A Curling Farewell

A fond farewell to InTheHack, the clear leader in independent online curling news and gossip from the late 1990s throught the early years of this century. Custodian Mike Potter has closed the doors, and his final farewell posting, which is located here, includes some cool memories.

And a smorgasbord of stuff for you follows. We are on a short semi-vacation for a couple of weeks, but don’t drift too far away; you may see us post something along the way ...


• First came this jesty posting, Canadian Brothers Pissed That Fantasy Curling Is Cancelled. Well, guess what... the real deal is indeed online, as CurlingZone has jumped in with, believe it or not, a fantasy curling league ...

• Canada’s Globe & Mail has now picked up on Wonder Bread’s fab commercial spots ...

• Team Adelboden in Switzerland – now skipped once again by an out-of-retirement Björn Zryd, after former skip and World Mixed Doubles champ Toni Müller split to join Team Andi Schwaller – are a fun bunch, as evidenced by their website. Look down in the bottom left corner for a very cool poll, asking: who is the greatest male Swiss curler at each position?

The actual language of the ask is: Wähle deine Spieler für die “Hall of Fame?”

So far, the top vote-getters are, generally, a mix between the legendary Attinger clan – generations of brothers, cousins and so on – and members of Patrick Hürlimann’s 1998 Olympic champion team.

Voting closes on August 30, so get on it ...

• The Brier trophy is coming to Moosomin, Sask ...

• Speaking of Sask, Team Michelle Englot – akak Team Saturn – has hit the blogosphere, and here’s their “Meet the Team” posting.

Love the tagline:

Regina; Saskatchewan; Canada; Earth. In that order.

• John Morris has spoken out regarding the Canadian Curling Association’s volunteer fee, which has caused some recent controversy, as this CTV piece shows ...

• The Winnipeg Sun has revealed the name of Manitoba’s new curling chief, Shane Ray ...

• Have you checked out Vera Pezer’s Smart Curling yet? Well, why not?

• Scotland’s great Munro Caper will get an official investigation (lots more on the details are here) ...

• It took Phil a while to get the Grand Forks pix out of the camera and posted online. Oh well ...

• According to one story, curling still “remains an enigma” at the Olympic host site of six years ago. Sigh ...

• A Colorado video curling feature for you ...

• WE GET MAIL: Craig Brown, skip of the 2008 U.S. men’s team, sent us an interesting note...

Hi TCN, This video is a U.S. ad for Molson beer. I think this might be a short version of the commercial, but it was the only link I could find on YouTube.

Check the TVs in the background. It’s tough to see on the small YouTube screen, but I’ve seen it on a real TV and I’m pretty sure it is none other than my brother-in-law, Ian Tetley, along with Scott Bailey sweeping a Wayne Middaugh shot.

My girlfriend thought I was a little crazy rewinding this ad over and over again with the TiVo... until she realized what I was looking at.

For the record, we endorse Craig’s sharp eyes: that is the famed former (and also recent) world champion front end for Middaugh. Thanks Craig!

• WE GET MAIL II: And finally, Team Glenn Howard coach Scott Taylor wraps up his trip to Beijing...

The weather is outstanding today. Clear dry air and blue skies. Jet-lag enabled me to get up early enough to watch people in the local park doing their daily martial arts exercises, including sword routines.

We had a breakfast meeting with members of the COC.

Then we travelled to BC Canada Place. They have an amazing exhibit of Canadiana that is open to everyone. One of the goals is to convince people to visit our country, while the second floor is dedicated to fostering opportunities between Canadian and Chinese businesses.

We spent our lunch break walking around Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City. More security – armed forces and police – than I have ever seen.

We spent the afternoon in Shinyi talking with the leaders of our Canoe and Rowing teams. It was great to hear their thoughts about being based at a satellite venue, and not staying at the Athletes’ Village.

We finished off the afternoon back in Beijing at the Performance Centre discussing what we learned and how the information can be used by all sports – including curling – in future Olympics.

We said our goodbyes to our fellow coaches, excursion organisers and team leaders at our group dinner.

The trip was very worthwhile. Tomorrow is travel day. Everyone is looking forward to getting home, but not the long flight.

No one in our group will ever forget the great people of China and their friendlliness, the beauty of Beijing and the surrounding area, and last but certainly not least, their first Olympic Experience.