The Eye Opener - Day 8 Edition

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Scottish skip David Murdoch (left) was on his game again Friday in the Page 1/2 playoff game against Canada. Later it was handshakes all around following a 7-5 win.

Murdoch guides his team to final with impressive win over Canada

60

Saturday, April 11, 2009 2

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Saturday, April 11, 2009 3

Canadian skip Kevin Martin was often baffled by the ice against the Scots. At times, he had to turn away when things didnʼt turn out his way.

”They put more pressure on us than we put on them.

We found it hard to make good shots.”

— Canadian skip Kevin Martin on his 7-5 loss to Scotland

Goliath rocked again Scottish David fells giant again to reach final

By LARRY WOOD Eye Opener Editor

I

s Team Invincible no longer? Is this a Genuine David on the verge of slaying curling’s Goliath?

Scotland’s David Murdoch moved 66 per cent down the path to killing the beast and winning the Ford World men’s curling championship on Friday at the Coliseum, defeating Canada’s Kevin Martin for the second straight night.

The 7-5 decision propelled Scotland to Sunday’s 7:30 p.m. champion final for the second straight year while Martin, who won 10 in a row in the round-robin preliminary but has lost the last two, tumbled into today’s semi-final at 4 p.m.

Martin last lost two in a row at the Canada Cup last month but nobody remembers the last time his team lost three straight, to one team or a bunch.

“We’ll see them again Sunday,” said Murdoch later. “No doubt. They’ll be in the final for sure. They’re the world champs.

They’ll be cranked up for us next time.

“Three in a row? Well, it’d be hard to believe. It would be just one of those amazing things to win the gold-medal game and beat the best team in the world three times in a row. We’re going to be trying hard for that and hopefully it happens.

Martin has some difficulty believe the weight on his rocks in the second end and the Scots rapped him for three. Then they stole a single and a 4-1 edge in the fourth after a blank third when Martin was short on another draw.

The Canadians pulled within one point three more times but a tenacious Murdoch wouldn’t let his foe close the deal.

“They put more pressure on us than we put on them,” assessed Martin. “We found it hard to make good shots. So, hats off to them, they made us make more tough ones and it’s just hard to do that.”

Said Murdoch: “We’ve tried to model ourselves at competing on the same level as these guys.

“Playing the same type of game as Kevin plays and Glenn Howard, that’s why we spend so much time practising and training

hard and coming over here to play in bonspiels. You really have to tough it out. There’ll be ends where you’re aligned well but there’ll be ends when you’re going to be in trouble and you have to make those big shots to bail out. If not you’re losing some big ends.”

Murdoch executed such a rock in the seventh end, executing a bailout double to rest between two Martin counters and take away a potential multiple count with the Canuck skip in possession of the hammer.

“I think we called a good tactical game against them but they’re tough to play against. They never let up,” said the Scottish skip, who directed Ewan MacDonald, Peter Smith and Euan Byers.

“Maybe they’re not used to being down every game. They’ve won so many games here where the got up early. They haven’t done that against us.”

Martin tonight will play the winner of this morning’s sudden-death Page Three-Four playoff involving Norway and Switzerland.

Favourites to advance in afternoon tiebreakers, Ulsrud and his team were back in form in hammering John Shuster’s

Americans from Duluth, Minn., 10-2.

Stoeckli had more difficulty in his quest for a sixth straight victory. But his Basel team scored three in the fourth end against veteran Andy Kapp of Germany to erase a two-point deficit, then assumed complete control with another triple-count in the seventh end en route to an 8-7 duke.

Tied heading for home with the hammer, Switzerland’s last-rock dispenser avoided a guard and executed a takeout with the last rock which remaining in the rings for the winning point.

All four teams had completed the roundrobin portion of the world men’s championship with 7-and-4 records. But Ulsrud’s team had shown signs of cracking in the late going while the Swiss had been coming on strong from a slow start.

“That is Team Norway for you,” said Ulsrud with a grin. “You never know what you’re going to get. You get mediocre, like yesterday, or get a game like today when the whole team makes everything.”

PLEASE SEE WORLDS P13

Saturday, April 11, 2009 4

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6 Saturday, April 11 2009

EDITOR Larry Wood ASSOCIATE EDITOR Dave Komosky INFO-CURL QUOTIDIEN: Normand Leger PHOTOGRAPHER Mike Burns Jr. PUBLISHED BY: The Times&Transcript

The Wood file O

nce again, activity at this latest Ford Worlds indicates a longstanding and massive problem facing the game of

curling.

