The Skins Ice

by Matt Hames

RAMA – A curling club has the plant under the floor. So do hockey rinks. This game is being played in an entertainment center. Meaning, the plant, the thing that keeps the ice cold, is on top of the concrete.

This photo is of Glenn Howard throwing a practice rock. You can see the ice is raised off the concrete. Within said concrete is the plant that keeps the ice cold.

The rest of the facility is kept cold thanks to the air conditioner. This has to be one of the very first games in history played in December with the AC on. Because it’s cold.

Practice over. Game on.

Barmy Army

FÜSSEN – What a show.

Anette wins, and so does David. So do England (ladies) and Ireland (men), B-Division champs. So do the Czechs, both their squads. So are the Spanish men (the who?). More on that later.

For now, a foto, taken during the final, showing the Barmy Army, cheering on the Scots. Flank position, that is.

Come Ooonnnn!

Casino Rama Skins: Preview

by Matt Hames

RAMA, ON – When you’re watching the TSN Skins game, you’ll be watching an ongoing debate unfold.

A few years ago, Kevin Martin famously gave up a steal, on purpose, to Jeff Stoughton in order to get last rock in the last end. That was in the days of the three-rock rule.

In fact, we’ve seen him do this a couple of times. The last time he tried it, I think his effort went for naught.

Anyway, I forget how many times he’s tried it.

Kevin forgets stuff, too. Like when he brought out the corn broom, not once but twice, at the 1991 Safeway Worlds in Winnipeg. Kevin forgot all about that on yesterday’s TSN talk show Off The Record which pitted the four Skins skips – KMart, Glenn Howard, Wayne Middaugh, Glenn Howard and Brad Gushue – in the debating pit (photo courtesy TSN). Wayner called KMart on it, and KMart said nothing. Did you see that? No? Then go here and watch it... look for the EVENTS tab/link. Wow.

Four of the best teams in the world will, starting tomorrow, help us answer this question: would you rather be up one coming home without, or down one coming home with last rock?

The Skins Game is really just the last end played over and over. If you have the hammer, you need two. If you don’t, you need to steal. Essentially the situation in the last end of a one-point game.

The BDO Black Book of Curling says the odds favor the team up one with. But I think we’re all still working out how to play the last end. In a non-skins match, the team up one without last rock throws it top four foot. If the team that needs two wants to generate offense, they need to throw a guard. In doing so, they leave the team that went first with a free guard on the possible steal point.

I know. It’s all so technical. But I can’t wait to see how the team without the hammer plays the end. I suspect they’ll just throw a center guard and get with it. But, they do have some options. And in thinking about the options, they’ll let us know if they like the hammer, or if they don’t.

Anyway, I’ll be there, blogging live right here at The Curling News Blog, with ace TCN photographer Anil Mungal alongside. That means you need to watch it on the telly and also keep a free hand on your computer. It’s going to be fun, so hit “Refresh” often.

I’m off to play some blackjack; we’ll see you here tomorrow. And the TSN show will be on High-Definition TV, a North American curling first ...

Euro Party Zone

FÜSSEN – The folks here in Füssen did it right.

Their version of the Brier Patch, known as the Party Zone, is located directly between the two arenas where A and B-Division competition takes place for the 55 teams involved here.

That’s right: 55 teams.

Anyhoo, as the photo sort of shows, there is all kinds of hot lighting and reflective stuff going on, a big bar (plus a second smaller one), a dedicated dance floor with disco ball (top left corner) and... a full sheet of curling ice, which you cannot see but is basically to the left of this photo.

Say what?

Turns out this is the three-sheet Füssen Curling Club, and they’ve kept one sheet going, boarded over the other two, and changed the face of the place. Spectators can try the sport they are seeing just steps away, at either of the two competition arenas. Corporate groups and even sponsors have been throwing rocks in droves.

And of course, when the night grows and the music blares louder, all sorts of challenge matches flare up... Greece versus Germany... WCTV crew versus CurlTV crew... you get the picture.

Well done folks.

On the ice, Scotland is through to one final and their boys, skipped by David Murdoch, are almost there, currently up 5-3 on the Danes – with last rock in the ninth – largely on the strength of a steal of two in the seventh. You can check the scores here: the finals are tomorrow, live on Eurosport TV, Eurosport.com and also also CurlTV.com.

Skin that elf

NEWSFLASH – Murdoch beats Kapp in Füssen.

FLASH ANIMATION – Check out this ElfYourself page designed by Ottawa Sun curling writer Joe Pavia... just in time to celebrate this weekend’s return of the Skins Game.

And boogie down.

Cute.

Getting Hip to Curling

Beres who?

Here’s another women’s Euro B-Division photo, taken by a photographer who shall remain nameless. Slovak skip Barbora Vojtusova seems to be saying, er, something... wonder what it could be?

Hungarian fitness instructor? Pah. Check this out, Mr. Cameraman.

Sleeping during my game? This’ll wake you up, Mr. Official.

Maybe if I widen my stance, my teammates will see a really big broom, and actually hit it.

In A-Division action, Peja is going home, and the Austrian girls are down into the B next year, it’s Andy versus David tonight and hey, here’s a look at how the men’s tiebreaker scenario unfolded in the first place.

BTW, Toni Müller’s Swiss team – which has had supersub Ralph Stöckli in the lineup as the full-time third since Monday – has been actively blogging during the ECC, and you can check them out here.

Across the pond...

• They’ve announced the draw for The National, the next Capital One Grand Slam of Curling event, and the pools look like this: Section A – Kevin Martin, Kerry Burtnyk, Pat Simmons, Jamie King, Shawn Adams, Eric Fenson ... Section B – Randy Ferbey, Brad Gushue, Joel Jordison, Brent MacDonald, Greg McAulay, Tom Brewster ... Section C – Kevin Koe, Jeff Stoughton, Wayne Middaugh, Peter Corner, Reid Carruthers, Russ Howard.

Hmm... we expected different Howards and Fensons to be in the field ...

• Cinncinati in the US of A has this Yahoo website up and running, designed to attract support and interest, and there’s also this community forum dedicated to arena curling issues ...

