Nutmeg fantasy camp

The only American fantasy curling camp in 2008 still has room for participants.

The Hot Shots Fantasy Curling Camp is coming down from Canada to the Nutmeg Curling Club in Bridgeport, Connecticut in just under four weeks. The dates are Oct. 24-26 and the “campers” receive world-class curling instruction with a celebrity angle.

Click on the above graphic to increase the size, and contact Jennifer Stannard at 203-329-7625 for all the details.

We also hear that the 2009 slate of Hot Shots camps will take place in Ontario’s Oakville (August) and Ottawa (September) followed by the Utica CC (October) down in the States. Confirmations will appear on the Hot Shots website at the end of this month.

But for now, we suggest you go nuts at the Nutmeg!

Curling calendar media melee

Well, the ladies have once again caused a media ruckus.

There were major features on the 2009 Women of Curling Calendar in the Sun family of newspapers, in both Ottawa and Toronto... and other stories at Deadspin, at Gustafun, at No-Name 247, at Slanch Report, and many, many more...

... such as SBB, the infamous Fark, and the investigative Scanner.

There were also radio features on FAN 590, and TV features on Rogers Sportsnet and also on Global News Ontario (screen capture above). To see the Global segment, which stars calendar grrrl Chrissy Cadorin and TCN/Shoot For A Cure dynamo Ryan Durham, go here and click on the Sept. 25 show... the story arrives at the 31-minute mark.

Heck, even the Washington Post took a break from the financial metdown stories to take note.

In addition, we offer smiles and shrugs to the Curling Canada guys and finally, a huge thumbs-up to the very funny hockey fellas at Orland Kurtenblog.

Once again, the ladies looking for your support, so please click here. The original blogpost is located here.


Anything else?


• DID YOU KNOW: that 2006 U.S. Olympic skip Pete Fenson is, er, less enamoured by Brazil’s challenge for the second western hemisphere spot at the 2009 Ford Worlds? When asked – by Joe Pavia of the Ottawa Sun – if he would play against Brazil, Fenson said: “I didn’t express a whole lot of interest ... our goal is to win the Olympic Trials this year. We are really not that interested in veering from our schedule.”

Tickets are now on sale for the first Capital One Grand Slam of the season: The Masters in Waterloo, Ontario ...

• We promoted Monsanto Canada’s fine curling club support program last year, and we’re pleased to see the grants are back for 2008-09 ...

• Seems the travel bible Lonely Planet has listed the 2009 Moncton worlds as a top reason to visit Canada ...

• Capital One – and its curling focus – made this recent Globe and Mail marketing story ...

• Team Shannon Kleibrink won the Schmirler tourney yesterday over an exhausted Team Krista McCarville of Thunder Bay ...

• Remember the CKDU bonspiel in Halifax? The pics are now online ...

• Bob Weeks, and many Ontarians, remember Humber Highland’s Earle Hushagen ...

• The Blind River CC blog offers a neat story involving curling legend Hec Gervais ...

• Kalamazoo, Michigan – the former home base of The Curling Show – is in the running to host the 2010 U.S. championships

• Speaking of: Ted Appleman makes his debut on the most recent ep of The Curling Show ...

• There’s lots of Super League turnover in Brandon, Man...

• The PEI Curling Hall of Fame will induct eight new members next month ...

• Team Guy Hemmings is the latest to enter the blogosphere ...

• And so is ex-Ottawa shooter Lesle Cafferty, a self-described Sweepnfreak ...

• Has Vleitholf has discovered the secret to curling?

• Jim Davis experienced our game in Bowling Green, OH ...

• DID YOU KNOW II: that ice technicians want a union? This here Facebook group reveals the plot ...

• And finally, with Team Mirjam Ott safely out of Regina, her squad has suggested that Saskatchewan is, er, rather “flach”. Tell us something we didn’t know!

2009 Women of Curling Calendar

They’re back.

The gorgeous Women of Curling have returned, lensed by photographer/curler Ana Arce of Spain and produced by The Curling News in conjunction with MiCalendar.ca.

Read all about it in today’s Vancouver Sun... and the same story appears in today’s Calgary Herald, in Saskatoon and in Edmonton, and so on. You can find the full text reproduced below.

This 2008-09 16-month bonanza is more of a traditional calendar, in both size and design. Each month also offers event listings of major curling tournaments in both Canada and around the world – even for the summer months.

As the story indicates, there is some debate on the risque factor of this year’s “Curling Club” edition. We invite you to be the judge by clicking here.

Remember the calendar’s heydays of hysteria? The second edition reached a peak during the 2006 Olympics in Turin (note video story too) which also coincided with an endorsement from... Playboy magazine!

As usual, every athlete model shares in the proceeds to fund their on-ice efforts, and some in turn are continuing to support their favourite charitable cause.

Here’s the story, written by Allen Cameron:

Curling’s version of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue is making a comeback.

