Brier Recap; and why I suddenly feel the need to Navage my nose.

Brier Recap;

I really wanted to have something to rant about. Relegation, Team Canada, broomgazzi, the CCA (or its new moniker: Curling Canada), TSN dissing the Quebec Team. 

But I have to admit it: I just thoroughly enjoyed the hell out of the Brier this year. 

I was worried heading in. Maybe Warren Hansen was right, and the Brier is just not that big a deal anymore. the Canada Cup and the Slams offer better curling.

WRONG.

In the end, curling saved the day. The games provided all the drama, the tension and the strategy and the excitement that the sport can offer.   Once the Brier reached the playoffs, all the games became epic contests coming down to last rock, with drama and exquisite shotmaking. It was a Curling fan’s dream; it was emotional, and was won in an extra end with a draw to the screw.

Brilliant.

Some random thoughts, in no particular order:

• Okay, it takes a big man to admit he was wrong. So here goes. Team Canada was awesome, and fun to watch. In the end, they made it a better tournament. I know I said that this team did not deserve to be there, and they were certainly on their way to living up to that prediction, but they turned it around. The shift of Johnny Mo to 3^rd seemed to inspire Pat Simmons to skip just about the best Brier I have ever seen from anyone, and the rest was history.
• I have dumped on Johhny Mo before, but man he was awesome. He proved he is the best 3^rd in the land, and his energy on the ice made the game that much better and fun to watch. And he came out with some awesome new terminology: “Pat – put a rock here and it is Danger Bay for them!” Love it. Reference to a classic crappy Canadian TV series to describe a couple of rocks in the back 8 - awesome. 
• Relegation is still shitty. The only bright side is it might motivate Nova Scotia to get off its arse and run a better Provincial in an arena; so as to send the best team that can play under arena conditions (no disrespect to Mr. MacLeod – who was a fine example of sportsmanship).
• So-so week for the Quebec boys. I am sure they are disappointed to have finished out of the playoffs. The fact is they started the week flat (which might have something to do with Quebec Provincials being 6 weeks before the Brier), and they finished flat against Gushue and Simmons. Too bad,I was looking forward to TSN talking about how many out-turns they throw all weekend.
• I know Home Hardware is a great sponsor – but their tagline: “Homeowners helping homeowners with Expert Advice”. Really? Are you required to own a home to work there? What if you just rent? And what is this advice? By a round mop?
• Okay, I liked Dave Nedohin as a player, but he has some work to do on his commentary skills. Mudryk kept throwing him softballs, and he kept swinging and missing. He told endless stories of how he has played with against all of these guys before, and how good they are. Yawn. TSN might have been better to run the games silently.
• I do not understand Gushue’s last shot against Team Canada in the semi-finals. He needs to force him to one point, and has a chance to throw a back-line tap back to lie behind the corner guard, and instead tries to make a corner freeze on a corner-frozen stone above the t-line. This was a MUCH harder shot than the tap back, in my humble opinion. Instead he lined up the automatic double for Simmons, and that was that. (says the guy sitting watching on his living room couch)
• I love Vic Router (with Russ and Cheryl), but if I had heard him say BRUSH BROTHERS one more time I was going to switch to Guy on RDS.
• I need to get a Navage. It has been a dry winter in Quebec, and my nose feels like there is stuff up there from the cretaceous period. Not sure what the difference is between the Navage and my garden hose though. That and I suddenly feel the need to by some new farm equipment, and some chemicals to protect my lawn from Sclerotium (whatever the hell that is).
• Not sure if they did this at other Briers, but I liked the Team intros at the beginning with the walk-in music and the cheerleaders. Made it feel like an MMA fight. Already contemplating what my walk-in song will be. I am open to suggestions.
• Nice try TSN – trying to make me like Brad Jacobs. You ignored their boorish behaviour, you kept showing me shots of his newborn baby, and even tried to do a little 5^th end fluff piece about how much they love curling and each other. Nice try!

So on this subject, I have to ask…

Why do we hate Brad Jacobs So?

I was watching the 1-2 game Friday night between Brad Jacobs and Brad Gushue. It was an awesome display of curling. There were triples, button draws, touch doubles, drama and excitement right until the last shot.

I was also sitting with my iPhone; reading people’s comments on Twitter and Facebook every so often who were also sharing their impressions of the game. And what did people talk about the most? Was it the great shotmaking? The triples? The sweeping? The fan reaction? Nope, they were talking about how Team Jacobs reacted to making a semi-tough shot for 3 in the 5^th end, and how obnoxious their reaction was.

I can't find a link to it...so let me describe it:

It seemed like a cross between an NFL end-zone dance, and a woman going through childbirth. There was guttural, primal screaming; there were clenched fists. There were high-fives that looked like they would have broken my wrist. There was grunting that sounded like my bathroom on a Sunday morning after an all-day Saturday visit to a cheese factory.

