On the Canada Cup

I’ve never been a big fan of the Canada Cup, (which goes tomorrow in Cranbrook) primarily because I don’t think the Canadian Curling Association should be in the business of running cashspiels.

It’s a great event with great curling but it crosses the line as far as I’m concerned.

Years ago, the CCA said it would leave events with cash to the World Curling Tour while it concentrated on national championships. It’s one reason the CCA still won’t refer to the money it ponies up for the Brier and Scotties winners as prize money.

But when the Boys of Brooms decided to boycott the Brier back at the turn of the century, the CCA figured it would stick it to them by offering up a bucket full of money for play, perhaps hoping a few would crack and take a run at the cash. The first Canada Cup went in 2003 and Randy Ferbey collected.

It’s interesting that the purse for that first shootout was a whopping $220,000 or $110,000 per gender. It’s continued to drop since the inaugural run and this year, there’s $70,000 each for the men and the women. 

That’s still a big purse but it’s not up there with the Slams which offer up $100,000. There are even a few regular Tour events with bigger purses.

There’s also the Incredible Shrinking Field this year. It’s dropped to seven rinks from 10. I’m assuming that’s to cut down on expenses. Fewer teams means fewer games, less ice rental time, not as many lovely parting gifts and less Timbits in the locker room. And while all seven are talented, they aren’t necessarily the teams that have played the best up to this point of the 2011 campaign.

No Sherry MIddaugh, the leading women’s money winner as I tap this out. No, Cathy O, who is one of the hottest team in the land. On the men’s side there’s no Ferbey, ranked fourth in earnings, or John Epping, who sits ninth.

All this is not to say it won’t be a heck of a curling event. The 14 teams there are all very talented and the purse is still significant. All the Olympic gongs that come with winning this make it a huge spiel. Just wonder if it wouldn’t be better if it was the Tour running it.

Monday Morning Observations

Monday Morning Observations:

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Talk about both ends of the age spectrum. Young gun Braeden Moskowy won the Dekalb Superspiel over the weekend while in Switzerland, ageless wonder Andrea Schopp won an international event. Schopp won her first world championship two years before Moskowy was born.

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Speaking of young guns, Moskowy wasn’t the only one to win. Brett Gallant of Charlottetown knocked off Brad Gushue to capture the Challenge Casino de Charlevoix and a $12,000 payday. Great to see this young team play so well. Quick question: when was the last time a team from PEI won a significant WCT stop? Anyone?

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Apparently the Kiwi men’s curling team is pleased about its runner-up result at the Pacific Curling Championships. At least, that’s what I conclude from this quote from skip Peter de Boer:

“So we're really chuffed about New Zealand curling being back on the world stage."

Chuffed? That's good, right? The finish means the New Zealand team has qualified for the world championships this year and possible Olympic points.

China won both the men’s and women’s titles – no surprise there – with Korea taking silver in the women’s. Looking over the finish, though, there were only four nations entered in the women's competition: China, Japan, New Zealand and Korea. What happened to that big Olympic push?

One final note: speaking of ageless, Australia’s Hugh Milliken finished fourth. Here's the full report. 

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Next election, the voters in Toronto should make curling experience a ballot question. Two city councilors will play an exhibition match against each other as part of the High Park Curling Club’s 100^th anniversary celebration. Turns out neither Sarah Doucette nor Gord Perks have ever thrown a rock. This should be interesting.

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Seems those McCuskers can do more than just slide rocks. Christina is a round-baller with some hops according to this.

Where would you take the Brier next?

So after Edmonton, what’s next?

That’s the question I’m sure a lot of folks in the Canadian Curling Association’s bunker in Ottawa are asking these days as curling’s deep thinkers look for locations that will support a major curling event such as the Tim Hortons Brier. Of course Edmonton was announced as site for the 2013 edition. 

The problem is actually a success story. The Brier has become so big that those small arenas of days gone by just don’t cut it anymore. At least, not with any regularity. Couple that with the need to take over a major arena for some 11 days and the sites willing to welcome the event are few and far between. Hockey teams don't like those long road trips. 

So you have Edmonton and Winnipeg, two sure things. There’s Saskatoon, Regina and Calgary, which are also sure bets. And then? Well Halifax has been pretty good.

Hmmm. . . .

Ottawa? Hamilton? London? Victoria?

If you want to really walk a tightrope, what about Vancouver or Toronto? I used to think they were possibilities, but I’m less inclined these days.

The problem is you can only go back to the same watering holes so many times. The CCA has shown its willingness to go to smaller centres such as London even if the profits are quite as bountiful as say, Edmonton. But it can’t keep doing that and continue to operate in the black. The Brier (as well as the Olympic Trials) is the cash cow that keeps events such as the Mixed and the Senior alive.

