Middaugh a changed man?

What’s in the news today?

• TCN publisher George Karrys suggests in the Toronto Sun that Wayne Middaugh (CCA photo by Michael Burns), fresh off his qualifying run in Prince George, might want to grab some of that “piss and vinegar” that young Jason Gunnlaugson has been talking about. Is the “black hat” version of Team Middaugh ready to Roar?

• Speaking of the Gunner, a CurlingZone troll has sniped a guess at a poor won/loss record for the Beausejour, MB squad at the upcoming Olympic Trials. Does anyone remember Mike Harris in 1997? Bob Weeks certainly does...

• Sweden wins in Bern, Ulsrud captures another title, the 50th Monctonian is history; Fowler, Epping and McCarville are pumped, Mark Nichols wants to “get away from curling”, Sherri Singler speaks, the Canadian Mixed, curling academy goes green, and more. It's all on the TCN Twitter feed, that is ...

Schmirler Golf 2009

THORNHILL, Ontario – The Sandra Schmirler Foundation was the big winner as another $30,000 was raised from a day of golf at Thornhill Golf & Country Club.

The seventh annual Sandra Schmirler Golf Classic, sponsored by curling boosters The Dominion and Capital One and convened by CBC curling talkie Mike Harris, saw 34 foursomes gather on what proved to be a day of spectacular (ie. rain-free) golf.

In the Anil Mungal photo above, three-time world champion Glenn Howard takes a whack (click image to increase size).

Other celebrity golfers taking part included Wayne and Sherry Middaugh, the rest of Team Howard, Eddie “The Wrench” Werenich and long-time teammate Neil Harrison, and Marnie McBean, the four-time Olympic rowing medallist and Canadian sport legend.

McBean found herself on the winning foursome, teamed with curling’s Al Hanks, the Dominion marketing whiz; John Shea (whose firm delivers The Dominion’s comprehensive insurance program specifically tailored to curling venues) and David Beesley, the longtime sponsorship salesman for the Canadian Curling Association.

The event came four days after a Schmirler Foundation fundraising tournament in Winnipeg. Future Schmirler golf events are scheduled for Edmonton (August 6), Regina (August 13), and Halifax (September 17 & 18).

The Dominion and Capital One both sponsor dozens of curling events and teams. Major properties include The Dominion Curling Club Championship and the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling.

Another Slam, the Bender Cam and more

There’s lots going on as we put the finishing touches on the February issue of The Curling News – have you subscribed yet? – so here’s a linkfest to keep you going. Crack knuckles... now...

• Jeff Stoughton (above) is on home ice as the third Capital One Grand Slam, the BDO Classic Canadian Open, gets underway tonight at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg. The event website is located here.

Local blatster Jim Bender sets up the CTRS chase and also talks to Kerry Burtnyk about the recent Brier memories, while Freepman Chris Cariou spotlights young gun Mike McEwen.

Three playoff games will be televised on CBC this weekend, and don’t forget the Capital One “Million Dollar Button” contest, which will be a part of the TV package. They’re jetting in from across Canada for this one – like this gal from Fergus, Ontario – and two people were also selected from 3,300 online entries submitted over the last few months... like this fellow from B.C.

Didn’t know about this? Quit whining; we showed you the link weeks ago ...

• The Manitoba men’s field looks to be almost complete and... but... good lord... Sun Media has given Bender a videocamera, and told him to get out there and file moving pictures, in addition to words. What is this world coming to?

• Meanwhile, the manitoba gals are all set, as are the Ontario men’s and women’s provincial fields (that was a news story, here’s the OCA draw page) ...

• The Nova Scotia women’s Scotties are already underway, and here’s a quick preview ...

• The Ontario Seniors are over and done, with Bruce Delaney and Cheryl McBain taking the 2009 titles. What this summary story fails to tell you is that multiple Canadian and World senior champion Anne Dunn lost the women’s final. Of course, Joe Pavia has that tidbit in his latest column... meanwhile, over on PEI, the 2009 Senior champs are Mel Bernard and Shirley Berry ...

• Here’s a southern Alberta update, leading off with men’s playdowns this coming weekend ...

• Speaking of Burtnyk, he will be speaking about his past cancer battles at a luncheon in April, which is affiliated with the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers football team ...