The way this team celebrates has polarized much of the curling world.  People hate them. Some love them, but lots of people hate them. They certainly did not win any fans with the classless and disrespectful foot banging against Kean, and probably lost a few more with their over-the-top celebrations against Gushue in the 5^th end. By the time they were in the finals, Facebook posts and tweets all seemed unanimous in hoping that Simmons teaches Jacobs a lesson.

I must say that their celebrations turn me off.  But maybe I am a little too old-school. I come from the Vince Lombardi school of celebrating. Lombardi was the Green Bay coach who famously told his players; “If you manage to get into the End Zone, act like you have been there before.”

Watch this one: Laycock making a sick double-raise-double to keep his team in the game. Check out his celebration after. Classy.

Laycock Double Raise Double

The pro-Jacobs camp will surely say that this team is reaching out to a new generation of fans, raised on highlight videos of the best goal celebrations and reality TV – where over-reaction is a requirement. They will say that they are hated because they are winners. They will quote Taylor Swift: “Haters gonna hate, hate hate.” Maybe I am a just a hater.

But I don’t have the same negative reaction to watching other great teams celebrate - like Gushue. Or Ménard. Or Stoughton. Or Howard. I did not feel weird watching McEwen and team go crazy after he made the best shot of the season earlier this year. But when Jacobs and the Brush Brothers go crazy, I just want to puke.

I think my discomfort comes from what I hold dearly about curling, and the values that are built into the game's unwritten etiquette.
Maybe I look at sports differently now that I have kids. But one thing that I look for in a sport is what traits it helps you develop as a human being. I have learned a lot in curling, and from the many people I have played the game with or against. Here are some life lessons learned:

• Treat your opponents with respect. Beat them, but respect them.
• You are not bigger than the game. Others were great before you, and others will be great after you are gone.
• Control your emotions – both positive and negative ones. Staying calm under pressure is the key to winning.
• Play the game fairly and honestly. There are no officials – so honesty is required to make it a playable game. Golf and curling are the only sports I know where you call a foul on yourself, even at the highest level of play. (and it is the only sport where you would say to a competitor: “take the shot over” like Kevin Koe did this week)
• There is no showboating in curling. Never celebrate other people’s misses.
• Don’t get a tattoo of another man’s face on your chest, because your girlfriend will inevitably imagine him when she is with you! (okay I did not need curling to teach me that one)

By no means do I suggest that all curlers are perfect. We have all been assholes at one time or another. But I know when I have been.  And if I don't, there is usually someone is there to call me on it.

Somehow the game’s etiquette has always been kept by its venerable leaders; the respected old-timer (that every curling club has one or two of) who shakes his head when you slam a broom, or celebrate too wildly. I grew up worshipping guys like Hackner and Lang, Stoughton, Ryan, and Folk. None of these guys would have gone crazy after a tap-back in the 5^th end of a tight game. None of these guys ever thought they were bigger than the game. I never heard any of them say anything like “We are changing the face of curling”. 

I am not sure the face of curling needs to be changed. And if it is to be changed, it probably should not be changed for a squinty, angry weight-lifting scowl.

Anyway - once again the Brier proved that it is the ultimate curling event, and despite its flaws and issues (like relegation); is still the greatest showcase for the sport that I love.

Broomgate - my 2 cents

Broomgate!

In case you missed it, the Brier internet world is all abuzz over Ryan Fry and the Harnden’s moving or whacking Team Ontario on a few occasions to keep them from making flat spots on the ice with their hands / knees. Before everyone started talking about it – I was freaking out watching the game on TV. I believe my exact words were: “What a bunch of ass-holes”.

Some points:

•  Everyone goes down on their knees sometime (including Team Jacobs!), especially on a big shot. As long as it’s not all the time – no big deal.
•  It was not a friendly tap. Matt Camm was throwing a big shot in the 3^rd end when someone from Jacob’s Team was clearly seen shoveling his trailing leg. Matt turned right away, then the camera left him to follow the shot. But Matt clearly looked flustered by it. He missed his next shot badly, and pretty much ensured Jacobs would score at least 3 (he rolled out on an open hit for 4). So the incident to me CLEARLY CHANGED THE OUTCOME OF THE GAME. Not saying Kean would have won, but there was a direct impact coming from the shove. They also did it again later, to Mark.
• There is a way that curlers and gentlemen act on the ice. If you believe the opposition is dragging on the ice – talk to them about it AFTER THE SHOT.  Give them some warning. Then talk to the officials.

A story:

My former 2^nd, Brad Fitzherbert (who played in a couple of Briers), used to get mad at guys who spent too much time on their knees. He would politely warn them a few times – and if they kept doing it, would say that next time he would lift them off the ice (Brad was a pretty strong lad). I saw him do it a few times (but I can’t remember to who). But here is the important thing; he was never a dick about it. I never heard anyone get mad at him. He was sportsmanlike about it.  

But Fry / Harnden were not nice. They did it in a petty and aggressive way. And they did it to a team that they knew was probably a bit nervous at the time. It was a hostile and unsportsmanlike move, and FOR SURE was intended to intimidate, and to make matters worse it seemed to have worked!

Jacobs and Team are always eager to say how they are changing the face of curling. 