After taking a year off, the 2009 Women of Curling Calendar, featuring 13 female curlers from around the world, is now on sale. Like past editions of the calendar, it features nude or near-nude curlers posing with props related to the sport.

“It’s not for everyone, but it’s a lot tamer than previous calendars,” said Ryan Durham, director of business development for The Curling News, which is marketing the calendar.

Two Canadians are among the 13 models featured – Christine Keshen, who won an Olympic bronze medal throwing lead rocks for Shannon Kleibrink at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin and now lives in Invermere, and Ontario’s Chrissy Cadorin, who plays third for Toronto’s Colleen Madonia.

Keshen also posed in the 2007 edition of the calendar.

“I think this one is more risque, in my opinion,” said a laughing Keshen. “But my boyfriend (Mike DuBois) thinks it’s great. He’s the boy, he’s the expert.”

Also posing for the calendar are Denmark’s Camilla Jensen, the Toth sisters, Claudia and Karina, of Austria, Giorgia Apollonio and Sonia Dibona of Itala, Germany’s Anna Hartelt and Daniela Jentsch, Fabienne Fuerbringer of Switzerland, Kasia Selwant of Poland, Kim Brewster of Scotland and former world junior champ Linn Githmark of Norway.

The pictures were shot by professional photographer Ana Arce of Spain, a competitive curler herself. She put out the first edition in 2006 to rave reviews. It was intended to be a fundraiser for women’s curling teams, and models receive a share of the proceeds.

Cadorin will be sharing her cut of the money with the Canadian Spinal Research Organization, while Keshen, who's taking a year off from curling, has plans to donate to youth curling groups in her hometown.

The focus of the calendar now is more on the sport than on the models, insisted Durham, noting that the calendar features a listing of major curling events around the world. “That’s another step toward producing a pure curling calendar, with action shots of the athletes,” said Durham. “We’re aiming to produce that for the 2010 Olympic year.”

The calendar retails for $34.95, including taxes and shipping and handling, and is available at www.thecurlingnews.com


Meanwhile, elsewhere in the curling world:

• Goodbyes were sadly given to Ontario curling legend Earle Hushagen over the weekend, and the Winnipeg Sun ran this obituary...

• Ted Appelman was the surprise winner of the Shootout in Edmonton while Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott defeated China’s Bingyu Wang in the women’s final. Down Brockville way, Richard Hart led his Howardless squad to victory over Kerry Burtnyk, with Marie-France Larouche defeating Eve Belisle in an all-Quebec women’s final. And in Moncton, Terry Odishaw took the Early Bird title over Russ Howard.

Action this weekend takes place in Oslo (with online streaming available through Curlingkanalen), and also in Regina ...

• Recplex curlers in Corner Brook, NL were awaiting word on their options for 2008-09, and the good news is now in ...

• Glenn Howard, who is out of the lineup as he recovers from hernia surgery, will be inducted into the Midland Sports Hall of Fame ...

• This bizarre little story in the Leduc Representative tells us a bit about Chinese curling teams training in Canada ...

• World champion skip Jennifer Jones has been busy, doing a 2009 Scottie promo-thing in Victoria (click here and here) and she’s on tap for an October KidSport appearance in Swift Current, Sask...

• The Stabilizer has a nifty new updated website ...

• Well, at least Jamie didn’t get hurt ...

• Stirling had a decent curling turnout the other day ...

• Heather Rankin’s first zinger is already in the lead for quote of the year ...

• This B.C. story takes the reader through the icemaker’s tasks in installing arena ice... and we note the ice techs who frequented the late InTheHack have fully migrated over to CurlingZone ...

• Wally is the latest on The Curling Show ...

• Tellurian has a few things to display on curling history ...

• Former CCA prez and competitor Jerry Muzika was inducted into the PEI Sports Hall of Fame over the weekend ...

• Whistler Outdoors has this feature on wheelchair curling ...

• The wheelchair curling group in Elgin, Scotland is looking for sponsor help ...

• And finally, the Edzell CC in Angus, Scotland is now online, and christened itself with this memory of their first – and only – Grand Match championship performance ...

Curling star into surgery today

Three-time world curling champion Glenn Howard arrives at Canada’s reknowned Shouldice Hospital today, and will miss this weekend’s AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic.

He’ll miss the first few weeks of the curling season, too.

Howard has a hernia, and will undergo immediate surgery. He is scheduled to depart Shouldice, which is located in Thornhill, a northern suburb of Toronto, on Sunday.

“It’s a pretty simple procedure, apparently, and I’m optimistic I’ll be back competing within three weeks,” said Howard.

“I could curl right now – it’s pretty sore – but my doctor said it’s not going to get any better (without surgery).”

The 2007 world champion skip (CCA photo above by Michael Burns) first noticed the problem two weeks ago.

“It was something I did at work,” said Howard, who manages two Beer Store operations in Midland, Ontario. “I can’t pinpoint it exactly, but all of a sudden I sat down because I had felt something move down there.

“Gradually this egg starts popping out of my groin.”