• Former Brier skip Jim Armstrong won his second straight B.C. wheelchair curling championship last weekend, but has already been named skip of Team Canada at next month’s 2009 World Wheelchair Championship in Vancouver. 2006 Paralympic champion Sonja Gaudet, who was on Gerry Austgarden’s runner-up team, was named as the alternate. There’s a recent feature on Gaudet located here ...

• Back in Ontario, the city of Kingston beat out 2008 hosts Collingwood to win the bid to host the 2010 Ontario ParaSport Winter Games, which will include wheelchair curling at the Royal Kingston Curling Club ...

• And Napanee, which is only some 40 kilometres west of Kingston, will be hosting the 2010 Ontario men’s provincial Tankard ...

• The Toronto Curling Association has a new sponsor (top news story) for the venerable men’s bonspiel ...

• DID YOU KNOW: that both of Canada’s teams in the upcoming 2009 Winter Universiade (World University Games) in China are from Wildfred Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario?

• Finally, Cold-FX has joined the Vancouver Olympic sponsor family. And those of you who remember just how bad 1998 Canadian Olympic men’s skip Mike Harris had it in the gold-medal final will note the company’s opening tagline:

Colds and flu were a big problem for Canada at the Nagano 1998 Winter Games. Thirty-six Canadian athletes, coaches and trainers, including figure skater Elvis Stojko, long track speed skater Neal Marshall, as well as the curling team, came down with colds or flu.

Big page for Women of Curling calendar

We were right smack in the middle of December’s Continental Cup coverage, and there it was. Another feature on the 2009 Women of Curling calendar, this time from the Edmonton Sun.

The story – and cover pic – dominated an entire page on curling of the Sun, above... and oh, how we wish other media markets were as curling-committed as those in Alberta.

You can click on the image and squint to read the story (at bottom), or you can just click here.

Some U.S. journos were reading, too. TCN publisher George Karrys has a zowie quote in there – about athlete/model Christine Keshen and her, er, hat – and the quip was picked up in the Seattle Times, and then by the Connecticut Post, and then in California’s Modesto Bee before finally making it to the big time: USA Today.

Looks like the calendar media melee may never end.

You can, of course, purchase the calendar and support the Women of Curling in their fundraising efforts by clicking here, and visiting the pages which follow.

You can also dial 1-800-605-CURL, or for anyone outside of North America, call +1 905 887 1261.


Anything else before we leave 2008?


• Check out our next blogpost for a preview of the January 2009 issue of The Curling News, now in the mail and available via subscription ...

• DID YOU KNOW: that Glenn Howard lost first game of the Ontario zone playdowns – no pre-qualification systems exist in that province, folks – and had to scramble through the B-side to make it to round two? Well, now you know.

And by the way, two of Ontario’s four regional playdowns (Jan. 3-4) will see the following first round games: Howard versus Peter Corner (in Elmira) and Wayne Middaugh versus Mike Harris, at St. George’s in Toronto ...

• Bob Weeks liked our Eye on the Ice hockey story and he’s suggesting that somebody should host one for curling, too. Weeksy has also volunteered his top 10 curling stories for 2007-08: agree?

• The “friendliest” curling event in the area (of Sept-Iles, Quebec) wraps up today ...

• And speaking of Quebec, who says that province’s regional curling coverage is dead? Le Quotidien has always covered the local scene, as shown here ...

• Four-time Brier competitor Pat Simmons is a co-winner of Moose Jaw’s Male Athlete of the Year award ...

• Do you read Romanian? Here’s a curling feature for you ...

• Lots of U.S. curling stuff to pass along. First there’s this curling feature from the Phoenix Business Journal, which is available in full only to subscribers (sob)... Vermont Public radio has a neat story here... the Canucks in Bawston had a merry time... and this humourist (“satirical witmeister”) from the American Reporter claims to have moved from typical curling ignoramus (“typical curling ignoramus”) to obsessive fanboy without yet throwing a stone.

Well, the next chance for him – and other Indianians – to do so takes place in Indianapolis on Jan. 6 and 8 ...

• And finally, we almost forgot about those Rutabaga Curling guys... so here you go again ...

Front Ender’s Union

As we sit befrore the computer, blown away by the spectacle of the Beijing 2008 opening ceremonies, there is a major curling announcement to make.

Curling’s F.E.U., or Front Ender’s Union, is back.

