Morris, Sonnenberg move on, Fenson still making pizzas

John Morris is back in the Olympic Trials and apparently he was stunned, stunned I tell you, to learn that his old skip is there too. Yes, the Morris team’s victory over Brad Jacobs in a game that will be remembered for some positively awful shotmaking, sent the Kelowna/Calgary team on to the trials in Winnipeg, where Morris will face off against Kevin Martin as he told the London Free Press.

“Is he in that bonspiel?” Morris joked. “I’m sure we’ll have a great match against Kev. We’ll both be gunning for each other and that was a tough break at the end of last year, but it had to happen. I’m sure we’re going to have a barnburner.” 

Also advancing to the big shootout was Renne Sonnenberg, who may be the only person to state that she’s excited about going to Winnipeg in December. But she did qualify that statement in this CP story.

"Being able to go to Winnipeg is great,but just to finally put together a great game and totally enjoy the moment and be relaxed in a really high-pressure situation is what I'm most proud oft oday," said Sonnenberg, who will be making her Trials debut after representing Alberta at two Scotties Tournaments of Hearts. "I love curling in Winnipeg (she won her only Grand Slam event there in 2011), and on arena ice, in front of a huge crowd against those phenomenal teams — it's what every curler dreams of."

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Meanwhile, in other curling news, Rob Schlender is back as a hired gun, according to this article in the Calgary Sun. He’s taken over skipping duties from Aaron Sluchinski in a retooling of that squad. You remember Sluchinski? He was the guy who upset Kevin Koe at the Alberta playdowns last year.

Only a couple months after the biggest win of his career — a shocking defeat of Kevin Koe at the Alberta championships — the Airdrie skip decided his team needed to shake things up if it was going to take the nextstep and consistently compete with the province’s top teams.Enter Robert Schlender, a 41-year-old skip with more than 20years of World Curling Tour experience to his name.“He’s had lots of success in the past with what I consider weak teams,” said the 26-year-old Sluchinski. “I thought if we added some strength in the front we’d be pretty deadly.”

The article lists Schlender’s biggest curling moments as wins in the 2006 Shoot-Out and the ’93 Drayton Valley Classic. Hmmmm. . .

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And the U.S. Pizza Making Olympic Curling Championships get under way this week with lots of eyes on the Delivery Man, Pete Fenson. The bronze medalist from 2006 Games poses as a mild-manner pizzeria owner when he’s not tossing rocks for the Red, White and Blue. There’s a nice story on this nice guy in the Minnesota StarTribune:

He looked as cool as he had the night before,when even a 500-degree pizza oven couldn’t make him sweat. Outside the rink,the Bemidji native is caretaker to a slice of hometown history, kneading dough and taking orders at 55-year-old Dave’s Pizza. This week, he will take a break to pursue another, when his team competes at the trials in Fargo, N.D., for a berth in the 2014 Olympics.

And Fenson is a local hero in his hometown. Just ask his employees.

“I like to tell people, ‘My boss is a bronze medal Olympian,’ ’’ said assistant manager Eric Sundem, who has worked atDave’s Pizza for 8½ years. “How many people can say that?’’ 

Exactly Eric. The story is a good read and a good look at how curling in the U.S. still struggles to get a toe-hold outside certain areas such as Bemidji.