Brier: Picking to win, Day 2

by Dalene Heck

CALGARY – Okay, so... Fun at the Keith’s Patch + Poor Mathematics = a late submission of Pros Pick ’Em. I promise that nothing currently underway on the Saddledome field of play has affected these picks, which WERE made last night!

Speaking of last night... sometime in between Newfoundland/Labrador’s first and sixth miss in the 10th end of their game against Ontario, winter blew into Calgary with a vengeance. Perhaps the changing wind was the cause of their consecutive uncharacteristic misses? Lord knows us Calgarians blame a lot of things on the crazy Alberta weather; Team Brad Gushue might as well jump on that bandwagon.

The stands are empty at the Saddledome this morning. Could be the fact that we all just left downtown Calgary a few hours ago given the extreme shortage of cabs during the snowstorm Could be the fact that time “sprang forward” an hour during the night – it is awfully cruel to curlers and fans to lose an hour of sleep (and recovery time) on the first Sunday of the Brier. Or it could also just be the fact that there are only two games on the ice – not that the competition is unworthy of a live audience, but there is something to be said for watching from the comforts of home while still in pajamas!

Pro Picks are above (click for a better view)... more later...

The Curling News: March issue

Just a ton of links and stuff to show you good folks, but first, a quick look at this month’s issue of The Curling News, and what goodies await those who are getting it this week ...

• Tim Horton’s Brier: the class of the field, 1991 memories, and how dare you, Paul Dobson!
• Doug Maxwell’s all-time Brier all-stars;
• They Said It: our popular collection of curling quotables;
• Curling 2020: a very different demographic;
• Asham Club Corner: U.S. rocks, Swift Current and Pugwash;
• The Curling News TV Guide: where to get your fix in March;
• TCN’s 50th Anniversary Special: The Hackner Shot, 1993 Brier shenanigans, and the 1979 Gathering of Champions;
• TCN Newsdesk: Danko rocks, Gunnlaugson and Villard turn heads, the Juniors, Randy versus Kevin (again), the Goldline Mobile Pro Shop, and more;
• Japan goes bonkers over curling, just in time for this month’s Women’s Worlds;
• Rodger Schmidt on the Universiade: the most important curling event you’ve
probably never heard of;

... and more!

And so... what else is going on?

• The oddsmakers have spoken, and have given Alberta’s Kevin Martin a 2/1 edge to win the Tim Hortons Brier, which starts Saturday on CurlTV, TSN and also on TSN Broadband (two daily draws and three draws on March 8).

Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton carries 5/2 odds and Ontario’s Glenn Howard is 3/1.

Pinnacle Sports (who?) must have missed yesterday’s news that Alberta third John Morris was struck by a car. Literally.

Yes, Johnny Mo got hit and was sent flying about 15 feet. The young horse says he’s “OK” and is hoping to be ready for Saturday. We wish him the best, but... he’ll probably feel worse after the weekend, and of course CCES and WADA are both on the scene, so he’s got to watch what he takes for the pain and stiffness ...

• Speaking of doping control, easy there Ewan MacDonald, one shouldn’t freely discuss the “s” word in the press ...

• And speaking of Scotland, here’s a feature on the men’s victors who are headed to Hamilton, led by Warwick Smith ...

• Kelly Scott is going to Japan, and while it’s nice to see that political bloggers can be curling fans too, did anyone else feel that the STOH final was a tad lacking? Weeksy sure did ...

• The World Wheelchair Championships are finished, and Canada’s Chris Daw gutted out a separated shoulder (!) to finish fourth overall ...

• It’s super-sub Steve Bice (who?) on the latest installment of The Curling Show...

• DID YOU KNOW: you can watch Canada Winter Games curling on TSN and also on APTN? The women’s Yukon team makes a great story, as does that of the reps from the town of Manotick, Ontario ...

• Back to the Brier: The Spec is making some rather bold promises about its upcoming Brier web coverage; we’ll see about that, right gang? ... and has anyone reading this ever heard of Al Harnden? We sure have. It’s great to see “Snapper” back in the show, even if it is a tad unexpected. TCN will never forget his explosive retort to his brother Eric 17 years ago at the 1990 Brier: “No bumps, we’re hitting the damn thing!” He did too, all the way to the semi-final.
One thing not mentioned in the CurlTV story is that the 21-year-old Jacobs, who throws last rocks, is Harnden’s nephew ...

• Imagine: Beerology 101 might never have happened if not for a chance meeting ’round a table after the curling game...

• Ha ha, we like this (wait for the last scene) ...

• Sadly, a group of Scottish curlers are in tough after their rink burned down ...

• Okay, so Sherry is back in the Canada Cup and the world is right again. Too bad she, and all the other teams, be competing in an empty Kamloops arena, for yet another year...

• And finally, here it is: The Shot, the ultimate horror for ice technicians everywhere ...

curlquebec.tv

Just two men’s provincials left, folks.

In Quebec, Pierre Charette “upset” Jean-Michel Menard in the Page 1/2 game and awaits the winner of the Menard/Robert Desjardins semi, which is played this morning. The final is tonight.

Did you know you can see tonight’s final on curlquebec.tv? Well, now you know.

In Ontario, the TSC Stores Tankard is underway with Glenn Howard and Wayne Middaugh pegged to clash in the final for the third consecutive year.

Yesterday, The Curling News watched veteran Jim Lyle outpoint former champ Bryan Cochrane live on Rogers Television (you can also see it on Cogeco) and the memories were already rushing around before we read today’s Morris Dalla Costa piece. Lyle’s team entered playdowns to get ready for seniors – same as Saskatchewan’s Eugene Hritzuk – and, well, now that Gene made it all the way to the Sask final before losing to Pat Simmons, one wonders if Lyle’s Geritol Gang can do the same.

Lyle has a rather tall slide that TCN remembers seeing before. “Nev” Breivik and Ted Smith have been to the Tankard a hundred times, losing the 1991 capper to Russ Howard. Ken Baute has been around and we remember him bringing down the house at a few Port Elgin SuperSpiels.

There were lots of Cochrane memories, too. This is his 10th Tankard, which is remarkable, and we don’t think his hair has moved one millimetre out of place in all that time. Chris Fulton has won this before – he was a charter member of the time-clock-challenged Rich Moffatt squad after arriving in Ottawa from Nova Scotia – and we still can’t believe a tall guy can get so low in his delivery. Jeff Henderson is a Northern Ontarian, and of course John Steski is, well, a Steski. ’Nuff said.

Congrats to Charley but, also, to PEIs silver medallists, who have a very bright future. Meanwhile, the junior women’s final has stirred up a mild case of controversy. Give it a rest, folks.