Rock Report V: Hebert blows a tire

by Dean Gemmell

ST. JOHN’S – Loads of great shotmaking across all four sheets even as two games failed to go the distance.

Team Wayne Middaugh, down two playing the third against Team Pat Simmons, caught a bad break when Wayne’s last-rock hit for three seemed to pick and was suddenly transformed into a steal of one. By the time Middaugh managed a deuce, they were down 5-0. Maybe it was the curling gods finally smiling on Pat after the dose of misfortune they meted out at the Tim Horton’s Brier in Winnipeg.

Team Glenn Howard’s win over Team Greg McAulay was clinical. If they weren’t such nice guys, it would have felt downright mean. Howard (Insight Sports photo by Anil Mungal) basically ended it in the first when he scored four, using one of his patented down-weight taps to do it.

Team Kevin Koe dismantled Team Kerry Burtnyk who, despite my earlier ramblings about their seeming malaise, found a way to qualify. Good for them. After a rough early outing against Kevin Martin, Team Koe appears to have its mojo back.

And any time Martin and Randy Ferbey play, it’s good for curling. So much great shooting and all that back story. It was no different tonight. Martin was comfortably in control until the seventh when Ben Hebert blew a tire – his gripper came flying off in a way you might see at your club’s fall Open House – and burned a Marc Kennedy runback as he hit the deck. Eventually, Ferb third David Nedohin drew about three-quarters buried in the top four and Martin failed to tap it far enough, surrendering a steal of one.

Hebert made amends by starting the eighth with two ticks, the second one leaving the Ferbey stone just a breath away from the side boards. Nedohin hung around to sweep it but one had to think that if he had been joined by Scott Pfeifer and Marcel Rocque – instead of Ferbey – they might have been able to get it those last couple of inches. After that, things went according to plan and Martin needed only a draw to the eight-foot with his last rock to win the game.

Team Ferbey probably didn’t need one more defeat against Martin to chew on over the summer but they have it nonetheless.

Watching the play tonight brought the differences among the men’s teams into even sharper focus. Martin and Howard, possibly the two greatest skips the game has seen, are leading extraordinary teams and have created some definite distance between themselves and the field. Koe is awfully close. Simmons is narrowing the gap. For now, Ferbey and Middaugh come up just behind them. After that, everyone is chasing.

The good news is that there are some very good young guns in the mix. It may take a few years but eventually the tides will turn. Take the advice Ben Hebert offered in a recent issue of The Curling News and enjoy the forty-something superstars while you can.

Finally, Amber Holland was next door in the CurlTV booth for the last couple of ends of Ferbey-Martin. Team Krista McCarville was in the pub overlooking the ice. I’m not sure who wins and who loses on that one.

Since there’s only one direct flight each day between St. John’s and Newark and I have to be in New Jersey on Monday, I’ll miss the games today. With Martin, Howard, Koe and Simmons on the last big day of the season, I definitely lose on that one.

Later.

Rock Report IV

by Dean Gemmell

ST. JOHN’S – The ice, swingier than it was earlier in the weekend, definitely had both teams vexed. For most of the first seven ends, the story was about crashes, half-shots and opportunities missed. But the game redeemed itself somewhat in the final end, as Amber Holland made a double to count two for the 2008 Tylenol Players’ Championship victory (Insight Sports photo by Anil Mungal).

Not the hardest double you’ll see but one of those shots that gets tough when it’s for a win. And, in this case, for a Pre-Olympics Trials spot. And nine grand. And 10 more CTRS points. And maybe a shot at Sport Canada funding.

It wasn’t the crowd I’m sure organizers were hoping to see. Unfortunately, I’m guessing the arena won’t fill up a whole lot more for a Brad Gushue-free quarterfinal draw on a night of nasty weather and playoff hockey on the tube.

The curlers who have played here in the past tell me there’s been a steady ebb in attendance at events in St. John’s since the heady days of the Gushue Olympic run. I know there won’t be a Capital One Grand Slam here next year and while it seems a shame – George Street being a big reason for that sentiment – you can’t bring an event to cities that don’t turn out for it.

But enough about that. A great night of curling is ahead of us, including a Randy Ferbey-Kevin Martin matchup. The men are stretching things out but not jogging on the spot. No jumping jacks either.

World curling warmup

by Resby Coutts

WINNIPEG – Put competitive people on the ice and you’ll have great curling action... even if the original intent was a bit of fun, and for a good cause.

Tuesday at Winnipeg’s Pembina Curling Club, three international curling teams en route to Grand Forks for the 2008 World Men’s Championship played three local teams as a fundraiser-slash-awareness-generator for the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation.

Denmark’s Johnny Frederiksen took on Pembina’s Lionel Walz, a former Manitoba Senior Men’s champion; Czech Republic’s Jiri Snitil played Norm Magnusson’s Senior Men’s team (skipped by Lorne Hamblin, who coached the 2002 World Junior Champions) and Scotland’s David Murdoch took on some guy named Jeff Stoughton.