Team Howard third Richard Hart will skip the squad as they start their 2008-09 season tonight against Quebec’s Martin Ferland.

“We tried to find a skip, but guys are either already playing this weekend or the weekend is not in their schedule,” said Hart. “So the boys are stuck with me.”

His boys – front enders Brent Laing and Craig Savill – have recruited former world junior champion teammate Andy Ormsby to replace Howard.

Howard’s eye will definitely be on the first three “big” events of the season, as he works on his post-op recovery: The Masters (Nov. 12-16) and National (Dec. 3-7) Grand Slams followed by the later-than-normal Casino Rama Skins Curling Classic (Jan. 10-11).

This is the second injury to hit some of the high(est)-performance competitors this year. As we reported in July, Team Randy Ferbey second stone Scott Pfeifer fractured the fifth metatarsal in his sliding foot, and is recovering from a cast and crutches.

Pfeif, incidentally, has promised to send pictures of said cast – and even an x-ray of his injury – but he is holding out on us. Come now, Pfeif... resistance is futile.

Edmonton skip Brent MacDonald – the older brother of Kevin Koe’s last rocker Blake MacDonald – will spare for Pfeifer tomorrow at western Canada’s WCT opener, the Boston Pizza Shootout.

On another serious note, we hope to see Shorty Jenkins himself make an appearance in Brockville at his namesake tournament. As TCN readers well know, Shorty’s health has taken a turn for the worse in recent months.


Elsewhere:

• Our friends at CurlTV starts their new season of coverage today, live from Edmonton ...

• There’s more curling this weekend out east, with Sandy Comeau versus Russ Howard at Moncton’s Early Bird Challenge, kicking off today ...

• Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott is on an intensive three-week tour of Canada, training in Edmonton before leading up to today’s Shootout, followed by Regina (CUETS Schmirler Curling Classic) and then Vernon, BC (Twin Anchors Houseboat Cashspiel). So is Team China, led by Bingyu Wang, who together with the men’s team skipped by Fengchun Wang basically live in Canada for three or four months each curling season ...

• That Vernon spiel also has a strong lineup, and smart guy Dave “Merk” Merklinger has scheduled a marquee Jennifer Jones vs. Bingyu Wang encounter for the Friday night... and with no apologies! On the men’s side we happen to note the rather bizarro men’s lineup of John Morris, Dean Joanisse, Don Walchuk and Steve Petryk ...

• Congrats to Toronto’s Jason Thomas, who was first out of the blocks in Monday’ TCN Blogcontest... and he also got all four correct! The four curling moments in the new book 100 Greatest Canadian Sports Moments are:

#94: Team Randy Ferbey wins fourth World Championship (2005)
#87: Team Sandra Schmirler wins third World title (1997)
#76: Team Brad Gushue wins men’s Olympic gold in Turin (2006)
#37: Team Sandra Schmirler wins Olympic gold in Nagano (1998)

Jason wins a copy of the book, courtesy of Wiley Publishing and, of course, The Curling News.

Thanks to all who replied via this blog and/or our Facebook page... some other suggestions were Al Hackner’s miracle shot to eventually win the 1985 Brier, and even Boots Labonte’s infamous punt to blow the 1972 world title.

By the way, there’s also a website for the book, where you can read about author James Bisson’s media tour, feedback and you can even vote for your favourites and debate the final choices! Click here... and get your copy today!

• Congrats to Texas Dan on the birth of his first grandchild. Dan is burbling with excitement and to answer his request we hurriedly point him toward a pair of tiny Asham curling shoes (bottom of this page).

What Dan didn’t mention is that the birth went down as he was providing shelter to a bunch of Hurricane Ike refugees... about six or eight of them in his house at once!

Texas Dan: MVG – Most Valuable Grandpa – and an all-round gentleman to boot.

• Here’s a nice feature on the lure of family curling in Pittsburgh, PA ...

• And here’s another on the phenomenal Thunder Bay Major League, which signed a new sponsor for 2008-09. The league has seen only one forfeited match in 34 years of top-notch competition, according to veteran Rick Lang ...

• Corner Brook’s Recplex has finally been sold, meaning the new owners – Memorial University, or MUN – can get on with building a new curling facility ...

• Portage La Prairie’s unique hotel/curling club arrangement will take another step forward with a new year-round tavern replacing the club lounge ...

• Señor Guertez is the latest and greatest at The Curling Show ...

• A few Winnipeg women, including world champion and TCN columnist Jill Officer, have answered the call for extras in the filming of Throwing Stones, a new CBC-TV pilot ...

• U.S. curler Ann Swisshelm is supporting Chicago in the race for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Right on! More on the race for the 2018 Winter Games is located here ...

• Nova Scotia curling legend Colleen Jones is one of the sport celebs appearing this coming Tuesday, September 23 in Toronto for an “off the record” interactive discussion. Tickets are $25, which includes a beverage and food appetizer, and things get underway around 6:30pm ...