So if you were in charge, to what city would you deliver the Brier? Where should it go? Where can it go?

Surprise! Edmonton gets the Brier

To the surprise of no one, the Brier is going back to Edmonton. And the Canadian Curling Association is already preparing an expansion to its vault to handle all the profits.

As Con Grikowsky states in his story, Edmonton is rightly the curling capital of the world. And Warren Hansen offers up a reason why:

“The fact teams from Edmonton, on the men’s side, have been very successful over the last 10-15 years has had a huge impact on the sport in this area,” said Warren Hansen, director of event operations for the Canadian Curling Association.

True, but come on Warren, just 10 or 15 years? Edmonton's dominance has to go back all the way to 1974, doesn't it? That was when it all started to roll. 

Seriously, there’s little doubt that when it comes to hosting big events, Edmonton is the centre of curling’s universe. It hosts the attendance record for the Brier, hosted a tremendous Olympic Trials and has has welcomed the world final too. But I might argue that when it comes to curling seeping into the culture of the community, Winnipeg might still lay claim to top spot. Or certainly a tie.

But back to Edmonton, which has owned the provincial spot in the Brier since back when Ed Lukowich was chewing on straw. With Ferbey, Martin and Koe all dominating for a period, it’s probably a good bet that the 2013 Brier will feature an Edmonton rink. I know, I’m going out on a limb there, right Ferbey?

“I’ll go on record and say it’ll probably be an Edmonton team at that Brier,” said Ferbey. “There’s still two great teams here. Koe’s still playing competitively. Martin’s still playing competitively. They ain’t getting any weaker than they were a couple of years ago."

It will also be the last Brier for one of the city’s own – if he makes it – Kevin Martin. He’s said he’ll retire after 2014 and the Olympics, should he make that again. That would put the date for hanging up his slider February 2014, meaning he wouldn’t play the 2014 Brier in March. Now if he doesn't make the Olympics? Perhaps he might change his timing. But 2013 would certainly would be a great Brier farewell for probably the best to ever toss a rock. 

With an Edmonton team in the fold, attendance records are possible. In Curtis Stock's piece in the Journal, Hansen even points to a number, saying he'd like to get to 300,000. The current record is 281,985. That really shouldn't be a problem. 

Tips from Cheryl

***  I will now dominate the Thursday night men’s league thanks to the info from Cheryl Bernard in this radio interview. 

*** A great story about the re-birth of the curling club in Corner Brook, NL. They'll be stepping on to the ice any day now in the new facility. George Spracklin, the club president, outlines just how happy he'll be not only with the new club, but to see the old one go. 

“We no longer have roof problems like we had in the old place and we no longer have a dinosaur of a plant that you went into in October, turned it on and said a prayer and hoped that it would start and wouldn’t cost you $4,000 or $5,000,” he said.

Middaugh wins another one

*** Who’s the hottest team in the land? It’s the Sherry Middaugh rink, which captured the SunLife Classic yesterday for its fifth win of the season (even though the Post says it’s only the third). You can read the details here. Can’t wait to see her team in action at the Canada Cup. Oh wait a minute . . . .

 *** The life of a drawmaster is never easy. Doug Graham in theKingston Whig-Standard outlines how Pierre Charette is juggling the draw for the BDO Canadian Open in Kingston.

 *** The first line in this story says it all.

*** The answer to the trivia question that will be asked years from now is Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Nunavut and Yukon. Those are the first four teams to drop into the relegation that will take place next year ahead of the Canadian Mixed. That event and the Seniors are being tested to see if relegation will work at major curling events. It’s all because the combined Territories team doesn’t sit well with the three separate territories which each want its own entry. But 14 teams doesn’t work, hence the relegation.

Do you think this is good for curling or not? What's the best way to accommodate all the teams? Or should all the teams get in? Would you watch a Brier in which -- horror of horrors -- a team such as Manitoba, Alberta or Ontario was not playing due to relegation?

Do we really need the Mixed?

In case you were busy picking the lint from between your toes or some other worthwhile endeavour, you may have missed the fact that the Canadian Mixed is on in Sudbury.

Didn’t realize that? I’m sure you’re not alone. The Canadian Mixed is, in my humble opinion, the least important of our national curling championships.

Why?

No one plays competitive mixed. There are no mixed cashspiels on the World Curling Tour. And I’d wager that most teams kind of slap their squads together after their men’s and women’s competitive seasons end.

While there are some talented curlers who are playing this year and have played in the past, it’s the sweep-and-giggle we all enjoy at our club on Friday night on a bigger scale.