A full house crowd, including a pair of Japanese junior teams in town for the Optimist International Under-18 Championship, turned out to watch the fun and were treated to some great shotmaking in all three games.

Stoughton cobbled together a team that included Scotland’s Peter Loudon... a fellow who actually beat Stoughton in the final of the 1999 Ford Worlds in Moncton. Playing like high-stakes gamblers for much of the session, Stoughton came up short against a Murdoch team that is obviously set for a serious run starting this Saturday in Grand Forks.

Walz was forced to add Denmark’s new consultant-coach John Helston, a former Canadian champion for Mike Riley’s Brier-winning 1984 team, to his lineup. Walz was the gracious host. Facing a hit for two to tie coming home, Walz rolled out to give the Danes a one point victory.

Hamblin and his veteran team rose to the challenge of their first (and most likely only) game in international competition. Snitil and his young team showed they’re ready for their World debut with a solid display of shotmaking and strategy that impressed the Winnipeg onlookers. Tied coming home with the hammer, Hamblin's third Don Newbury made the shot of his season, sinking an out-turn draw into the four foot behind cover to set up the final victory point.

As mentioned, the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation was the big winner as some $400 was raised through a silver collection.


Resby Coutts has a fine weekly radio show in Winnipeg and is also the publisher of the equally fine webzine The Curler. Come back anytime, Res...

On The Rocks

There’s a new blog in this here curling town, pardner, and we know the author very, very well.

Al Cameron has been the ace curling scribe for the Calgary Herald for quite a while now, and he is also a valuable member of the editorial staff of this here omnipresent curling operation, better known as The Curling News.

Now the Herald has AC on blogduty, starting with this past weekend’s opening Grand Slam of the women’s season, held right there in Cowtown.

It is already (and will continue to be) a darned fine read, so be sure you bookmark it. If you don’t you can be sure we’ll spotlight some of Al’s ramblings from time to time.

And don’t miss Al’s scrutiny of – and strong recommendations to – new CCA bossman Greg Stremlaw in the first fall issue of TCN, which is coming very soon. In fact, why don’t you just mosey on over here and subscribe today?

Speaking of the Slam, Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones won her second straight tournament with a 6-3 win over Calgary’s Shannon Kleibrink.

Other weekend winners were Kevin Koe in New Westminster, Michelle Englot and junior-aged Garrett Vey in Regina, Allan Lyburn and Barb Spencer in Winnipeg, J.M. Menard and M.F. Larouche in Ottawa (and a couple of lucky lucky-draw winners, we note), and the pride of Scotland, David Murdoch, over in Switzerland.

A sidelight to Basel’s Swiss Cup event was the A, B, C-ya later from Team Randy Ferbey: can anyone recall the last time they lost three consecutive games in one day, let alone outside of Canada?

The B.C. Curling Tour

B.C. is in the news today in a big way.

First off is a big hello to the brand new British Columbia Curling Tour.

After a summer of enthused discussions, the CurlingZone troops have teamed with some B.C. curling talent to build the latest regional tour organization. It launched last night and is now in full swing as the Westcoast Classic hits the ice in New West.

Of course, there was also Wednesday’s confirmation of the 2009 STOH in Victoria.

Meanwhile, there’s more good news concerning a new format – and new sponsors – for governing provincial body CurlBC.

There’s also this report on Bob Ursel’s comfortable win in Vernon last weekend, not to to forget Heather Rankin’s first cash win in years.

And finally, say hello to an honourary BC-er, Colleen Jones ... or perhaps her new teammates should be known as honourary Haligonians? We’ll let someone else decide.


Elsewhere:

• Regina’s DirectWest Rocktoberfest cashspiel will see the men’s and women’s finals live on Access Communications TV on Monday afternoon ...

• sisterhall says that one of the arsonists in the Windsor CC disaster is “a former investigator of the church” ? ...

• AWCT and WCPA prez Paul Boutilier pumps The National in this Cape Breton Post story ...

• The Lucky Monkeys have a new website, and its the first we’ve seen with the .us format ...

• And finally, who has been curling lately?

There’s Pam in the Territories, Ted in Alaska, Adam who is visiting Scotland, our good friend Bob in Prague, and two from B.C., Rev. Dave in Surrey and this writer in Nanaimo ...

The Weakerthans

While various rock acts have been known to play at large curling events – say hello Randy Bachman, Ashley MacIsaac, David Wilcox and Danko Jones – Canadian folk-rockers The Weakerthans are the latest musical act to follow in the footsteps of Hammerfall, Gob, The Tragically Hip and The Constantines in crafting real curling themes into their music.

The new song Tournament of Hearts – which can be heard on the band’s MySpace page – is hard core curling, with its references to “championship banners going yellow on the wall” and “peeling off the (beer) label as they peel the corner guard.” It is, however, a love song... just as Men With Brooms is really a love story.

Frontman John K. Samson – throwing a rock with a cool hat above – speaks about curling in this video mobisode, and in fact quotes from a legendary curling book (anyone recognize the cover? We do).

There are also stories available from CP and Canuck music mag Exclaim!, while our good friends at Chart have a mostly negative CD review here.