• The second stop on the Ontario Junior Curling Tour is this weekend: the 2008 Derek Whitehill Memorial Cashspiel, named for the young curler who died tragically in 2006. Story here and event webportal here ...

• Hey, what’s going on in the Yukon? The Skookum WCT Cashspiel in Whitehorse now has a $50,000 prize purse ...

• Brantford, Ontario has even bigger bucks going into (and coming out of) the SunLife Classic tour stop ...

• Saskatchewan curling hero Pat Simmons wants his fifth-straight Brier berth, while provincial rival Joel Jordison has brought in a banger as his new second stone ...

• Ottawa Sun curling scribe Joe Pavia is back on the beat ...

• Chris Allen is back on the ice in North Carolina, and he’s off to a good start ...

• And finally, we’ve mentioned the Canadian Curling Association’s symposium series – The Business of Curling – many times before, both online (they’ve got a blog here) and in our print editions (coming next in late October). Well, here is an independent blogview of one such symposium hosted in Northern Ontario earlier this summer.

Every curling club should sign up for this program. It is an essential business tool for your club’s future success and prosperity.

Great Canadian Curling Moments

A new book is out, titled 100 Greatest Canadian Sports Moments.

Canadian Press sportswriter James Bisson – who covered his first curling event last March, the Ford World Women’s – assembled a panel of 18 sports experts and has now ranked the top sporting moments in the nation’s history.

The Curling News is pleased to report that four curling occasions made it into the rankings. So how about a little contest amongst keen TCN Blogreaders? Whoever guesses all four curling entries – or closest to all four – wins a copy of this book, courtesy of TCN and Wiley Publishing.

Respond to this contest challenge via the “Comments” feed at the end of the posting, or via a wallpost at the TCN Facebook Group page. Hurry hard!

We caught up with Bisson (in above photo by Erin Kelly) at the official book launch the other night at Wayne Gretzky’s, a fun affair that happened to coincide with 1) the star-studded Toronto International Film Festival and 2) Bisson’s seventh anniversary of employment at Canadian Press.

No sign of Clooney or Pitt, for it was all about James... although ski legend Nancy Greene was on hand, and even made a little speech in support of the book.


TCN: Was Vernon your first job covering curling?

JB (James Bisson): It was definitely the baptism by fire. I had covered curling as part of the Canada Winter Games, but I was covering all the sports too.

TCN: Have you any history with the sport as a participant or a fan?

JB: I played and watched a lot in high school.

TCN: How did you settle on Wiley as your publisher?

JB: I was going over their heap of sports books (Wiley also published last year’s Curling For Dummies reprint and Russ Howard’s Hurry Hard, and they have also launched the newest Weeks effort) and they are sports mad. They’ve been fantastic.

TCN: Did your panel get all four curling events into the book, as we see it? Or did you have to massage the results, or add any yourself?

JB: What you see is how the voting went. I think what you have are voters who are not only curling fans but they understand and appreciate the status of curling within the Canadian sports landscape.


100 Greatest Canadian Sports Moments is available at bookstores, the online gargantuans (here and here), and also directly through the publisher.

You can also read a preview here and another Q&A with the author here.

Watch for James Bisson live on Canada AM tomorrow (Sept. 16) and on Toronto’s CityTV Breakfast Television on Wednesday, the 17th. There’s a full-fledged press tour too, which sees him in Montreal on the 22nd, Calgary on the 23rd and Vancouver (whew!) on the 24th.

And now for your usual TCN Linkfest ...


• Here’s a preview on Team Sherry Middaugh ...

• Team Glenn Howard received another banner over the weekend, and the skipper also says his team is “at the top of our game and there’s no reason it can’t continue,” ...

• Comgratulations to our Italian friends on the launch of the new web portal, Curling Italia ...

• Port Moody is pumped ...

• DID YOU KNOW: that new curling events and formats are afoot in Northern Ontario? Here’s the scoop, plus this follow-up story out of Thunder Bay ...

• Here’s a story on Tejas curling via Galveston, the town which of course just got kicked by Hurricane Ike ...

• Team Jennifer Jones has extended their partnership with sponsor Monsanto ...

• CKDU FM, the campus radio station at Dalhousie University in Halifax, is hosting a Rock n’ Curl fundraiser on September 20 ...

• DID YOU KNOW II: that there is another “Shorty” spiel? Meanwhile the somewhat more popular Shorty (Ontario edition) gets underway Thursday evening ...

• Scotland’s Ewan MacDonald is back in action this year... but Curling Today already showed us this, remember?

• Speaking of Scotland, did you hear about the lightning strike on the Aberdeen facility? Yikes ...

• Newfoundland curling hero Toby McDonald has been invited to join the prestigious but mysterious Governor General’s Curling Club ...

• Fatty Pants went curling in La La Land ...

• ... And so did this LA Kings hockey writer ...

• The rather infamous Swiss “kiggle-caggle” we first promoted over a year ago is mentioned at the end of this great posting at Curling History ...