However "Changing the face of Curling”, should not be about making curling less sportsmanlike.

Today they put out a bullshit non-apology/apology on their Facebook Page blaming Kean’s Team for flat spots, and completely missing the point.

Come on boys – you should know better.

All you need to Watch the Brier; Why I now Buy my Curling Shirts at Baby Gap

A Curling Fan's Guide to this Year's Brier:

The Brier kicks off today in Calgary. Sadly, I am not there.

So instead I will put my feet up, set up the PVR (so i do not have to watch 6000 Tim Horton's commercials!).

This should be a compelling Brier. Looking through the field, I cannot see a weak team. Maybe New Brunswick – and only because I do not really know them.

So here is my primer to who is playing – in the order they are likely to finish.

Brad Jacobs (Northern Ontario): Team Muscle, our Olympic Gold Medal winners will once again bring their brand of workout video, bro-love to the National stage. There will be fist pumps. There will be homo-erotic chest pumps, there will be grunting, there will be posing. They will once again “change the face of curling”, because they apparently invented the concept that having a muscular front end is a good thing. They have certainly changed the way I curl: I now buy all my curling shirts at Baby Gap, to better show off my sick guns.

Jean-Michel Menard (Qc): aka Damn bastard who beat me in the Quebec final. Bold prediction: they will be playing next Sunday on TV. They will be disrespected by TSN, who will pretend to be shocked when they finish 2^nd or 3^rd, and say what an upset it is. They will say that they are not used to facing good competition. They will say they are not as physically fit as Jacobs. They will imply that JM’s 2006 Brier win was the curling equivalent of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team’s Miracle on Ice. But they will be playing next Sunday.

Brad Gushue (NL): The one they have dubbed Gouchebag has quietly become the 2^nd best team in the country (the best team in the land is not at the Brier! – more on that later). Gushue has been solid all season, and has survived a grueling 2-team Provincial championship in Newfoundland to qualify for the Brier.

Kevin Koe (Alta): Koe and his newly-assembled squad of Kevin Martinites + Brett Laing have failed to display a lot of chemistry so far this season.  But there is so much experience and talent, it is hard to see them not winning 7-8 games in the Round Robin.

John Morris – Team Canada: yes, the Brier now has a Team Canada. Oh joyous day! I am so overjoyed to see that this semi-retired, reassembled cast of characters will fill in the field at the Brier. I predict (and hope) that they will finish out of the playoffs. Not that I do not like these guys – I just don’t like the notion that Nova Scotia will be sent home, but these guys get to play and lose. If there was any justice in the world – they will start with a couple of losses, get demoralized, go 1-10 and end up getting relegated. (what happens if Team Canada finishes last? Does that mean the defending champion next year would have to go through the relegation round? Things that make you go Hmmmm)

Reid Caruthers (Man.): This former Stoughton disciple pulled of a big upset, defeating World #1 Mike McEwen in the Manitoba provincial final. Mike has now officially become the Buffalo Bills, Phil Mickelson, Josée Chouinard of curling all rolled into one. He will have to wait another long year to shed the King Kong sized monkey off his back and make it to his 1^st elusive Brier. Strangely, I think it will be easier for him to win the next Olympics than make it to the Brier next year. (but don’t worry Mike, Warren Hansen at the CCA says the Brier is not important anyway!) Reid Caruthers is a solid team with real playoff potential. Hope they do well.

Mark Kean (Ontario): Good young team from Ontario. They will win some, and they will lose some. Would be surprised if they made the playoffs, but not shocked.

Welcome back Cotter (BC), is back but this time without Johnny Mo skipping and throwing 3^rd rocks. Probably a middle of the pack team without Johnny Mo.

Jamie Koe: Jamie will win the Patch, if not the Brier. (for those of you who do not get this reference, the Patch refers to the giant bar/party area located next to the playing venue. Jamie is an old-school curler that believes in the work-hard/ play harder style of play. This used to be the norm among the top teams in the country, back in the day when curling was a game, as opposed to a high-level athletic pursuit performed by elite, protein-shake drinking über-curlers who would rather hit the gym than have a beer with the other team. Jamie made the semi-finals a few years ago – would love to see him there again but not likely.

Steve Laycock (Sask): (btw – not a good idea to do a search of Lay Cock trying to find an image to include!) A solid team with some Slam experience. They will be tough to beat.

Jeremy Mallais – from NB: They will be in tough. First Brier with a very tough field – they are definitely most likely to get relegated. Anything above last would be a big victory for these guys.

Adam Casey or Bob Smallwood: I am writing this before knowing which of these two teams will qualify. I am assuming it will be Adam – in theory they are a better team. But who knows. This is the shittiest game in the world to play in. Loser gets a bag of turds and a plane ticket home, the winner gets to play in the Brier. As tough as it was losing a provincial final this year, I can guarantee you this game would be worse to lose.

A few words on the fetid, vomit-inducing concept that is Relegation:

I have written more than a few words on what I think about relegation in the past.

Okay – so what do I think now that relegation has happened? Blech. It was worse than I thought.

