Curling depression - and my unrequited love for a sliding broom.

Communique from my basement:

 


I have not left my house in days. Since our crushing last rock defeat against JM Menard in the semi-final of the Quebec Provincial Curling Championship, I have not left my basement.  I have not shaved. I have not showered. I have not changed out of my curling pants.

I simply walk around in circles, muttering “out-turn double, I don’t think my rock can go through that hole without taking out one of his” over and over again. I don’t sleep. When I do drift off, I am almost immediately shaken awake by the haunting image of JM’s rock sliding across the house, but not out. I have become a collection of nervous tics and tremors. I am a wreck.

I lay on my couch, covered in chip crumbs and empty beer cans, waiting for the memory to fade, waiting for the anguish to subside. I contemplate whacking myself in the forehead with my 8-ender brush “Brad Heidt-style”, hoping to induce some form of curling amnesia that could exorcise the last few days out of my brain. I have written a song to express my mood. 

***

But seriously, I don’t know if it’s because I’m older and grizzled, but I just don’t feel that bad. Despite my loss, my kids were still happy to see me, and I seem to have realized pretty quickly that life does go on, despite a gut-wrenching defeat at the hands of JM, who will again represent Quebec at this year’s Brier in March in Kamloops. Shit Happens.

It would be easy to hate curling. But the fact is it is hard to hate a game that can stir up so much emotion and drama. As cliché as it sounds, there is always next year. But thanks to all who have reached out to me in support! I am okay. Really.

***

It was a compelling week of curling and drama in Val d’Or, with Allison Ross winning the Scotties over Kim Mastine, and JM defeating Phil Lemay in a seemingly unexciting Tankard final. Some quick highlights:

• Allison is a very deserving champion. They were the class of the field, and clearly outplayed Kim Mastine in the final. They work harder than any team in Quebec, and it shows in how well they execute. I am hoping she can improve on her Scotties showing from last year.
• A good run from Kim,although they seemed to falter in the end. They will be back.
• An impressive Bronze medal for Roxanne Perron, who showed she had a lot of game, defeating the 1, 2 and 3 seeds in the round robin. She would have found herself in the final if not for a late-week loss to the local team with only one win on the week. This looks like a promising team for years to come. Plus, they have a great coach!
• Tough loss for Eve Belisle in her last game to be eliminated. She came up a foot short on an extra-end draw against Ross to make semis.
• Lemay has become the Buffalo Bills of Quebec curling, losing 3 finals in a row. You have to feel bad for them, they beat Menard 2out 3 times, but not at the right time. Phil played a simple, hard-hitting style of curling that was especially effective when he had a lead. I did not stay for the final (as I was driving back from Val d’Or alone in my car replaying the last end in my head for seven hours), but I hear it was never really close. An early 4 sealed JM’s return to the Brier.
• Not many rumours as to who is sticking together or breaking apart next year (or at least I was not aware of them!), but I am guessing you will see some changes in the teams that finished out of the playoffs.   
• Great job by the organizers in Val d’Or. The club, the facilities, the volunteers, the ice, the committee, the officials, were all second to none. Despite the long drive, everyone seemed to have a great time. Val d'Or itself seemed especially hospitable; the temperature never fell to the -20 I was expecting.
• Denis Robichaud is my new favorite team. Denis and his team are relatively new curlers (most are still eligible for Colts, meaning less than 5 years!), but they played great all week. They beat Reid and Desjardins, and came within a hair of beating JM. More importantly, they reminded us just how much fun the game is. They showed up to almost every draw where they were not playing, and created a wild atmosphere behind the glass, singing, gambling and cheering every shot. One of them even played “Scotland the Brave” on a harmonica. Curling in Quebec needs 10 more teams like this. And I am in love with the 3^rd’s sliding broom. He is a toe-tucker and uses an old corn-broom taped up a- la Mike McEwen. No way should a guy with less than 5 years of curling experience have a sliding broom that cool. I am jealous. JF – if you are reading this – please post a picture of the broom in the comments section below.
• Lots of discussion about the qualifying format for next year, but I will talk about that in a later blog.

(edit: here is the sliding boom in question with its owner. awesome!)

All in all, a fun week. Some final thoughts.

We need to find a way to webstream these games. The curling is too good to not be seen by the entire Quebec curling world. I know this has been tried and failed in the past, but I know the cost of streaming has dropped substantially in the last few years. This is a great event; it should be the marquee event of Quebec curling, yet nobody sees it. The people at CurlingZone.com are web streaming crappy cashspiels from all over Canada. If they can do it, why can’t we. BTW, the provincial finals in 6 or 7 other provinces are broadcast on Regional Rogers Sportsnet channels. 