Some may recall the 1993 era of the above logo, which was printed on T-shirts. A national list of members was created and began to grow.

However, the imperialism of “Back Enders” – the evil skips and their thuglike henchmen, their thirds – eventually wore out the weary broom-carrying, slave labouring front enders... and the group faded out.

Now Toronto’s Paul Wadland, a former Canadian Mixed finalist, has brought the original Scott Linsman design back to life. Wadland will be selling F.E.U. T-shirts today and throughout the weekend in Guelph, Ontario at the annual Sticks And Stones event, which combines curling with golf.

There’s also a F.E.U. Group on Facebook (must be a Facebook member to view).

What prompted the return of the Front Ender’s Union? Was it TV commentator bias? Was it the 2007 WCT decision to give front enders fewer CTRS points to carry over to another curling season?

Who knows? Who cares?

“I remember how we started the F.E.U.” said Ottawa’s Linsman.

“Dave Murphy and I were the front end for Team Ron Diguer at the 1993 Ontario Tankard. We were sitting around the hotel pool with the front end of Team Dave Merklinger (Bill Fletcher and Kevin Lemenchuk) after the last draw of provincials, sipping on brews provided to the Merks by Team Mike Harris. Merk had just beaten Werenich, which gave Harris the bye to the final.

“No doubt we were taking some sort of abuse at the time, and decided right there that we needed a union. Of course it was all in fun, we leveraged the whole carry the broom bag, sweeping, no respect thing.”

Linseman estimates some 300 people “registered” for the union, and received a shirt.

“I’m glad to see the F.E.U. reborn,” Linsman added. “Murphy and I still curl together, although we are on the back end now.

“Of course, we managed to stay members of the union, through a founder’s union contract loophole!”


What else for a Friday?

• Ranfurly Curling Club in New Zealand is celebrating 75 years of curling this weekend ...

• NHL hockey coach Pat Quinn recently lost his mother, Jean. She and her husband were avid mixed curlers in Hamilton, Ontario ...

• BAD MEDIA: TCN hereby calls on Raleigh’s Triangle CC to... attack!

• BAD MEDIA PT II: here is Jonathan Gill’s first editorial posting at bleacher report, and it should really be his last ...

• BAD MEDIA PT. III: yes Andrew, you did call your first curling event last fall and, well, let’s put it this way: we look forward to your continued improvement ...

• The new Team Potter attended the Green Bay high performance camp and are now sharing their training stories online ....

• And finally, Russ Howard, campeón de Curling, no deja de ser un ejemplo de superación!

New curling championship; Korab madness

Just a few days after The Dominion golf-fest for the Sandra Schmirler Foundation (see previous posting) comes word that Canadian curling’s favourite insurance company is jumping in – again – with two more event sponsorships.

This is in addition to their partnership with Canadian Curling Association, which offers an amazing curling club insurance program, plus their work with numerous curling teams and grass roots events.

First came word of the new name of the Toronto Curling Association’s Junior Bonspiel, a legendary post-Christmas affair which has served as a kind of curling exchange program with Switzerland. Past champions – which indicate just how old this venerable event is – include Wayne Middaugh, John Kawaja, Alison Goring, Mike Harris and many more. Glenn Howard even lost the final.

Now comes the news of a new national event aimed at recreational club curlers, known as The Dominion Curling Club Championship.

Imagine winning your club championship, and then having a national championship to go to for your efforts!

With the first such championship set for November 2009 in Toronto, and with plans to take the event across the country in the years to come, this is yet another step in The Dominion’s direct outreach to the average curling club and its local community.

Great news and we look forward to further details coming in the future.

What else is happening? Tons, actually ...

• Team Brad Gushue lead man and chief funnyman Jamie Korab has been busy. His company, Bell/Aliant, is an official Canadian Olympic partner and sponsors four athletes, all of whom will be in Beijing for either the Summer Olympics (which starts Friday) or the Paralympics (which begin September 6).

Turns out Korab went around with a professional crew and filmed them in action, and conducted some interviews. He also tried their sports out... yes, we’re serious!

See Jamie try kayak! And fencing! And wheelchair basketball! And good heavens!

So is the beloved Korab the new Rick Mercer? Or not? We’ll let you be the judge – you can find the various shows here ...