The teams were treated like crap, and forced to play in a demeaning mini-round robin before sending Nova Scotia Home on a shootout. By 2cm. Are you kidding me? Guys work hard all year practicing, traveling, practicing some more – working hard for the dream of representing their province at the Brier. And they get sent home after 2 games? On a damn shootout measure? Are you kidding me?

Meanwhile, we include a Team Canada – a bunch of indifferent (albeit nice guys) who were going to retire after last year. For Glen MacLeod, this would have been a life-changing week. He would have gained experience on the big stage, and could hope to bring that experience home with him to make curling better in Nova Scotia. Instead he gets to go home and apologize to the Nova Scotia curling community, who will of course insist that he does not owe them one. For John Morris and team, this is just another spiel that they could have done without.

I still am in shock that curlers would do this to curlers. All in the name of adding a Team Canada, and creating an opportunity for Nunavut to decline to play. 

 

Coincidentally, the CCA has launched a slick marketing re-brand of itself this week as Curling Canada. They presumably paid some glitzy marketing firm a pile of cash to put lipstick on a pig. Here is a thought: you can’t put this picture on your webpage (below is a pic of the 1^st Brier winners from Nova Scotia), the same week you tell Nova Scotians that they are not invited to the Brier.

Seriously – CCA, Or Curling Canada or whatever you want to call yourself – fix this now!

More Slams? Sure! As long as the Brier is not the 8th Slam

So a few people have asked my opinion about the Sportsnet Grand Slam Deal. Last year, I wrote What the Olympics Have Done to CompetitiveCurling, which got shared about 10,000 times (which is a lot in the curling world!), and at least 5,000 times if you exclude my mother clicking on it over and over again.

For those of you who have not heard, the Curling Grand Slam has announced plans to expand their coverage to seven events – from its current lineup of 4.

Predictably, the Grand Slam teams and players have lined up to say that this is the best thing since sliced bread and yoga pants on female curlers, while the “Non-Elite” have griped about the rich getting richer – and about this reinforcing the notion that the non-elite teams in Canada will get the short end of the broom.

Firstly, I am definitely a member of the non-elite competitive curling class. I am not bad at curling. I practice my ass off, I play as much as job and family obligations will allow, I win some cash, and I play on arguably the 2^nd best team in Quebec (we just lost the provincial finals to JM Ménard), and I like to chase the dream. I want to curl on TV, like the guys I watched at the Brier back when I had hair like Jeff Stoughton. I want to wear a provincial jacket. This keeps me coming back every year (even after soul-crushing defeats like this year and last). I am a competitive curler. It is in me. And whenever I play in spiels, either in Quebec or elsewhere, I get the feeling that I am not alone. I love it.

However, I also have a job. I have a very generous employer who grants me 4 weeks off for good behaviour, as well as a few personal days to boot. I also have a family. I have three kids who amazingly like seeing me and spending some time with me, and they also like the idea of being on a beach somewhere in July or August like most of their friends. I realize that family and job are choices that I have made, and I accept that these choices keep me from going to the Olympics. They definitely keep me from Slamming – as I could not even conceive playing a schedule of 15 or so weekends of spieling PLUS provincials PLUS maybe even a Brier. Our 5^th man would have to be a divorce lawyer!

So I am a dedicated curler - A die-hard, competitive, good-but-not-great member of Canada’s non-elite curling class. So the question is – what is to come of me? Am I relegated to the Dominion (or the Travelers, as I believe it is now called)? Should I focus on the Mixed?  I am not angry – I am not resentful – I am just increasingly aware that curling no longer caters to guys like me. Whereas 20 years ago it felt like I was in the majority, I am now an increasingly rare species. We have been starved into non-existence, by a lack of places to play, and tournaments to play in. I don’t really know how many of us there are left. Participation in provincial playdowns is a tiny fraction of what is was 10 or 20 years ago. I know more ex-competitive curlers than I do competitive ones.

Don’t get me wrong. I think the Slams are awesome, and I have nothing against them. I would love to play in one. But the Slams are not about promoting curling - or about growing the game, and that's fine. Let me explain:

Somewhere in my non-curling years I picked up an MBA, which taught me a few things about money and business. So, if the good people at Sportsnet and the World Curling Guys can convince sponsors to pay, and if the ad revenue is there, then why not have more events? Why not give more to the elite. Admittedly, nobody is lining up to pay to watch me play on TV, but apparently enough people are paying to watch Gushue, Koe and McEwen. So I say more power to you guys!

Is this doing a lot to develop curling? I dunno. Maybe? At some point you have to think there might be some saturation. At least this year has provided some fresh new faces to watch, and some great highlights. Does it grow the sport? I don't know. It certainly doesn't hurt!

But here is the truth: The Slams were not created to grow curling, nor is it their mandate to do so. The Slams are about money. The Slams are about cashing in on the TV popularity of curling. The Slams have NOTHING TO DO with overseeing the well being of “the game”.