Quebec curling also needs a better storyteller. Seems to me you used to be able to at least read a report on the games, to give some indication to fans elsewhere what is going on. (especially when the event is in Val d’Or). We feign outrage at the lack of media coverage of our sport, yet we can’t even be bothered to post some media coverage on the Curling Quebec website or Facebook page? What about a press release? Anything? I think somebody tweeted some pics, but that was as far as it got. If we are looking to get corporate sponsors involved, shouldn't we at least appear to be interested in our own sport?  

Anyway, enough blogging I need to get back to my secluded depression.

Reactions to My Last Blog - and Some Thoughts on Quebec Junior Provs

My last post seems to have created a little bit of discussion – and gotten me a few new readers.

Interesting reactions – a lot of agreement and a lot of disagreement.

To summarize:

A lot of people disagreed:

A lot of people do not see the problem: They see entries falling – but they say: “So what!” It is the natural evolution of the sport. The elite have gotten better. So shut up and be happy that you still have the Mixed and the Dominion to play in! Otherwise, quit your job, leave your wife (or try to find a very accommodating one!) that allows you to go all-in.

Also, people point to Brad Jacobs as an example of why I am wrong – as this team has “emerged” from the masses to join the elite level teams; thereby proving that the system works.

But a lot of people agreed:

I received massive agreement from the more remote provinces, where competitive curling has all but died. For example, if you are awesome in New Brunswick, you pretty much need to get on a plane and fly to get a CTRS point. Not surprisingly, a lot of people from BC, NB and NS agreed with my post wholeheartedly.

Interesting, people from other countries also chimed in, apparently this is not an exclusively Canadian sentiment.  

Let me clarify a few points:

1. I have no beef with people who dedicate their lives to curling. I think it is awesome that teams can dedicate their lives to mastering the game, and they deserve our respect, admiration and definitely some funding. I will cheer for Canada at the Olympics, and I have no beef with the elite teams in Canada. The sport needs an elite.

2. My beef is with the notion that it is all or nothing. You need to be the absolute best, or you should shut up, grab three club curlers and try for the Dominion. I think the Dominion is great. But I think it is insulting to a lot of curlers in this country to tell them that they belong in a “Best of the B” event.

 The strength of Canadian curling comes in large part from its depth. The reason Brad Jacobs is so good, is that they needed to rise up from the countless solid cashspiel teams that exist in order for them to break into the elite. Good for them. To quote Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own: “It’s supposed to be hard. It’s the hard that makes it great.”

3. I really love curling. I have played this sport all my life. But like many of the curlers around me, I have day job. And kids. And a mortgage. And yet we still throw rocks at odd hours, sacrifice our vacation time and a large part of our sanity to chase the dream and keep trying to make a Brier and be competitive. I think there are a lot of people like me, and yet I feel like the current system does little do support us, and in fact kinda discourages us. As an observer and as a player, I believe that a lot of what makes curling great happens at this level. The competitive teams from all parts of the country support spiels, and help develop the level just beneath them.

If we don’t try to save it, and only support the elite few with Slams, subsidies and sponsorship, then this level will die out. And I for one think that would be a tragedy.

I am not saying we need a revolution. Just maybe a little resource reallocation.

So – as I said in my last post:

In short, less events for the chosen few, more money poured into the next level down.

*** 

Okay enough about what is wrong – let’s talk a bit about what is right.

I spent the last week watching some of the Quebec Junior curling championships at my home club (Glenmore CC).

There was some excellent curling, some high drama and some serious shotmaking.

In the Ladies...

The tournament was won by Sarah Dumais from Etchemin CC, in a tough final over Lisa Davies from Glenmore. They looked like the better team in the final. They outplayed Davies for the last 5 ends of the game that I saw.

A very brave effort by Davies and her team. I was cheering hard for this team – Lisa and her sister Allison both have been curling in the ladder at Glenmore with the “grownups” for a few years now. I always respect juniors who recognize that they can learn and improve by playing against men’s/women’s teams. Davies made a ton of clutch shots all week to keep her dream alive...but ran out of big shots in the final.

In the Junior boys...

Adam Freilich beat Mark Fajertag in a very unexciting final that he won by a touchdown.

Far more interesting was his semi-final against Bornais. The game went to an extra end, but was decided in a bit of controversy:

Freilich had to draw the button against a counter back button with his last rock. His draw came up top button. His team thought it was good enough, but the crowd watching on the overhead camera were not sure. Before there could be a measure (and before Bornais’s 3^rd could take a good look at it), Freilich kicked his own rock, claiming he heard the other 3^rd say “1 Blue”. After much discussion, they decided to REPLAY THE END!!! Wow. My experience is always that if you kick the rock, you lose. But the officials made another call. I was not out there, so I do not know who said what, or how close it really was.  But Freilich took one in the replayed end to win the game, and then goes on to win the next one to go to a junior nationals. Wow.