• Speaking of Korab, his teammate Mark Nichols, sister Shelley Nichols and 2006 Paralympic wheelchair curling champ Chris Daw recently made a recent show of support for CanFund, aka Canadian Athletes Now ...

• 2007 world champ Kelly Scott is happy to announce the arrival of her first child, Nash MacKenzie Scott, on July 24 ...

• 2007 world men’s champion Craig Savill was married August 2 in gorgeous Prince Edward Island ...

• With new beginnings come sad endings, and we say farewell to Elmer Schmidt, a community curling legend in Regina ...

• World Junior champions Team Chris Plys hosted a recent golf fundraiser for the coming season ...

• The methodical drive through the curling world continues for Compete-At software, who have now partnered with Curl BC in western Canada ...

• We have yet another Texas curling feature, this one out of Houston ...

• Looks like some out-of-town friends recently enjoyed curling (and kayaking) ...

• Much ado about New Zealand, as their nationals are underway (here and here) and it looks like they’ll be doing more outdoor rock chucking this week, starting today, in fact ...

• Michael Little has reposted his ode to curling from two years ago. We love this, specifically:

I used to believe that the world was divided into those who loved anchovies and those who would rather starve than eat one. Now I am convinced that the world is divided into those who don’t get curling, those who love curling, and those who would love curling if they only gave it a chance.

We also love the name of Michael’s blog, but for otherworldly reasons which have nothing to do with curling ...

• And finally, we at TCN can remember the times when curling was scoffed at in the press... and even further ago, when it wasn’t even mentioned in the press. However nowadays, irregardless of sarcasm, we have stories – like this one – in which curling is actually praised while luminary summer Olympic sports, like athletics, get lampooned.

Is this really happening? Perhaps one day we’ll wake up, and it’s all been just one crazy dream ...

Rocking the boat

What an interesting Canadian women’s championship that was.

One year ago, a curling journalist summed up the women’s game by tearing an unexpected strip off virtually the entire gender. This was most surprising given the writer wasn’t really a writer... he was a competitor, a peer beloved by virtually all who play this roaring game. And he’s the last person we would expect to see “rock the boat.”

He said:

Ladies teams have coaches, psychologists, nutritionists et cetera. Fire them all and take responsibility for your own results and nothing is better than throwing a ton of granite.

I am sick of hearing that the men have better sweeping and are more powerful at clearing the guards out front. That is a fact, but you ladies have great deliveries and flexibility. You don’t have to be able to make triples and have your rocks swept 12 feet to win at this game. You should, however, be willing and able to make the simple shots with confidence.

I am so tired of hearing the pet phrases “risk and reward.” You are going to be in games where if you miss a certain shot, you are going to lose and if you make a certain shot, you are going to win. It can be that simple.

You ladies have to toughen up. How many times do you hear after a complete miss... “That’s okay.” “Nice try.” Geez Louise! It is not okay!

I am not advocating dirty looks and broom slamming, but quit celebrating misses. When players miss, they should be less than happy with themselves and the way to show it is by bearing down and making their next shot.

This year, if Neil “Harry” Harrison were still scribbing for SWEEP!, we suspect he would now be nodding his head in some satisfaction. Generally speaking, the bulk of the field seemed to play a better game of curling this time around. More rocks in play, a little more killer instinct, a style based more on winning than the fear of losing.

And that meant a better show, whether you were yelling in person from the Brandt Centre seats, crouched over your computer screen at work, or settled into the sofa watching plasma.

That’s a very general comment. Of course there were episodes of sheer madness – one writer shook his head all week over some suspect Quebec strategy – and over a nine-day rockfest everybody has an opinion. Winnipeg’s Jim Bender mused Saturday about eventual champ Jennifer Jones (Kruger Products photo by Andrew Klaver, above) possibly scaling things back, and, well, look where she is today (coming in to land right about now, actually). As for quantification, we certainly did not bother to look up CurlingZone’s in-depth numbers to analyze the differences between Lethbridge 07 and Regina 08.

But overall, we think Harry would be happy. Perhaps we’ll ring him up and find out..?

Some final Scotties thoughts – at least until you read the March issue of TCN:

– Is there a more up-and-down Canadian women’s skip than Suzanne Gaudet?

– News Talk 980’s Mitchell Blair was a busy fellow, but still wonders “Why didn’t I?”

– It looks like Regina organizers can relax for a while, but Victoria dare not ...