A few people have mentioned that the Slams might start holding “feeder” events to help the non-elite 10 qualify for a Slam here or there. I really like this idea. I also like the idea of these events being regional, so that each Slam can have some local teams in the mix. And if they do so, I would be grateful. But they are not obliged to do so. It will likely not help their TV ratings or sponsor revenues. But it would help create the idea that some of the non-elite teams could at least play their way into the slams.

So, all in all, more slams? Why the hell not. If people are watching than go for it! If you want to create a series of “feeder events” to help draw in some more teams, than I would say Thanks! – and tell me where to send my entry. But I do not expect it!

Where I have a problem is the Canada Cup. And the Continental Cup. And the Brier catering to the elite. And relegation. And Team Canada.

While the Slams have no obligation to be “Stewards of the Game”, the Canadian Curling Association DEFINITELY has this role. A significant amount of its funding comes from government, and a significant amount comes from curlers. While sponsor money plays a big (okay massive) role in their funding as well, I still think that the CCA has a role in protecting THE GAME.

When I read Warren Hansen saying things like “the Canada Cup will be Bigger than the Brier”, I shake my head. When I see relegation implemented at National championships, I shake my head. When I see an event like the Canada Cup held for seven teams, I shake my head. While they can claim to be succeeding in their role of developing the elite, they are failing to protect the greater game. And I hate to tell you, but the Elite really don’t need the CCA to get better.

I get that the Slams might not be for me. But the CCA seems to be telling me to stay in the Mixed, Mike; the big CCA stage is only for the Slam Teams. I object to that.

I say let the Slams be the Slams! They are doing it well. But I believe the CCA has to rethink how it can manage the well-being of the game by creating more inclusive events.    

In the meantime, I will get back to practicing my arse off, so I can beat f***ing Ménard and get to the damn Brier before it becomes the 8^th Slam event.

***

While I am here – continued good luck to a kid from my home club who is currently tearing it up at Junior Nationals. I can attest to hard hard Felix Asselin and his team work at this game, and I am overjoyed at seeing them getting rewarded for their dedication. Looking forward to seeing them on TV this weekend, even with the red pants. So Felix, as we say in Quebec: “Merde!”

Dear Diary: Losing Sucks.

Losing Sucks.

In case you were not following last week, my Men’s curling Team – Un bloque et 3 Bleuets – lost the provincial Men’s final to Jean-Michel Ménard 7-2.

Losing the provincial final sucks.

First prize: A dream trip to the Brier in Calgary; money, the chance to be on TSN (and RDS), the chance to play in front of 15,000 fans plus a big trophy.

Runner-Up Prize: A big bowl of NOTHING. Nada. Zip. Had to pay $5.50 for my post-game rum and coke.  TPHPTT.

 

At least in big cashspiels losing the final is usually accompanied by a cheque that is 60-70% as big as what the winner gets. But there is no second place at provincials. Everybody says “congratulations”, but it is always said with trepidation, as if they know that it is not the appropriate response.

To be honest, The game was never really that close. We came out strong, and had a chance to take the lead in 2 but an ill-timed pick resulted in a steal, and we were suddenly down 2 points to a team that you cannot afford to be down 2 against. JM and his team are merciless front-runners. They hit very well, and force you to play ultra-aggressively just to keep a few rocks in play. Then they don’t miss, which means you end up having to make crazy shots just to scrape out a deuce somewhere, which we could not manage to do. We spent the last few ends flailing like baby seals on an ice float, waiting as the guy with the big stick approaches.

JM and Team seemed to dominate this year like no other. They went undefeated against a strong field, and never even really had a close game (except for one crazy come-from-behind victory). They are playing better than I have ever seen them play.

So here is some Quebec insight for the rest of the country: JM is one of the top 10 teams in the world, and has a real shot at winning his second Brier. I am sure those of you outside of Quebec will point at the World rankings and scoff at my statement. He is currently ranked 17^th on the World Order of Merit, and does not figure in the top 10 on the money list.

But hear me out. This team finished 3^rd at the last Brier, and has kicked ass in almost every spiel they have played in this year. They lost the final in Gatineau – to Mike McEwen (the best team in the world right now), and then won Charlevoix.   

The reason they are not ranked higher is that they play a “Normal” schedule. That is to say that they do not travel every weekend to slams like the other top teams. They have jobs and families, and just do not want to burn themselves out. Seems like a wise choice; maybe some of the other top teams should take note. Especially Olympic Gold Medalist Brad Jacobs - whose wife just had a baby! Maybe being away 26 weeks per year is not the ideal lifestyle for the elite of our sport. Just sayin'.

Quebec Provincial Notes:

There were a number of compelling story lines to follow all week.