Now there are some good things about this event for sure. Some of the northern territories get their own entry. That’s good. And it goes to areas that might not be able to host a Brier or Scotties.

But if you were going to save some money and lighten the load on the operations staff of the CCA, this might be the one event that gets snuffed out.

More on Jim Sullivan

The curling fraternity is still stunned by the loss of Jim Sullivan if the comments, emails and posts on curling web sites are any indication.

Sullivan passed away suddenly on Saturday and his funeral will take place on Friday.

Here are a few more articles on Sullivan, all of them showing the passion the skip had for curling and life.

Russ Howard weighs in with his thoughts in the Moncton Timesand Transcript:

"I am just devastated and shocked," said Russ Howard of Moncton, an Olympic gold medallist and two-time world curling champion. "Jim was a wonderful guy with a great sense of humour, but a lot of people have forgotten how exceptional a curler he was.

A story on CBC.ca has the story of his career.

The Charlottetown Guardian offers up more perspective, including a comment from former teammate Paul Power.

“It’s a sad day for curling.”

And the Daily Gleaner makes the story its lead editorial

The sudden passing of Jim Sullivan

Jim Sullivan, the 1987 Canadian Junior and 1988 World Junior curling champion, passed away suddenly on Saturday at his parents home in Fredericton. No cause of death has been released. 

Sullivan, who lived in Saint John, was a marvelous curler in his day, a joy to watch, sliding with a rock in his hand.

The second Brier I covered was in 1990, up in the Sault, when Jim and his rink managed to get past Al Harnden in the semi-final and reach a dominant Ed Werenich team in the final.

I remember talking to him after that semi-final and despite the accomplishment, he was quiet in his enthusiasm, smiling but not exactly whoop-whoop-whooping it up. That was Jim, as I came to learn. He never stopped smiling, was always friendly, but preferred actions to words.

They didn’t get past the Wrench that year, but for an unheralded New Brunswick team to reach the Brier final was quite an something. Big things were expected for the young squad and the skip who had a World Junior title to his credit as well.

The obituary is located here.

Brantford might try five

The Sun Life Classic, slated for next week in Brantford, Ont., is close to becoming the first significant curling event to try out the five-rock free-guard zone. Apparently organizers have contacted all the teams and if there's unanimous consent, they'll bring it in for next week's stop on the World Curling Tour.
The five-rock rule will be in play at the next Grand Slam event, the BDO Canadian Open in Kingston in December. But very few teams have actually played it and the Sun Life may be their first chance.
Speaking at an engagement at the Granite Club in Toronto, Kevin Martin, who will be in the field in Brantford, said he was looking forward to giving the rule a test. But he wasn't sure how it would turn out.
"We won't know if we don't give it a try," the skip told the audience at the club's 55th annual men's invitational bonspiel.
UPDATE: Apparently the organizers are now leaning towards not using the five-rock rule.

Team Martin at the Granite Club

Last night at the Granite Club, I was part of a tremendous evening with Team Kevin Martin. The club, which was the site of the first 13 Briers and is one of the more remarkable sports complexes in Canada, brought Martin, John Morris, Ben Hebert and Marc Kennedy in for three days in which they participated in clinics, some meet and greets and last night, the first of two presentations about their Olympic experience. They’ll do that all over again tonight for the first night of the men’s invitational bonspiel, which starts today.

The boys gave a great slide show of their Olympic experience, taking the 150 or so folks in attendance behind the scenes in Vancouver 2010.

Among the things the folks in attendance learned was that the team almost didn’t have a place to stay during the Olympics (outside of the village where they were before and after their competition), didn’t know quite what to do on that infamous night the fans spontaneously broke into Oh Canada, and the team’s coach, Jules Owchar may have infected the Russian hockey team with the flu

Oh we also found out that one of Ben’s nickname’s is Field Mouse.

It's amazing how, almost two years after the event, the memories still stir up strong emotions in Canadians, as evidenced in the standing ovation the boys received. 

There aren’t many curling clubs that would have the ability to bring in a team of this notoriety to their club but kudos to Gareth Watson and his group for making it happen. For anyone who watched Team Martin at the Olympics, whether live or on TV, it was a wonderful evening,

CCA will sanction 5-rock rule but . . .

Here's the statement from the CCA in regard to the Grand Slam's decision to use the five-rock rule in Kingston in December. Basically, as long as there is unanimous consent among the players, the points will count. 