• Ah, the Olympic Dream. So many have it, and now The Patrick dreams big as well ...

• And finally, Steve Talley of the Evergreen CC has drafted this wee spreadsheet comparing the sports of curling, bocce and lawn bowling ...

Curling Politics

There’s a federal election underway in Canada, and the reigning Conservatives are pulling out the stops in portraying Prime Minister Stephen Harper as an Average Guy.

Average Guys, of course, love curling, as the Tories have now pointed out. They have supported said pointout with this YouTube video (screen capture above) of the PM at the 2007 Tim Hortons Brier in Hamilton, an occasion which we mentioned, among with many others (see here, and here and here).

In fact, we’ve always been partial to the PM’s curling pedigree – wethinks our first Harper curling reference was this photo of him posing with the legendary Sam Richardson.

Even the congratulations templates released by the PMO ring true, at least compared to those issued by The Other Guys. For example, compare this congrats note sent to the 2008 world champion Kevin Martin squad to this rather poor effort.

PMO release good, Liberal release lame. Kind of like the overall scenario facing the voters, don’t you agree?

We’re voting blue... aren’t you?


Elsewhere:


• They’re on the ice in Spain today, for the sixth Madrid International Bonspiel. One team making its tournament debut is “Nagano 1998”, the reunited Olympic champions from Switzerland, skipped by Patrick Huerlimann, who will also take in the big football game (Real Madrid vs. Numancia) on Sunday. Among the other 39 teams listed are the “Broomer Penguins”, the “B-52”, team “Vicious and Delicious” and, inevitably, “Priapismus Shuffle” ...

• U.S. wheelchair curling skip Augusto Perez is the keynote speaker at Syracuse University tonight ...

• It’s official: Russ Howard has split with longtime teammate Grant Odishaw, and has reunited with Jimmy “The Kid” Grattan ...

• Vancouver’s Kent Gilchrist wrote this follow-up piece on the Brazil/USA challenge ...

• And finally, calling all Winnipeg female curlers: you are wanted for a TV shoot – the new CBC-TV dramedy Throwing Stones – this Monday, September 15 through Wednesday the 17th. You must have your own gear and be prepared for loooong days. Contact Kari Casting or check out this posting at CurlingZone ...

That Curling Movie Star

Curling’s favourite movie star, Paul Gross, is back.

This time, the Canadian star of Due South and Slings and Arrows and, of course, Men With Brooms is now a WWI soldier, in a grandiose film with elements loosely based on stories told by Gross’ own grandfather. Passchendaele has some MWB echoes, too: instead of the challenges of slippery ice, the filmmaker created a slippery, multi-acre mudbowl on a reserve near Calgary. And PG also repeated his multitasking effort in this new film, once again getting his hands filthy as director, star, co-writer, co-producer, editing watchdog, finance-wrangler, and so on.

TCN honcho George Karrys was recently quoted on Gross’ surprisingly good curling skill-set, while film critic Jay Stone – who accompanied the MWB cast on that wild week-long cross-Canada press tour seven years ago – has a write-up here.

The film kicked off the reknowned Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) last night; info via the Hollywood Reporter and U.S. Daily while the red-carpet photo of Gross (above) comes from Empire Movies.


Meanwhile...

• The curling season is definitely in full swing. Switzerland’s Baden Masters is underway as of this morning, but worries over rising costs of air travel and how this may affect the curling season are already coming home to roost.

Three Canadian teams, including Randy Ferbey, pulled out of the Masters citing cost factors, and one wonders just how difficult a season this will be for many Tour events, in any country.

For example, will world champ Jennifer Jones maintain her committment to fly three hours within Canada and then across the Atlantic ocean to compete in a three-day event in Scotland?

Of course, we hope so. In fact, given that Team Canada is arguably one of the top-funded squads around and has no local playdowns to contest in January, we anticipate so. But we worry nontheless, and if not about the Glynhill, other events across the curling landscape ...

• The CUETS Schmirler Classic has a new date this year – this month in fact – and it seems to have paid off ...

• DID YOU KNOW: that an access road in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland has a new name? It has been officially renamed “Jamie’s Way” in honour of Jamie Korab, member of Team Gushue, the 2006 Olympic Champions in men’s curling. An August 18 lunchtime doodah saw the local mayor and provincial transportation minister join Korab for the induction ...

• DID YOU KNOW II: that Korab’s skip, Brad Gushue, was named by the Telegraph as Newfoundland’s second-greatest athlete of all time... ?

• Seems there may be some potential hardware problems in Iqualuit, leading into this fall’s Canadian Mixed ...

• Cynthtic recently gave us an inside peek at BC’s recent Four Foot Curling Camp ...

• Here’s a fun video report on the Bay Area CC’s Crushspiel ...

• Speaking of fun videos, remember Raj Binder at the 2005 Canadian Olympic Trials? Oh yes, it is a classic ...

• Manitoba’s latest Sports Hall of Fame inductions include the 1928-29 Brier champion Gordon Hudson squad, plus curling builders Stan Oleson and Reid Lumbard ...