• Ontario import Lauren Mann won the Scotties event, rather easily at that. She is joined by Brittany O’Rourke who will now play in her 3^rd consecutive Scotties, Amélie Blais and Anne-Marie Filtault (you might know her the cute Quebec girl in the Scotties commercial that shows super-close ups of attractive women). They were almost as dominant as Jean-Michel, and never really looked in danger of not winning. I think they will do okay at the Scotties. Not awesome, but should be able to keep Quebec clear of the relegation zone!  I predict a strong, middle-of-the-pack showing.
• One of the more entertaining features of the week was the Bob Desjardins show. Bob had a strange week. They finished 3-6, yet somehow were not eliminated heading into the final round robin game. Bob had a 5-man team, which he used to rotate players in and out all week. He fired people, then re-hired, then re-fired, then got sick, got better, suggested his team should submit to psychological evaluation, then lost. Somehow Bob manages to be the most-talked about curler in Quebec, even when he goes 3-6. This team should have been a reality TV show. And they had their own hashtag: #Fredsfault.
• Once again, the Trépannier brothers (now playing with Simon Benoit) proved to be a promising team on the ice, and likely heirs to the title of chief entertainers off the ice. I am still laughing at JF Trépannier discussing an intimate moment from his past that did not end well.  Sorry - not suitable for family reading!
• Good performance by Roxanne Perron – a young team with which we share our coach: Michel St-Onge. They had a similar week to us: they played well, reached the final and then got outplayed. Hope this team sticks it out for a few years – lots of potential and I am sure they learned a lot from their first final experience.
• No word on any teams breaking up or staying together – or if there was I missed it (except for Bob’s team I guess).
• Denis "the Flame" Laflamme did not disappoint in what he claims was his last provincial. He was tough to beat, and pulled off a few upsets.

I have a Dream...

There was a lot of discussion about what should be the format for Quebec provincials - more importantly what we can change to get more teams to sign up.

A meeting will be held with CQ later this month to discuss the format of future provincials (number of teams, regional representation).

But I am starting to think we are missing the boat by talking about the format. My quiet but usually correct lead JF Charest pointed out to me this week: the format is not the problem – the problem is too few teams want to curl in provincials.

Now that I am a Director at Curling Quebec I can’t slam CQ for once again under-promoting what is an excellent event. But I will say that we need to do a better job at selling what could be an excellent showcase for the sport of curling.

Here is my Vision for where I think we need to take Quebec Provincials over the next five years. My plan has 4 points (because all good plans have 4 points):

1. More Media Exposure (and Better Media Exposure)
2.  More Visbility – on TV or the Internet
3. More fun
4. More sponsorship

More Media Exposure: 

The Quebec Provincials get no media attention. We are not on RDS, TVA, or in La Presse, the Gazette, QMI or any of the Journal de wherevers. And the usual refrain is to blame the media.

“They are too hockey centric” – “Nobody cares about Curling”. We have thrown in the towel, and assume that we can never get any media for our sport. I think this is wrong.

My experience with communications over the past few years at my job have taught me one thing: the Media is Lazy. They do not like to work. They do not dig. They prefer when stories come to them, and ideally when they are pre-written in an easy to cut and paste press release. They will not cover a sporting event, but will often send a crew to a press conference if they know that a politician will be there.

I think we just need to ask. I think we need to write stories. I think we need to hold a press conference before the event.  I think we need to have a press area with free donuts.

Quebec is in the same position as the rest of the country: multiple sports networks are fighting to fill their airwaves with sellable content. There must be a way to use this to benefit our sport.

More Visibility

My Gatineau game against Adam Casey was web-streamed. The Mixed Nationals were televised. Most other provinces televise the Provincial finals.

How can we not? (Admittedly this year’s final would have been a yawner, but maybe next year will be better!) There needs to be a way to do this.

More Fun:

The fact is that not everybody is there to win. Many teams are there for the experience. Realistically, only half the teams at this year’s event had a realistic chance of winning, yet they were still there. We need to do a better job at making the event fun for them. The Brier has a “Patch”, a bar area where there is live music and entertainment. Quebec provincials had a couple of tables and some veggies with dip. Why is there not  a Friday night party? We used to have a banquet, which the players do not usually care about. But why not have a party instead – ideally after more than half the teams are eliminated. Invite the volunteers, the sponsors, the local curling clubs, and fans! Have a band. We can’t rely on the Trepannier brothers to play AND serve as entertainment directors. Make it an event.

The provincials need to be a rewarding and fun experience for the teams that will not win.

Provincials are very hard to run. They require a ton of volunteers. I think we need to be more judicious about what we ask people to volunteer for.

How many officials do we really need on the ice? There are scorekeepers, people keeping layouts of the house on little magnet boards, head officials, on-ice officials. Let’s cut it down. Let’s use our volunteers to do more fun stuff. Like run parties…or write press releases. Or staff a press area. We need to make the event more fun for volunteers as well.

More Sponsorship.

I think this one will happen when we get the other 3 pieces right. The sad fact is: the event does not deserve more sponsorship money in the way it is held today. It is not spoken about in the media, it does not look fun, and it is not seen by anybody who is not at the arena. If I were a marketing director, I would not sponsor it. We need to make the Quebec Provincials a bigger show before we can hope to rake in a big fish.

To sum up: We need to think big. Quebec provincials should be one of the main tools in CQ’s arsenal to draw exposure and attention to the sport. It can help showcase our best teams, encourage others to take up the sport and provide visibility to the Quebec curling scene. Instead, it has become an event that only curlers hear about, and that has become a chore from an organizational perspective. Let’s fix this.

