Eye Opener - Curling Canada

OFF AND WINNING
Issue 2 – Sunday, March 20, 2016 • An Official Publication of Curling Canada
Japan, Russia jump out of the blocks
It’s hugs all around for skip
Satsuki Fujisawa (right)
and Team Japan after
winning their first two
games Saturday.
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Page 2
2016 Ford World Women’s Curling Championship
It was a bittersweet day for Russian skip Anna
Sidorova (left), who won her opening two games.
Above, former world champion Binia Feltscher of
Switzerland won her first start of the
championship.
A bittersweet day
Airplane crash casts pall over Team Russia’s 2-0 start
T
By CAM HUTCHINSON
Eye Opener Associate Editor
eam Russia emerged from the first day of play at
the Ford World Women’s Curling championship,
presented by Meridian, with a perfect 2-0 record and
with heavy hearts.
Sixty-two people died Saturday when an airliner travelling
from Dubai to the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don crashed. The
Russian team wore black arm bands Saturday evening as a
tribute to those who lost their lives in the crash.
Team Russia which includes skip Anna Sidorova,
third Margarita Fomina, second Alexandra Raeva, lead
Nkeiruka Ezekh, alternate Alina Kovaleva and coaches
Svetlana Kalalb and Rodger Schmidt, defeated Finland
7-4 on the evening draw. Earlier in the day, they defeated
Italy 8-2.
Russia was in control from the get-go in its two games.
It dispatched Italy in eight ends, and the result was never in
doubt in the nightcap. Finnish skip Oona Kauste did make
one of the shots of the day — a triple takeout for a twoender. It narrowed the gap to two points after seven ends,
but that is as close as the Finns got.
Sidorova was pleased with the results, but sombre when
asked about the plane crash in her homeland.
“We wanted to support the relatives of those who are not
with us anymore,” she said of the armbands.
Japan won both of its games to join Russia atop the
standings. Team Japan, skipped by Satsuki Fujisawa, defeated Finland 7-5 in its opening game and finished the day
with a 10-3 win over Italy.
See BITTERSWEET
Page 4
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Extra special
Canada claws back for win in 11th
I
By CAM HUTCHINSON
Eye Opener Associate Editor
t wasn’t the start Chelsea Carey wanted, but
the ending was just fine for the skip of Team
Canada on the opening draw at the Ford World
Women’s Curling Championship, presented by
Meridian.
The Canadians spotted Denmark four points
before scratching and clawing their way to an 8-7
victory. It took a three-ender on the ninth and a
quiet hit and stick on an extra end for the win.
“We gave them a soft three on the first end,”
a relieved Carey said after the game. “We got a
little fooled by some spots on the ice. We stayed
patient and kept making shots and luckily enough
we were able to pull it off in the end.”
Without the hammer on the first end, Carey
got into it with the Danes. Lene Nielsen controlled
the house the whole way and had an open draw
for three when Carey missed a hit on a rock threequarters exposed.
Canada had a good second end going before
Nielsen made a beautiful draw to the top of the
button with her final rock. Carey was unable to
hit the little piece of button that was left, and
Denmark went up 4-0.
“I was thinking there is a lot of game left and
because there were some tricky spots both teams
are going to miss shots. It was stay patient, stay
patient,” Carey said. “We said before the game
we could get up four or we could get down four.
No matter what, approach it the same way and try
to make shots, learn the ice and go from there.”
Carey said the game was a learning experience.
“We learned a lot. I would approach the first
two ends differently with what we now know
about the ice that we really didn’t know coming
in. All you want to do the first few games is learn
a lot.”
Carey, third Amy Nixon, second Jocelyn
Peterman, lead Laine Peters, alternate Susan
O’Connor and national coach Elaine DaggJackson didn’t have to learn the hard way.
Canada’s comeback started in the third end
when they scored a pair. After a blank fourth, the
teams took off the gloves again in the fifth end.
Nielsen was facing four when she went to throw
her final rock, including two biting the four-foot.
Her final rock over-curled, giving Canada a steal
of one to make the score 4-3.
Carey had the Danes on the run again in the
sixth until a jam on her first rock put Nielsen
in a position to count two. The Danish skip —
backed by third Stephanie Risdal, second Isabella
Clemmensen, lead Charlotte Clemmensen,
alternate Madeleine Dupont and coach Ulrik
Schmidt — rolled out and scored just one point
to take a 5-3 lead. It would prove to be a costly
lost point.