– Did you know that the closing Scotties banquet, the “social event of the curling season”, didn’t happen?

– And here’s a blog devoted to Michelle Englot, who made it through a rolling sea of emotions at the STOH.

And furthermore ...


• Something new for the debate about curling’s TV commentators. A Canadian amateur sport bigwig, Diana Davis Duerkop, was thoroughly unimpressed with CBC’s Mike Harris during Saturday’s semifinal telecast, and likewise during the final.

After accusing Harris of favouring Ontario in the semi, she herself shows favouratism to Joan McCusker. Meanwhile, the majority of curling fans we regularly hear from – including Bob Weeks – seem to prefer, or at least tend to agree with, Mr. Harris.

So does sports media observer Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star, the fellow who broke the reality-TV curling hullaballoo. Zelko seems to like everything that both commentators have to offer, and believes they both hush up at the right times.

Interesting.

Davis Duerkop also takes CBC to task for ignoring the Albertans once the final rock was thrown. And we agree with that criticism.

• Townie Bastard isn’t strong on the Scotties Newfoundland skip, but he is himself a curling champion this morning. Now is that the legitimately big curling news, or is there more to come?

• Speaking of the hullaballoo, Jef Spaleta is begging for a Rockstar Curling audition in Fairbanks, Alaska ...

• The Montreal Gazette came out with a strong review for Doug Clark’s book, The Roaring Game ...

• Six other international champions were declared over the weekend. In the United States, Craig Brown won his first American men’s title in eight years while Deb McCormick made history by capturing her third women’s crown in a row.

In Scotland, it was Euroking David Murdoch over defending champ Warwick Smith in men’s play but the women’s side produced a surprise in new champion Gail Munroe. Who is Gail, you might ask? Well, apart from riding a grand streak of wins over the past month or so – including a 4-0 record over the vanquished Kelly Wood in recent times – she happens to be Hammy McMillan’s sister!

And in Switzerland, Mirjam Ott clubbed former Olympic skip Luzia Ebnoether 12-5 in the women’s final, while the brand-new pairing of Claudio Pescia and 1998 Olympic champ Patrick Huerlimann – playing third – shocked Ralph Stoeckli 7-6 in the men’s final. To see a video report, click here and again on the blue “News” box.

Watch for an unusual photo of the Swiss champs in the March issue of The Curling News!

• Outdoor curling gets a third feature treatment in the aforementioned March issue (subscribe today!). Today’s Rochester Democrat & Chronicle throws a spotlight on 200 happy outdoor rockers, and there’s this video, too ...

• Amanda went ...

• We, too salute this curling hero, Jack Lockhart of North Bay, Ontario ...

• And finally, the memory of Sandra Schmirler – very topical given the recent 10th anniversary of the first women’s Olympic gold – is often disconnected from her husband and their children... who are now old enough to ask questions about mom and her legacy. Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post goes in depth with widower Shannon England, and it results in a lengthy but facinating read ...

10 years ago today: Nagano 1998

Ten years ago today, IOC kingpin Juan Antonio Samaranch himself hung gold medals around the necks of Switzerland’s Patrick Hürlimann and his team from Lausanne Olympique, the curling club named after the IOC headquarters in that same Swiss city.

It happened in tiny Karuizawa, a resort town near Nagano, Japan, which usually closes down for winter but was reopened for a very special thing called Olympic Curling. Nagano, of course, was the official host city of the XVIII Olympic Winter Games and the first time the real-deal heavy metal was dished out to those who play The Roaring Game.

Canada’s Sandra Schmirler, tragically felled by cancer less than two years later, won the much-publicized women’s gold.

Silver went to Canada’s Mike Harris and Denmark’s Helena Blach-Lavrsen. The Danes were so pumped they had royal family members in the stands and a couple of curling clubs were built (and now thrive) in the post-Games excitement.

Bronze went to a couple of very highly decorated veterans with multiple world championships to their names: Sweden’s Elisabet Gustafson and Norway’s Eigil Ramsfjell.

Karuizawa celebrates every year with an international tournament, which is going on right now. This year, special 10th anniversary celebrations are planned for the city of Nagano itself.

The World Curling Federation has formally recognized the date, as has the fine weblog Curling Today, the online partner to The Scottish Curler.