All together now . . . “The game’s too long”!

Both the world and national administrations have been trying to address the issue for some time with little success. Wheels have been spinning in neutral. But word is they’ll be put in blinding motion once the 2010 Winter Olympics are history.

There seems to be agreement on fixed timing. That is, three hours should be more than ample time to complete a 10-end curling game. Anybody disagree?

A lot of people, including some of those past greats who were mingling with the Moncton masses last weekend, fail to understand why these games drag on and on while the hour hand spins. Back in the days of the Richardsons and Northcotts, 12-end games were played in less than two-and-one-half hours.

There was a lot of banging involved in the Richardson strategy, indeed that of most Saskatchewan teams because of the straight, keen club ice that still prevails in wheatie precincts.

That produced quicker play and shorter games.

But it wasn’t the case with Northcott in Alberta. He and his prime nemesis Hector Gervais of Edmonton were junkmasters, extraordinaire. From the first end on, there wasn’t a rock dropped short of the rings that either skip wouldn’t immediately duck behind.

And still they played a dozen ends and still they wrapped it up closer to two hours than three. On ice that was totally unpredictable compared to the easy-to-read current frozen surfaces of today.

All right, so the game has evolved and more complexities have been entered into the equation.

Icemaking is far more important nowadays and maintaining good ice takes time. Some even are wont to suggest the ice is too good — hence there are far more shots available for the making, hence there are far more decisions to make on every shot.

“No matter where you put your rock,” says Hans Wuthrich, the headmaster of the freeze at the Coliseum this week, “you’re never safe any more. We make the ice too good. Dou-

Lengthy discussions by players over the next shot are stretching games to the max. ble-raise takeouts are commonplace. They’re like open hits used to be.

“Some say we should make the ice tougher, like it used to be. But, of course, we can’t do that.”

Television has boosted the game no-end and, at the same time, slowed the pace with between-end advertising. And television wants more advertising spots and shorter games, to boot.

More and more new countries are taking up the game and when the greenhorns reach this world championship level it shows. If they were able, some of these teams would take a timeout in advance of every teehead decision, to say nothing of every shot.

The nabobs figured the installation of time clocks would solve this conundrum but there’s not much evidence to suggest the tickers have been effective. Maybe if time-outs were abolished or drastically reduced or downtime rather than playing-time was clocked, it might help.

Patti Wuthrich, wife of the aforementioned freezemaster, conducted a study a few years ago in Manitoba; not on time employed for curling but time wasted during curling games. The results, unavailable here, were frightening.

“I think there are numerous ways to reach a three-hour package,” says Canadian Curling Association CEO Greg Stremlaw. “And reducing the length of the game to eight ends isn’t one of them.”

Stremlaw points out that the paying cus-

LARRY WOOD

tomer in the arena merits abundant consideration here and eight-end games in no way addresses the wants or needs of the fans.

“That Wednesday-morning draw paints a pretty clear picture of everything that’d be wrong with reducing to eight ends,” Stremlaw says.

On that particular shift, three of the four matches were conceded in six ends. And those Wednesday-morning ticket-buyers were in grave danger of being ripped off.

Only the Chinese, the most plodding of the dozen teams at play in the Coliseum, saved the situation by extending their debate with Denmark to 11 ends. This game endured for more than 60 minutes after all other combatants had departed the premises.

So what kind of scary would this present if curling suddenly was reduced to eight ends?

A lot of games could be decided in four. In fact, quite of few games on the Slam circuit are conceded that early. Try selling that kind of abridgement to the live fan. It wouldn’t be long before it would make total sense to reduce live venues and book all competitions into over-sized TV studios.

But enough of eight ends. This curmudgeon has been harping against the possibility for years and the change apparently is no closer to transpiring.

As Greg Stremlaw says, there are other avenues to pursue. There have to be.

The obvious first move might be dumping timeouts. The second obvious move might be to reduce the time allotted for playing a game.

Some suggest the FGZ has taken all the suspense out of lead rocks, dictating that the

choices of shots for a lead have been reduced to a precious few. And if TV dropped in its commercials while the leads were throwing, it would eliminate teams standing around in the arena twiddling their collective thumbs between ends.

“Yup, either the first one in the rings and the second one on top or corner guard and second one around,” says Wuthrich. “But what about the first guy playing those shots?

He’d never be on TV. He wouldn’t be very happy about that.”