Carey scored one on the seventh, and had the
Danes in all kinds of trouble in the eighth. Canada
was counting four, including three in the four-foot
when Nielsen went to throw her last rock. She
played a soft-weight hit and roll to count a single.
The ninth end looked pretty good for Denmark
until Risdal jammed a runback, sending Canada
on its way for a three-ender and its first lead of
the game — 7-6.
See EXTRA
Page 14
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Canadian
skip Chelsea
Carey
escaped with
a victory.
Page 3
Page 4
2016 Ford World Women’s Curling Championship
Bittersweet
FROM PAGE 2
Other members of the Japanese team are third Chinami Yoshida, second Yumi Suzuki, lead Yurika Yoshida, alternate Mari
Motohashi and coach J.D. Lind.
Lind was impressed with the play of his team, but said he sees
this championship as part of a bigger picture.
“This week is to gain some experience and see how they do. If
they play well, they will do great, but really the focus is on (getting prepared) for 2018.”
The 2018 of which he speaks is the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.
“With the teams that are more established, they want to win
the world championship to get momentum, but for us it’s the
learning process. But saying that, if the week goes well, we
would love to be there at the end of the week.”
He said playing on both draws Saturday was good for his
young team.
“We knew we had two games right off the bat and we were
anxious to play so it was good that we had the draw that we did.
They played really well. The key now is to maintain that through
the week which is the hard part.”
He said he told the team to have fun.
“One of the things we talked about before the event was
it is a big event and there is a lot on the line, but be yourself
out there. They really are happy-go-lucky. I said the fans love
to see that so be yourself, show your personality and the fans
will appreciate it.
“They had a great ovation when they came off tonight and I
think that is because they are laughing and being themselves.”
Canada won its only game of the day — winning an 8-7 extraend thriller against Denmark.
In the other evening games, Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson
defeated Eve Muirhead of Scotland 5-3 and Germany’s Daniela
Driendl topped Un Chi Gim of Korea 8-5. It was the first game
for all four teams.
There are draws at 9 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday at
the Credit Union iPlex. Canada is back on the ice Sunday
at 9 a.m. against Switzerland and again at 7 p.m. against
the U.S.
Third Anna Sloan
and her Scottish
teammates lost
their opener.
Q&A
With world curling fans
Today’s question: Who do you think will win this year’s world title?
SCOTLAND
“Eve Muirhead and the
Scots, because she’s awesome.
And because she kissed me
once on the cheek.”
— Cory “BootRock” Boutin
Swift Current, Saskatchewan
CANADA
“Canada, because they’re
due; it’s their turn to win.”
Saskatchewan’s favourite network.
Owned and operated by SaskTel!
— Laurie English
Simmie, Saskatchewan
SCOTLAND
“Eve Muirhead will do it.
She’s by far, head over heels,
cream of the crop, the best skip
here. (She’s not too bad on the
eyes either.)”
— Cliff Kohuch
Regina, Saskatchewan
CANADA
“Because I’m a patriot.”
— Brian Potter
Swift Current,
Saskatchewan
Boutin
RUSSIA
“We’ve watched them grow
and progress. Anna Sidorova is
really growing in confidence.”
— Dee Hopley
Nipawin, Saskatchewan
English
CANADA
“Chelsea Carey will do it!
She proves that she stays the
course, stays calm and follows
through. If you were to look
up to someone, she’s the one!
She’s a great leader and has
some greats girls behind her.”
— Sherry Andruschak
Regina, Saskatchewan
Hopley
Andruschak
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Page 5
WORLD SCOREBOARD
STANDINGS
Russia (Sidorova)
Japan (Fujisawa)
Canada (Carey)
Germany (Driendl)
Sweden (Sigfriddson)
Switzerland (Feltscher)
Scotland (Muirhead)
Denmark (Nielsen)
S. Korea (Gim)
United States (Brown)
Finland (Kauste)
Italy (Apollonia)
WL
2 0
2 0
1 0
1 0
1 0
1 0
0 1
0 1
0 1
0 1
0 2
02
SCHEDULE
LINESCORES
Draw 1
2:00 p.m.