Hungary’s Alexandra Beres

FÜSSEN – Remember this gal?

Athlete is actually the correct term. And how.

Alexandra Beres of Hungary is here, playing third for skip Ildiko Szekeres in the B Division. Beres has appeared at the Euros before, and she’s also appeared in The Curling News before – the print edition, that is, back in 2004/05 or so.

In that story, we ran a bunch of photos – including the one at left – and profiled the woman who has become a fitness legend in her country; the winner of countless professional fitness competitions, who has appeared on countless TV shows, and even endorses products.

She actually flew home on Monday, to appear at an important competition in Budapest, and returned in time for her team’s night game!

Beres is just getting noticed here in Füssen – a few years behind TCN, it must be noted (ahem) – and just as the B Division wraps up round-robin play tonight. Her squad finished 4-2 and in a three-way tie for second in their pool (with Estonia and France) behind Norway (6-0)... so the Hungarian ladies are into a tiebreaker, at the very least.

It’s just nice to finally get a photo of her doing what we assume she loves to do – throw rocks, while covering up her usual bikini with some warm clothes!

Thanks to Bob Cowan for the curling pic.

Meanwhile, A Division action is down to the short strokes. The last women’s round-robin game is starting now, and Scotland’s Kelly Wood (5-3) is in a must-win against Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott, who is already into the playoffs at 7-1 (tape-delayed on Eurosport TV, 18:00 GMT).

Denmark’s Lene Nielsen and Sweden’s Anette Norberg are also in at 7-1, and Russia’s Ludmila Privivkova has a slim chance at a tiebreaker; she is taking her 4-4 record up against Italy’s 3-5 mark (right now on Eurosport.com and CurlTV.com)

And now for the boys. With the final men’s draw set for tomorrow morning, today’s single-draw results left three teams clear into the playoffs, and many others with a chance of a tiebreaker berth for the fourth spot.

Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud defeated Scotland's David Murdoch 7-6 when Murdoch’s draw to a near-open house came up short. It was a sudden and devastating setback for the Scots, who dropped to 4-4 and a third-place tie with Sweden (6-5 winners over the Czech Republic) and Germany (7-3 victors over France).

Switzerland, who defeated Finland 7-1, and Denmark, 6-5 winners over Italy, are both at 6-2 and are assured of the playoffs. Norway has locked up the first playoff berth with a spotless 8-0 record.

The playoff scene could be very simple... or very crowded, with no less than five teams in possible, albeit unlikely, contention.

“It’s always fun to talk about mass tiebreakers,” said Keith Wendorf, Director of Competitions for the World Curling Federation.

“Of course, when you do talk about it, it never seems to actually happen.”

Czech this out

FÜSSEN – Okay, now that we’ve gotten that Aerosmith thing off our chest, we feel better.

So do the men who curl for the Czech Republic. They were 0-4 and now they’re 3-4, having just beaten Scotland’s David Murdoch tonight. No wonder they’re smiling (TCN photo by Urs Räber).

Plus, they’re nice guys. And theirs is a great story, having clambered up here from the B-pool last year, and now just hoping and dreaming of a) staying up in the A pool and b) maybe even going to the Worlds.

“It feels great, but we’re still fighting to stay in the A Division,” said skip Jiri Snitil (thumbs up on the right). “We don’t want to go back to the B, we’ve been down there for seven years.

“We weren't ready for Worlds last year. Now we should be ready, if we get the chance. We’re close.”

The top seven teams are going to Grand Forks, with the eighth team facing a challenge from this year’s B Division champ for the final Eurospot at the Worlds.

It was a generally weird night, overall. France’s Thomas Dufour punted three-time World Champion Peja Lindholm of Sweden 7-3. Hello.

And two other strong teams almost gagged it. First it was front-runners Norway, who had to steal three consecutive ends to subdue Italy’s Joel Retornaz, who held a shocking 4-1 lead after three ends of play. Retornaz missed a last-rock draw to force an extra end.

Denmark also got a scare, blowing a 4-1 lead to fall behind 5-4 to Finland’s Kalle Kiiskinen after six ends. Danish skip Johnny Frederiksen eventually made a nervous draw to the four-foot rings for the win.

So where in the world is next year’s Euro shootout? Glad you asked, ’cuz here it is ...


More tomorrow, but to conclude ...

• That David Nedohin sure gets around. Straight from the playoffs in Quebec City did David go, through blizzards and across the ocean to Füssen, and now he’s on his way home again. In the blink of the eye in which he was here, Bob Cowan shot the photo evidence ...

• Did you hear about that ginormous development project in Calgary? According to today’s Calgary Sun, the developers are including “six curling rinks” in the plans.

Er, would that be six rinks or six sheets?

Regardless, can anyone say “SACA heart attack?”

However, neither a rival story nor the developer’s own website say anything about a curling facility (let alone six)... but just about everything else on planet earth seems to be included.

Nothing to get excited about. Yet ...

• A fellow named Fun Sheriff is asking for any blogreaders in the St. Paul, MN area to drop him a line. He needs to curl, you see, and he needs to curl RIGHT NOW ...

• It’s three Peace teams headed to the Alberta men’s provincials ...

• Chris Daw was in T-Bay last weekend, intro’ing the art of wheelchair curling ...

• Another Chris has written a not-so-spectacularly-mediocre curling post – it’s quite neat, actually – located here ...

• And finally, check out this story right away – the Record folks aren’t knows to leave their content available for very long. At all.

But what a cool piece. The incredibly sharp videos (two of them) perfectly capture the lonely job of the ice technician, and there’s also one of the best close-up shots of pebbled ice we’ve ever seen. Nice job ...

Germans love Aerosmith

FÜSSEN – This, sadly, is the only conclusion we can come to.

How is it possible that the same song can be played over and over and over and over, at all times of the day and night, here at the Bundesleistungszentrum Arena?

It’s played after games, while the ice crew are doing their thing.

It’s played when the arena is utterly deserted, and the lights are dimmed.

It’s played during the pre-game warmups.