TV people say they don’t want to disturb “the integrity of the game” by eliminating lead rocks. So officials say the idea is a nonstarter.

“It’s a vicious circle,” says Wuthrich. “The reason we had to go to a free guard zone was ice conditions were not made for good play.

If we had never ever had that ice problem we’d never ever have needed to go to an FGZ. But on today’s ice, I don’t think you need the FGZ any more. Skips will go behind guards because the ice curls enough to make it feasible. And that would open up play for the leads again.”

Adds Jack MacDuff of Moncton, the first fabled Newfoundlander to win a Brier, circa 1976: “I don’t know a curler who’d want to play lead under the current setup. It’s really a thankless position.”

So do we toughen up the ice, experiment with scrapping the FGZ, dump timeouts, squeeze the clock?

Whatever the fix, one constant remains without it. All together now . . .

Saturday, April 11, 2009 7

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Saturday, April 11, 2009 8

Host committee

Chairman Jim Lockyer put on a tremendous show for Moncton this year.

By DAVE KOMOSKY Eye Opener Associate Editor

I

t began with a flourish — an opening ceremonies that may have set a new standard for curling events in the country.

And it will end the same way on Sunday, it has been promised, with a feast for the eyes and ears.

In between, except for one huge hiccup, the 2009 Ford World men’s curling championship in Moncton will go down as one of the best international curling events on several levels.

“Had it not been for an 80-degree day on the first day of play,” says event chairman Jim Lockyer, “it would have been flawless.”

Indeed, from an organizing aspect, to attendance, to the grace and courtesy of the 500 volunteers, these Worlds will be remembered for a long time.

“Very satisfying,” says Lockyer, a law professor at the Universite´ de Moncton, who took over the position 21 months ago and ran his ship with clocklike precision. “We wanted this to be a memorable event, and by Sunday we’ll be there. I’ve received good feedback from just about everybody I’ve bumped into as I walked the rink and the Patch. And I was heartened by the fact even members of the media joined in and said this was really and truly and outstanding event.”

Still, it was hard to avoid the one bump along the road. After Friday’s spectacular opening ceremonies — a gala event of music and dance at the Coliseum, attended by a full crowd of 6,000 — the first day of competi-

tion on Saturday turned into a potential disaster as a warm spring day outside turned the Coliseum into a hot house and the ice a frosty goo. For a few nervous hours, there was a question of how — or even if — the problem could be solved.

But it was solved, anxiety was soothed, and the rest of the week carried on beautifully.

Lockyer admitted it was a tense time, especially since the event was just getting off the ground.

“Everyone was concerned,” he says. “The situation presented a challenge. We needed to make some changes in the dehumidification process in the building. But we approached the city and the city said ‘what do you need, what’s it going to take and how soon can we fix it?’

“So within eight hours, we had the entire building stabilized. From then on it, it’s been flawless.

“The actual fact is even though it was a hot day outside, and quite hot inside, the temperature had not yet started to affect the ice.

We weren’t far away, but it didn’t.”

Lockyer, naturally, would rather talk about all the good things that happened this week,

and there was many of them.

He starts with the volunteers, who he said were the backbone of the event.

“Our volunteers have been essentially: ‘Can do, will do, what’s it going to take, and let’s get at it,” he says. “They are a statement about Greater Moncton and what it wants to project to the national and international stage.

It was a privilege to get to know these volunteers.”

The opening ceremonies, meanwhile, will be talked about in these parts for a long time.

“We presented something in the order of a $1-million show on a budget of about $54,000,” he says. “So we broke even, in large measure because virtually all the performers donated their time. They wanted to be here. In terms of performance, there wasn’t one that wasn’t absolutely superb.”

Lockyer says he wanted to put on a spectacular opening ceremonies for two reasons.

“It’s the 50th anniversary of the world men and we knew it had to be something special,” he says. “We wanted to start the championship off with a full house, because the more people you get in, many may come back.

“The president of the WCT is from Moncton and we wanted to do something for Les Harrison,” he adds. “He brought the championship here and we wanted to make him proud of what this community could do.”

The Moncton event also received an unexpected bonus. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in town for a major announcement with the provincial premier, and made a guest appearance on Wednesday.

Lockyer tipped his hat to the MP. “I have to give him full marks,” he says.

“He came in, spent time talking to curlers, getting photos, giving autographs. He made himself available. It was great for the championship, great for curling.”

Lockyer says his job was simplified by the tremendous support he received from his own committee and the Canadian Curling Association.