USA (Brown)
Switzerland (Feltscher) 1 2345 67891011 Total
*1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 — 4
0 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 — 5
Japan (Fujisawa)
Finland (Kauste)
0 2 0 0 2 2 0 1 0 x
*1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 x
— 7
— 5
Russia (Sidorova)
Italy (Apollonio)
*2 1 3 0 0 1 0 1 x x
0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 x x
— 8
— 2
Canada (Carey)
Denmark (Nielsen)
0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 3 0 1 — 8
*3 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 — 7
Draw 2
7:00 p.m.
Italy (Apollonio)
Japan (Fujisawa)
0 0101 010x x — 3
*0 3 0 3 0 2 0 2 x x — 10
Scotland (Muirhead)
Sweden (Sigfridsson)
*0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 1
— 3
— 5
2:00 p.m. Draw
A — SWE vs. GER; B — FIN vs. ITA; C — JPN vs. RUS; D — SCO vs. S. KOR
Germany (Driendl)
S. Korea (Kim)
*0 3 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 x
0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 2 x
— 8
— 5
7:00 p.m. Draw
A — SUI vs. DEN; B — GER vs. SCO; C — S. KOR vs. SWE; D — USA vs. CAN
Russia (Sidorova)
Finland (Kauste) *10110 2020 x — 7
0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 x — 4
TODAY
9 a.m. Draw
B — DEN vs. USA; C — CAN vs. SUI
Finland’s Oona Kauste lost her opener to Russia.
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Page 6
Host city
By PATTI DAWN SWANSSON
1
Eye Opener Contributor
Roy Rogers had Trigger, Dale Evans
had Buttermilk, the Lone Ranger had
Silver, Gene Autry had Champion
and the city of Swift Current had
Blowtorch.
Difference is, unlike those TV and
movie horses, ol’ Blowtorch didn’t munch
on hay and oats and drink water—he was
a black-and-white, 600-lb., gas-guzzling
gelding with a nine-horsepower engine
tucked into his belly, a throttle hidden in
one of his stirrups and wheels positioned
under his hooves. He had a maximum of 12
km/h giddyup in his getalong.
As his creator, W.J. McIntrye, put it,
Blowtorch was “the only horse in the world
you had to choke to start.”
McIntyre, a tannery and foundry
business owner in Speedy Creek and
founder of the Inventors Association of
Canada in the 1950s, built three versions of
Blowtorch out of sheet metal, the original in
1947. During his time as a cause celebre at
county fairs and parades mostly in Western
Canada, Blowtorch attracted the attention
of Time magazine, Readers Digest, the
National Film Board and even Walt Disney.
There was also a song written about him.
Ol’ Blowtorch was put to pasture after
McIntyre’s death in 1965, but the inventor’s
son, Jim, thought it would be a swell idea to
saddle him up for one final 12-km/h gallop,
at the Swift Current parade in 1968.
D’oh!
With Allan Jacobs sitting tall in the
saddle, ol’ Blowtorch was rolling along
just fine until one of his wheels caught in
an expansion joint on an overpass. Rivets
started flying from Blowtorch’s joints
like bullets at the OK Corral. Suddenly,
his head fell off. Jacobs put it back in
place and fastened it with his bridle. Alas,
Blowtorch was on his last legs. Literally.
After rounding a corner, a bolt in one of
his right limbs snapped and both horse and
rider crashed to the ground, like Custer at
his last stand. Jacobs picked himself up,
dusted himself off, drew his toy pistol from
his holster and did what any good cowpoke
would do on the dusty trail—bang! He put
ol’ Blowtorch out of his mystery.
That was the last ride.
Ol’ Blowtorch was then sent to stud
at the Western Development Museum in
Moose Jaw, where he has sired exactly zero
gas-guzzling geldings.
10
2016 Ford World Women’s Curling Championship
things you should know
about visiting
Swift Current
Photo courtesy of Swift Current Tourism
4
5
The first teacher at Swift Current’s
first public school was paid $58.33 per
month, which could buy a whole lot of
candy bars.
