That’s Aomori

AOMORI, JAPAN – Yep, we’re here. You didn’t doubt us, did you?

Japanese curling has changed a lot since Nagano 1998. More people speak fractured English, more people are curling, and their women’s team are demigods with TV endorsements, souvenir merchandise and their own pack of 100-or-so reporters (see photo) handled by, of all things, a “Japanese Media Control Officer.”

Team Sweden, the mighty 2006 Olympic champion Anette Norberg and Co., drew about 15 media members to their opening news conference. Japan’s Moe Meguro and troops – three of whom finished seventh in Turin last year – attracted about 75 media buzzards.

Action gets underway tomorrow with results here and here, and CP’s Donna Spencer has previewed Asia’s first-ever adult world shootout here, with team capsules here. AP is also on the scene, and this fellow seems to have provided the first look at the ice surface... but the real score seems to be live streaming content on the Eurosport curling page, check back often to see what is online ...

• The Strauss Canada Cup is on right now in Kamloops, viewable at CurlTV and this weekend on CBC-TV …

• DID YOU KNOW? ... that Canadian Curling Association competitions guy Neil Houston, himself a World champion (with Ed Lukowich) and World Junior champion (with Paul Gowsell) from days gone by, is leaving the CCA to manage the curling venue at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games? Word came down today, and Houston leaves for B.C. in a month ...

• DID YOU KNOW II? ... that the Brier was picketed by protestors in front of Copps Coliseum? Apparently they had concerns with Brier sponsor Monsanto’s products ...

• Here’s an interesting piece in the Hamilton Spectator by Barry Macklin, who is with the Ontario Curling Association. Macklin takes aim at whinging about ice conditions and attendance, declaring that “people like me don't really care why you missed your shot” and “no city has better media coverage of curling than Hamilton” ...

• And Spec curling guy Steve Buist weighs in with his wrapup, stating that, among other things:

– the ice conditions are the athletes’ fault;
– Russ Howard just might have image problems;
– and Brad Gushue’s “woe-is-me act is wearing thin” …

That’s all for now, but there is so much going on out there, we just might be posting tomorrow. Stay tuned ...

What is this? ... It’s art!

Congratulations to London, Ontario’s Peter McKinley , aka Listen to ME!!, who correctly identified the our running What is this? query. Some of our favourite – but incorrect – answers were “a refrigeration unit for cooling the TSN commentators’ wine” and “a personal memory disk from TRON.” Another offered that “if there was curling on 24 it would look like this.”

However, the answer is much cooler: it’s a work of art, by Canadian visual artist Jason Young.

Young works mostly in sculpture and has long been fascinated by the design qualities of the curling stone. The New-York based artist moved beyond his usual media and worked with a filmmaker to create the 10-minute short entitled The Curling Stones, which has played at various film festivals around the world, and which is available for viewing here and here.

TCN contacted Young just before we launched What is this? and Young has another curling project in development: one that will knock your rocks off. Guaranteed.

Check out the upcoming April print issue of The Curling News for an interview with Young and the inside scoop on his next curling film. And with some curling clubs set to close by the end of March, you’d best become a subscriber to ensure you get this issue.

TYLENOL* joins curling sponsor ranks

TYLENOL* Announced as Title Sponsor For Grand Slam of Curling Players’ Championship

CALGARY – Insight Sports Ltd. of Toronto has introduced TYLENOL* as the title sponsor of the Grand Slam of Curling Players’ Championship. The season-ending event will be known as the TYLENOL* Players’ Championship.

The TYLENOL* Players’ Championship, for both men and women, closes out the 2006-2007 season at the Calgary Corral, April 10-15 with a total prize purse of $200,000.

The championship is part of the Asham World Curling Tour’s Grand Slam of Curling series.

The women’s final will air on CBC Sports on Saturday, April 14 at 3:00pm ET, with the men’s final airing Sunday April 15 at 2:00pm ET.

“TYLENOL* is proud to support the Players’ Championship,” said Jennifer Williams, Product Director of McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the manufacturer of TYLENOL*.

“This event brings together Canada’s best curlers – they’re committed to their dreams, and engaged in a sport they love. We support that and wish them all the best in the competition.”

The TYLENOL* Players’ Championship for both women and men will include the top 16 CTRS (Canadian Team Ranking System) teams as of March 26, 2007. This is one of the premier events in curling, featuring the top squads in high-performance competition, and marks an important step within Canada’s Olympic qualification process for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Draw times at the Corral are:

April 10 – 5:30pm and 8:30pm
April 11 – 8:30am, 11:00am, 2:00pm, 5:30pm and 8:30pm
April 12 – 8:30am, 11:00am, 2:15pm and 5:15pm
April 13 – 11:00am, 2:00pm, 5:30pm and 8:30pm
April 14 – 1:00pm women’s final, 4:30pm men’s QF, 7:30pm men’s SF
April 15 – 12 noon men’s final.

“Calgary will be witness again to the greatest combined fields ever assembled under one roof,” said Paul Boutilier, Executive Director of the Grand Slam of Curling and the World Curling Players’ Association.

“Winning the TYLENOL* Players’ Championship means so much to the teams.”

“I have been fortunate enough to win the Players’ Championship four times, and yet I still remember that first victory in 1994,” said Alberta skip Kevin Martin.