“At no particular time were we submerged in the job,” he says. “There was an orderly progression throughout. The CCA provided just a great team, doing a lot of the things that a host committee cannot do, like fundraising and national publicity. That took a huge amount of things off our plate.”

Lockyer says the Moncton event should be a financial success.

“Attendance has been good all along,” he says. “We anticipate we’ll hit our targets in the coming weekend. And the Patch has done well. We’re pleased with everything.”

The Worlds will produce an economic spinoff of between $12-15 million for Moncton, and Lockyer says that’s important as the city moves forward.

“We’re trying to trying to position this community for a new Metro Centre — a 10,00-to-12,000-seat arena,” he says. “That’s another reason this event had to be successful. We have the 2010 world junior track and field championships in here next year — 3,000 athletes, 178 countries for 2 1/2 weeks.

We feel with that event, and our event being successful, we'll be in a position to go, with credibility, to various funding sources to build a new arena.

“And once we’ve done that, we’d love to have the worlds again.”

Saturday, April 11, 2009 9

Host city, 2010

By LARRY WOOD Eye Opener Editor

S

wift Current organizers are selling an early respite from winter when the Ford World Women’s Curling Championship holds forth in their precinct next March.

“The ranchlands of southwestern Saskatchewan are one of the most beautiful parts of this country,” says host-committee co-chair Barbara Walter.

“We have a unique area. By the last week of March (20-28) it will be spring. We have much milder winters than the rest of Saskatchewan.”

Walter — “I tell everybody that if I had an ‘s’ on the end of my name I’d make way more money” — and co-chair Bryan Tallon are heading up a group of committee execs checking out the Ford Worlds in Moncton.

Next year, the women’s event that played Vernon, B.C., a year ago will return to Canada while the men’s championship moves to Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

Walter says the Women’s Worlds will be staged in a 2,500-seat arena, home of the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League.

“Our arena underwent a $15-million renovation in 2007,” she adds.

“We’ll hold the whole show under one roof. The Patch will be in our curling club.

And it’s part of the arena complex, too.”

If the event matches last year’s at Vernon the Swift Current organizers will be more than happy. Competition was skin tight at Vernon, something apart from what’s been on display at the Coliseum .

“We’re a year away and we haven’t nailed down all our plans,” says Walter, “but we’ll have some other interesting events tied in with the championship.”

Among other things, a Grand Transoceanic Match is planned at a curling club in a smaller town nearby.

“But several area clubs have shown interest in hosting international visitors and we’re hoping to organize something like more expansive.

“They did that when the Silver Broom was in Regina years ago. I recall that my hometown, Weyburn, hosted the Swiss. I know my mother cooked breakfast for a large contingent of Swiss people.”

Swift Current, a city of 17,000 with an area draw of 55,000, is a real hotbed of curl-

Barbara Walter and co-chair Bryan Tallon are heading up a group of Swift Current committee executives checking out the Ford Worlds in Moncton.

ing, Walter says.

“We had the provincial women’s championship at the end of January and we turned people away three nights in a row. We sold out.

“We’ve hosted the national mixed (1993) and juniors (1982) and lots of provincial events so we have an experienced crew of people organizing curling events.”

Known affectionately in some quarters as Speedy Creek, Walter’s home city is the

same size as Yorkton, site of the Canada Cup last month.

“We were there learning how to set up a Patch,” Walter says. “We also were in Calgary for the Brier, primarily for ticket promotion. But the Moncton committee has been absolutely wonderful. We’ve learned a whole lot about hosting an international event here.

The people have been so generous with their time and all their knowledge about this.”

Enthusiasm, meanwhile, is rampant back

home.

“The community is really excited because it’s the first time we’ve ever hosted an international event. This is a really big deal for us.

People want to be part of it.”

Walter’s committee has had no difficulty recruiting volunteers, of which 350 to 400 will be required.

Tickets for the Ford Women’s Worlds went on sale at the beginning of March.

“We were optimistic,” says Walter of ticket sales that began at the beginning of March.

“But sales have been much better than we expected. This thing will sell out before it starts. We’ve been telling folks, if they want to be sure of participation, they better buy now.”

And not only that. There are only 16 hotels and four B&Bs in town.

Would-be visitors also should think about booking their accommodation early.

10 Saturday, April 11, 2009

Par Normand Léger

Info-curl quotidien

Moncton se dévoile au monde

Les Harrison heureux que le 50e du mondial soit présenté à Moncton.

