Who's No. 1?

So which is the best curling team in all the land? It's the Mike McEwen rink, according to the the World Curling Tour money list and the Canadian Team Ranking System. McEwen passed Kevin Martin for top spot with a win at the Canad Inns Prairie Classic. The Winnipeg Free Press eventually gets around to talking about this achievement.

"We were talking after and this is our fifth year as a team. We've had some big mountains to climb but we just realized that we're now the No. 1 ranked team in the world," McEwen said, noting the Portage win put the team at the top of the World Curling Tour money list, the Order of Merit list and the Canadian Team Ranking System. "We've come a long way and, even though we still haven't been able to get that Manitoba championship, we're pretty happy with the direction the team is going."

So how long do you think the team can stay there?

****

In case you hadn't heard (OK, I think everyone has already heard) Wayne Middaugh is  playing third for Glenn Howard this year. Turns out he hasn't spent much time at third. I simply can't believe that he never let Sherry skip in any of those mixed events they played in!

"For me, I've only played four spiels at third in my life, so I'm still going through a learning curve and trying to catch up to where these guys already are."

****

Wow. Renee Sonnenberg is 40? I feel really old this morning (Sorry, Renee). The veteran skip won a biggie and is feeling sharp once again, she says.

Sonnenberg won the 1999 and 2001 Alberta titles, but had lost five finals since then.“That’s a long time now and it’s time to go back,” said Sonnenberg, 40. “So, this was a good thing for us to feel like we might break through and give us the confidence that we can play with all the big teams again.”