Ontario curling fans are in for a treat this weekend, as legendary two-time Brier and world champion skip Ed “The Wrench” Werenich will put on the headset and become a TV curling commentator.
The Wrench (photo) will actually be in his second stint as the colourman for the Toronto Curling Association’s Energizer city spiel, one of the oldest and largest tournaments in the world (Winnipeg’s MCA Bonspiel, hosted later this month, is another massive event).
And you thought golf’s Johnny Miller was a blunt instrument. Hello!
Eddie will commentate the Open (Men’s) final on Saturday, January 12 at 8:00pm ET across the province’s Rogers Television Network. The Seniors finale will air the following Saturday, January 19, at 8:00pm ET, also on the entire Rogers network.
Both finals will also air this Sunday, January 13, albeit on Toronto-area Rogers stations only: The Men’s at 2:00pm ET followed immediately by the Seniors at 4:30pm ET.
Eddie is also scheduled to appear at an outdoor rink in Waterloo, Ontario on January 19, to promote February’s TSC Stores Tankard provincial.
Here’s a surprise: apparently no one can recall if or when the Ontario Men’s Championships have been held in Waterloo. “It hasn’t been here in our time,” says former K-W Granite Club president Lew Ayers.
No way, we say. There must have been a Tankard hosted in K-W. Calling all curling historians: confirm or deny, please.
In other big Toronto news, the pre-sale of half-price ticket packages (only $150 instead of $300) for the Toronto 2009 megaspiel at the Air Canada Centre has been extended to March 15 (hooray!)
In a message sent late yesterday to the city’s 23 curling clubs, the Toronto Curling Association said:
Pre-launch ticket sales for the Toronto 2009 curling attraction are increasing as word about the ‘once in a lifetime event’ spreads! The support from the clubs is gratifying. This Grand Slam event will put Toronto on the curling map.
Paul Boutilier, Executive Director of the Asham World Curling Tour has just advised the official launch has now been scheduled for early April 2008. TCA clubs can continue with the discounted pre-sales until March 15, 2008. Enclosed are several stickers to place on your posters.
Initial payments of $75 (half of the package price) minus the $25 club portion = $50 for this championship event will not be requested from the clubs until March 15, 2008.
We know that two of the Canadian men’s participants will be Glenn Howard and Kevin Martin. Details about the ‘Patch’ and the Saturday night entertainment will be announced shortly.
Great news, and you can read more on the Toronto 2009 website, and also our own exhortations located here.
Elsewhere:
• Everyone is watching the Edmonton vs. Kamloops battle to host the 2008 Canadian Olympic Trials, but has anybody thought about where the pre-Trials Qualifier should be held? Winnipeg has, and will be bidding, and now Prince George, B.C. wants it, too (click here and also here) ...
What’s interesting about the Trials hosting battle is that the person generally acknowledged to be the top CCA grass roots event manager – Edmonton’s Janna Tominuk, who steered last year’s Edmonton worlds and the 2005 Edmonton Brier – is now working for Norm Daley’s Strauss Canada Cup out in – you guessed it – Kamloops...
• Wednesday’s curling episode of Little Mosque on the Prairie is already available on a streaming website, and there’s also this detailed episode summary, with photos, located here ...
• Last month, the Korbel Elite Challenge was aired, and the outdoor show – taped from New York City in horrid conditions back in October – has caused questions about its value as a promotional opportunity. Well, San Jose, California also had an outdoor promotional sheet set up last month, and the conditions actually looked slightly better than that of Manhattan.
Alice was there, and Pabu has mirrored the NBC report, while he waits for news about curling in Mexico City (unlikely at this point).
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the brilliantly-named Hollywood Curling Club (“Where We Curl Like Stars And Do Our Own Stunts!”) is busy with another outdoor curling exhibition tomorrow, complete with live KTLA TV coverage; this will mark the station’s second curling “show” since November (here’s the first). Sunday is yet another open house, this time in Panorama City.
Great stuff, guys. To keep the PR machine rolling, we suggest a temporary befriending of the train wreck known as Brit-Brit (aka Britney Spears), with the goal of getting her out onto the ice along with her pack of paparazzi. But we’re sure you’ve thought (briefly!) about this already...?