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The Grand Slam scheduled in Kingston this December, has been allocated and will therefore potentially contribute a significant amount of points to the 2011-12 Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS). In turn, the CTRS plays a critical role in, and contributes significantly to the 2014 Olympic Qualification System. The CCA, as the sole recognized governing body of curling within Canada, has the ultimate jurisdictional role within the aforesaid qualification process. As the custodians of the Olympic Qualification Process (OQP), the CCA is solely responsible for the accountability and overall integrity of the process and therefore all potential appeals would go through us. With that in mind, we need to do our best to ensure the OQP is in fact risk adverse such that it can properly withstand any potential challenge.  Any initiative to modify the rules of engagement, on the field of play, part way through the Olympic Quadrennial requires the pre-approval of the CCA.

Given the fact that this did not occur in advance of going public with the proposed five (5) rock rule field test at the Kingston Slam, the CCA was put in a difficult position.

That aside, the CCA does sincerely appreciate that the objective is to enhance the marketability of the 8-end game by potentially introducing more offence into what some stakeholders believe has become a defensive-oriented, lower scoring game. However, in doing so this may impact the final outcome of the event and the CTRS points that will be awarded accordingly. It should also be noted that since the inception of this quadrennial, and as posted on the CCA’s website, that the CTRS eligibility criteria states that the four (4) rock rule must be used.

Having said that, we are however prepared to continue to sanction the Kingston event, and ensure CTRS points are still eligible with the following conditions;

* All participating Canadian Teams in the Grand Slam in Kingston will need to sign individual player waivers indicating their unanimous support of this rule modification initiative at the event.

* The CCA would be responsible to design said waiver and would set a deadline date to have such returned to by each participant athlete.

* As agreed between the President of the Players Association and the CCA’s Director, High Performance, if unanimous support is not received then the proposed rule modification would be withdrawn to ensure the availability of CTRS points and consistent athlete acceptance of the existing paramtres for the OQP.

* It is also understood that any and all events with CTRS status, that are contemplating any rule modification, will require pre-approval from the CCA.

We believe the aforementioned is a very reasonable compromise. 

Last call

If you're in the GTA and you want to spend some time with Kevin Martin's gold medal winning team, hear about their Olympic exploits and get an autograph or photo, you can do so tonight at the Granite Club. A limited number of tickets are still available by calling 416-446-4462.

Officer set to deliver

Paul Wiecek has a nice story on the very pregnant Jill Officer, who is just a few weeks away from giving birth to her first child. And, as he points out, in her absence, the Jennifer Jones team hasn't exactly been burning up the Tour.

 With a combination of longtime fifth Jennifer Clark-Rouire and former Quebec champion Joelle Sabourin playing in place of Officer, the Jones juggernaut has left a lot of money on the table through six events. While they've qualified in four out of those six events, they've only won once -- way back in September at a European event in Oslo.

 Meanwhile, the skipper is seeing nothing but blue sky, which isn't unusual for her.

"We're really happy with where we are," Jones said. "We didn't have any expectations -- we never do -- and we feel like we're getting better with each weekend and we're in a really good spot."

Right now, Officer is hoping to get back on the ice by the end of the year and re-join her squad in time for the playdowns. That won't be an easy route for the rink, considering the fine play of Cathy Overton-Clapham's squad.

Oh and just wondering . . . in the picture with the article, are those little curling rocks on the wall in the baby's room?

CCA documentary to appear on Biography

Perhaps the folks in Ottawa were busy with this video and that's the reason we didn't get the release about the five-rock rule yesterday as promised. So the CCA says this is a coup, to get this documentary on Biography with Joan Lunden. For an audience that knows nothing about the game, I guess this is OK. It's definitely Curling 101. For anyone who has thrown a rock, however, it's a bit of a yawner. And is there any proof of this one million curlers number? We keep using it but I somehow think it's a bit high. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd love to see some proof.

CCA to clarify position on 5-rock rule Slam

I'm told the CCA is going to make a statement on the use of the five-rock rule at the BDO Canadian Open Grand Slam event in Kingston later today. There were rumours that it might not allocate CTRS points for the event because of this change of rules but I'm told that's not going to happen. 

However, there is going to be one hitch to what the CCA announcement. Not sure what that will be so we'll just have to wait and see. . . 

Why video editors get paid so much

Here's a very cool video from the Grand Slam of Curling. It features still from Anil Mungal and editing by Jesse Wachter.

Howard after his Slam victory

I had a chance to chat with Glenn Howard yesterday. He was back at work at the Beer Store after grabbing his first win of the season at the GP Home and Car World Cup of Curling.

To say the team was ecstatic after the win would be an understatement.

“It’s awesome,” stated Howard, who won the event of for the fifth time. “It’s just what we needed. We’ve been winning lots of games, some quarters and semis, but this just got us over that hump.