A few hours after losing the semi final – I saw that Ian South (who plays 2^nd for Bornais) posted something on the Glenmore Facebook page. I admit I expected the worst. I expected a social media rant about the officials, about how it sucked to lose that way, about the injustice of it all...

Instead, he posted:

“Junior Provincials at Glenmore are over. A big thank you to all the volunteers and members who came out to support during the week. Thanks to Karl as well for the excellent job with the ice!”

Classy.

Maybe there is hope for us after all.

What the Olympics have Done to Competitive Curling in Canada

What the Olympics and Slams have done to competitive curling in Canada:

 

Quebec Regional playdowns to get to the Brier begin in a few weeks. This year, only 25 teams will compete to try to represent la Belle Province. 10 years ago, this number was in the 100s. I hear that other provinces are facing similar declines. I saw an article where Ontario tankard participation has fallen below 100 teams for the first time ever, from over 200 teams a decade ago. What has happened to competitive curling? I thought the Olympics and the wall-to-wall TV coverage of the Slams and the Canada Cup would result in a curling Golden Age! Instead competitive curling is becoming a niche sport, practiced only by the lucky few.  Sure demographics and society have played a part in this decline, but I believe the core of the problem lies outside of these excuses.

I am going to make a statement:

The evolution of curling as an Olympic Sport, and the development of a professional curling tour has been good for the development of the top 10 teams in Canada, but has been brutal for the next 500 or so best teams.

Not a lot of people talk about this, but the Olympics and the Slams have created 5-10 or so uber-teams of professionals who curl for a living. They cash in big sponsor cheques, they play for big prize money at Slams and receive tax-free funding from the CCA as carded athletes.

While this has resulted in teams that are better prepared, better coached and better trained than ever before, it has all but killed the next level down. 10-20 years ago, lots of teams could compete in well-sponsored and well-attended cashspiels, like Florenceville (sponsored by McCains), the Welton Beauchamp in Ottawa and a number of other reasonable payout cash tournaments across the country against the best teams in Canada. These were big, well-funded sponsored events.

These tournaments no longer exist. The Slams have eaten up all the big curling sponsor money. The top teams have eaten up a lot of sponsor money too, and there is far less left for the next level down of teams to compete for. So fewer teams can play the cash tour, and aspire to get better. Also, the big events that are left seem to assume that everyone is a pro curler with unlimited time off. Events commonly start on Wed or Thursday, with only the finalists playing on Sunday.

So teams that are ranked, say, 11^th to 500^th in Canada basically have 2 choices:

- give up the dream of the Brier (especially if you live in Ontario, Manitoba or Alberta)

- Try to crack the lucrative top 10 – which means extensive travel, (forget about trying to keep a day job!), practice, and competing initially against guys are far-better funded and prepared then you will be. And more practice.

 Sadly, it seems that most teams have chosen Option 1. 

It seems to me that the lifeblood of curling used to be that next level down of dedicated “amateur” curlers who played on weekend and when they could for the love of the game, not to make a career out of it. These curlers filled the clubs. The masses helped keep the CCA afloat. But these teams have gone.

I was talking to Jean-Michel Ménard a few weeks back at a spiel. I asked him why he has not played in a Slam in a while. His response disappointed me: To paraphrase him: “I need to pay my entry and travel costs, I need to get a few days off work, in order to arrive last minute at a spiel and play against guys who have not paid a cent out of their pocket, and have been at the site practicing on the ice for 2 days. I feel like I am funding them.”

If the current system seems to have discouraged the best team in Quebec, and a former Brier Champion, then I suggest the system is flawed.

What is the Solution? Not sure. But I think the CCA needs to think about how it funds elite curling in Canada, and the effect that it has on those who find themselves on the outside of the funding gravy train.

For example:

• The Canada Cup? Really? Do we need another big payout cashspiel for the top teams - this one funded in large part by the CCA? Or should we democratize this tournament and make it a spiel for the top 64 teams, like it was a few years ago?
• The Continental Cup? A Vegas junket for the CCA and a select few teams. Painful to watch. Not profitable. Why is money being spent here? 
• Maybe the Brier needs to go back to being an amateur event again. There are great teams to watch that are not named Martin or Howard.

In short, less events for the chosen few, more money poured into the next level down.

Like all curlers, I love the fact that curling is an Olympic Sport. However, I love the game too much for it to become like Bobsleigh or luge or other Olympic Sports: a sport that only a few elite athletes play. The CCA and the Slams have done a phenomenal job at raising the profile of the sport, the level of sponsorship and the level of play. Maybe it is time for some teams outside the chosen few to benefit from this success for the overall good of the sport.