Le président de la Fédération mondiale de curling, Les Harrison de Moncton, ne pourrait être plus heureux en voyant l’action et surtout le travail des membres du comité organisateur de ce Championnat mondial de curling masculin Ford au Colisée de Moncton.

Harrison a dit avoir participé à plusieurs championnats mondiaux et à trois Jeux olympiques, mais que sa fierté demeure le fait d’avoir pu présenter le championnat mondial dans sa ville de Moncton avec ses amis. « Ce Championnat mondial a certainement placé Moncton sur la carte du curling, a dit Harrison lors d’une pause cette semaine. Le fait que nous diffusons en Europe, en Asie et aux États-Unis à travers la télévision donne beaucoup de publicité à Moncton. Il y a déjà 29 ans que le Balai d’argent Air Canada a été présenté ici et de voir les gens au Colisée cette semaine pour un autre championnat mondial est formidable. » Harrison a rappelé que c’est en 2003 que lui et trois autres personnes de la région ont rencontré l’Association canadienne de curling afin d’attirer à Moncton une compétition d’envergure, comme le championnat canadien

féminin. Cependant suivant certaines à décisions entourant ce championnat, Harrison a décidé de tourner son attention vers le mondial en raison du 50e anniversaire. « J’ai consulté les autres envoyant que nous n’avions pas de réponse au sujet du tournoi des femmes et je leur ai suggéré le championnat mondial. C’est alors que nous sommes retournés voir l’association canadienne pour leur demander leur appui pour présenter le championnat et le reste est de l’histoire. Il a fallu ensuite trouver un comité organisateur et Jim Lockyer a été choisi comme président.

Nous sommes témoins de l’un des meilleurs tournois mondial ici à Moncton et aucun délégué des autres pays n’a eu de plainte. Il y a des gens qui assistent à ce tournoi depuis 20 ans et ils sont émerveillés. » Harrison a rappelé le succès des cérémonies d’ouverture et des nombreux commentaires positifs qu’il reçoit encore de la part des spectateurs. « J’en ai vu plusieurs et c’est le meilleur jusqu’à présent. Tous les bénévoles font un travail exceptionnel. » Harrison est dans la première année d’un

mandat de deux ans à la tête de la Fédération mondiale de curling. Il dit qu’il voyage beaucoup et qu’il devra décider s’il soumettra sa candidature pour un autre mandat de deux ans lors du championnat à Cortina, Italie, en avril 2010. « J’aime bien ce travail, mais c’est exigent et je ne sais pas si je vais continuer ou non. Je pars pour la Nouvelle-Zélande suivant ce championnat. Je dois ajouter que l’équipe du Canada fait très bien et que c’est une machine bien huilée même si elle a remporté le championnat du monde l’an dernier. » Ancien joueur de curling, Harrison s’adonne aux activités de ce sport depuis 1960. Il n’a plus le temps de jouer à son club Beaver, cependant il participe au Monctonian en novembre de chaque année et il a remporté ce tournoi pour la première fois en 2008, soit à sa 34e participation. Il a été président du Beaver Curling Club, a siégé à l’Association de curling du Nouveau-Brunswick, a représenté le NB au sein de l’Association canadienne et ensuite représenté le Canada à la Fédération mondiale. Il est président de celle-ci depuis trois ans.

La vidéo influence le jeu de l’équipe américaine

Brian MacWilliams avec sa caméra vidéo lors du match dʼhier.

Les spectateurs au Colisée de Moncton cette semaine auront vu que la majorité des équipes avaient des gens qui prenaient en vidéo tous les matches de leur équipe du Championnat mondial de curling masculin Ford.

Brian MacWilliams, le physiothérapeute de sa formation, s’est occupé de la vidéo de l’équipe américaine cette semaine et il a regardé les matches à travers la lentille de la caméra. « Nous prenons la vidéo pour deux raisons, a-t-il mentionné. Nous pouvons alors analyser la performance des joueurs lors de la partie, voir comment ils glissent sur la surface de la glace et également étudier les techniques utilisées lors de la rencontre. Nous pouvons aussi réviser nos stratégies et tactiques en plus de pouvoir bien voir le jeu de nos opposants dans de telle ou telle situation. Je m’en sers également pour analyser la performance des joueurs blessés et je peux mieux adapter les traitements au besoin. » L’équipe américaine est assez jeune et les joueurs sont de Duluth, au Minnesota. Le plus âgé est le pre-

mier, John Benton à 39 ans. Les autres ont 25 (second Jeff Isaacson et troisième Jason Smith) et 27 ans, le skip John Shuster. Cette formation a perdu contre 102 contre la Norvège lors de la partie de bris d’égalité vendredi après-midi. Ces également cette formation qui représentera les États-Unis aux Jeux olympiques de Vancouver en 2010.