Will the 2008 Tim Hortons Brier committee draft these proud Winnipeggers into playing a gig at the Keith’s Patch in March?

• Police have already arrested three people following yesterday afternoon’s suspected arson job on the Windsor Curling Club ...

• Yorkton’s popular stop on the Asham World Curling Tour has been cancelled for 2007.

“On behalf of the Yorkton Curling Club and the Curling Classic committee, we unfortunately have to announce a one year leave of absence from the PharmaChoice Curling Classic for 2007 due to team scheduling conflicts and other extenuating circumstances that are beyond our control,” committee chair and 1999 Brier semi-finalist Gerald Shymko told the Yorkton This Week & Enterprise.

“We will be working hard to alleviate any conflicts for 2008 and will be putting our efforts into making next year's spiel bigger and better than ever.”

The good news is while the eight-year event will be on hiatus, chief sponsor PharmaChoice Western will continue supporting the local curling club.

“We’re not just laying down and letting this go,” Shymko added.

“We’re hoping the scheduling works better where the teams can travel and come back to Yorkton next year. And, we’ll be going all out to get the spiel back into this community.”

• Speaking of Men With Brooms, here’s what writer/actor/director Paul Gross is up to these days ...

• Got a suggestion for a podcast guest on The Curling Show? Just mosey on over to the Zone and name your name ...

• Joe Pavia spoke with KMart over the weekend ...

• Finally, the European Mixed Championships are underway in the Spanish city of Madrid, and local voices are are starting to noice (here and also here) ... plus, Bob Cowan is actually there ...

Windsor club destroyed

As Nova Scotia’s Windsor Curling Club burned to the ground yesterday, defending provincial Brier skip Mark Kehoe took this picture (above). Thanks to TCN correspondent Teri Lake for forwarding it.

Kehoe is quoted in today’s Daily News while his club manager offers comments to the Canadian Press regarding the latest curling facility to be destroyed.

A club fundraiser was planned for this weekend.

Yes indeed, curlers are whiners

Well, well... what have we here?

Winnipeg is in an uproar today as the internal news of Asham’s cancellation of that city’s major Asham World Curling Tour event has now exploded into the public forum (also located here).

The Curling Show was quick to get Arnold Asham himself on the horn, and while there are varying reasons why the event has been cancelled, there is one idea percolating which The Curling News must sadly agree with: curlers – in particular the competitive breed – are indeed among the biggest whiners in the world of sports.

This phenomenon has actually been discussed in some major boardrooms of the sport, and many believe it’s a simple consequence of the very nature of curling as a self-managed and self-policed sport.

Think about it. Opposite to most other amateur or professional sports, curlers are somehow permitted to:

• “hire” and “fire” their own team members
• operate with or without a coach or alternate, if they so choose
• police their own game, except at various provincial, national and world championships

This is so ingrained into the sport of curling – and so alien a concept to so many other sports – that curlers reading this are probably getting hot under the collar at the phrase “permitted to.”

In many other sports, even the equivalent of a top curling skip is told – by various sport coaches, managers, owners and/or bureaucrats – what to do and when to do it. And what’s more, you’ll darned well like it, mister!

Even the nature of the curling governance structure lends credence to this concept. Some other sport leaders would shake their heads if told that Canada’s national curling association is merely an umbrella organization, with limited to non-existent power to actually direct the strategy and activities of the provincial associations.

And you can rest assured their jaws are still lying on the floor, two years later, over the public spectacle of irate curling fans forcing that governing body to tear up a multi-year television contract and redo the entire thing... by unleashing a torrent of bad press and even going so far as to threaten sponsors.

From an outside-the-sport perspective, you’ve gotta be kidding!

In this context, curlers get away with murder when compared to other athletes in other sports and will obviously not hesitate to bray loudly if something irks them.

What is tragic is the curler’s tendency to bray the loudest when his or her competitive team is adversely affected by a given situation. It’s hard to ignore the level of selfishness that often ingrains itself into such a self-governed sport.

Then again, curlers still aren’t “paid” very much for their services, are they?

Or aren’t they?

And is that not an entirely different kettle of fish?

Or not?


Elsewhere:

• The Curling Show also has a segment with icemaking madman Shorty Jenkins ...

• In Brockville, Glenn Howard beat Brad Gushue to win the Shorty Jenkins Classic, in a repeat of the Brier final result from last March. Reigning champ Kevin Martin lost the semi to Howard, while Wayne Middaugh’s super-team with Jon Mead and Graeme McCarrel – and Ian Tetley and Scott Bailey – lost the quarterfinal to Howard. Russ who?

On the women’s side, Debbie McCormick most enjoyed the vibrant Canadian dollar, as her Team USA upended Quebec’s Eve Bélisle in the final match ...

• In Galt/Cambridge, the BDO Galt Classic was a big hit in the shopping mall and on Rogers Television... at least the men’s final, as Darryl Prebble surprised Mike Harris with a 6-5 victory for the championship, which was also The Battle For Scarborough (Prebble represents Scarborough Golf Club, while Harris appears to be back at neighboring Tam Heather).

