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...