• Canadian Junior men’s skip William Dion and many other amateur athletes are up for a Quebec award ...

• Former Gushuer Chris Schille stars at The Curling Show ...

• Glenn Howard is vowing to support his friend and ex-teammate Wayne Middaugh in his upcoming tax fight with the Canadian government ...

• Edmonton’s Mark Johnson is off the United States ...

• Manitoba curling has unveiled its new administrators, here and here ...

• Globetrotting curling coach Dick Henderson is back on the ice, and in his hometown ...

• How’s this for a celebrity curling team? Yourself and none other than Kerry Burtnyk, Jeff Stoughton and Vic Peters?

• Speaking of, Peters will not attempt to defend his provincial Seniors title; seems he’s having too much fun beating up on younger competitors ...

• And finally, we’ve told you about the Australian men’s team and their effective use of Microsoft Office Live software. The story is out again, courtesy of MarketWatch, but the latest is this muy cool video showing them using the tool in action ...

And we remember

It was one year ago today. Curling legend Doug Maxwell passed away, at age 79.

Despite recent health concerns it still seemed a cataclysmic death at the time. However, Doug would soon be followed by none other than Don Chevrier and then Don Wittman, making the 2007-08 season a stunning year of lost curling legends.

And we remember.

A Curling Farewell

A fond farewell to InTheHack, the clear leader in independent online curling news and gossip from the late 1990s throught the early years of this century. Custodian Mike Potter has closed the doors, and his final farewell posting, which is located here, includes some cool memories.

And a smorgasbord of stuff for you follows. We are on a short semi-vacation for a couple of weeks, but don’t drift too far away; you may see us post something along the way ...


• First came this jesty posting, Canadian Brothers Pissed That Fantasy Curling Is Cancelled. Well, guess what... the real deal is indeed online, as CurlingZone has jumped in with, believe it or not, a fantasy curling league ...

• Canada’s Globe & Mail has now picked up on Wonder Bread’s fab commercial spots ...

• Team Adelboden in Switzerland – now skipped once again by an out-of-retirement Björn Zryd, after former skip and World Mixed Doubles champ Toni Müller split to join Team Andi Schwaller – are a fun bunch, as evidenced by their website. Look down in the bottom left corner for a very cool poll, asking: who is the greatest male Swiss curler at each position?

The actual language of the ask is: Wähle deine Spieler für die “Hall of Fame?”

So far, the top vote-getters are, generally, a mix between the legendary Attinger clan – generations of brothers, cousins and so on – and members of Patrick Hürlimann’s 1998 Olympic champion team.

Voting closes on August 30, so get on it ...

• The Brier trophy is coming to Moosomin, Sask ...

• Speaking of Sask, Team Michelle Englot – akak Team Saturn – has hit the blogosphere, and here’s their “Meet the Team” posting.

Love the tagline:

Regina; Saskatchewan; Canada; Earth. In that order.

• John Morris has spoken out regarding the Canadian Curling Association’s volunteer fee, which has caused some recent controversy, as this CTV piece shows ...

• The Winnipeg Sun has revealed the name of Manitoba’s new curling chief, Shane Ray ...

• Have you checked out Vera Pezer’s Smart Curling yet? Well, why not?

• Scotland’s great Munro Caper will get an official investigation (lots more on the details are here) ...

• It took Phil a while to get the Grand Forks pix out of the camera and posted online. Oh well ...

• According to one story, curling still “remains an enigma” at the Olympic host site of six years ago. Sigh ...

• A Colorado video curling feature for you ...

• WE GET MAIL: Craig Brown, skip of the 2008 U.S. men’s team, sent us an interesting note...

Hi TCN, This video is a U.S. ad for Molson beer. I think this might be a short version of the commercial, but it was the only link I could find on YouTube.

Check the TVs in the background. It’s tough to see on the small YouTube screen, but I’ve seen it on a real TV and I’m pretty sure it is none other than my brother-in-law, Ian Tetley, along with Scott Bailey sweeping a Wayne Middaugh shot.

My girlfriend thought I was a little crazy rewinding this ad over and over again with the TiVo... until she realized what I was looking at.

For the record, we endorse Craig’s sharp eyes: that is the famed former (and also recent) world champion front end for Middaugh. Thanks Craig!

• WE GET MAIL II: And finally, Team Glenn Howard coach Scott Taylor wraps up his trip to Beijing...

The weather is outstanding today. Clear dry air and blue skies. Jet-lag enabled me to get up early enough to watch people in the local park doing their daily martial arts exercises, including sword routines.

We had a breakfast meeting with members of the COC.

Then we travelled to BC Canada Place. They have an amazing exhibit of Canadiana that is open to everyone. One of the goals is to convince people to visit our country, while the second floor is dedicated to fostering opportunities between Canadian and Chinese businesses.

We spent our lunch break walking around Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City. More security – armed forces and police – than I have ever seen.