As usual – Comments are welcome. 

To tank or not to tank?

The Regional playdowns are going on this weekend at Glenmore and Dolbeau to determine the last 6 qualifiers for Quebec Men’s Provincials, and amazingly I am not there!!!

My team qualified via the cash we won this year, finishing a close second in the province behind Jean-Michel. (we were only about 20,000$ behind them). Robert Desjardins has qualified via cash as well, and Steven Munroe won the Circuit Provincial spot a few weeks ago. 

I cannot tell you how ridiculously happy I am to not be driving 7 hours alone in my car to Dolbeau to play an extremely tough triple knockout regional the weekend before Christmas.

The final 6 will be determined in 2 regional playdowns that are usually brutal weekends of curling. The draws can be found via the Curling Quebec Website. Here is a link:  http://www.curling.ca/quebecscores/#/

My picks (Although playdowns never work out as predicted):

East: Ferly, Richard and Robichaud. Maybe Caron.

West: Gagnon, Doyon and Wharry.

I would say the West is a big tossup – lots of teams can be in the mix: Benoit (with the Trepannier brothers), Kennerknect, Max Dufresne and others can easily provide a few upsets.

Also interesting: Felix Asselin with Lawren Steventon playing 3^rd, Possibly the only Junior-Masters combination team in the history of the Quebec tankard.  They will be tough to beat playing on their home ice.

***

To tank or not to tank – that is the question.

Here is a hypothetical situation:

You are signed up in a round robin bonspiel. You have won your first two games, and are assured of qualifying for the playoffs. You are the last game to be played. You look at the draw, and realize that if you lose, you fall into an easier section of the draw, and have a better chance of winning the tournament. The team you are playing is eliminated from the playoffs either way.

So do you tank the game?

In case you have not guessed, this situation happened recently in a non-hypothetical way, to a team I will not name here. I will say that the team in question lost the game where they were heavily favored, and made some ridiculously bad calls and threw some very bad rocks in doing so. I will not go as far as to say they tanked the game, but to those watching, it was an entertaining spectacle, with one team trying to win and the other trying to lose without appearing as if they were trying to lose. At very least, it was a very strange game, with some very weird calls and one of the funniest measures I have ever seen.

So is it wrong to lose on purpose? I am not sure. I can honestly say that I have never tanked a game. It is just not in my DNA to do so. But was the skip is question wrong for throwing the game? Or was it just intelligent draw management….like giving the other team a point in the seventh end to keep the hammer in 8. Honestly – I am not sure. If I had been in his spot, how motivated would I have been to win? How would that have affected my concentration? What if the other team had caught on to what was happening and just decided to shake? I think this is not as clear cut as many make it out to be.

Anyway – feel free to comment below. Curious to get some opinions on this. But if you name names – I will delete your comment!!!

Lesson to be learned here: Never run a round robin where one game is played after all the other games are completed! This is why FIFA starting playing the final 2 games of its round robin stage of the World Cup simultaneously.

***

Where are all the women gone?

The Scotties playdowns are also this weekend. In an exciting turn of events, 6 teams filled out the form, and qualify directly for provincials.

6 teams. Out of all the curling clubs, out of all the female curlers in Quebec, only 6 teams decided it was worthwhile trying out. Wow.

Where is everybody? I know a lot of competitive curlers have dropped out because of pregnancy, families, life, etc. I guess the question is why do women stop curling when they have families, whereas men seem to keep playing? (not that the number of men’s teams is not also in decline!)

So how do we get more teams out? Should we offer free daycare during the provincials? Should curling clubs make more of an effort to be more family friendly? (like offering free babysitting during certain leagues – which some clubs in the West already do).

Not sure what the solution is– but the lack of teams reflects badly on the sport. The six teams that have signed up are all working hard and practicing, but they would all benefit from having more local competition to make them better.

This might hurt a little....

The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated!

For those of you have not been following the US-Style emergency room drama that has been my life for the last little while, I thought I would use my blog to catch you all up!

A week ago Sunday, after losing in the finals of the TMR open with my ridiculously good club team from Glenmore to an even better Ghislain Doyon/Max Elmalah team, I decided to play an indoor soccer game Sunday evening. Despite being a bit tired, I thought it would be good for the cardio, and help me get out a bit of the frustration of having gotten our arses kicked in the final.

Early in the first half, I caught a stray elbow from a teammate in the Adam’s Apple, and have been pretty much laid up ever since. The blow pretty much shattered the cartilage in my throat, and left me with a big lump in my throat. What followed the blow was a week of Emergency Rooms, specialists, reconstructive throat surgery, recovery, tubes going in and out of all kinds of places, fancy titanium plates and screws, swelling, bleeding and now home resting. Fun.

Here are some memorable quotes that sum up the experience:

-          “This empty space here is where the cartilage is supposed to be.” (Doctor pointing at CT Scan of my neck.