The women’s final was a dud as Julie Reddick made it two spiels in a row with a 13-5 bombing of Colleen Madonia, but Hollie Nicol’s junior team from Kitchener-Waterloo impressed by losing the semi-final to Reddick by a 7-6 count.

“After losing, we said give us five minutes and we’ll be happy with the weekend,” Nicole told The Record. “Our goal was to make the playoffs, and we did that.”

• Over in Edmonton, the locals must be smarting over the fact that a couple of visiting teams waltzed into their town, kicked everyone’s butt and left with the big cash. Bingyu Wang of China crushed Glenys Bakker of Calgary 8-1 in the Boston Pizza women’s final, while Saskatchewan’s Pat Simmons beat Kelly Row, Randy Ferbey and then Brent MacDonald to win the men’s cheque ...

• The same thing happened over in Norway, as Canadian invaders took out their European opposition at the Radisson SAS Oslo Cup. Edmonton’s Kevin Koe took out the perhaps-not-so-retired Pål Trulsen 7-2 to win the men’s crown, while Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones defeated Saskatchewan’s Sherry Anderson 7-6 in an all-Canuck women’s final. A couple of Scottish teams, skipped by Kelly Wood and Claire Milne, made the semis.

• The second Grand Slam of Curling event has been announced, and once again the small Cape Breton city of Port Hawkesbury will play host to The National, this time running Dec. 20-23.

“Having the Grand Slam of Curling returning to Port Hawkesbury for a third consecutive year is a tribute to the local community, businesses, volunteers and organizers as each group has been instrumental in making The National such a success,” said Port Hawkesbury Mayor Billy Joe MacLean. “We’re looking forward to hosting the top curling teams from Canada, the United States and Europe in late December and this prestigious world class event will serve as a welcomed early holiday gift for the residents of Port Hawkesbury.”

The Grand Slam events feature a pile of Canada’s top men’s squads including Martin, The National’s defending champion, along with Ferbey, Gushue, Glenn Howard and 2003 Tylenol Players’ Champion Jeff Stoughton.

The top 15 Canadian men’s teams, along with two European squads and one entry from the United States of America, will compete in The National. A complete list of participating teams will be announced in November ...

• BalancePlus has sent out a cool notice summarizing the “Battle of the Brushes” this past weekend; ie. they’ve just announced the teams wielding their new tapered blue and orange BalancePlus brushes this season: Teams Harris and Peter Corner (semi-finalist in Brockville) and also Team Sherry Middaugh (lost semis at Galt).

These teams will help BalancePlus raise funds for Prostate Cancer Research via an end-of-year auction of each brushe, which will be covered in autographs. The funds raised from the auction will be split between Prostate Cancer Research and the Canadian Paraplegic Association.

BP’s pink brushes, now widely available, will continue as a fundraiser for Breast Cancer. You can add to the support by purchasing one of these charity-connected items today ...

• Finally, a sad occurrence in Japan over the weekend ...

Curling superstars in Moncton

Lots of pickup of the WCF announcement of the 2009 Ford Worlds in Moncton, including Bill Graveland’s story featuring local hero Russ Howard.

Russ was there for the announcement, of course, alongside a series of curling legends (see photo)... in fact, can anyone name these past heroes? Post to our blog’s Comments section below this story, and you just might win something.

We fully expect Bacon to be among the first respondents... will someone else top him to win?

Still with Moncton, Lorne Mitton – the curling mayor – has announced he will not run for another term... so, will Mitton take a volunteer role with the Ford Worlds organizing committee?

• Finally, Russ Howard will help hockey’s Moncton Wildcats offer a $10,000 prize to a spectator during an on-ice curling challenge. The fun takes place on September 23 ...

Elsewhere:

• There are multiple events on tap this weekend – Shorty, Galt, Oslo, Edmonton etc. – and all results are available on CurlingZone’s Gameday Scoreboard, right here in the middle of your page when you log in. Boom. There’s nowhere else you need to go!

• Ontario curling fans can tune in this weekend and see the Galt finales on local TV ...

• The International Olympic Committee and the seven Olympic Winter Sport Federations recently met in Vancouver to discuss the progress of the 2010 Games, and the World Curling Federation has posted an update ...

• Kelly Scott’s defending world champions are in Regina tomorrow and Sunday, promoting the 2008 Scotties in the Queen City, where they will represent Team Canada. Also on the agenda is a challenge match against Joel Jordison’s men’s team ...

• The Manitoba Curling Tour finally has a good date for their championships, plus a new website, too ...

• Denver has won the right to host the U.S. Nats/Trials in 2009... and perhaps this angry bird might even attend. Meanwhile, there’s almost as much media coverage of Bismark’s loss...

• Finally, it seems these guys have discovered the Norberg/Hammerfall video... nearly two years after the fact. We thought the internet worked faster than that ...?

New Canadian event website

Some quick mouse clicks for your fingers (and eyes) this morning ...