We spent the afternoon in Shinyi talking with the leaders of our Canoe and Rowing teams. It was great to hear their thoughts about being based at a satellite venue, and not staying at the Athletes’ Village.

We finished off the afternoon back in Beijing at the Performance Centre discussing what we learned and how the information can be used by all sports – including curling – in future Olympics.

We said our goodbyes to our fellow coaches, excursion organisers and team leaders at our group dinner.

The trip was very worthwhile. Tomorrow is travel day. Everyone is looking forward to getting home, but not the long flight.

No one in our group will ever forget the great people of China and their friendlliness, the beauty of Beijing and the surrounding area, and last but certainly not least, their first Olympic Experience.

Wonder Kid Curling

It’s all about the kids. And the Olympics.

Canadian Olympic TV viewers have been delighted by the new commercial spots for Wonder Bread, a sponsor of both the Canadian Olympic team in Beijing and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games overall.

Wonder, a Weston Bakeries brand, has a Beijing 2008 online campaign but chose the winter sports theme for its TV spots, which features tiny tykes attempting to ski, skate, bobsleigh and... you guessed it, throw curling stones (above, click to zoom in).

Brilliant move by Weston, and their agency, Round Table Advertising. The little ones are impossibly cute, as you can see by this link. You can also see the spot here, plus the :15-second all-curling version.

Cuteness sells. And we’re buying, particularly when we see two youngsters sliding rocks around amid slips and slides.

The tykes are hired actors (but of course) and the spot was shot last November. Turns out the “stones” are actually ice buckets that were partially filled with sand, glued shut and then painted to resemble real curling stones. VANOC and the Canadian Curling Association even gave their blessing to the new “rocks”.

Er... wouldn’t it have been easier to just call Asham?

Curling has its own :15-second vignette, while the link above showcases all sports in a :60-second spot.

“It’s a little different to see winter sports during the summer Olympics,” said Weston’s Lisa Dahl. And as we said earlier, that’s brilliant.

Here’s Round Table Creative Director Brent Peterson:

Wonder Bread is the favourite bread of Canadian children, and through Weston Bakeries, is an Official Supplier to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. This inspired us to show Canada that it is never too early to start dreaming. We thought it would be charming and entertaining to watch tomorrow's athletes as they discover, learn (and fumble through) their chosen sport.


And still with kids, both big and small...

• “Young people aren’t watching curling anymore,” says John Bernards, executive director of the International Association of Skateboard Companies. Bah Humbug, John. What–Ever. Get Bent, or whatever boarders are saying these days. You Gnarly Chode ...

• Sounds like reigning world junior curling champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland is also one heck of a golfer ...

• From curling’s favourite big kid: 2006 Olympic champ Jamie Korab has posted a behind-the-scenes video from his Italian experience ...

• For the kid in all of us: here’s a peek at a car racing video game featuring “curling” – in this one you eject your driver through the window and onto a curling target. Er, okay ...

• Turns out former Scottish world curling champ and current Brit Olympic team bigwig Mike Hay is in Beijing, after first going to Macao ...

• And two Canadian curling coaches are also in Beijing, Janet Arnott (of Team Jennifer Jones) and Scott Taylor (from Team Glenn Howard). This is part of a Canadian Olympic Committee “secret plan” to familiarize potential 2010 team mebers and coaches with the whole Olympic hoo-hah. Scott reports exclusively for The Curling News:

13 hour flight over was good. The new Beijing airport is fantastic. Road travel was easy using the special lane for Olympic vehicles. The sun is up but obscured by haze. Hot and humid. Off to the Olympic Village this morning.

Slow going on this BlackBerry.

What we have seen of Beijing is beautiful and clean. The people are very friendly. Many of them speak English, which makes it easy for us.

Our first full day kept us busy. We spent most of the day at the Athlete’s Village after we traded in our passports for one of the coveted accreditations. Security is tighter than at some airports. It boggles the mind to comprehend the time, effort, planning and organizing that must go into a facility that houses and feeds 10,000 athletes and 4,000 support staff. We had lunch in a more quaint setting that seats 6,000.

Our athletes are well looked after. The support staff have setup facilities to help them prepare and recover. It was great to see that many athletes have their country’s flag hanging from their balcony. The huge Canadian flag that had been smuggled into many previous closing ceremonies made it obvious where our athletes are located.

Our next stop was Canada Olympic House. It provides many services for the family and friends of our athletes. Fortunately for us we were considered friends – hey, we’re curlers! – and got the royal treatment.

Jet-lag is decreasing. We shouldn't fall asleep during the next day’s session.

Media day! We visited the International Broadcast Centre (IBC). We found out firsthand that you can’t get anywhere if your passport does not match the info they have on file. The half of the media centre that we saw is massive. It’s unbelievable how many media people are here. It can be a challenge for the athletes to make time for the media but how would their story get told without them?