-          “Uh – are you sure you are breathing right now?” (Doctor while looking at image from a camera stuck up my nose and down my throat)

-          “This might hurt a little – I am going to pull the catheter out” - (nurse after the surgery). OUCH.

Seriously, all in all , it has been quite an experience. I definitely witnessed both the best and the worst that our Health Care System can provide.

Best: the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal. An awesome hospital staffed with insanely competent people who genuinely seem to care. It felt a lot like a cool US TV show. They have a brand new emergency room. They had gadgets and flatscreens and 3D models of my throat and funky cameras and magical titanium plates that now hold together the cartilage in my neck. All available to me at no cost. Truly an impressive example of the best of our healthcare system.

Worst: Lakeshore General Hospital – where I foolishly stumbled into Monday early AM. The triage nurse looked at me and told me point blank: “You don’t look that bad – it will probably be 8-9 hours before anyone will see you. If you access to a doctor at a private clinic you should go there instead. Make sure you tell me if you are going to leave”. So I left. With a cracked and displaced trachea, that was swelling with internal bleeding, I was sent out to fend for myself. I do not think this place should still be allowed to call itself a hospital. It is a glorified CLSC. Never again. Do not send your dog there.

So what does this do for my curling season?

Well – I am off the ice for now as I heal and adjust to having a titanium plate in my neck. Not sure when I will be back, but likely before provincials.

I must say that our curling season has felt a bit snake-bitten this year. We have had injury, death, sickness, and that was before my soccer mishap! All if we need is some locusts and would be a Bible story. But with the team that I have somehow I strangely feel like we are still getting stronger. Every stick in our spokes, every challenge we deal with, every agonizing loss (and we have had a few of those!) is making us tougher, and meaner. It almost makes me feel bad for the unfortunate teams who will have to play us when all 4 guys are back and in good health.

I am just hoping that that will happen at some point before the end of the season!

***

Screw You Charlevoix again!!!
The Challenge du Casino de Charlevoix will be on this weekend. Of course I will not be there, again. The curse of Charlevoixc continues. So I fully expect every team in Quebec to benefit from my absence to magically all make money and pass us in the race to qualify for Quebec provincials on points. My pessimism is due to the fact that Charlevoix hates me. I am cursed there. Read the full story here:  Screw You Charlevoix
My Men's Team is playing in the Open section, which is an awesome 64 team event without equal in Quebec. I wish them well. Hopefully Charlevoix will take mercy on them since I am not there with them!
There is a strong field in the Invitational section as well.  

***

So what is going on in The World of Competitive Curling?

You really only need to be talking about one team so far this year: (And sadly it is not Team Fournier).

Team McEwen has been absolutely on an epic run this year. They have been BY FAR the best team in the world. They have won a Grand Slam, and lost the final of the other. They have won a pile of tour events. They are already approaching 100K in winnings this season. Plus Mike made what is undoubtedly the shot of the season so far. (see it here!) McEwen Shot  
I think the big challenge for this team will be how to maintain the pace for the long run. Competitive teams seem to exist on Olympic Cycles now, meaning that this team needs to stay on top until December 2017, when Canada will pick its team for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

So how do you stay on top for so long? The answer I think is:  you can’t. It is just too much. Too much travel, too much practice, too much training, too much intensity. I am interested in seeing if this team will even try to play at peak until 2017 – or will they intentionally slow down at some point and then ramp it up again in the Olympic Year? Jacobs (our defending Olympic rep) was really only at the summit for less than 1 year before the Trials, before that they were a lot more human, and were far from the best team around. If McEwen's goal is getting to the Olympics, then I would argue that they should push hard until they secure a birth at the Trials, then slow their pace for a year, then ramp up again for the Trials, or risk burning out!

Another nice storyline to follow on the tour this season is Adam Casey and his crew from PEI. They have climbed into the World Top 10 by playing solidly just about everywhere. I got to play them in Gatineau in the C Qualifier. Seriously nice guys. It will be especially fun to see them playing in the relegation event at the Brier, where they could end up having to face a tough Nova Scotia team in a relegation battle. This would be an epic pie-in-the-face of relegation, where a solid Maritime team is sent home before the Brier, and yet the reconstructed and no-fun-to-watch Team Canada skipped by Johnny Mo gets a free birth. Blech!

***

Hardline Dragon’s Den Success

I hope you all were watching! The boys from Hardline did curling proud in the Den, securing a bit of funding for their company to get into the business of sponsoring teams and rolling out their product line. 
So the secret is out! They made a deal. They have secured their ability to make some noise in market – and they are making some noise!!! They have benefited by sponsoring Team McEwen, and have had their brooms and flashy red curling pants on display for the world to see. And they are getting lots of love from the Best Team in the World in the form of endorsement and publicly praising the Ice Pad.

The word is that business is booming since the episode – with on-line orders a plenty and club pro-shops jumping on board.

Of course, I have a self-interest in promoting these guys in that they also sponsor ME, but this is an easy story to get behind and cheer for the underdog! The little company from Quebec that is ready to take off and lead the next revolution of curling brooms! I can’t wait to see what these guys will do next! Here is a link to their appearance Hardline on DD