• Here’s a look at curling in Boise, Idaho ...
• And the Cape Cod CC has a new $470,000 upgrade...
• Still with U.S. curling, Scott says that Portland’s recent open house was busy enough to make it tough for him to get hands-on access to the Roaring Game, which is good news, we guess ...
• And let’s not forget Catherine, who curled in Chicago ...
• Here’s a brief look at outdoor curling in Boston, circa 1903:
• Four curl in O-H-I-O ...
• And this U.S. baseball fan played in Quebec at the tail end of ’07 ...
• There’s some big bureaucratic news out of Scotland ...
• And a spotlight is thrown onto curling in Wien, aka Vienna, the beautiful capital of Austria ...
• Meanwhile, here’s a French news story on curling – which has nothing to do with the worlds nor the Olympics – and this is certainly something new ...
• Here’s a calendar of new hoped-for holidays, and we agree with February 23, don’t you?
• This blogpost tells us about a typical curling weekend – lots of curling and late nights – in tiny Hanley, Saskatchewan, from the eyes of a retired RCMP dispatcher. Long live grass roots curling in these, sadly, fast-disappearing prairie towns ....
• Bill, from New Jersey, puts The Weakerthans’ Reunion Tour album – and their tune now known as The Curling Song – at number four on his Top 10 list for 2007 ....
• Today’s Winnipeg Free Press sees writer Chris Cariou quoting 2005 Manitoba champion Randy “Lunchbox” Dutiaume as calling himself curling’s Homer Simpson.
“I stumble and I have a booger hanging out of my nose,” Dutiaume explains. “I’m just meat and potatoes.”
God, we love this guy. Thanks heavens the Brier is in Winnipeg, so he’ll be there, no matter how his provincial playdowns end up ...
• DID YOU KNOW: that B.C.’s Blind Championships are underway this weekend?
• And finally, four Canadian teams are in Switzerland battling at the International Bern Damen Cup, including Kelowna’s Kelly Scott (who will stay on for Scotland’s new Glynhill Ladies International the following weekend), Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones, and Calgary’s Shannon Kleibrink and Cheryl Bernard ...
The Wrench (photo) will actually be in his second stint as the colourman for the Toronto Curling Association’s Energizer city spiel, one of the oldest and largest tournaments in the world (Winnipeg’s MCA Bonspiel, hosted later this month, is another massive event).
And you thought golf’s Johnny Miller was a blunt instrument. Hello!
Eddie will commentate the Open (Men’s) final on Saturday, January 12 at 8:00pm ET across the province’s Rogers Television Network. The Seniors finale will air the following Saturday, January 19, at 8:00pm ET, also on the entire Rogers network.
Both finals will also air this Sunday, January 13, albeit on Toronto-area Rogers stations only: The Men’s at 2:00pm ET followed immediately by the Seniors at 4:30pm ET.
Eddie is also scheduled to appear at an outdoor rink in Waterloo, Ontario on January 19, to promote February’s TSC Stores Tankard provincial.
Here’s a surprise: apparently no one can recall if or when the Ontario Men’s Championships have been held in Waterloo. “It hasn’t been here in our time,” says former K-W Granite Club president Lew Ayers.
No way, we say. There must have been a Tankard hosted in K-W. Calling all curling historians: confirm or deny, please.
In other big Toronto news, the pre-sale of half-price ticket packages (only $150 instead of $300) for the Toronto 2009 megaspiel at the Air Canada Centre has been extended to March 15 (hooray!)
In a message sent late yesterday to the city’s 23 curling clubs, the Toronto Curling Association said:
Pre-launch ticket sales for the Toronto 2009 curling attraction are increasing as word about the ‘once in a lifetime event’ spreads! The support from the clubs is gratifying. This Grand Slam event will put Toronto on the curling map.
Paul Boutilier, Executive Director of the Asham World Curling Tour has just advised the official launch has now been scheduled for early April 2008. TCA clubs can continue with the discounted pre-sales until March 15, 2008. Enclosed are several stickers to place on your posters.
Initial payments of $75 (half of the package price) minus the $25 club portion = $50 for this championship event will not be requested from the clubs until March 15, 2008.