“It is truly a player’s favourite when you bring the very best teams in our sport together for head-to-head competition.”

Tickets for the TYLENOL* Players’ Championship are on sale now in the Calgary area, and are available by calling TicketMaster at 403-777-0000 (or 1-888-833-4447 outside Calgary) or by purchasing online.

For more information and updates, visit the AWCT or CurlTV websites.

Insight Sports Ltd. owns and operates the Grand Slam of Curling, the most prestigious event series on the Asham World Curling Tour. The series is highlighted by the TYLENOL* Players’ Championship, one of the most important curling events on the AWCT schedule.

The world’s best curling teams, including those skipped by Glenn Howard, Randy Ferbey, Brad Gushue, Kevin Martin, Jeff Stoughton, Wayne Middaugh, Jean-Michel Menard, Kerry Burtnyk and many more, compete in the world’s only true “best-on-best” curling events.

The Grand Slam of Curling series also sees the competitors battle for valuable points on the Order of Merit List which not only determines the world’s best curling teams, but also contributes to the race to represent Canada at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Events include the Home Hardware Masters of Curling (Kitchener-Waterloo ON), the BDO Classic Canadian Open of Curling (Winnipeg MB), The National (Port Hawkesbury NS), and the TYLENOL* Players’ Championship (Calgary AB).

Insight Sports Ltd. is a leading sports media and entertainment company operating three specialty television networks: CGTV, Casino and Gaming Television; GOLTV Canada, a 24-hour soccer network; and WFN: World Fishing Network, North America's only network devoted entirely to fishing. The company also holds a significant interest in the NHL Network, a 24-hour hockey channel. Insight Sports creates and distributes sports and entertainment content across multiple platforms, including broadcast television, DVD, on-line, mobile, in-arena and video on-demand. Aquila Productions Inc., a leader in sports television production, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Insight Sports.

Insight Sports also owns and operates the Grand Slam of Curling, the most prestigious event series on the Asham World Curling Tour.

Based in Toronto, the principal shareholders of Insight Sports include Larry Tanenbaum (Kilmer Enterprises Inc., a subsidiary of Kilmer Van Nostrand) and MWI & Partners.

What is this? – Clue #6

You thought we'd forgotten... right?

Game on, folks.

What.
Is.
This?

Way to go, Bro

HAMILTON – Well, here they are, ladies and gentlemen... your Canadian men’s curling champions.

At last. Now those white belts will match perfectly with Canada’s uniform colours.

Wonder if the other Team Canada, skipped by Kelly Scott – the alleged originators of the “No Pregancies” rule – will have anything to say to these victorious jokesters when they meet up at April’s Players’ Championship in Calgary?

And if you’ve still not clicked on the highlighted link in the lead sentence, we’re showing it to you again. And now for a third time. In other words, WATCH THIS NOW. Great stuff.

The photo above – by TCN Photo Editor Anil Mungal – shows Olympian Russ Howard congratulating his brother Glenn. And if you look carefully, you can see a good chunk of the Howard family clan beaming in the background. Nice touch with the trigger, Anil.

But did any photog catch Russ pumping his fist for Glenn during the final? The Wounded Moose chose to cheer for family over his former Olympic teammates, declaring that “blood is thicker than Screech.” No real surprise there.

There’s lots to read on the Brier in today’s media, so we’ll leave the bulk of the curling surfing to you, save for a couple of standouts that caught our eye. Specifically:

• Who’s the best ever? Sun Media took a quick crop poll on the Hamilton media bench but, of course, real curling fans have been there and debated that already... and they’ve even mulled over the best to never win a Brier ...

• Here’s one who is now out of that club: Richard Hart waxed philisophical about the 1998 Olympics after yesterday’s big win ...

• Interesting that a Brier media sponsor – we are assuming, of course – would publish a feature like this just as the event starts to climax... thoughts anyone?

• And in today’s same publication, an interesting opinion from Steve Milton: crazy as it sounds, he says the Brier needs to come back to Hamilton within five years ...

• Torstar’s Chris Zelkovitch seems to write a curling “appeal” column like this every year ’round this time, but we enjoy each one nonetheless ...

• And then there’s poor Gary Washburn; he’s simply baffled by the Brier as he visited from Seattle. Hamilton versus Newfoundland..? Hmm.

Too bad that Gary, like other media types, rarely gets the chance to just sit in front of a TV and watch (and hear) curling unfold before his very eyes. These guys, you see, are always working.

Take Mike, for example.

He’s not a journalist and he just plain loves curling. Not only has he never thrown a rock – like many U.S. scribes – he actually has “no f**king idea what’s going on”... and he loves it. There are lots out there just like Mike.

And speaking of The Blogosphere, there’s a goodly amount of curling commentary out there, so why not browse and compare these amateurs (below) with those professionals (above)?

In no particular order, we have JetBoots and his personal Brier wrap; followed by this far-out discussion on the “Canadadian sport of Moose Curling” ... and of course there’s Matt, who also scribbles for The Curling News, who posted a post about posting at the Brier. Er, sort of. Anyway, we like the Johnny Mac photo.

There’s also Townie Bastard who thinks Brier finalist Brad Gushue was a tad lucky heading into the final (but obviously not yesterday)... Jessmo who opines about Gushue’s search for respect... and finally, how about curling as a tactical engagement? And discussed as such amongst military afficionados? Check out this posting and feel free to jump in; ’tis an interesting concept that sadly seems in need of a kick-start.