The song is, inexplicably, I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing by geriatric U.S. rockers Aerosmith (lead singer Steven Tyler in photo), and you can watch it here. Please do, many times, so that you can share our writhing pain.

Look, Aerosmith rocked in their day but their 80s-onward, MTV-driven, pop-shlock, pseudo-revival has never really made the grade. The only thing we really miss about these guys is a young Alicia Silverstone prancing around in their other 80s-onward, MTV-driven, pop-shlock, pseudo-revival videos.

And now some guy out here in the middle of Bavaria can’t stop playing this song during the 2007 Le Gruyère European Curling Championships.

So here’s a photo, some words, and an entire blogpost dedicated to something that has absolutely nothing to do with curling. If this is what you want, dude, this is what you get, and suffering is what your folly brings upon the innocents. Because some of us – like those of us at The Curling News – spend a ridiculous amount of time in curling arenas during events, and such mind-boggling deejay behaviour creates frazzled content providers who are driven, quite simply, utterly stark-raving mad.

Don’t want to live any more
I don’t want to watch them curl
’Cause I’ve lost my mind
And I just want to kill that guy
’Cause even when I watch them curl
This stupid song haunts me still
I’ll still strangle you, dude
And I just want to kill that guy

Willkommen in Füssen

FÜSSEN, GERMANY – So, KMart won another Grand Slam (and well done, again, Mr. Shawn Adams and company) which is his first under the Capital One banner. You can read about it here, but... to be honest, we’re getting a wee bit bored. Aren’t you? Du hast verdammt Recht!

Like, somebody should just go out and whomp the guy, already. Those somebodys will get another chance at the end of the month, at The Hawk.

Hey, did you know the final was streamed online on the CBC Sports website? Nope, neither did we. Hmph. Nevertheless, you can see some online content at this dedicated CBC/BDO Canadian Open page.

There’s another big curling event going on this week, in Füssen, Germany. The 2007 Le Gruyère European Curling Championships are almost finished with Day Three, and it’s Sweden (women) and Norway (men) leading the pack. In the Urs Räber photo above, Austrian third and calendar gal (and TCN fan!) Karina Toth delivers the goods.

North Americans can see this mega event live for the first time right here via CurlTV, while Europeans can watch it on Eurosport TV and also via streaming on the Eurosport family of websites. Plus, you can also read about it here, and follow live scoring here (with B-Pool action here), and even track selected live graphic games here! Whew!

You can also see some great photos and reportage from our friends at Curling Today, the blogpartner to The Scottish Curler. They’re just up the tribune, a wee spot away from us (our seats are better, so nyaah-nyaah!).

There’s yet another popular curling event coming, too. This weekend sees the return of the TSN Skins Game, now known as the Casino Rama Skins Curling Game, and there’s only 1,000 tickets left. Get yours today, or plan your seat on the couch. You can also read preview stories here and here.

There’s certainly more to come from Europe’s biggest event in the coming days, but for now, is there anything else afoot? Oh yes...

• Wasn’t there another Slam this past weekend? Yup, a new women’s event in Nova Scotia, and here’s the scoop ...

• Duluth CC, a favourite haunt of ours here at TCN, is doing very well these days, although they might be missing their games tonight; we hear there’s about 400 feet of snow on the ground out there ...

• Here’s another story on the Nutmeg (and we still love that name) ...

• Looking to catch up on how the Slams came to be where they are today? Here’s a decent primer ...

• Did you miss Witt on Sunday’s Slam broadcast? Here’s a peek at Bruce Rainnie, who filled in ...

• Why wasn’t Jean-Michel Ménard in Québec City? Something to do with the Order of Merit, we’re told. So, instead he went to Cornwall ...

• And finally, here’s the next great curling name, folks: Steen Sigurdson, come on down ...

December 2007 issue

Here it is... another jumbo-sized issue of The Curling News, and you don’t want to miss it:

• Toronto 2009: is this the megacity’s last chance to realize its curling potential? And should other Canadians care? For that matter, should the world?

• Curling in… Morocco, a TCN exclusive!

• Prairie curling clubs can earn a portion of $26,000 in seed money

• Cirque de Eurospiel: the madness of the European Championships

• Jill Officer: the players want consistency, please

• Olympic medallist to earn cash for medals

• The World Tour sponsors… the Canadian masters?

• Matt Hames on building an American curling team

• Celebrate your club anniversary with The Curling News: this month, Scarborough turns 50

• Larry Wood on the Maxwell legacy

• The JVC Curling TV Guide: the month of December

• Nice-guy Dean Ross wins Canuck Mixed

• Penny LaRoque to the NS Sports Hall of Fame

• They Said It, our monthly collection of quotes and comments

• Curling hits the great outdoors: at New York’s Rockefeller Plaza

And there’s more. Of course.

Subscribe today.

Curlers Corner

The BDO Classic Canadian Open gets underway tonight, and there’s a new dedicated event webpage, located here. Check out things like the live scoreboard, the Kevin Martin blog, the Ambassadors section, and the first webisode of the brand-new Capital One Curlers Corner, hosted by Mike Harris (above).

Awesome old photos of bad 1980s moustaches! Boo-ya!

There’s lots of other stuff going on, such as:

• Joe loves TV curling; but he’s forgotten the Le Gruyere European Championships, with a whack of TV and webstreamed content starting on Saturday. There’s also a cool TV promo available at the event website ... but, then again, Eurosport.com coverage might be geo-blocked outside of Europe, so watch for that possibility ...

• Speaking of TV curling, TSN just announced that the Casino Rama Skins – of which The Curling News is a media partner – will be broadcast in High-Definition. This will mark the first-ever high-def show for curling in North America (March’s women’s worlds in Aomori was high-def in Japan) ...

• Guilty! And three years for this chump ...

• Remember Canada’s girls from Balgonie? They’re back ...

• Some nice photos of the U.S. Wheelchair Curling Trials located here ...

• Speaking of both Regina and wheelchairs, there’s a wheelchair curling clinic underway in that city this week, open to all individuals with a disability who are interested in the sport. The first session will be held on Thursday, Nov. 29 in the gym at Wascana Rehab Centre, from 10-11:30 am, in room M414 (to introduce the sport) and is followed by an on-ice session at a later date. If interested, contact Kathy at 766-5301 or Clayton 584-0101 ...