Where were you, 10 years ago today? Did you awaken – or stay up – to all hours of the night to see the TV images from the other side of the world? Did anyone really comprehend what a frenzy the pursuit of Olympic dreams would be like today?

Rodger Schmidt, European columnist for The Curling News, has a fascinating viewpoint in the upcoming March issue: take note, as you won’t want to miss it.

And happy anniversary.

To all of us; curling fans... and curling friends.


Elsewhere:

• Speaking of Patrick Hürlimann, the Executive Board member of the World Curling Federation is back on the ice this weekend as the Swiss Championships begin, playing third for Claudio Pescia. That’s potentially bigger news than Russ Howard offering some coaching consultations to Pescia’s former skip, Ralph Stöckli... which is true, by the way ...

• Holy smokes! Did you hear about the Greatest Shot Of All Time (TM) that Kevin Martin made against Randy Ferbey last night in the Alberta provincial?! Well, now you can read all about it courtesy of Terry Jones... and Al Cameron (in both print and online)... and also from Vicki Hall.

The real winners here are CurlTV subscribers; there were no TV cameras at the event except for those belonging to the all-curling webchannel. And now that shot has been archived so that everybody who owns a CurlTV membership can see it.

Lo and behold, the February issue of The Curling News features an advert with a special promotional code for a seriously discounted (50 per cent off!) annual membership to CurlTV. It’s located on page five, by the way ...

• The Scotties, the Canadian Women’s Championship, starts tomorrow – on TSN TV, on CBC Sports Online daily (morning draws, plus semi and final) and also online via CCA scoring – and when a major curling championship comes to Saskatchewan, the prairie stories spill forth. The surviving members of Team Schmirler, incidentally, are all Honourary Chairpersons of the event ...

• Here’s a look at all the teams, including some with a Saskatchewan angle... and you can always place your bets here ...

• And speaking of Sask, Murray McCormick has been profiling Michelle Englot and her home team this week. Today he throws the spotlight on Darlene Kidd, a former junior champ who had been spending a lot of time in Ontario up until recently ...

• OK, skipper Englot is not featured until tomorrow, but here’s another scribe’s recollection of the media-savvy skip who “gets it” ...

• Oh God, it’s Hillcrest again ...

• The ultimate curling online auction continues, as we promoted a few days ago. Items up for grabs, which raise funds for the Sandra Schmirler Foundation, feature some great curling memorabilia from a top competitor: MacDonald Brier montages (1970), MacDonald Brier competitor silverware (1973), Labatt Brier collector pin sets (1988), and even some European Championship pins (1985 and 1995) . Click here for the current lot, and check back often ...

• Quebec’s Jean-Michel Menard is back in the Brier... but sadly for Martin Ferland, there is nothing but... deception ...

• Here’s a quick update on the Manitoba men’s provincials from Paul Wiecek, and Sun guy Paul Friesen sums up the time clock boo-boo that gifted Kerry Burtnyk a key victory ...

• We hadn’t heard of this U.S. hotbed before: Casper, Wyoming ...

• Here’s a little squib on curling in The Waltonian, the student pub for Eastern U in St. Davids, PA ...

• Let’s not forget Munster, Indiana ...

• And here’s some outdoor curling vids – don’t forget, part two of our outdoor feature is in the current Feb. issue of TCN and part three arrives next month – from Gun Lake, BC (4 vids) and also some yee-haw action from the heartland of Minnesota...

• Scotland’s men’s championship is underway next week ...

• Dan Dunleavy commentated for last week’s Ontario Men’s Tankard on Rogers TV, and explains the thrill of working with his curling hero ...

• There’s another Capital One Curlers Corner webisode online... you are remembering to check these weekly things out, right? ...

• We are just loving the self-portrait of Orange Girl – the third of three photos in this blogpost ...

• And finally, Johnada has been celebrating Curling Week at his blog – very nice! – but today’s post sees him disagreeing, somewhat, with his Minnesota mate over curling’s status as a good fitness workout.

He quotes a fitness website and its “curling coefficient of .066 calories burnt per minute per kg of body weight” as proof curlers get only a minor workout... inferior, in fact, to fishing in a stream.

We’ll be sure to mail him a copy of the upcoming March issue of TCN, in which some top high-performance coaches break down some real curling “coefficients” and prove that curlers sweat it up much, much more than the casual observer would ever expect ...