That’s all for now, almost...

• DID YOU KNOW? ... that Canada and Scotland won the junior worlds?

• DID YOU KNOW II? ... that NBCSports.com will provide live webstreaming of Team USA curling games from the imminent Aomori and upcoming Edmonton world championships? This is pretty big news, if you think about it...

Calendar girl sings at Brier

HAMILTON – Guess who is singing the national anthem for both tomorrow's semi-final and Sunday's final games?

She made her debut Friday night at the opening ceremonies, and they've asked her back for more. It's none other than Lynsay Ryan (photo), daughter of two-time world champion Pat Ryan and herself a two-time Ana Arce calendar girl!

A suggestion for the final three: keep your mind on the game, boys...

And why not pay a visit to TCN's calendar page, dear reader, where – looky-looky! – a spring discount is in effect...!

The 2007 calendar features 17 curling athletes/models from around the world, strutting their stuff for much-needed funding (each earns a portion from the proceeds).

Support them today!

Stoughty Spinerama

HAMILTON – He did it again last night... here's the Jeff Stoughton showcase move, captured at Copps Coliseum. But will he (get to) do it on CBC-TV this weekend?

– TCN photo by Anil Mungal

Down but not out

HAMILTON – Northern Ontario lead Lee Toner lost it in this game last night, but was still determined to keep the brush head going. Attaboy!

– TCN photo by Anil Mungal

What the... ?

EVELETH, Minnesota – No less than four such “What the...?” items for today. What the... is going on these days?!

• This Globe and Mail column focussed on Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton and the rapidly-disappearing “tuck-style” slide he uses to deliver the rock. Now look very carefully at this World Juniors photo at left (courtesy of Jim Law) . What do you see?

Tell ya what we see... a Scotsman using the tuck-slide. What the...? This is none other than young Glen Muirhead, son of the prrrrroudly Scottish skip who lost the 1995 Ford Worlds final to Kerry Burtnyk in Brandon.

This is how Burtnyk, Stoughton and a few other ’Tobans slide... so we must simply ask young Muirhead: What The...? is up with that? Eh?

• Exploding rocks. Which go “Poof”. That’s right. That’s what K-Mart thinks he’s discovered at the Brier. Although it sounds like he’s stealing Mark Nichols’ thunder. Mull this one over for yourself, courtesy of Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun ...

• Now you, lucky reader, can have your very own desktop version of the “Stoughty Spinerama” and the “Fry Handstand”, courtesy of this Hamilton Spectator Brier page (click on Curling trick shots). What the... ?

• Finally... we knew Ontario’s Craig Savill, like all good lead stoners, is there to be mocked (usually by teammates only). But it sure didn’t take long for yesterday’s pratfall to show up on YouTube, did it?

What the... ?

Wayne, Yoni and Stephen Harper

Did you catch Wayne Middaugh on TSN’s Off The Record yesterday?

He swore he’d be up north snowmobiling for all 10 days of the Brier, but there he was, in TSN’s Toronto studio, babbling about the Brier, men’s versus women’s curling (hello!) and so on.

You can catch the show on the TSN broadband webpage, via the show link, but there’s more coming up. It’s Brier week on OTR as Mr. Hurry Hard, aka the Wounded Bull Moose (er, that would be Russ Howard) is on today’s afternoon show. Tomorrow, it’s the somewhat quieter (and other) Moose, aka Moosie, TSN commentator Ray Turnbull.

Big events like the Brier bring out all types. There’s really good journos, like the Globe’s Stephen Brunt, who when not crafting quality pieces like this is pretending – rather poorly, we might add – to know nothing about curling on The Bobcat’s incendiary FAN 590 radio/Sportsnet TV talk show.

There’s also misguided political miscreants who pipe up, like Yoni Goldstein did yesterday on the Nat Post’s blogsplotch. Curling Sucks? Now there’s a header designed to bring forth fire and brimstone. To hell with you, we humbly suggest.

Must be a Liberal. Canada’s curling-mad PM, Stephen Harper, is on his way to Copps as we type this. Maybe he can help Merk with the ice conditions.

Did anyone catch Danko? Let us know how The Mango Kid did on his debut curling night on Friday. Canada’s national music pub, incidentally, picked up our story from last week, even adding a mention of Hamilton’s legendary Dik Van Dykes and their Curling song. Awesome.

Elsewhere:

• DID YOU KNOW? ... that you could win a trip to the Ford Worlds? Get clicking ...

• DID YOU KNOW II? ... that Saskatchewan women’s alternate Sherry Linton wrote a daily dairy online during the Scotties? It’s still available, in all its glory, right here at Saskcurl. But just one question: what the heck is Flippycup?

• Finally, it’s official… a pipe band does indeed blare “louder than a jet engine”. And now we wonder if the Brier committee will perch a platoon of pipers way up in the Copps rafters for their closing ceremonies, amid growing spotlights, as they did in both 1991 and 1996? The soft part of our callow heart hopes they do, as those were quite the moments ...

World Juniors

EVELETH, Minn. – Enjoy the Brier, Canada, while much of the rest of the world focusses on this Iron Range town in northern Minnesota, and the annual World Junior Championships (Scottish fans in photo).