Une fois de retour à la maison, l’équipe va commencer à réviser les vidéos des matchs parce que plusieurs des équipes présentes à Moncton cette semaine seront à Vancouver en février prochain.

L’entraîneur Brian Simonson fera une étude des vidéos afin de préparer l’équipe pour les Jeux olympiques. Il va analyser la performance de ses protégés en plus d’étudier les tactiques et jeux des opposants pour mieux jouer à Vancouver. « Les joueurs aiment bien se revoir sur la vidéo parce que plus de 80 pour cent des gens apprennent en voyant, a ajouté MacWilliams. Ils ont ensuite la chance de corriger des techniques et des jeux. Je sais que ce travail aura une grosse influence sur le jeu de notre équipe à Vancouver.

Saturday, April 11, 2009 11

Juniors slapped with booze ban WCF adopts zero tolerance policy on rowdies

By BILL GRAVELAND

Special to the Eye Opener

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onâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take that shot, kids!

The exuberance of youth will be severely curtailed at all future world junior events after the World Curling Federation voted this week to ban all alcohol consumption.

Late-night and late-week hijinks that have marred several events over the years â&#x20AC;&#x201D; most recently at the junior menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in Vancouver last month â&#x20AC;&#x201D; will no longer be tolerated.

Unlike events such as the Ford Worlds here in Moncton, the junior championships do not have a Keithâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Patch which serves as the official watering hole GRAVELAND for curlers and fans.

But since many of the juniors are legally old enough to drink, they can go out to bars and bring booze back to their rooms and to their under-age teammates. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Some of the countries, like Canada, which has had problems in the past with minors, laid down the law and said there will be no alcohol at their events,â&#x20AC;? explained Les Harrison of Moncton, president of the World Curling Federation.

Canada cracked down in the mid-Nineties. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In European countries theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re used to drinking at a much younger age, however some of those 18-, 19-year-olds are not handling it well when they really want to party,â&#x20AC;? said Harrison. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We only have had issues after the main competitions are over and we get to Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night and what else do those eliminated have to do but party?â&#x20AC;?

Big problems reared their heads in Vancouver.

There was heavy drinking by many members of teams and someone yanked a hotel fire alarm in the middle of the night.

Harrison said this week that teams from Canada, the U.S., Japan, China and Korea behaved at Vancouver while others did not.

The ban, which also includes the Pacific junior curling championships and the European junior curling challenge was difficult to sell to some member countries, Harrison said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We made an impassioned plea to all of our members and they were never in agreement with that over the years but they see our problems and, finally, they said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;do itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. So weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got the green light.â&#x20AC;?

He said a decision on the penalties for those players caught drinking has not been made but it could involve fines, suspensions or even players being sent home immediately following a violation.

John Morris, Team Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s third at the Ford Worlds, cut a wide swath of his own on the party circuit while winning two gold medals at the World Juniors in 1998 and 1999. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When we went to the Juniors we certainly had a good time and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sort of how we grew up curling with the likes of Eddie Werenich and Neil Harrison,â&#x20AC;? recalled Morris. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One of my favourite quotes from Neil is, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Toronto curlers drink, draw and winâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.â&#x20AC;?

But Morris, who did adhere to the no-alcohol ban when he was playing Canadian juniors, said the move at the world level makes sense. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If I was making the rules I probably wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t allow drinking for juniors until the last banquet and if they wanted to let loose and have a good time there, that would be it.â&#x20AC;?

But the Canadian Curling Association found that allowing any drinking at the junior events proved disastrous and the WCF move is long overdue. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We started the move back in the late 1980s and I think it culminated in 1993 when about 15 people, including coaches, were suspended for a year because of alcohol,â&#x20AC;? said Warren Hansen, director of Event Operations for the CCA. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was then that we decided it was not going to be tolerated and since that point it has not been an issue,â&#x20AC;? he added.

Shawn Adams of Bridgewater, N.S. won the 1993 Canadian junior title but was stripped of the championship because of alcohol violations after the victory. Adams and his teammates were of legal drinking age but junior rules stipulated no drinking during the event. It cost the Nova Scotia skip a scheduled chance to represent Canada at the Worlds the next year.

Norwayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Thomas Ulsrud has his doubts that the ban at the World Juniors will work. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s good for very young curlers but I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to be tough for them when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got guys 18, 19 or 20 who want to party,â&#x20AC;? Ulsrud said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Some parties involving alcohol get out of control. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been there, done that, myself. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good thing or a bad thing but I think it will be hard to keep that rule. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to be tough for them because people like to have a good time.â&#x20AC;?

(Graveland is a Canadian Press sportswriter)

Saturday, April 11, 2009 12

Autograph Session Proudly sponsored by Hansen Signs Former world champions and the 12 participating teams have been available for autographs in The Patch throughout the week. Today, 10 of the 12 teams will be on hand. Bring your camera for a lasting memento.

Schedule: TODAY 2-3 p.m.

All participating teams except the semi-finalists

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Saturday, April 11, 2009 13

STANDINGS Canada (Martin) Scotland (Murdoch) *SUI (Stoeckli) *Norway (Ulsrud) ——— USA (Shuster) Germany (Kapp) Denmark (Schmidt) France (Dufour) China (Wang) Japan (Morozumi) Czech Rep. (Snitil) Finland (Kiiskinen)

W 10 9 8 8

L 2 3 4 4

DRAW SCHEDULE

7 5 7 5 5 6 4 7 4 7 3 8 3 8 1 10

TODAY

* — Won tiebreakers

LINESCORES FRIDAY TIEBREAKERS 3 p.m.

Norway (Ulsrud) USA (Shuster) NOR Vad Petersson Svae Nergaard Ulsrud TEAM

S 13 14 14 14 55

210 220 3xx x 001 001 0xx x P 43 49 53 56 201

Germany (Kapp) SUI (Stoeckli) GER Kempf Hoehne Lang Kapp TEAM

S 20 20 20 19 79

Germanyʼs skip Andy Kapp goes horizontal as he watches his stone.

% 83 88 95 100 91

USA Benton Isaacson Smith Shuster TEAM

— — S 14 14 14 14 56

201 002 011 0 010 300 300 1 P 69 70 67 60 266

% 86 88 84 79 84

SUI Struebin Eggler Hauser Stoeckli TEAM

P 53 41 42 33 169 — —

S 20 20 22 21 80

P 73 71 68 63 272

10 2

Worlds

% 95 73 75 59 75

From Page 3

7 8 % 91 89 77 75 85

ONE-TWO GAME 7:30 p.m.

Canada (Martin) Scotland (Murdoch)

100 020 101 0 030 101 010 1

CAN Hebert Kennedy Morris Martin TEAM

% 96 81 79 72 82

S 20 20 20 19 79

P 77 65 63 55 260

B.C. S Byers 20 Smith 20 MacDonald 20 Murdoch 20 TEAM 80

— — P 78 53 71 64 266

5 7 % 98 66 89 80 83

Conceded after seven ends with Ulsrud scored at 100 per cent on his boulders, Norway had pummelled the Yanks with a 3-0 spot in two ends two additional deuces and a closing three. The Norwegians outcurled the U.S. 91 to 75 and skip Shuster was scored at 59 per cent.

“I mucked it up in the first end,” said Shuster.

“I noticed he didn’t miss but we didn’t make him throw any tough shots. It was a lousy way to end the week but we’ll remember we made a tiebreaker at the Worlds playing our C or D game.”

Ulsrud seemed confused by his own team’s turnaround after a bad game on Thursday.

“I wish I knew why we’re mediocre one day and we feel we can beat anybody the next,” said Ulsrud, a tanning salon operator from Oslo.

“I need to find that answer.”

But he said his Norwegians are brimming with confidence now.

“We still have a pretty good shot at this,” he added. “We play Switzerland a lot in Europe. We know each other pretty well.”

Stoeckli agreed.

“Norway is a really good team,” he said. “It will be a tough game but we know we can beat them.”

Stoeckli, whose team is directed by second player Markus Eggler, the 1992 world champion

skip, said “stupid mistakes” cost Germany.

“That kept us in the game early, actually,” he said. “They were all over us for a while.”

Martin insisted that his team was throwing well enough to win any game. But lead Ben Hebert told Allen Cameron of CanWest News he thought the loss was “embarrassing”.

“That’s the worst game I think we’ve played as a team since I’ve been on the team,” Hebert allowed. “We never have ever played as bad like that as a team. And it’s not just that we played bad. We got zero breaks. And they curled good enough that they actually didn’t need the breaks.”