• There’s a big women’s Capital One Grand Slam of Curling event taking place this weekend, in Halifax ...

• Way to go Jo: just a day or so after a news story talked about Jolene McIvor’s sponsorship challenges, she went on to win The CUETS Schmirler, defeating ex-teammate Michelle Englot in the final ...

• Here’s an update on former junior champions skip Charley Thomas, and his first men’s season ...

• If your club had 40 members, would you consider it to be “booming”? Ah well, so be it ...

• Les Steskis win ...

• Here’s a brief tale of curling at the Montreal West ...

• VANOC unveiled their 2010 mascots yesterday ...

• Scotland’s David Edwards has been experimenting with webstreamed curling at Aberdeen in Scotland, and the results can be viewed here ...

• Meanwhile, Texas Dan just looooves CurlTV ...

• Here’s some University of New Brunswick curling, complete with video:

• Quote of the week comes from the Townie Bastard, who says:
Yes, have a chuckle at the notion of roving gangs of irate curlers. You can laugh right up until they come for you, my friend. Then you will learn fear ...

• And from one Newfoundlander in Iqualuit, we go to a Torontonian who is also there – and curling, too ...

Black Book has Hart

TORONTO – The BDO Black Book of Curling got a media boost Tuesday at the posh Granite Club, as world champion moustache-grower Richard Hart dropped in to check out his Glenn Howard team’s Power Triad statistics, first-place ranking and more (TCN photo by Anil Mungal).

Hart professed interest in reading the essaye on his team’s seventh end of the Tim Hortons Brier final: was Brad Gushue’s missed attempt for glory a good call, or a bad call?

You can order your copy of the BDO Black Book of Curling from the CZ Store, or call 1-866-690-1835 in Canada or the U.S. (or 416-690-1835 internationally). The BDO Black Book is also available as a fundraiser for clubs, teams, groups and leagues; call for more info.

Ready to glow

They’re ready to glow in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, but they’re not the first to embrace “Black Light Curling”... that honour may belong to the Springbank Curling Club in Alberta, which first showed off their stuff on November 21 (photo above).

The December issue of The Curling News features this story, and more, within The Dominion of Canada Club Corner department, so subscribe today to get all the details sent directly to your mailbox ...

An Aussie Thing

China grabbed double gold at the recent Pacific Curling Championships in Beijing, and were quite impressive in the process. Also grabbing spots in next spring’s 2008 World Championships were Japan’s women and Australia’s men, the latter seen here visiting the Great Wall.

The hand gesture is “an Aussie thing,” according to last-rocker Ian Palangio (at centre, with what seems to be a Movember moustache), meaning “it’s all good”... but Palangio had refused to tell The Curling News the meaning of the gesture until after his team had qualified for Grand Forks – superstition, of course, given that the photo was taken early in the PCC competition!

A report on the PCC is located here, and it sounds like things got quite scary between the Aussies and the Kiwis, in their best-of-three semi-final series.

“Indeed,” confirmed Palangio. “The series against New Zealand was extremely competitive. They have a strong young lineup that will continue to get better in the coming years.

“We’re still pinching ourselves that we won in such dramatic fashion. Watching the last stone of the 11th end in the second semi, we were mentally moving on to get ready to play a third semi-final. Unfortunately Sean Becker’s last shot over curled a little and hit the guard to give us the win.”

FOX Australia even ran a story on the boys’ Beijing efforts... not bad, lads.

Curling Indy

Vroooom.

Check out this speedy little number. It was designed for entry into an online contest run by the folks at IndyCar. Click to zoom in on the car detail.

The contest is still on, so please vote here – click on the fifth star, of course! – and tell your friends, too. C’mon... the racing world won’t know what hit them!

The news of this work – and the sight of it – came as a pleasant surprise. After picking ourselves up from the floor, we asked Steve Lobel – the creative eye behind ProCurler Curling Stuff – what, in tarnation, inspired him to design a car sponsored by yours truly, The Curling News,among others?

Q: What was your inspiration?

A: I just stumbled across the contest site while looking up stats from another favourite sport.

Q: Why a curling theme?

A: Well, I wanted a theme that would get American race fans scratching their heads a little. Perhaps it will drive them to a website to explore the sport further.

Q: Why did you include The Curling News?

I picked The Curling News as a main sponsor because the logo just screams curling, and I hoped you might put it in the paper and on the blog! My company, ProCurler.com was an obvious choice for a “B” sponsor. As for Tim Hortons, other than their generous involvement in curling, I happened to be sipping on my fifth cup of the day when they came to mind.

On a final note, we forgot to ask Steve why he picked number 77... and then, of course, we remembered. His father, Art Lobel, played third for Quebec’s Jim Ursel at the 1977 MacDonald’s Brier.

And won.


Some weekend clickings for you...

• Monday November 26 sees a media launch and reception for the BDO Black Book of Curling, with Glenn Howard and Richard Hart in attendance, as well as authors Dallas Bittle and Gerry Geurts. Location is Toronto’s Granite Club, in the curling lounge, with food (and books) provided ...

• With all the women’s Slam excitement this weekend, don’t forget The Schmirler ...

• First they appeared – along with Randy Dutiaume – in a TV commercial; now Kerry Burtnyk and Jeff Stoughton have been formally unveiled as spokesmen for the upcoming Winnipeg Brier...

• Canada’s Season of Champions event calendar is offering a new ticket package called Rocks in Your Socks ...

• Here’s a report on Tuesday’s news conference announcing the Tylenol Players’ Championship, which is returning to St. John’s ...

• Wheelchair curlers have another championship to strive for: the first Paralympic World Winter Cup will be held in Sweden in 2009 ...

• The Weakerthans’ Tournament of Hearts was the song ’o the day at KEXP in Seattle ...

• Here’s Jessica Goes Curling, part two ...

• Detroit Lakes is rocking ...

• DID YOU KNOW: that Salmon Arm, B.C. gets the Canadian Juniors in 2009?

