games – Howard noted that they might pooch on the ice and finish 2-10 – the "bys" believe that playdown dates should be adjusted in every Olympic year, thus giving the Trials champions the chance to try and qualify for the Brier.

Heavy stuff for Page Playoff Friday.

Elsewhere:

• Scotiabank is a new sponsor for Team Canada’s Kelly Scott, as the Ford Women’s Worlds gets underway tomorrow on TSN...

• Canada's Chris Daw stole the semi-final over Denmark and is through to Saturday’s gold-medal final in Paralympic Wheelchair Curling... and their opponent is arch-rival and world number one Great Britain, skipped by Frank Duffy... meanwhile, a stunning development for wheelchair curling in Canada, as the B.C. government will spend $3.9 million for a state-of-the-art Paralympic sport facility in Kimberley...

• It's Denmark again in the semis for Megan Selzer's Canadian Junior squad at the Worlds in Korea, while Charley Thomas and co. face China in men's play...