With great anticipation we went to the Canada-USA women’s baseball game. You can’t get in if you have a bottle of water with you – just like boarding a plane. Canada took a 1-0 lead against the favoured USA in the bottom half of the first inning. Then the air cleared and the rain started. Watching the grounds crew cover the infield was entertaining. After we were soaked, raincoats were handed out to everyone. Our agenda did not allow us to wait. As we drove away on the bus the rain cover was being pulled off to resume play. My dream of seeing Olympic athletes in action has been fulfilled. Turns out the game was eventually called off, and our women's team will have a double-header tomorrow.

Back at the Canadian Performance Centre we got to hear from Canadian head coaches about how they help their athletes prepare for their Olympic performance. We took a tour of the Centre and outfitting areas. We had a dinner meeting tonight to cap off our 13-hour day... and it’s still raining!

Brazil curling has begun

Whoa.

Stunning news from the World Curling Federation tonight, as Brazil has officially challenged the United States for the second “Americas” berth at the 2009 Ford Worlds in Moncton.

Brazil has been a WCF member for a decade now, and they are finally taking the big step forward with a challenge... which means the U.S. will host the best-of-five series somewhere (to be determined) and sometime in January.

Canadians will be surprised to hear that the athletes are all students in Quebec, and train at Lennoxville. Or perhaps that is not so surprising?

As the newser states, Canada and the U.S. are the only two nations to ever represent the “Americas” zone. But the team which finished lowest (of the two) in any previous worlds has always been open to a challenge from any other member. And this challenge has never happened... until now.

Uau! E a invasão brasileira dos olympics começou!

Front Ender’s Union

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Who knows? Who cares?

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

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

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

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

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

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


What else for a Friday?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New curling championship; Korab madness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What else is happening? Tons, actually ...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Schmirler Curlers raise 50K

THORNHILL, Ontario – 154 golf nuts invaded Thornhill Country Club on July 28 for the sixth annual Sandra Schmirler Golf Classic, including Winnipeg’s own world curling champion skip, Jennifer Jones.

In the TCN photo above, shot by TCN Photo Editor Anil Mungal, we can see Jones celebrating an “Alice”. We strongly suggest you click on the image to zoom in, and experience the full-on emotion. Nice shot Anil, and nice try JJ.

The Sandra Schmirler Foundation was the recipient of nearly $50,000 in funds raised – nearly doubling last year’s take – in the event’s first year at the classic course designed by Stanley Thompson. It was there, way back in 1945, that the legendary Byron Nelson won the Canadian Open, his 11th PGA tournament in a row.

It’s a record which still stands today, and a great story, essentially a Canadian golf secret.

Led by top three sponsors The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company (The Dominion), The Taylor Group and Grand Slammers Capital One, the field featured the following curling celebs: 1998 Olympians Mike Harris and Joan McCusker (the hosts), Jones and fellow 2008 world champions Cathy Overton-Clapham, Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert, 2007 global champs Glenn Howard, Richard Hart and Brent Laing, Kerry Burtnyk, Sherry Middaugh, former Al Hackner and Ed Werenich lead man Pat Perroud, and many more.

One question: considering the nasty pin placements, how the hey does Team Benny Heebz score a net 59 for the trophy?

And another question. How the hey does a fairly simple live auction for a single member of Team Howard – probably this guy – to appear at The Dominion of Canada Spinal Tap Bonspiel next February turn into a frenzied bonanza of bidding for the services of no less than 10 superstar celebs?

Nearly all of the above – including the Winnipeggers – will now be back at Thornhill in seven months, curling with and against the usual “lunchbucket” crowd.

Awesome.

What else for this Wednesday?


• More golf stuff as curling legend Russ Howard and hockey legend Bobby Orr were celebrity additions – and special ball strikers – at a major fundraiser in Moncton ...

• Voting has now closed for the Samurai Curling T-shirt design, with 1,097 votes cast and 43 comments in total. Thanks to all who signed up to vote, and let’s hope it’s enough to sway the judges ...

• Here’s a Russian media story on last weekend’s Adamant Cup (see posts from July 26-28 for more) ...

• A U.S. High Performance camp recently wrapped up in Green Bay, Wisconsin ...

• Speaking of U.S. curling, here’s a brief video reminder – from Houston, Texas – of the playing conditions most southern U.S. curlers have to deal with ...

• Last April, the print edition of The Curling News ran a story on Collingwood, Ontario’s recent installation of an elevator for wheelchair curling. Now the provincial government has kicked in another $114,000 to create “a new sporting body for youth and adults with disabilities” based at the club ...

• According to this story, Ussita in Italy is hosting curling – temporarily – for the very first time. Perhaps Renato Negro can illuminate us further... and on that note, congratulations Renato, your great Curling Torino blog has been preaching the faith since December 7, 2006 and recently hit the 50,000 visitor mark!

You can see Renato himself – proudly branded TORINO – in this YouTube video ...

• And finally, it must be April Fool’s Day, correct? No?

So this is a real story?

Because if it is a spoof, then it should be a lot funnier... right?