• The Canadian Curling Association has rejigged their look for the new season, which includes a new dedicated site for their championships. The site features all of their familiar championships in one hub, and for the first time in the public forum, the story of the Season of Champions concept, complete with a nifty promotional video ...

• Meanwhile, Dean Gemmell’s The Curling Show has new CCA CEO Greg Stremlaw in the hot seat ...

• Saskatchewan’s Sherry Anderson is ready for another season. Are you? ...

• Jumpin’ Joe Pavia is back, with his first Ottawa-area curling column ...

• According to the local blat, Brockville’s Shorty Jenkins Classic is ready to roll this coming weekend ...

• Scotland’s Curlathon was a very colourful affair yesterday ...

• Vernon’s host committee for the 2008 Ford World Women’s is just plain done looking for volunteers, as the response has been “overwhelming” ...

• Remember the name Joe Frans? The skilled Ontario curler who played third for John Morris in one Brier (2002) and second for Wayne Middaugh in another (2005) was suspended for two years following a doping infraction. He’s now back, and in a big way, as his new team won last night’s Ontario Curling Tour Championship. Julie Reddick, who has switched positions with former skip Jo-Ann Rizzo, won the women’s title ...

• And remember our story on the Sub-Zero Sweepers? Well, following that piece – and a South African marketing trade story on the cheeky advertising campaign by Nando’s Foods – the African bureau chief of Canada’s Globe & Mail has jumped in with a major feature, and we have a comment from the only Nando’s operation willing to talk about the campaign so far.

“I’m impressed that word of the Sub Zero Sweepers spread to Canada so quickly,” said Mark Majewski, National Marketing Director of Nando’s Canada. “If the South African team came to the Great White North anytime soon, I’m betting they’d quickly be schooled by our Canadian squad. The score would be ‘peri’ lopsided in Canada’s favour, I’m sure!”

2007-08 Season Launch

The curling season is underway.

In fact, this was first declared by the Scots – who have the divine right to make such a declaration, we say – back on September 3, but it really hit home on Sunday, as the results of the first major cash tournament of the year came in.

Item number one on both the World Curling Tour Europe and the Asham World Curling Tour was Switzerland’s Baden Masters, and 2006 Olympic winner Brad Gushue is the champion (photo by Urs Raeber). The new Gushues defeated recent Ford World runner-up Andy Kapp of Germany in the final, 5-4 in an extra end (the ninth), while Switzerland’s Andi Schwaller and Bernard Werthemann both lost in the semis. Big names also made the quarterfinals, in the person(s) of Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud and Scotland’s David Murdoch.

“Because we didn’t have any ice going into the event we didn’t know what to expect,” Gushue told The Curling News. “We’re excited to get off to a such a good start.”

A big announcement occurred in Atlantic Canada just moments ago, as the World Curling Federation made it official: the 2009 Ford World Men’s Championship will be hosted in Moncton, New Brunswick, April 4-12 of that year.

It will mark the 51st world men’s titleshoot, and follows Moncton’s legacy of hosting grand events, for the world (1980 Silver Broom) for Canada (1985 Brier) and for those who love money (1990 Moncton 100)... and 50th anniversary celebrations should be in full swing, as recently proposed by curling legend Doug Maxwell shortly before his death. The same Doug Maxwell who, incidentally, was the major architect of the Moncton 100, amongst his many, many sporting accomplishments.

We’ll have a full report on Maxwell’s recent memorial service, including thoughts from some of the many curling heavyweights who journeyed to the service, in the first print edition of The Curling News, coming out in late October. We invite you to subscribe, naturally.

And to anyone who dares think the 09 Worlds might not be a spectacular event, you are forgetting the mayor of Moncton is former CCA President Lorne Mitton. And that the current WCF President, Les Harrison, lives about 10 minutes away from the arena. And that the current CCA Vice-President is also a New Brunswicker.

Clearly, New Brunswick is well on its way to becoming the new epicentre of curling power. What’s next... will a prominent curling internet wizard, for example, relocate to some beachfront property near Fredericton? Could happen, but who knows. We’re just speculating.

Elsewhere, the curling news has been piling up ...

• Here’s a closer look at Niagara Falls native Greg Stremlaw, the new CCA CEO ...

• Is British Columbia’s Salmon Valley CC in trouble?

• Two members of the USA Senior Women’s team recently engaged in a new business startup – their own bank ...

• Curling has returned to Salt Lake City, as the Wasatch Curling Club’s Friday league – and Learn To Curl sessions – will wrap up soon, after September 21. Location is the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns ...

• Sounds like Midland, Minnesota will be getting a new curling club... while the Green Bay CC in Wisconsin is celebrating its 50th anniversary ...

• Remember the 2002 Worlds in Bismark, North Dakota? Their local media has gone bonkers over their one-in-three chance to host the 2009 U.S. Nationals, which will also serve as the U.S. Olympic Trials for 2010. Read all about it here, and here, and here ...

• Still with the U.S. – holy smokes! – they say that Hibbing will host the U.S. men’s and women’s national shootout. The men’s champs will head just down the highway to Grand Forks, North Dakota for the 2008 World Men’s ...