• Scotland’s NCA is sadly dead... again...

• Here’s a major league update from T-Bay ...

• Hey, wasn’t Dusty Baker a baseball player-turned-manager ...?

• And finally... right back ’atcha, Chris!

Unbeatable?

BRANTFORD – Is Team Glenn Howard unbeatable?

That’s the question many are asking these days, as the defending world curling champions relentlessly cash in across the country. Their 2007 Brier performance and, particularly, their utter domination of the Edmonton worlds is widely regarded as one of, if not the, finest week-long, wall-to-wall performance in the history of the sport.

The squad ranked number one for the second year in a row by The BDO Black Book of Curling is, however, technically beatable.

In the first spiel of the year, Sarnia’s Peter Steski had them by the scruff of the neck in a final qualifying match, only to let them slip away for the win. Howard went on to win the Shorty Jenkins Classic.

A few weeks later, they failed to win the Don Bartlett Classic in Gander (they always seem to win the Don Bartlett Classic in Gander).

Just over a week ago, they upended a stellar field – including Kevin Martin – in Lloydminster all the way to the final, where they lost to Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton.

And yesterday, they had their hands full with a streaking Greg Balsdon in the semi-final of the McDonald’s Classic in Brantford, and had to steal the last end. The final then went only four ends, as Team Howard crushed London’s Kirk Ziola 9-1.

So, yes, they are beatable. But the most consistent team of the past eight years or so – going back to the first time Howard, Richard Hart and the Mitchell brothers teamed up – just seems to be getting stronger, and are obviously better tuned in to “the big game.” And that news is all bad for the Martins and Ferbeys of the world.

Scott Arnold is Canada’s National Team Program Consultant – he also coached Team Reddick/Rizzo into the 2005 Olympic Trials – who had his eyes on the world champs over the weekend.

“When you’re watching them, their half-shots are actually three-quarter shots,” Arnold observed. “A miss can cause some teams some degree of harm, but it doesn’t seem to harm (Howard), from what I can see.

“They’re just so confident in each other and the team as a whole, I don’t think any other teams are like that right now. If you get these guys on good ice, they don’t know how to miss.”

Last season, it was the white belts. Maybe this time... it’s the moustaches?

Arnold says there is only one other instance this season where he’s personally observed a team in that kind of zone. And it was at a women’s Tour event, in London.

“Rachel Homan’s team,” said Arnold. “I couldn’t believe her team played that way.”


Elsewhere:

• Balsdon lost his first two games and faced elimination before reeling off five wins in a row, including a 9-4 pounding of Brad Gushue in the quarter-final. As mentioned, his Guelph foursome continued the show against Howard, falling to a steal in the final frame.

Balsdon is ranked 29th in the world by the BDO Black Book, with this comment: “Greg Balsdon is one of the few skips in Ontario who has beaten both Glenn Howard and Wayne Middaugh with even some degree of regularity.”

• Brantford’s final four resembled last year’s Ontario provincial, where Howard and Balsdon finished in the top four. It also resembled a provincial from the 1990s, which saw semi-finalist Phil Daniel lose three finals, and even resembled one as far back as 1991 – where Russ and Glenn Howard defeated Ziola in the final ...

• You may have noticed Team Howard’s commitment to Movember continues. Tour observers are trying to decide which curler has has the best moustache, and Richard Hart – sporting a Mexican Bandito – is a top vote-getter.

In second place but closing fast is Peter Steski, whose classic Mutton Chop looks like a cross between pro wrestler Hulk Hogan and Motörhead leader Lemmy Kilmister ...

• Moments ago, St. John’s, Newfoundland was formally announced as host for the Tylenol Players’ Championship - the eighth and final leg of the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling series - running April 16-20, 2008 at Mile One Centre.

Five-day ticket packages for the TPC, which features both the top men’s and women’s teams in Canada, are now officially on sale, both online and through the Mile One Centre box office ...

• The 2007 Pacific Championships are underway in Beijing, with the top two teams (both men and women) qualifying their countries for the Ford World Women’s in Vernon and the Men’s Worlds in Grand Forks ...

• Tonight marks the latest inductions into the CBC Sports Hall of Fame, and while CBC curling host Scott Russell spotlights the talking heads, we note that the late Joan Mead, CBC’s pioneering curling producer, is also among the honourees ...

• Thursday night marks the first fundraising event to help rebuild the razed Windsor Curling Club in Nova Scotia: a concert ...

• Speaking of fundraising, Portage (in Wisconsin, not Manitoba) raised US$11,000 to fight cancer ...

• Kelly Scott took home an enormous $16,000 cheque last night, which keeps her in first place in The Curling News Top 15. Chief rival Jennifer Jones won her first couple of games but then lost three in a row to finish out of the money ...

• Have you heard the news? Canada will pay a performance bonus of up to $20,000 to Olympic medallists – including curlers. Each. There is also funding available in non-Olympic years for a top five or top four finish, to the tune of about $5,000 per athlete.

“This will be well-received by the athletes but also by the fans, I would think,” said Kevin Martin, who would have scored $15,000 for his Olympic silver in 2002.

“Most people, I believe, think the athletes are not supported as well as they could be… particularly when a top athlete could be spending 40-50 hours a week at their sport.”

For more on this story – plus more from Martin and Gushue – consult the upcoming December issue of The Curling News, on press just 24 hours from now ...

• The new Swiss men’s champions skipped by Adelboden’s Toni Müller – they upset an injury-ravaged Ralph Stöckli in the final of a four-team playoff a few weeks ago – are off to the Le Gruyère European Championships in just 10 days, and they are inviting websurfers to vote on their final results.

Check out their nifty blog and look for Welchen Platz erreichen wir an der EM? down the right-hand menu ...

• Pfeif recently played roadie to this crazed Florida hockey fan, whose attempted explanation of our other ice sport has to be seen to be believed ...

• Remember Kirsan Ilyumzhinov? Now he’s threatening to sue ...

• Finally, are bored at your workdesk? Blocked from surfing CurlingZone, Facebook and CurlTV? This thing should provide some amusement... for a couple of minutes, anyway ...

