Saturday, January 12, 2008

Giving Martin's Streak Attention

Had a note from an in-the-know curling person yesterday who wondered why there hadn’t been more made of Kevin Martin’s streak of five consecutive Grand Slam victories. This person also wondered why none of the other players had commented on it, either noting it as a remarkable achievement or saying they were going to end it.
I think to the average person, the Grand Slams are just beginning to catch on in significance (thank you CBC) so there’s still a little awareness problem with just how tough these events are.
Second, among his peers, K-Mart probably ain’t at the top of everyone’s dance card, if you know what I mean. I’ve always found him great to work with and a hell of a nice guy, but there are some, I know, out there who might not want to stroke him with such attention.
Finally, the media really has done a poor job at picking up on this story. I haven’t seen much attention at all on the streak and so the reason you haven’t heard anything from other players might be as simple as they no one’s asked them. As well, I don’t think any other player is going to come out and say Martin isn’t going to win. That’s bulletin board material (remember Stoughton at the Trials?) and it doesn’t usually help the cause.
That might change as we get closer to the next event, which starts a week Wednesday in Saskabush. The streak certainly deserves more attention than its received.

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