• Recent Canadian Brier competitor Jon Solberg is headed to Whitehorse to lead that city’s curling club, which will also host another WCT event in November ...

• First a brand new curling facility (as profiled in The Curling News); and now the gift of ancient stones in Swift Current, Saskatchewan ...

Doug Maxwell: Curling Giant

You can read a fair amount these days about Doug Maxwell, the curling impresario who passed away last Friday in his 80th year.

The news first broke via an obituary notice in the Globe & Mail, then Al Cameron ran a piece on Sunday, as did curling friend Bob Cowan in Scotland.

Tuesday saw a salute from the World Curling Federation and also from CBC, where Maxwell first plied his specialized trade of curling journalism.

Finally, today’s Owen Sound Sun-Times spotlights Maxwell’s impact on the Markdale community, and today’s Toronto Star also has a nice piece, with the print version including a recent photo of Maxwell at one of his beloved Skins Games (photo above by curling camera whiz Mark Snyder).

There’s even been a few calls for the world championship trophy to be renamed the Maxwell Cup.

We at The Curling News are in mourning, as Doug, or “DDM” as he was known, was more than simply a senior columnist. He was our Editor Emeritus, a title bestowned upon him after 20 years of owning the former Canadian Curling News, for which he also served as Publisher and Editor.

After rescuing CCN from certain collapse in 1980, Maxwell sold the paper in the fall of 2003, in the hopes that former CCN Associate Editor (and 1998 Olympian) George Karrys could carry the tradition forward. Four years later, The Curling News – plus this here blog – has solidified its status as the world’s top curling publication, turning heads with cutting-edge content, attractive design values, and even eye-catching TV commercials.

We started a new department for our 50th anniversary last fall, in which archived stories and photos from the past were reprinted – many of them written years ago by Maxwell himself – and the sheer degree of positive feedback will see us do this once again, as the calendar year will shortly carry us into our 51st publishing season.

We have our readers – in particular, our print subscribers – to thank for this success, but we have Doug Maxwell to thank for his direction, his work ethic, his standards of professionalism and, above all, his sheer love and passion for the world’s fastest growing winter sport. He was, and he remains, the inspiration of our commitment to first-class product. He was, and remains, a friend... who happens to command a remarkable curling legacy.

We are also in shock at the speed of his passing. In mid-August, Maxwell submitted a written proposal to the World Curling Federation, clearly indicated that despite recent health struggles, there was no stopping “Mr. Curling.”

However, an August 25 message detailed the bad news from doctors: his cancer had returned and was terminal, leaving only an estimated 5-10 months of opportunities left. Still, we all thought, we hadn’t heard the last from Doug.

Less than a week later, he was gone.

Gord Maxwell, one of Doug’s three sons, tells us that, if anything, his father left the impression he “was setting an example to me even in how he died.

“It was, to a certain extent, his program. He took (the bad news) the way he wanted, and it happened the way he wanted. There was no doubt in his mind, and he was calm and focussed.”

And so the curling world has lost another giant, just a year after the passing of Don “Buckets” Fleming, whom Maxwell himself labelled “an all-time curling character.” And as we prepare to gather in tiny Markdale, Ontario this Sunday, we shall leave you with some words from Doug Maxwell himself, as excerpted from his most recent book, Tales of a Curling Hack, which was published less than a year ago; an essential item for your bookshelf, now more than ever.

It’s been quite the ride since your first eight-ender, scored at Montréal in 1951, old friend. Rest well.


Being, on occasion, a modest sort of chap, I never thought much about my place in the world of curling. Oh, I knew that my commentator’s countenance on television, first with the CBC’s “Cross Canada Curling,” Brier telecasts, and a variety of curling shows in the sixties and seventies) and later with TSN (The Sports Network), gave me some sort of recognition. But I didn’t think it was anything other than the kind of notoriety that goes with boob tube familiarity.

I knew, too, that my 18-year stint as executive director of the Air Canada Silver Broom World Curling Championship had given me a certain profile among some of the elite players of the game, but I dismissed that as more face recognition than peer respect. After all, they were the stars of the show, and I was mainly the plumber, the promoter, the public presence of the event.

Then, following the publication of my 2002 book Canada Curls: The Illustrated History of Curling in Canada, I began to get letters asking questions or suggesting theories that the correspondents felt I could address. People seemed to think I might have a secret source of curling information, and, on the odd occasion, I realized maybe they were right. I had to admit that, yes, I might be the only one still alive who had some arcane detail or piece of curling trivia stuck in a recess of my mind.

I read in Bill Bryson’s fascinating book A Short History of Nearly Everything that when the British astronomer Sir Arthur Eddington was asked “Is it true you are one of only three people in the world who actually understands Einstein’s Theory of Relativity?” the famous Brit was silent for a minute and then replied, “I’m trying to think who the other two might be.”