And yes, we’re here, as well. Hamilton and Eveleth, both at once. We couldn’t really call ourselves The Curling News if we weren’t able to be everywhere in the curling world at once... agree?

The host venue is Curl Mesabi, a remarkable eight-sheeter built a few years ago as a co-op venture between four local towns. Each of their curling clubs were struggling, and now they are together as one, and doing quite well.

20 teams (10 men’s and 10 women’s) are doing battle, live on CurlTV, and you can also follow the results on the event website, via the live scoring page, and also courtesy of the World Curling Federation, which is keeping track of things on their tournament pages.

Defending women’s champ Ludmila Privivkova of Russia, who stunned the field to win December’s adult European Championship, has looked fairly human so far, as has Canada’s Newfie contingent led by Stacie Devereaux.

On the mens side, Canada’s defending world champion Charley Thomas has two new teammates and boy, they looked very ordinary today versus Norway. Thomas kept his cool – as he always seems to do – as his mates struggled, and a brilliantly quiet come-around hit for two in the ninth made all the difference.

Meanwhile, the Scottish men’s team, led by Logan Gray, is in foul trouble... rocks have been kicked, expletives uttered, and brooms have been smashed, leading to two warnings, the second of them in written format. The clock is ticking... will the lads manage to quell their squirrely behaviour?

Everybody say Zowie!

HAMILTON – “Zowie!” was a favourite saying of former Rogers Sportsnet curling commentator Ed Lukowich. Actually, he might have only said it once, but that single offering has grown a life of its own and will no doubt live forever in the minds of a few curling observers.

Think about it... who says “Zowie”? Vic doesn’t. Witt doesn’t. But Fast Eddie does (or did). Too bad Eddie’s bosses turfed curling, a charter sport since their initial CTV Sportsnet days, over the summer in favour of a new youthful re-branding. A re-branding that has delivered some lousy audience figures of late. Sorry guys. You snoozed, and you losed.

Anyway, the Brier is now officially “Zowie” thanks to some wild games. Sask’s Pat Simmons just made a beauty angle raise for three to beat Alberta’s Kevin Martin. Ontario’s Glenn Howard was up 5-1 – as he was early on in last night’s nailbiter versus Manitoba – but Olympian Brad Gushue made the Shot Of The Week(TM) in the ninth.

Here’s a descriptive attempt. Gushue threw an in-off from a stone 10 feet out and two inches from the side padding – so one of those stones would have been well out of play at any curling club – and he hit half a rock, redirecting it onto his own, which drove Howard’s shot stone out. The newfies scored two, but Gushue was actually trying to hit the stone 1/8th of an inch less and drive the second rock across to take out another Ontario stone and score four.

The Gushies than stole in the 10th frame to tie and force the extra... but Gushue tanked his final draw heavy and Howard hit – for four – and a wild 10-6 win.

Ye Gods.

Meanwhile, ace TCN Photo Editor Anil Mungal sent along this image (photo above) from last night’s wild Howard-Stoughton tilt. Another beauty.

Oh yeah... and the Territories are now 4-0.

Zowie.

That’s the Brier

HAMILTON – It’s Sunday night, opening weekend of the Brier.

The afternoon draw saw a huge upset as, if you’ll mind the pun, Kevin Martin’s team was run over by Northern Ontario. That’s the Brier, the place a 53-year-old skip who went to the Seniors in 2005, can beat one of the favourites. The Brier is also why they don’t play the games on paper.

The afternoon draw also featured Jeff Stoughton and Glenn Howard (photo) in a three and-a-half-hour epic. It ended with Howard stealing the extra end to stay undefeated. Fans might be a little curled out from the afternoon draw because it’s a little less than half full for the evening draw. But the Keith’s Patch is probably full. And the Patch is something unique to the Brier. Part beer hall, all party, the Patch makes the Brier much of what it is.

One final note about the uniqueness of the Brier. Earlier this evening, the Brier honoured Ed Werenich’s 1983 Dream Team. Werenich, Paul Savage and Neil Harrison were interviewed in the Purple Heart Lounge. Among other things we learned from Harrison that Savage was a sandbagger at golf. That’s the Brier.

Right now, in Draw 5, Yukon/NWT is ahead 5-2 after just stealing 2. They are playing well, and with a win, would join Howard atop the leader board at 3-0. And that folks, is the Brier.

Off to the Patch.

– Matt Hames

Johnny Mo and cars

HAMILTON – The Brier.

After getting hit by a car a few days ago, Alberta third John Morris (photo) makes the trip to Hamilton and wins the car in the Ford Hot Shots competition.

You can’t make this stuff up.

This will go down with one of the other classic Brier car wins, in which Ed Werenich won the very first Hot Shots without – it’s been claimed – being able to see the other end of the ice very well. At all.

Back to the Brier. When looking at the field, three teams stand out from the fray – and that ignores the Olympic Gold Medallist. It wouldn’t be a stretch to put Glenn Howard, Jeff Stoughton or Kevin Martin on your list of possible Brier winners. Brad Gushue and Pat Simmons might have something to say about that before the week is over, and there might be someone else who comes up in the cracks and pulls off “a Menard”. Perhaps even the crafty 51-year-old veteran from Quebec, Pierre Charette. But safe money is on one of these three.