Winnie Street, which is just a few
sheets of pebbled ice away from the
Credit Union iPlex, is named after a
pedigree bulldog named Winnie, who
was named after Winston Churchill. Winnie
the bulldog was a gift from the Kinetic Club
to the HMCS minesweeper Swift Current
and the ship’s mascot in 1943. Alas, the dog
died after losing an argument with an ox
while in port. Winnie was buried at sea with
full military honours in 1944. (We’re not
making this stuff up, folks.)
6
The gendarmes made an interesting
discovery in one of the many pretty
flower planters that dot the city streets
last July. Seems some wild-and-crazy
prankster thought it would be a hoot to mix
marijuana plants with the petunias between
the 200 and 300 blocks of Central Avenue
North. We all know, of course, that pot and
petunias don’t mix, so the RCMP went to
work with a weed whacker and whacked the
whacky tobaccy. What a trip, man.
7
Speaking of trips, the mayor of all the
people, Jerrod Schafer, found his bride
at the 2010 World Women’s Curling
Championship in Speedy Creek. That
would be Kelly Wood, who threw third
stones for Eve Muirhead’s Scottish team.
Three years later, the mayor and the wee
lass were standing in a Scottish castle
exchanging their I do’s.
8
Being in the heart of Canada’s
flatlands, Swift Current is a hockey
haven. Among the notables to
graduate from the Broncos to the
National Hockey League are Joe Sakic,
Bryan Trottier, Tiger Williams and Terry
Ruskowski. The latter two were hell-raising
holy terrors in the Western Canada Hockey
League, circa 1970s.
9
Speedy Creek’s most famous son, nonhockey division, has to be the leader of
all the land, Premier Brad Wall, whose
son Colter is a country crooner.
10
In the Dirty 30s, money was scarce,
so businesses took to bartering in
lieu of cash. The Swift Current Sun,
for example, accepted meat and
poultry in exchange for subscriptions, and
they swapped advertising for groceries from
the W.W. Cooper Store. There’s no truth
to the rumor, however, that W.J. McIntyre
attempted to swap ol’ Blowtorch for a side
of good Canadian beef.
2
The city slogan is: “Where life makes
sense.” Apparently it makes a whole
lot more sense now that people no
longer ride 600-lb., gas-guzzling,
sheet-metal horses on the downtown streets.
3
According to Saskatchewan Premier
Brad Wall’s Facebook page, the
young folk of Speedy Creek were
feeling right frisky back in 1947. So
much so that they staged a protest against
shopkeepers for having the bad manners
to jack up the price of candy bars. Yup,
they went up a whole three cents, from five
cents to eight cents. The store owners stood
firm, though. Those O Henry bars stayed
at eight cents, the youthful uprising was
quelled and the kids bought bubble gum
instead (and had fewer pimples to show for
it).
If you’re here for the Ford World Women’s
Curling Championship and are new to the city,
here’s what you should know about Speedy Creek
Patti Dawn Swansson is a longtime
jock journalist who has covered multiple
Briers, Scotties Tournament of Hearts,
world curling championships and Roar of
the Rings Olympic Trials. She has enjoyed
many visits to Swift Current and would like
to return but doesn’t think she can afford the
cost of candy bars.
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Page 7
Bring it on, whippersnappers
U.S. skip has seen it all
E
Erika Brown has covered a lot of ground in curling.
By CAM HUTCHINSON
Eye Opener Associate Editor
rika Brown was just 15 when she curled
at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in
Calgary.
That was the first entry on what was to
become an impressive resume for the Team
USA skip. There have been six U.S. junior
titles, eight trips to the worlds — including this
one — and three Olympic Games.
When Brown curled in Calgary there was
no three-, four- or five-rock rule, Vic Rauter was
a wet-behind-the-ears curling announcer and
directional sweeping was almost 30 years away.
“It was a bit overwhelming being a teenager
at that point, but I was there with my dad as
my coach and my mom was our alternate so it
was a bit of a family affair,” Brown said of her
Olympic appearance in Calgary.
She also played at the Winter Olympics in
1998 and again in Sochi in 2014.
“They have all been different and they
all have been great in their own way and
disappointing in other ways,” she said. “I think
that is the nature of sport.”
For this year’s Ford World Women’s
Curling, presented by Meridian, Brown has
joined forces with an old friend and foe,
Allison Pottinger, who has been at the worlds
13 times in total, including a gold medal in
2003 as the third for Debbie McCormick. While Brown dominated the 1990s, Pottinger
has been tops in the country in the 2000s. Now,
they’re together.