Once or twice, over the past few years, I have felt like Sir Arthur E. – not about Einstein’s theory, of course – but perhaps, maybe, curling? Without being too immodest, I think I bring a variety of credentials to the challenge of this book. At one time or another, I have been a broadcaster, reporter, official, umpire, statistician, organizer, promoter, innovator, sponsor and, most recently, a historian of the game. So occasionally, just like Eddington, I’ve tried to think who the other know-it-alls might be. And then, as I came up with their names, I recruited them to add some of their comments to mine. The result, I hope, will be fun for all of us...

... I titled this chapter “Completing the Circle.” Here’s why. In Chapter 1, I imagined a conversation between Baron Pierre de Coubertin and Vince Lombardi. Now that I have passed my biblical “three score and ten,” I have finally accepted the fact I will never fulfill Lombardi’s injunction by winning the Brier or the World. I do think, however, that I might qualify for a pat on the back from the Baron.

I think I have stayed the course, taken part. I have, perhaps, triumphed in some things, and I know I have been a part of the struggle. I may not have conquered too often, but I allow as how I have fought well.

I began my curling journey by covering the first Schoolboy Curling Championship in 1950. By attending the 2006 World Men’s Curling Championship, I think I have completed the circle.

New CEO for Canadian Curling

Here he is... the new man with one of the most important jobs in the sport of curling. And we’re not sure he’s ever curled.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course. Particularly given the images of his predecessor sprawling across the ice in a long-ago promotional video, which is just now starting to sprout near and far across the web.

Relative unknown Greg Stremlaw of Niagara Falls, Ontario (above) is the new Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Curling Association.

The 36-year old will assume his duties on October 9, replacing Dave Parkes, who retired in a cloud of controversy in May after a 19-year CCA career.

Currently living in Cambridge, Ontario – presumably not far from the Galt Classic – Stremlaw was most recently the CEO and Executive Director of the Chicopee Ski & Summer Resort in Kitchener.

Prior to that, he worked as Director, Sport Services & Bobsleigh/Luge for the Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA) from 1996-2002, most importantly as Race Chairman/Race Director for all international World Championship and World Cup events in the winter sports of Skeleton, Luge and Bobsleigh.

“I am excited to be involved in helping take the CCA in a new direction,” said Stremlaw. “We want to have a vision of excellence, a vision that includes running this sport as a business with sound financial practices, teambuilding, grassroots development and capturing the minds of the youth in this great country.

“I look forward to being part of many significant curling events in the coming years, especially the 2010 Winter Olympics in our own backyard. It is imperative that we use these events to help catapult the sport of curling to yet another level. I genuinely look forward to being a part of that process along with the entire CCA team.”

Stremlaw’s appointment was ratified unanimously by the CCA Board of Directors at a recent meeting, with Board members Graham Prouse, Georgina Anderson, Fran Todd, CCA Vice-President Beth Sullivan and CCA past president Donna Duffett leading the CEO Search Committee, working in conjunction with executive search firm Ray & Berndtson.

Sportswoman of the Year?

The World Curling Federation is reporting that 2007 World Women’s Curling Champion skip Kelly Scott and/or her team has been selected as a finalist for the 2007 Sportswoman of the Year Award, as presented by the U.S.- based Women’s Sports Foundation.

The awards – one individual and one team – are decided by online public voting, and Scott is up against Justin Henin (Tennis), Lorena Ochoa (Golf), Sanya Richards (Athletics) and fellow Canadians Danielle Peers (Wheelchair Basketball) and the legendary Hayley Wickenheiser (Ice Hockey).

Voting closes this Friday, August 31, at midnight so head to the website and add your vote for curling!

The winners will be announced in October at a gala dinner at New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria.

Carmen of Curling

Carmen Schäfer is the new third for double Olympic silver medallist Mirjam Ott of Switzerland, and her image is splashed across last week’s Blick magazine in rather flourishing fashion.

Have a nice weekend, folks ...

Scottish Washer Tossing weekend

Scotland is in the news today on a few fronts.

First, September’s massive national Curlathon fundraiser has been boosted by a big-name challenge match.

Secondly, there’s a pile of neat stuff posted at Curling Today, from the steady progress of a new Gogar Park facility to a very cool look at the coolest place to curl at – and not once but twice, in back-to-back weeks next month – Madrid, in Spain.

Speaking of that blog, The Scottish Curler’s Bob Cowan will celebrate his 60th birthday this Saturday evening at Greenacres, and it’s a shame TCN must decline its invitation. According to the agenda, the evening looks promising:

7:00pm – Guests arrive
7:15pm – Scottish Washer Toss Championship and other assorted nonsense
8:00pm – Buffet
8:30pm – Scottish Washer Toss Final
8:45pm – Awards
9:00pm – ABBAMANIA
11:59pm – Carriages

Happy Birthday, Bob!

Finally, the following weekend sees a special golf junket – På tur med Curlinggutta (Part II) – featuring a pile of Norwegian curlers (led by Pål Trulsen) and of course the host Scot of choice (noted curler and hotelier Hammy McMillan). Also along for the ride last year was the sole North American invitee, jolly Tim Wright of Duluth, Minnesota.