This morning, cruising into the Steel City from New York, we noticed a car on fire on the Niagara-bound QEW.

We tell you that because one of the three is on fire coming into Brier play. At the Ontario provincials, the Howard team decimated the field. Going back to last year’s Brier, with the notable exception of the final-game the lost to Menard, the Howard team seems on a mission to win.

Listen to these game scores from last year’s Brier: 12-6, 9-4, 10-5, 8-5, 9-5, 74, 7-4, 10-7, 7-5, 8-2. The final they lost was one of their only close games... and that after spotting the Quebeckers a 4-0 lead. At this year’s Ontario final, they didn’t play a meaningful 10th end.

As you may have guessed, this watcher is betting on Howard. But there’s just so much more curling to come ...

– Matt Hames

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 ...

Danko Rocks Brier

This is excerpted from the Newsdesk section of the latest print edition of The Curling News, on sale now.

HAMILTON – The following is presented with apologies to Sweden’s Anette Norberg and her friends in the heavy metal band Hammerfall.

But when Danko Jones hits the stage on Friday’s opening night of the Tim Hortons Brier in Hamilton, it just might mark curling’s true hard rock moment.

Light years away from other curling openers – the country-pop of Blue Rodeo, the regional vibe of Ashley MacIssac or the classic canrock drone of Trooper or the Stampeders – Danko Jones, a Toronto-based three-piece with scores of fans in Scandanavia and Europe, is by far the loudest and fastest rock band to ever play a curling event.

Jones, the singer-guitarist of his self-named group, isn’t into sports, and he has virtually no familiarity with curling. “I just listen to music,” he told The Curling News.

But he’s looking forward to the gig. When informed of curling’s legendary older demographic, Jones didn’t bat an eyelash.

“I love playing in front of those (new) people, it’s great,” he said.

“There’s something to be said about playing for the converted, and a lot of bands like to do that. But that’s too safe for rock n’ roll.

“It’s fun. It always yields some interesting responses.”

Idle Sons, Danko Jones, and headliners The Trews open the Tim Hortons Brier March 2 at 7:00pm, on the OLG Entertainment Stage in the famed Keith’s Brier Patch at the Hamilton Convention Centre.

What Is This? Clue #5... Now It Gets Weird

What is this? - Clue #4

The curling coin

Heard about the coins?

The Royal Canadian Mint is releasing 17 Olympic sport coins between now and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The first batch goes on sale today, at Canada Post outlets, RBC bank branches and at Petro-Canada gas stations.

And the first coin features curling. Specifically, the image of a female curler.

The inaugural curling coin, a 25-cent piece, shows the athlete in the process of throwing her rock on a stylized Maple Leaf background. Up to 350 million of the coins will be put into circulation before the 2010 Games.

Petro-Canada customers can now swap their regular coins for the curling quarter at no charge. Petro-Canada retail locations will also sell an exclusive Vancouver 2010 coin sport cards, featuring a special colour version of each circulation coin embedded in a laminated sleeve. The curling quarter sits within a green collector’s card with an additional curling graphic – yes, it looks cool, and is well worth the $7.95 price tag. What’s more, a portion of the proceeds go to Canadian athletes and coaches through the Petro-Canada’s Fuelling the Dream Fund.

Judging by the lineup The Curling News saw at a Petro-Canada internal launch yesterday, the collector-card versions will be very popular items between now and Vancouver 2010. There was also a media launch in Calgary yesterday, featuring three members of the bronze-medal Shannon Kleibrink team.

Considering the lack of attention that women’s curling received in the early days, the coin is a huge step forward, six-time Canadian champion Colleen Jones told Canadian Press.

“I think it’s fantastic that they’ve chosen curling in their first of a series and the fact they put a woman on a coin is wonderful,” said Jones. "There are so many female curlers in the country and so many great players too that to honour the sport and honour women in sports is great."

Now... the next step is to get a curler on the face of this coin. Can you imagine?

Elsewhere:

• It’s not just the Canadian women who decide their national champion this weekend; it’s also showtime in Scotland (men and women) and Switzerland (men and women), too ...

• And not to forget the World Wheelchair Curling Championships, drawing to a close tomorrow in Solleftea, Sweden ...

• Hamilton – next week – is under the microscope ...

• There’s a political scandal with curling overtones brewing in Albany, N.Y – and yes, we’re serious ...

• Will we have more clues of What Is This? posted soon? You bet we will. Keep the speculation coming ...

What is this? - Clue #3

What is this? – Clue #2

What is this?

STOH TeriBlog v.2

LETHBRIDGE – The much anticipated first game flew by at warp speed. Still 10 ends (and we used every one of our 73 minutes) but it seemed like a blur. Certainly wasn’t our best game as we lost 6-3 to Kerry Koe’s Yukon/NWT team, but a starting point to adjust to the ice.

This is definitely no curling club ice! Don’t get me wrong, it's great – lots of curl, lightning fast and great for sweeping. I spent most of my season trying to bring up my weight for the ice we usually play on that’s straight as an arrow, and heavy for the first few ends! Not helping me so much this week.

But the kinks are getting worked out and we played much better in our second game. And I vow that never again will Jill have to give my sweepers a message for me saying “Tell She-Ra to bring her weight down.”