Martin said “it’s tough to get results out there”.

“It’s tough to play an offensive game. Maybe we have to come back and play a little more defensively on that ice and just stay close.

“I mean, I threw one I thought was light and it went to the back line, then I threw another against the one in the four-foot in the fourth and came up light. Same weight, but the rocks ended up eight feet difference in weight and three feet different in line.

“Maybe I’m just not accurate any more,” he added, laughing.

“It’s frustrating when you can’t figure out the ice and what’s going on. No question about that.

But I don’t think we’re in big trouble.

“And at least I’ve been consistent this week.

I’ve said it when we were winning 10 in a row that it was tricky out there. Now we’ve lost a couple and it still is. At least I’m consistent.”

10 a.m.

PAGE 3/4 PLAYOFF Norway (Thomas Ulsrud) vs.

Switzerland (Ralph Stoeckli) Winner advances to semi-final, loser to bronze-medal game SEMI-FINAL 4 p.m.

Canada (Kevin Martin) vs.

Winner 3/4 game (Winner advances to final, loser to bronze-medal game) SUNDAY BRONZE MEDAL 1 p.m.

FINAL 7:30 p.m.

Scotland (David Murdoch) vs.

Winner of semi-final

Saturday, April 11, 2009 14

Thank T han nk Y You ou o to the to the 2009 World World Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Curling Championship Curli ng Ch hampionship

Friends Fri ends Sponsors Sponsors

Jet Ice Ice c Ltd. Ltd. t Green Vi V Village llage

30 SM8587

Saturday, April 11, 2009 15

Silver Brooms dusted off, displayed

By DAVE KOMOSKY Eye Opener Associate Editor

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The Silver Broom trophies on display.

wo iconic trophies, joined in name and largely forgotten for decades, may be getting a new lease on life.

The Air Canada Silver Broom trophies â&#x20AC;&#x201D; yes, there are two of them â&#x20AC;&#x201D; have been rescued from obscurity and have come together to be put on display at the Ford Worlds in Moncton this week.

And if curling officials have anything to say about it, they will take their proper place as permanent memorabilia from a glorious age in international curling. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ideally, they should be part of a permanent collection and on display every year at the world championship,â&#x20AC;? says Warren Hansen, director of Event Operations for the Canadian Curling Association. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They should really belong in the hands of the World Curling Federation.â&#x20AC;?

The circuitous route the two trophies took to come to Moncton this week is a story of perseverance on behalf of several people who discov-

ered the artifacts â&#x20AC;&#x201D; both neglected and hidden away, thousands of miles from one another.

The original Silver Broom trophy was first awarded in 1968 when Air Canada took over sponsorship of the world menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s curling championship, but it was a rather crude piece of work and was replaced by more a sophisticated version after the 1979 season. The second trophy was awarded from 1980 to â&#x20AC;&#x2122;85, after which it was retired when Air Canada dropped its sponsorship.

But after that, they just disappeared into the mist, until a concerted effort was launched recently to track them down.

Winnipegger Jamie Hay is responsible for rescuing one of the trophies. Hay, who used to work for Air Canada, knew as early as 1994 that a trophy resided in a Switzerland curling club because friends had been there and sent him a picture.

The trophy, the first one introduced, had been in the hands of Tony Schoen, the former public relations director of Air Canada who retired to Switzerland. He displayed the trophy first in his restaurant, and then the local curling club where the picture was taken.

Four years later, Hay was contacted by an

Air Canada vice-president who was looking for memorabilia for a company museum. Hay told the VP of his friendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s discovery in Switzerland and urged the airline to try and reacquire the trophy. Later, the VPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s assistant called Hay to inform him that the trophy had been discovered in a Montreal warehouse.

The airline shelved plans for the museum, and when Hay was contacted about what to do with the trophy, he had it shipped to Winnipeg.

However, on delivery Hay noticed it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the Silver Broom Trophy he had seen in the photograph. It turned out he had the second trophy.

Hay kept the trophy at home, bringing it out occasionally over the nine years since to show to friends and family. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I had it in my basement for a long time, but I absolutely thought that was the wrong place for it,â&#x20AC;? Hay told the Winnipeg Free Press. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want the responsibility.â&#x20AC;?

Schoen, meanwhile, retired to Victoria with the original and kept it in his basement. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s where it was discovered last summer and, following Schoenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death, arrangements were made with his widow to have the trophy retrieved.

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