Here, deep from the unpublished archives of The Curling News, is Wright’s heavily edited report from last year’s event (photo shows Hammy, Pål and Tim a year ago). It’s fair to guess that this month’s edition should be equally amusing ...

The Team Trulsen golf outing took place at the North West Castle in Stranraer, one of several first-class hotels owned and operated by the McMillan family. Hammy was our host for the weekend, and defied his reputation and spent most of the weekend working, although he was able to sneak away for a pint after hours.

The golf outing itself was designed for the Norwegian Olympians to offer a weekend of thanks for their sponsors and supporters - Hammy and Pål set it up on their plane ride back from Duluth last March, after surviving a weekend as House of Hearts celebrities. Apparently they needed a token American so I was invited. I hesitated a bit when, four days before my flight was to leave the UK, a terrorist plot was foiled... but Pål assured me flying was much safer than golfing with 20 drunk Norwegians. I couldn’t argue that logic.

I entered the tourney knowing one Norwegian word - Skol - which I used frequently. I told my fellow golfers the only English word they needed to learn was “gimme.”

When we arrived for the first match, I was assigned the honorary first shot in the first flight, so I went in to pay for my golf cart (or buggies as they call them in Skotland) and drove up to the first tee. 20 Norwegians looked at me in astonishment as most had never heard of golfing with a limo. Once I explained that the cart wasn’t necessarily to avoid walking or carrying the clubs, but was in fact equipped with four slots to carry your beverages - there was a mad rush for the clubhouse and every group thus had a buggy.

Other North American golfing customs were quickly enjoyed as I taught them how to save steps and bend the rules to one’s advantage. If you haven’t figured it out yet, we were better curlers than golfers. 36 holes later the organizing committee determined the winners. I still haven’t figured out how they score over there - some combination of the Stapleford System with handicaps built in – but it didnt matter, it was a blast. Skol!

More silliness

Last week we showed you some bizarre big-budget curling – er, stuff – and now there’s more.

@Home – the old branding of Rogers internet service in Canada – is still going strong overseas, as evidenced by this Dutch commercial, which boasts both a curling and crime angle.

Just what is that under the ice?

Sub-Zero Sweepers

What the heck, you say?

Prepare yourself accordingly, and click here.

If your browser blocks all the vids on the downloads page, you can check out some of them here.

Comments welcome.

Big Brother Curling

Question of the day: which TV show is credited – or perhaps blamed? – with being the first “Reality” show? Survivor? The Real World? This forgotten oldie?

Big Brother must rank up there, and now the veteran CBS timewaster has become the first to send their contestants curling, as it happened back on week two of this eighth edition.

A modified version of curling, you would think? Definitely (photo courtesy CBS). You can watch the full segment here.

Ah, YouTube. What would we do without you?

For certain, it would be a lot tougher to find things like this clip from New Zealand’s recent outdoor curling spiel (not to forget this one of the Kiwis lunching) ... and this look at the tricky ice conditions the Aussies face on a daily basis ... plus these peeks (one and two) at the World Curling Federation’s Level 1 Technical course in Füssen, Germany (that’s Canadian Brian Rice doing the lecturing) ... and this TV news glimpse of arena curling in Omaha, Nebraska... nor would we easily find vid from Atlantic Canada’s famed Whitecap summer curling camp, available at this user’s page.

Anything else going on? Well ...

• Turns out it was an Ottawa curling ice technician who brought down Canada’s most wanted man this week ...

• Another young curler has died in a tragic accident, this time in Tillsonburg, Ontario ...

• Remember the big hoo-haw over Scotland’s – sorry, Great Britain’s – team selection process for the last Olympics? British Curling has now announced the plan for 2010 ...

• Here’s yet another TV report (including video) of the outdoor Kiwi curlfest ...

• Don’t miss Pfeif on The Curling Show, he’s always a great guest ...

• Team Jennifer Jones has a new sponsor, and it’s a current CCA partner. Former sponsor Whirlpool, which has been a dynamic supporter of women’s sport – including curling – for years, is now reported to be scaling down their involvement ...

• Wisconsin’s Pardeeville Curling Club president has received a well-deserved state honour
(defending U.S. women’s champion skip Deb McCormick is the club VP, by the way) ...

• TSN was quick to pick up our exclusive from July 25 ...

• and finally, there’s a big sale underway at Ishida Sports, including Mizuno carling pants!

Kevin Martin Simpson

Introducing the latest Simpsons character, above... KMart Simpson. Hurry hard!

Have you tried The Simpsonizer yet? Tons of fun. Instead of using one of our own mugs (how tempting it was to do this to Larry Wood, or perhaps Teri Lake!) we decided to toss the famed Alberta skip into the online device, and lo and behold – here he is.

The Simpsons Movie, of course, won the box office sweepstakes last weekend, and the Simpsonizer website is just one of many other nifty cogs in a veritable movie marketing machine.

All this with apologies to the real KMart, of course. We’re confident he has a sense of humour; after all, it wouldn’t be smart to rile up an Old Bear ...