We know that two of the Canadian men’s participants will be Glenn Howard and Kevin Martin. Details about the ‘Patch’ and the Saturday night entertainment will be announced shortly.
Great news, and you can read more on the Toronto 2009 website, and also our own exhortations located here.
Elsewhere:
• Everyone is watching the Edmonton vs. Kamloops battle to host the 2008 Canadian Olympic Trials, but has anybody thought about where the pre-Trials Qualifier should be held? Winnipeg has, and will be bidding, and now Prince George, B.C. wants it, too (click here and also here) ...
What’s interesting about the Trials hosting battle is that the person generally acknowledged to be the top CCA grass roots event manager – Edmonton’s Janna Tominuk, who steered last year’s Edmonton worlds and the 2005 Edmonton Brier – is now working for Norm Daley’s Strauss Canada Cup out in – you guessed it – Kamloops...
• Wednesday’s curling episode of Little Mosque on the Prairie is already available on a streaming website, and there’s also this detailed episode summary, with photos, located here ...
• Last month, the Korbel Elite Challenge was aired, and the outdoor show – taped from New York City in horrid conditions back in October – has caused questions about its value as a promotional opportunity. Well, San Jose, California also had an outdoor promotional sheet set up last month, and the conditions actually looked slightly better than that of Manhattan.
Alice was there, and Pabu has mirrored the NBC report, while he waits for news about curling in Mexico City (unlikely at this point).
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the brilliantly-named Hollywood Curling Club (“Where We Curl Like Stars And Do Our Own Stunts!”) is busy with another outdoor curling exhibition tomorrow, complete with live KTLA TV coverage; this will mark the station’s second curling “show” since November (here’s the first). Sunday is yet another open house, this time in Panorama City.
Great stuff, guys. To keep the PR machine rolling, we suggest a temporary befriending of the train wreck known as Brit-Brit (aka Britney Spears), with the goal of getting her out onto the ice along with her pack of paparazzi. But we’re sure you’ve thought (briefly!) about this already...?
• Here’s a look at curling in Boise, Idaho ...
• And the Cape Cod CC has a new $470,000 upgrade...
• Still with U.S. curling, Scott says that Portland’s recent open house was busy enough to make it tough for him to get hands-on access to the Roaring Game, which is good news, we guess ...
• And let’s not forget Catherine, who curled in Chicago ...
• Here’s a brief look at outdoor curling in Boston, circa 1903:
• Four curl in O-H-I-O ...
• And this U.S. baseball fan played in Quebec at the tail end of ’07 ...
• There’s some big bureaucratic news out of Scotland ...
• And a spotlight is thrown onto curling in Wien, aka Vienna, the beautiful capital of Austria ...
• Meanwhile, here’s a French news story on curling – which has nothing to do with the worlds nor the Olympics – and this is certainly something new ...
• Here’s a calendar of new hoped-for holidays, and we agree with February 23, don’t you?
• This blogpost tells us about a typical curling weekend – lots of curling and late nights – in tiny Hanley, Saskatchewan, from the eyes of a retired RCMP dispatcher. Long live grass roots curling in these, sadly, fast-disappearing prairie towns ....
• Bill, from New Jersey, puts The Weakerthans’ Reunion Tour album – and their tune now known as The Curling Song – at number four on his Top 10 list for 2007 ....
• Today’s Winnipeg Free Press sees writer Chris Cariou quoting 2005 Manitoba champion Randy “Lunchbox” Dutiaume as calling himself curling’s Homer Simpson.
“I stumble and I have a booger hanging out of my nose,” Dutiaume explains. “I’m just meat and potatoes.”
God, we love this guy. Thanks heavens the Brier is in Winnipeg, so he’ll be there, no matter how his provincial playdowns end up ...
• DID YOU KNOW: that B.C.’s Blind Championships are underway this weekend?
• And finally, four Canadian teams are in Switzerland battling at the International Bern Damen Cup, including Kelowna’s Kelly Scott (who will stay on for Scotland’s new Glynhill Ladies International the following weekend), Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones, and Calgary’s Shannon Kleibrink and Cheryl Bernard ...
Thanks for the link - I'm an official Curling convert. :)
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