“And the fact it was in a Slam is great. I think these are the toughest events to win.”

It’s the first title for the team with Wayne Middaugh on board. As most know by now, he replaced Richard Hart this year after Hart retired. I asked Howard the difference between the two players and he said that Middaugh brings the high hard one while Hart maybe has a better touch. But he added that the difference was so minimal it was almost negligible.

He also said that the adjustment period in bringing Middaugh in wasn’t that long. That’s not only because Howard and Middaugh have played together in the past, but also because they have a regular once-a-week game with their wives in the local mixed league.

“I know how he throws, his tendencies and all from mixed,” Howard chuckled. (By the way, that’s a pretty stacked mixed team for club play!)

Middaugh seems pumped to be playing regularly once again. It's safe to say that while he never really stopped competing, his intensity probably waned over the past few years.

“I haven’t seen him this excited to play in 10 years," Howard stated. “He’s just 100 per cent into it. You can see he wants to win.”

Of course it was tough for Howard to play against his son, Scott, in the final. There were mixed emotions throughout.

“I wanted him to have a perfect game but for us to win,” Howard said.

By the way, Team Howard drove home from the Soo, but Scott took the plane. Guess he didn’t want to listen to six hours of gloating.

And finally, he hasn’t yet played the five-rock free guard zone, which will be used at the next Grand Slam.

There was some discussion on the ride home about the tactics that might come into play, but he’s really unsure of how it will play out. The general consensus in the car was, he said, that no lead is going to be safe and the best defense might have to be offense.

Monday Morning Observer

The local paper, the Sault Star, does a nice job wrapping up the coverage from the year’s first Grand Slam, the GP World Cup. And writer Peter Ruicci makes a good point acknowledging that the boys add more than money to their coffers:

Howard, with third Wayne Middaugh, second Brent Laing and lead Craig Savill, pocketed $22,500 in prize money Sunday and gained 40 Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) points.

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 I know people in glass houses and all that, but I couldn’t help but chuckle at this typo from the CP story on the GP World Cup:

"We seem to like the first clam of the year, again we seemed to play well enough to win," said Howard.

Ah yes, that first clam of the year. You can make up your own joke.


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 Here's Mike Harris talking to Wayne Middaugh after the win. Most interesting point? He hasn't thought yet about the five-rock rule coming to Kingston.
 


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 And while Wayne was cashing in over in the Soo, wife Sherry was doing the same in Ottawa, knocking off Jenn Hanna in the final of the Royal LePage OVCA Women’s Fall Classic. Here's the story. That was worth $5,000. Just one question – who was watching the kids? I guess they can afford a baby-sitter.


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Hey. . . did you know they started curling at the University of Oklahoma? Yes, the Sooners took to the ice for the first time over the weekend.  Check it out here.

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Variety, that longstanding Hollywood publication, has a review of Kong Curling. Here’s a snippet of what they saw:

Screenplay utterly conforms to the traditional loser-to-winner story template, but as with a sonnet or a three-minute pop song, structural originality is never the point; it's all in the details, the running gags and the timing.

Howard vs. Howard

This is why I love covering curling. Father and son having a good laugh.

Five-rock rule for Kingston

First it was the three-rock rule, then the four-rock and now, apparently it’s going to be the five-rock rule. 

The Grand Slam of Curling will be the first significant organization to experiment with a five-rock free guard zone. The organization will use it at the BDO Canadian Open in Kingston, Ont., in December.

Pierre Charette, president of the World Curling Players Association, reportedly polled all the skips this week and received unanimous support for putting it in play. 

The five-rock rule has only recently been debated as a possible system and a way to add even more offense to the game. The reason some are anxious to try it is that it would give the advantage back to the team with the last rock, much as the three-rock rule did when it was used during its brief life span.

I can’t really see a downside except if it creates a race to the centre of the sheet in every end. Give the Slams credit for again taking the lead in innovation and trial. It's done the eight-end change, the thinking-time clock, and on and on. Will this be another coup for the players?

Is curling really worth your marriage?

That was the headline on an article in the Winnipeg Free Press and it certainly is enough to make some folks stop and think. It's not like a lot of us hard-core curling lovers haven't asked ourselves this question oh, about 1,000 times over the years. And, of course, some have chosen curling over marriage.

Sometimes more than once.

Now this article wasn't in the sports section -- it was from the advice section. You know, like Ann Landers or Dear Abbey. The Free Pree version is Ms Lonelyhearts. Only in Winnipeg. Seems a woman loved curling. Her husband hated it. When she went out to play, so did he, only his game wasn't on the sheets, but in between them.


You can read the rest here.