Black Book: was Gushue right?

Back in black, for a third time, is the new BDO Black Book of Curling, now produced by the usual geekoids at CurlingZone in partnership with curling sponsors BDO Dunwoody LLP.

Buy it, right here at CurlingZone’s new E-Store, as it’s a great read and great value at over 300 pages for just $19.99 (Canadian).

Included this year is the always-controversial Team Rankings – who is really the best out there? – plus a very detailed look at the strategy conundrum that has still got everybody talking: Brad Gushue’s fateful decision in the seventh end of the 2007 Brier final versus Ontario’s Glenn Howard. To gamble or not to gamble? The Black Book has the definitive answer on whether Gushue was crazy as a loon, or right on the money... er, the numbers.

Incidentally, both Howard and Gushue are in Brantford this weekend.

There’s another new twist, too... a whopping half of the cover price is available to curling clubs, leagues or teams as a fundraiser, for each book sold. Now that’s cool.

If your club, league or team wants more info, contact the BBoC office at 416-690-1835 or 866-690-1835 (toll free in North America).


What else is up in our wonderful world of curling?

• Do nice guys actually win? We’ll find out today, when host Alberta takes on the über-veterans from Ontario in the final of the Canadian Mixed ...

• Delisle’s Team Sherry Anderson sends a player on the road to make a personal donation every year to the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix offices in support of Sporting Christmas, the paper’s campaign for the Salvation Army. Hey, it’s not just to get good press; it’s a great casue and committment from a team at the height of the busy season ...

• Hurry hard... with the emphasis on hard ...

• There’s an invasion of Scots underway in the colonies this weekend ...

• While the Grand Slams continue to grow, the regular WCT schedule gets more and more crowded ...

• Finally, Winnipeg Free Press and SWEEP! Magazine writer Paul Wiecek made some fun predictions yesterday on Brier qualifiers – if it were suddenly March 2008 today – and had this to say about the Northern Ontario entry:

Northern Ontario – look, as far as I’m concerned, it’s a complete sham they even get their own entry. It’s time to do away with the special treatment and give Northern Ontario’s berth in the Brier to the defending Team Canada, just like they do at the Tournament of Hearts.

If the Brier was tomorrow – It would bug me, like it does every year, that Manitoba and Alberta get one berth each at the Brier but Ontario gets two.

Help!

It’s been 43 years since the Beatles movie Help! stormed across the world, introducing fans to the sheer wackiness of the world’s greatest pop band.

Now, Help! has been re-released as a souped-up DVD package – check out this review – and for Canadian fans, there’s a one-off theatrical release, too... featuring Hi-Def, 5.1 Digital Surround Sound and a 15-minute interview extra. Tickets are on sale now for the shows on November 26 – one night only – at 32 Cineplex Odeon theatres across the country.

What’s the curling connection? The moptops go curling, but of course, and almost bite it when a wacko puts a bomb in a rock (see screen capture above, featuring George Harrison and said wacko).

Elsewhere:

• Italy and Sweden made it through a four-team logjam at Inverness over the weekend, and have qualified for next year’s World Wheelchair Championship in Sursee, Switzerland ...

• There’s a CUETS Schmirler Classic news conference at noon today in Regina ...

• Victoria needs new curling facilities, say the Daggs, who are off to city council tomorrow ...

• The CCA president will be in Summerside Thursday for the new P.E.I. Curling Hall of Fame and Museum induction ceremony ...

• Bravo Toronto, says Italy ...

• And we say bravo to itafaber: put the weekend behind you and just keep working away ...

• And bravo to Craig, who made a great shot last night – although he lost the game... d’oh! ...

• This coming weekend marks only the eighth time a curling team has been inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame. Jeff Stoughton and his 1996 world championship squad – Ken Tresoor, Garry Vandenberghe and Steve Gould – will be formally inducted on Saturday ...

• The Townie Bastard is actually a curling zen master ...

• This cartoonist just used curling for the first time (we would guess) ...

• Compete-At software is now partnered with Northern Ontario curling ...

• And finally, behold the Muskus Cup 2007 in Oppdal, Norway ... Skol!

The Sweeping Saga of Curling

Doug Clark is a talented writer – and very unassuming curler – from North Gower, Ontario, just outside of Ottawa. His work has appeared in The Globe and Mail and Maclean’s, amongst other places, and his 2002 book Dark Paths, Cold Trails was shortlisted for Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award for non-fiction.

Clark’s new book is all-curling, and in a big way. The Roaring Game: A Sweeping Saga of Curling has been published by Key Porter Books and is in bookstores now (also online here). It also gets a glowing five-star review from us, The Curling News.

Indeed, we need to acknowledge some bias here, as TCN Editor George Karrys has been following Clark’s stubborn and determined progress in getting this thing published – more on that in a moment – for years; in fact, he also wrote the forward.

An excerpt:

I still remember the day Doug dared to share his manuscript with me. After a voracious marathon read, I felt dizzy. The scope of Clark’s vision, the sheer size of the curling landscape he painted, was one of a kind. The book wasn’t about a famous athlete or a specific championship, nor a how-to guide, and not a purely historical tome. It was all that and so much more, delightfully bobbing and weaving among virtually every nuance of curling. This had never been done before.

Never before. True, Scott Russell (of CBC-TV fame) wrote a curling book of heartwarming grass roots stories. Doug Maxwell’s final two books were a) a fine summary piece and b) a long-awaited personal history. There have been countless how-to books for the hard-core curler, from Ken Watson to Paul Savage to Ed Lukowich, and now Colleen Jones. An ex-Toronto Sun sports writer named Jean Sonmor wrote a legendary tome about the men who competed at the highest levels (in the era of the 1970s and 80s). No less than nine – that’s right, nine – curling books were released last year. The Black Book’s attention to curling detail – including the statistical mathematics of the sport – are apt to cause dizzy spells (it’s coming, again, by the way). Even Warren Hansen has written an oversized “coffee table book” on the sport.