Getting back to that second game of ours…man, is Jan Betker on fire or what?!?! Clearly she had to play well to handily beat the tough Manitoba team but she was unstoppable against us too. Skinny picks here, run-back doubles there, she was solid and despite a couple of ends that appeared to be set up well for us, she stepped up end after end with the big shot.

So, we learned a lot on day one and are adjusting well to the playing conditions here in Lethbridge... and looking forward to continuing the incline in performance and enjoying every second of this experience.

– Teri Lake, Team Nova Scotia (photo by CurlingZone)

Curling Telethon and live TeriBlog!

It's an all-Canadian post today, because The Scotties are here. Well, it actually starts tomorrow – and can be viewed for a full nine days on TSN and then CBC.

A nice preview story by Donna Spencer here.

Check out info on Sunday’s big Sandra Schmirler Foundation Telethon on TSN below (and pin image at left), one of the sport’s great causes and one which The Curling News is proud to support. But for now...

Live blogging from Lethbridge! Oh yes!

Here’s TCN scribe – and Team Nova Scotia second – Teri Lake, from first thing this morning:

Good Lord I’m tired. But we made it and that’s all that’s important!

Yesterday was a marathon. From checking our online flight status every thirty seconds due to the pending storm for us out East (and the current storm happening in Toronto) we got airborne just in time to miss the bad weather on both ends! The seven-hour flight to Calgary ended with a four-hour wait at the airport for the shuttle to Lethbridge. A very late 12:30 arrival in the ‘Bridge (count it…3:30am Halifax time!) saw these five ladies hitting the hay, and rather quickly. But who can sleep when you’ve just arrived at the Scotties? I mean really!!!

We finally settled in with enough time for a great sleep and early wake up for spa day. A lovely local woman named Angie welcomed us into her home and we took her offer to make ourselves at home very seriously, very quickly. Skipper Jill dumped out the massive bag of pin card goodies and off we went to work. A massage and manicure for five, and pin cards for 70!
Then rush, rush, rush to get our uniforms (I’ll get to that shortly), surrender our TSN head shots, practice, a tour of the Enmax Centre, and now a short rest en route to a reception.
So, I’ve got to get ready now but I’ll be back soon and it will be that much closer to when the real fun begins…

Now, for all the fabulous Schmirler stuff that is going on Sunday, this Scotties week and generally around the curling world:

The second annual Curling Club Challenge takes place during the Sandra Schmirler Foundation Telethon, Sunday February 18.

The telethon is an integral part of The Sports Network’s live TV coverage that day and comes live from Lethbridge, during the afternoon draw of the 2007 STOH.

In the last two years, a total of $324,000 has been committed to the six hospitals in the various Season of Champions cities toward the purchase of vital neonatal equipment.

The curling club that donates the most funds will receive three pairs of tickets to the 2008 major curling events – a pair each to the 2008 Scotties Tournament of Hearts (Regina), the Tim Hortons Brier (Winnipeg) and the Ford World Women’s Championships in Vernon, B.C., courtesy of the Canadian Curling Association. The second ranked club will receive two Reactor2 Carbon Fibre brooms and two autographed Olympic T-shirts, courtesy of Olson Curling Supplies and Team Shannon Kleibrink.

The telethon hotline – which can only receive donations on February 18 – is 1-866-9SANDRA (1-866-972-6372). Rules and details can be found on the Foundation website, in the “How You Can Help” section.

Also, a new limited-edition Sandra Schmirler Foundation lapel pin – featuring the new “Champions Start Small” slogan – is now available. In the center of the pin is the logo of the Sandra Schmirler Foundation, which has forearms clasped together around a heart, showing the strength that a united effort can bring to any challenge.

The pin costs $6.00 (tax and shipping inclusive) and it is also available with the French slogan, “Petit champion deviendra grand”.

To order, contact the Foundation office at 1-866-210-6011 or send an e-mail here.

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.

Kicking Peja’s Ass

Norberg versus Lindholm.

Curlingtjejerna versus Peja.

It all goes down tomorrow afternoon in Sweden, live on local TV and also on the internet, in the latest curling battle of the sexes. Both Swedish giants have won their 2007 national titles – earlier this week, in fact – so it makes for a fascinating matchup.

Norberg, in an exclusive interview with The Curling News, had this to say:

“We are very excited about the game and for sure it’s going to be for a lot of prestige. Curlers think that we have nothing to lose, but if you ask non-curlers, they think we should win the game.

“I’m looking forward to a close and aggressive game, ending up with us kicking Peja’s ass. That would be awesome!”

You go, girls.

Coincidentally, AP’s Tim Dahlberg mentions the Norbergs in this fun story on athlete blogging at the Olympic Games. Apparently, the gals haven’t met Bode Miller, but they did whoop it up with U.S. speedskater Chad Hedrick on their golden night. Or so the story goes.

You’re about to get a big, big dose of Canadian provincial men’s info. First up, however, is a reminder of this weekend’s Canadian Juniors, which are on CBC-TV tomorrow and Sunday.

And now for the provs... 10 out of 12 will be decided by Sunday, and there’s two things you need, both from The Curling News: the list of event websites, located here, and also a hard copy of the February issue, in which our Curling TV Guide lists all the events that are available on the telly.

What? Don’t have the Feb issue? Silly you, you’re just not listening.