The Trials, the Vic Open and -30 C

The Olympic Trials:

 

With Jacobs easily winning the Trials, there was definitely a changing of the guard moment in Canadian curling. I guess it had to happen eventually. At some point, Werenich, Lukowich, Peters, Folk, Ryan and all the great names that dominated the scene when I started curling gradually vanished from the scene. It is inevitable. But I don’t remember them leaving. They just sort of got old, and vanished.

But at the Trials, it happened right in front of us. Stoughton and Howard just got old. They looked old. They looked discouraged. They could no longer dominate the way they did before. They spent the week waving goodbye. Teams like Jacobs, McEwan and Morris looked young, looked like they could throw the rock harder and sweep it further than the old guys. Evan Martin looked tired.

Do curlers really get old? I have always believed that the peak age for curlers is in your 30s. You still have the physical abilities of the younger players, but you have developed the emotional maturity to handle the pressure and stress of competitive curling. So by curling standards, I am old.

I am impressed these days that the younger teams seem more mentally prepared than 20-something curlers were 20 years ago. IT seems that improved coaching, more curling on TV and better experience seem to have given a lot of the younger skips the confidence and craftiness that used to take you a career to develop. The Slams have probably helped, giving the top younger teams many more opportunities to play the best of the best.

***

Best moment from the Trials: 

Johnny Mo calling the draw to the open side, thinking Jacobs would not play the double. He then stands dumbfounded as Jacobs calls and makes what was a pretty easy looking double for two to all but seal the game.

Morris could have tried to instead bury a piece of his draw around Jacobs’ rock in the top eight, which might have left a nasty slash double for 2 or 3, but it surely would have been harder than the double he left.

Still, I liked the call, but would have put the rock about 6 inches deeper and 6 inches further off the center line to make the double tougher. Either way – it was a fascinating bit of curling psychology in action, with Morris loudly saying: “He would never play the double.” He was saying this as much to Jacobs as he was to his own team.

Shot of the week:

Despite being the weakest team at the trials, Epping made the best shot of the week; a crazy draw to beat Koe first game. He had to draw around a rock biting the top of the button to score his one. Next time you are practicing – go and try that shot. See how many times you have to throw it before you make it.

***

The Women’s was also interesting, but turned out to be more of a coronation for Jenny Jones. This is the best team in women’s curling.

Rachel Homan was nowhere near the form they displayed at last year’s Scotties. It could be that it meant too much to them. It came down to the fact that they could not draw. They could hit. But to win in curling, you need to be able to draw. At that level, you can miss maybe one draw per game. They were missing one per end. It got to the point where Rachel was afraid to draw, throwing hits to win games where most teams would have opted for an easier draw.

Sherry Middaugh took a nice run, but looked very much outclassed in the finals. Still trying to figure out what she was playing on her last rock in the 7^th (where she gave up an easy 3). The freeze was almost impossible, and yet she had a 4 foot runback that she did not even look at. I guess the pressure got to her a bit (understandable), but I am sure she is asking herself the same question.

 ***

Still laughing at Matt English – a blogger who wrote a scathing review of all the teams at the trials. A brilliant piece of writing. Worth a read, even after the trials. It definitely highlights the soap opera of competitive curling that does not get a lot of airplay.

Here is the link:

 A haters guide to curling the 2013 Roar of the Rings

***

Got a little sick of the sanctimonious Jenny Jones WFG commercial about her sponsor supporting her after she blew out her knee and got preggers with Laing’s child. I do not pretend to know how that happened or any of the back story, but if I were in her shoes I would have a hard time looking into a camera and talking about a commitment to family. Yeesh.

***

Meanwhile in Quebec, I will be playing the Vic Open this weekend, a tune up for Provincials with all the big Quebec teams and strangely the Chinese Olympic Team! Should be an entertaining weekend.

I hear that Quebec is once again looking to re-align the qualifying process for the provincials, which seems to be dropping teams at an alarming rate. This year I believe only 24 teams will vie for a spot at the Provincials (and 8 of these teams are from Abitibi). Not sure if this might be related to the fact that Provs this year will be held in Val D’Or.

In case you are not up on your Quebec geography, Val d’Or is located about a few hours North of, well nowhere. It is a few kilometres South of Santa’s North Pole toy production facility. Fortunately, elves who are not qualified as toymakers for Santa can find employment working as miners in Val d’Or’s open-pit gold mines, or as hunting and fishing guides.
(Expected overnight low in Val d'Or this weekend: a balmy -30 C)