But nobody has ever thrown all that – and more – into a single piece of work. The ultimate, all-encompassing look at curling, spotlighting all that makes it resonate with the people. It’s all here: fun and fascination, humour, cleverness, Canada-USA-world, the stars, the unknown heroes, charity and celebrity, disabled and able-bodied, the glorious, historical past and the pop-culture present.

Regarding Clark’s stubborn zeal... here’s another excerpt from the forward, which also explains why this book deserves to sit on your shelf, and also that of friends and family.

Clark seems the epitome of a curler. He’s been trying to publish this book for years (curlers are a notoriously stubborn breed); he’s embraced and then broken up with two previous publishers (curlers are wont to change their team lineups as much as any freewheeling pro sport GM); and he tells simply wonderful stories (just park yourself at a table after a curling game and listen to the tales).

It must be said that the loving care this man has taken with our sport – in prose – means as much as the commitment shown by thousands of curling fans, players, administrators and volunteers on a daily basis.

Here’s the Key Porter page again, and the Chapters/Indigo page, too. Canadian readers are urged, as always, to choose Canadian retail sites – .ca as opposed to .com – to support your homegrown talent, and have your purchasing power count when the sales are tallied.

Toronto 2009

Just to catch you up, here’s the Globe and Mail take on Tuesday’s Capital One announcement, followed by Sun Media and their outspoken columnist Bill Lankhof, plus this piece in the National Post and, finally, this from Murray M in Regina.

A common theme here was:

Capital-One-Is-Great-But-Holy-Smokes-They’re-Gonna-Curl-In-The-ACC!

Indeed, pencil October 21-25, 2009 into the calendar for a major curling event in Toronto’s Air Canada Centre, home to hockey’s Maple Leafs, basketball’s Raptors, lacrosse’s Rock (last we heard) and countless live concerts from major recording artists around the world.

The top four or so Canuck teams vying desperately for Canada’s berth into the 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be there, along with a batch of world teams already qualified for Vancouver. There will also be a pool of women’s teams doing battle, along with some “Legends”. Can anybody say Wrench?

This will be Toronto’s first major curling event since the 1986 Worlds, held at Exhibition Place, and the first really-big cashspiel since Doug Maxwell built the Tournament of Champions at Maple Leaf Gardens in the early 1960s.

We say really big because Toronto did have a great cashspiel for many years, hosted by downtown’s Royal Canadian CC, but that went belly-up a decade ago.

Then, last year, Weston’s popular September event collapsed due to lack of entries... although the sponsor now supports a thriving Seniors cashspiel.

Last summer, the Avonlea club died, killing 16 sheets of ice and throwing the local curling market into a tizzy. This marked the fifth or so metro club closure in the last decade.

Finally, Brampton celebrated last month’s 25th anniversary Bacardi Rumspiel with the announcement that the sponsor was bailing out... in fact, the sponsor even showed up to present the trophy and, er, say goodbye. Gee, thanks.

Critics would say Toronto curling is dying, folks, and Toronto 2009 could be a huge shot in the arm for the wonderfully stubborn city curlers who just keep on rockin’. Truth is, Toronto boasts a big curling family – some 13,000 strong, they say – and they’ve still got some 22-odd clubs, most of which are doing quite well. The Toronto Curling Association has partnered with Insight Sports – who also claim support from the city and provincial politicians – to bring this event into the hallowed hockey grounds, and there is no doubt the on-ice action will put the recent efforts of Toranna’s pro hockey millionaires to shame. The question is, will the curlers and curling fans buy tickets?

The latest from SWEEP! Magazine breaks down the ticket pricing – also comparing Grand Slam, Casino Rama Skins, Brier, Scotties and Olympic ducats – and given the big discount available to ticket buyers between now and January 2008 (saving $100) declares Toronto 2009 to be a good deal. The Ontario Curling Report is excited, as is the TCA, with president Beth Woolnough telling The Curling News:

We’re pleased to be part of Toronto 2009. This is a brilliant opportunity not only for our member clubs, who will receive a portion of the ticket sales, but to showcase the great sport of curling in the GTA.
It’s been too long since such a major curling event has come to Toronto. With the support of GTA area curlers, I believe that this event will be a success... and prove to everyone that Toronto can host a curling event.

Early reports say the clubs are raring to go, and ticket sales are just getting under way. Naturally, we hear that some members are skeptical while their curling managers are enthused, and some other managers are skeptical while their members are enthused.

Typical stuff, but there is a precedent for Hogtowners to band together and make a sacrifice for their sport. Remember Men With Brooms? The film production crew created poster sign-up sheets and asked each club to appoint a volunteer. The ask was to rally people to take a day off work – horrors! – to sit in the mock-stands, and mock-cheer as mock-spectators during the mock-action scenes.

What happened? Busloads of people showed up, and these volunteers agreed to eat a day’s pay for their sport. Now, the current ask – six years later – is to simply buy, and help sell, a whack of ticket packages.

Toronto is a money town... buying and selling shouldn’t be so hard, right?

Right?


Elsewhere:

• TCA is also running a fundraiser in conjunction with CurlTV: simply sign up for the dynamic paycurl channel and quote promo code TCAjunior (case sensitive) and you’ve just done two things: you’ve got yourself a discount, and you’ve supported Toronto curling. Booyah ...

• Speaking of The Wrench, head on over to The Curling News Facebook Group (you must have a FB user ID) and look for a cool foto of Eddie with his Avonlea championship banners. The Wrench roared down the 404/DVP to rescue them from his soon-to-close home club last summer, and this foto was snapped at Eddie’s home – by TCN’s Ryan Durham – just a couple of weeks later ...

• Here’s a couple of TV “curling” spots for you, from Service Canada and the Alberta town of Canmore, starring KMart ...

• Here’s a look at “copper country” curling ...

• They announced the host city for the 2009 Ontario men’s championship yesterday (the 2008 event goes in Kitchener-Waterloo) ...

• Darned right! Now that’s a more accurate calorie-count for curling, we say ...

• Congrats today go to Jenn Hanna, and best of luck ...

• Finally, The Canadian Mixed – remember that one? – gets underway in Cowtown this weekend. Here’s the CCA newser; here’s the CP pickup; and here’s some promo for Team Manitoba, and two stories on Team Nova Scotia, located here and here. And, of course, we expect Al Cameron to be an active blogger during this week-long event ...