Here’s the latest from The Brier trail:

• Dean Joanisse and former world champ Greg MacAulay are on track in B.C. ...

• The Ferb is roaring (not in a good way) in Alberta, both in the Sun and in the Journal ...

• Murray M reports on Sask ...

• And Bender is on the scene in MB, of course ...

• A pleasant surprise: Martin Cleary is covering the Quebec shootout ...

• And here’s what’s up in Bluenose country ...

Elsewhere... well, there’s a lot going on. Extreme Grandpa scored just $18,000 on Deal Or No Deal Canada last night, but sure entertained in doing so. This looks like a curling-oriented audition for Jackass. And this guy is absolutely in love with Jennifer Jones. So there ya go... for now...

February on fire

Crazy month, this is.

Men's provincial championships underway, a new issue of The Curling News, and don't forget curling's own "Extreme Grandpa" on Deal Or No Deal tomorrow (Thursday) night.

First up, the new TCN (cover photo left). It's a whopper – you should see the size of this month's Curling TV Guide – and you'll need to subscribe to get it fast. Also in this issue:

• The Scotties TOH preview
• the Trials of Jennifer Jones
• the return of Doug Maxwell; he's unimpressed with the modern-era Brier
• Larry Wood calls for a UEFA-style Champions League of curling
• Team Ferbey goes international in our monthly Newsdesk
• Teri Lake, en route to the Scotties, is praying her pants look good
• They Said It, our popular collection of curling quotables
• February is Sandra Schmirler Foundation month
• Grand Slam Winnipeg: we were there
• The Dominion of Canada 50th Anniversary Retrospective
• The Curling News Store is open
• Rodger Schmidt wants a few curling changes
• the return of Asham Club Corner

And what else, you ask?

• Here's the lineup of Canadian men's provs, some now underway and ending Sunday, others kicking it next week and wrapping up on Feb. 18:

– British Columbia
– Alberta
– Saskatchewan
– Manitoba
– Northern Ontario
– Ontario
– Quebec (with a webcam here)
– New Brunswick
– Nova Scotia
– PEI
– Newfoundland and Labrador

• DID YOU KNOW: there's a great poll on the front page of CurlingZone right now? (Look to the right.) It asks "Which (men's) team has the best chance of upsetting their provincial favourites?" Very coolio ...

• DID YOU KNOW II: that curling is a demonstration sport at the 16th annual Deafalympics, now underway in Salt Lake City? Five men's and four women's teams are vying for medals, with first-round scores seeing Canada's men defeat China 15-4, and the women whup Croatia 23-1 ...

• Peja Lindholm and his new Swedish team won their national championship last night, and are off to Edmonton for the Ford Worlds. But before that, they're involved in something special that's going down this Saturday, Feb. 10. Watch this blog on Friday for the scoop ...

Deal Or No Deal

Remember the story of the “Four Generations” curling team, appearing in a bonspiel in Paris, Ontario, in 2005... with 70 years of difference represented on the ice? No? Well, you must not be a subscriber to The Curling News, because this heartwarming tale appeared in the January 2006 issue.

Flash forward to early 2007, and the TV megahit Deal Or No Deal has set up shop in Canada for a small run of episodes. Guess who is appearing on the show this Thursday night?

It’s none other than Don Lucas (photo left), the patriarch of that Four Generations team. Don made the cut ahead of tens of thousands of hopeful applicants and his appearance with host Howie Mandel (photo right) goes down Thursday night on Global.

For the record, we are told that Mandel dubbed Lucas “Extreme Grandpa” after his video showed him skydiving, among other things (but not curling). We can’t wait to tune in.

Elsewhere:

• Anette Norberg defended her Swedish title yesterday and is headed to the Worlds in Japan. Later today its three-time men’s World champ Peja Lindholm, and his brand-new team (featuring a Scotsman!) versus either Per Carlsén or his brother Nils Carlsén, who will clash in the semifinal ...

• Next year’s Winnipeg Brier is officially off and running, with a cool rock tunes theme, tix on sale Thursday, and a neat fundraiser for clubs ...

• Also Thursday, in Toronto: an open casting call for senior curlers, aged 60 to 85, at Mississauga’s Dixie CC for a “union governement” TV commercial. If you eventually make the cut, they’ll pay you $1,400. The catch: you can’t just show up on Thursday, you have to telephone or email in advance to book your audition ...

• KIDS PART I: A charming tale of Toronto’s multicultural curling scene, with a shout-out to Al Hackner ...

• KIDS PART II: How about this Grade 7 kid throwing skip rocks at the national Juniors?

• KIDS PART III: In Portage, Wisconsin ...

• KIDS PART IV: Canada’s M&M Juniors continue to rock ...

• DID YOU KNOW? ... that it was Canada vs USA in Karuizawa, times two, with split results ...

• Here’s a spotlight on Det. Mark Johnson, who wants to capture a purple heart ...

• This fellow asks a good question: which loss would you rather have to tolerate, a last rock nailbiter or a blowout? And with a provincial title on the line?

• This poor fellah had a rough outing, but we love the chance to see Robin Williams’ golf sketch again ...

Sobeys Slam confirmed

A couple of weeks ago, we suggested that Sobeys would become a new sponsor of the Asham World Curling Tour’s Grand Slam series.