Slam summary

To sum, this was a fairly big day for the Slam circuit – sorry, make that the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling series – and their still-newish owner/operator, Insight Sports Ltd.

The multi-year agreement (dollar value undisclosed) brings a series sponsor to the table, joining event titleholders BDO Dunwoody and Tylenol/McNeil Consumer Healthcare and an additional group of partners (like CBC Sports) and suppliers (like AMJ Campbell Van Lines). And there’s still some inventory to be sold.

This is also the first financial company to step up and grab a stake in the sport since, well, we’re not sure... perhaps CIBC, which used to sponsor the Canadian Seniors? That dates back about 10 years ago...

The School of Rock clinics, of which Capital One also receives naming rights, are likewise assured to run with a higher profile as each Slam stop arrives in town. With that comes the chance for more wide-eyed youngsters to enjoy the game and, perhaps, decide to make curling their chosen sport.

The affair garnered tons of media on site (here’s the official newser, and watch all the majors – Globe, Star, FAN 590, CBC-TV/Radio etc. – tonight and tomorrow for their takes on the announcement) which just goes to show that, maybe, just maybe, big bad Toranna can be more than just a hockey town.

And speaking of, that’s a neat segue into Toronto 2009, the mega-curling-event slated for the fall of ’09 at the Air Canada Centre, which will be the biggest thing to hit the beleaguered Toronto curling scene in many years. Good to the see the Toronto Curling Association on site today, and you can watch this here blog – and the future pages of your favourite curling newspaper – for more on Toronto 2009, coming soon ...

Game On, Cap One

TORONTO – Kevin Albrecht went first, introduced by CBC emcee Scott Russell.

The man named by the Globe and Mail as one of Canada’s most influential people in Canadian sports, who introduced his former company IMG to the sport, and built the Grand Slam concept (causing years of consternation in Ottawa) introduced and welcomed Capital One to the curling family.

First, however, he told the assembled media that in his nine years of affiliation with the sport, he has never met nor worked with a better group of athletes – curlers.

Next up, Ian Cunningham, the COO of Capital One. His new Capital One GS jacket, he noted, “fits perfectly”, as does his company’s aim at the winter sport market. He also thought it was quite cool that curlers “call their own fouls”. Game on!

Paul Boutilier spoke next, the perenially enthused chief of the World Curling Players’ Association setting a land-speed record by keeping his podium time to approximately three minutes. Wow!

Then, the athletes – KMart, Jennifer Jones and Dave Nedohin – with their platitudes and gratitudes. Martin repeated his long-held mantra that it is all about “the best versus the best”, which is certainly the GS intention.

Three curlers on the ice for the photo-ops (shooters include TCN’s own Anil Mungal)... geez Jennifer, watch those high heels!

Capital One Grand Slam of Curling

TORONTO – Well, it’s official... Capital One, they of the famed “Hands in my pocket” TV commercials (which includes a snippet of curling) are the new series sponsors of the Grand Slam of Curling.

We are live at the news conference, held at the Donalda Club, the home base of 1998 Olympic skip and CBC talkie Mike Harris.

Some big guns here... Kevin Martin, Jennifer Jones and David Nedohin, among many others.

Ssssh... they’re starting...

The Curling News: November issue

The November 2007 issue of The Curling News is out, and you can either take your chances on grabbing one at your local club – we don’t send many club copies out, BTW – or you can subscribe.

If you subscribe, you get it at least a week before the clubs, and via first-class mail in a polybag, so there you go. Whichever option you choose, enjoy.

FYI, this here blog complements the print edition: there is stuff in each issue that you won’t find us covering online. So again, there you go.

Inside this month:

• Larry Wood on the burned rock, Slam questions, eight ends becoming nine, and why is the CCA not in Calgary?

• Jill Officer on the new Colleen Jones

• The Dominion Club Corner: the Howards honour a special club volunteer

• Facebook: a look at 1,000 curling groups online at once (this story is also available on our website, as a “web special”)

• Teri Lake provides a five-step curling survival program

• A full spring, summer and fall calendar wrap-up

• Doug Maxwell, RIP and revisited: Corn brooms, blisters, raw hands and long nights

• TCN Newsdesk on the Casino Rama Skins, the Swiss Curling Tour, the Toronto 2009 mega-event and The Weakerthans speak

• Rodger Schmidt would have stolen a towel in Edmonton, but would never commit theft in Aomori

• The JVC Curling TV Guide (but of course!)

• Al Cameron has some free advice for CCA gunslinger Greg Stremlaw

• And more!

Speaking of “and more” ...

• And speaking of Facebook, have you checked out The Curling News Facebook Group? Lots of special stuff there, too. You need to be a Facebook user, and you’ll want to go here to find us. We’ve got almost 500 members so far; are you in, or what?

• Regina’s Leader-Post has a great headline piece today, and they also like our support of the burgeoning Movember movement. Kudos and thanks, Murray ...

• Here’s a peek at the Strongest new women’s team on The Rock ...

• Aussie Aussie Aussie! Curl Curl Curl! ...

• Here’s yet another Korbel news story ...

• Some Québec stuff today, located here and also here ...

• Finally, we continue to marvel at how things can change. Just six years ago years ago, curling was nearly torn apart by the athlete/CCA strife. Finger-pointing and media jabbering abounded and a wedge was also driven between the new “Grand Slammers” – led by Kevin Martin – and a distinct minority, led by Randy Ferbey.

Guy Hemmings, you may or may not recall, was caught in the middle, with both “sides” lobbying furiously for his support. He eventually chose the CCA side of things – and his “Rockin’ The House Tour” was born.

Now, everybody – and we mean everybody – is celebrating his imminent reception of the Asham World Curling Tour Ambassador Award, which will take place during “Guy Hemmings Day” at the BDO Canadian Open in Quebec City on December 1.

And, lo and behold, the CCA itself has posted the WCT news release. With the WCF president offering comment, no less.

That sound you hear? It’s the winds of (positive) change, continuing to sweep on by...