Later today it will be confirmed that a new Slam – for women – will hit Halifax this coming fall.

We’ve discovered the news and a quote from WCPA prez Paul Boutilier, who says: “The Sobeys Slam is a perfect addition to the women’s series. Sobeys has a long heritage of supporting great curling events and we are thrilled to have Sobeys come aboard as a title sponsor.”

The Sobeys Slam, in support of regional food banks, will be held at the Bluenose Curling Club in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia on November 29–December 2, 2007, and will boast a total prize purse of $54,000. A skins game for the “A” qualifiers will be held on December 1 with proceeds going to the food bank.

“Hosting the best women’s teams in the sport will be outstanding for curling fans in Nova Scotia,” said Jim Nix, chairman of the new Sobeys Slam. “We are really proud to be involved with this event.”

This, of course, means that there are now five Grand Slams for women. Next season’s calendar will look like this:

Grand Slam: Trail Appliances Autumn Gold (Calgary, AB – Oct 5-9, 2007)
Grand Slam: Casinos of Winnipeg Classic (Winnipeg, MB – Oct 19-22, 2007)
Grand Slam: Wayden Transportation Ladies Classic (Abbotsford, BC – Nov 16-19, 2007)
Grand Slam: Sobeys Slam (New Glasgow, NS – November 29 to December 2, 2007)
Grand Slam: The Players’ Championship (date and location TBA).

Betker sneaks in

The field is set for the 2007 Scotties TOH in Lethbridge, and Jan Betker's Regina squad (Regina Leader-Post photo) is the last team to qualify.

Betker won the Sask title yesterday on a major gasp of good fortune. After making a self-acknowledged bad call near the start of the ninth end, her squad could only watch as final-game opponent Stefanie Lawton lined up an easy hit for three and a 9-7 lead coming home. But the rock picked, Betker stole one and suddenly it was 8-6 for the eventual winners.

Yikes.

Tough to say who deserved this one, however. Lawton was lying five in the sixth when Betker made a critical hit for one, while the champs had scored deuces in the second and fourth ends to build a lead in the first place. Betker had also won the Sask round-robin at 6-1, which included a 7-4 win over Lawton.

So call it a coin flip, which is exactly what seemed to happen... in that fateful ninth end.

You can read all about the STOH field in the February issue of The Curling News, now in the mail and arriving to subscribers via first-class mail in the next 48 hours.

More on the new issue of TCN in the next blogpost. Followed by some newslinks (but of course).

Korea wins Asian Games

South Korea's Lee Je-ho needed an extra end to beat Japan in the finals of the men's curling tournament at the Asian Games, and later, Korea's Jeong Jin-sook beat Japan to win the women's title and a curling double (photo).

South Korea is battling Japan for second place overall: the Koreans have nine gold medals to Japan's eight. China leads with 15.

Chinese curling – their teams finished third – continues to turn heads, as this story points out.

Elsewhere:

• The final women's provincial wraps up this weekend in Saskatchewan, and the defending champ knows what Manitoba's Jennifer Jones has been going through ...

• Sweden's men's and women's nationals are also underway, and you can view lots of it live on this website ...

• The Canadian Juniors are underway tomorrow in St. Catherines, Ontario ...

• It's bittersweet times for Dean Moulding, who has our sympathies ...

• Here's the story of a guy in Kansas City advocating curling for St. Louis, MO ...

• Curling is on the upswing in this Michigan town ...

• Was this story a clumsy hack job on curling, or faint praise? Perhaps if it were written more skillfully, we might know for sure. You be the judge... and if you want to comment, here’s where to click ...

• Ben, Ben... Ben. Why, oh why, did you throw your brush head at that poor unsuspecting spectator in Winnipeg? Dean Gemmell talks to this violent thug (big wink) on The Curling Show...

• Ottawa's Joyce Potter and company won an Ottawa sports award last night ...

• Hey look, Merk almost made it ...

• And finally, Texas Dan has discovered Vikingland... and yes, that is a great name ...

Kapp tipped for Edmonton

Germany's two big men's teams – Andy Kapp and Sebastian Stock – are always beating the hell out of each other to go to Worlds, Olympics etc. And both teams are made up of great, funny guys – a treat for any event to have.

It's now the Kapp's turn. Andy, Uli and company have beaten Stock to win the German championship, and have qualified for the 2007 Ford Worlds in Edmonton.

This was the big one. Everybody around the world, and we mean everybody, knows Edmonton will be the biggest Worlds in history. And everybody wants to be there.

In Deutschland, the top eight teams thrashed it out in a single round-robin Page system (er, wot?). The four finalists were Kapp (Füssen), Stock (Oberstorf), Christopher Bartsch (Hamburg) and Severin Walter (Baden).

In the 1 vs 2 Stock beat Kapp 7-6, while the 3 vs 4 saw Walter defeat Bartsch 8-4. In the semi, the Kapps took Walter 7-4.

In the final, Kapp was up 5-2 and then a steal of two in the sixth end left things pretty comfortable. Stocky had to draw against five in the seventh and had a good chance to steal in the eighth, but misplaced guard, and Kapp got another deuce (7-3). Stock finally got a deuce in nine, but the Kapps cleared well coming home and left a steal for Stock, winning 7-6.

On to Edmonton!