The front end of lead Natalie Nicholson and
Nicole Joraanstad are equally decorated. The
alternate is Tabitha Peterson and the coach is
Ann Swisshelm.
Brown said her expectations are high
at this year’s worlds, where she will face a
bunch of young whippersnappers, many of
whom weren’t born when she started playing
internationally.
“It is a new lineup this year and we’ve
had a really fun, successful season together.
Hopefully we can keep that rolling. It’s fun
when you can play with people who have a
tremendous amount of experience, so we all
thought it was worth another shot.”
And it doesn’t hurt to swallow up the
competition.
Brown and her teammates don’t get to train
together as much as she would like. Brown, for
example, lives in Ontario with her husband,
Ian Tetley, and their three sons.
See BROWN
Page 14
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2016 Ford World Women’s Curling Championship
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Page 9
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WEEKNIGHTS 6
Pioneer
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Profile:
Italy
Page 11
FACTS
CC Tofane
Curling Club
Cortina d’Ampezzo
Alt.: Claudia Alvera
Coach: Brian Gray
Formal name: Italian Republic
Local name: Italia
Local formal name: Repubblica Italiana
Location: Europe
Status: UN member country
Capital City: Rome (Roma)
Main cities: Milan, Naples, Turin, Florence, Venice
Population: 61,070,000
Area: 301,270 sq. km
Currency: 1 euro = 100 cents
Language: Italian
Religion: Roman Catholic
Federica Apollonio
SKIP
Age: 24
Born: Pieve di Cadore, Italy
Lives: Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
Family: Single
Years curled: 14
Occupation: Pastry Chef
Delivers: Right
Languages spoken: Italian
Highlights: Europeans: 2010 at
Champery, Switzerland, 9-4 overall B
Group (7-2, as third for Giorgia Apollonio, won Page 3-4 over Austria’s Karina
Toth 6-3, won semi-final over Hungary’s
Ildiko Szekeres 7-6, lost final to Czech
Republic’s Anna Kubeskova 14-5)
ITALY AT THE WORLDS
Last five years:
2015: DNQ
2014: DNQ
2013: Diana Gaspari (3-8)
2012: Diana Gaspari (3-8)
2011: DNQ
Last championship — N/A
World titles — 0
Stefania Menardi
Chiara Olivieri
Maria Gaspari
THIRD
SECOND
LEAD
Age: 23
Born: San Candido, Italy
Lives: Cortina
d’Ampezzo, Italy
Family: Married
Years curled: 14
Years on team: 14
Occupaion: Waitress
Delivers: Right
Languages spoken:
Italian
Highlights: Europeans: 2010 at Champery,
Switzerland, 9-4 overall B Group (7-2, as
third for Giorgia Apollonio, won Page 3-4
over Austria’s Karina Toth 6-3, won semifinal over Hungary’s Ildiko Szekeres 7-6,
lost final to Czech Republic’s Anna Kubeskova 14-5)
Age: 36
Born: Negrar, Italy
Lives: Cortina
D’Ampesso, Italy
Family: Married
Years curled: 18
Years on team: 3
Occupation: Secretary
Delivers: Right
Languages spoken:
English (some), Italian
Highlights: World women’s: 2013 at Riga,
Latvia, 3-8 overall (as second for Diana
Gaspari); 2012 at Lethbridge, Alberta, 3-8
overall (as second for Gaspari); 2004 at
Galve, Sweden, 3-6 overall (as alternate for
Gaspari).
Age: 25
Birthdate: December
9, 1991
Born: Pieve di Cadore,
Italy
Lives: Cortina
d’Ampezzo, Italy
Family: Single
Years curled: 14
Years on team: 14
Delivers: Right
Languages spoken: Italian
Highlights: 2013 at Riga, Latvia, 3-8
overall (as alternate for Diana Gaspari);
Europeans: 2012 at Karlstad, Sweden, 4-5
overall (as alternate for Gaspari)
Page 12
2016 Ford World Women’s Curling Championship
Danes in pursuit of
HAPPINESS
By DAVE KOMOSKY
L
Eye Opener Editor
ene Nielsen and her Danish team
at the Ford world women’s curling
championship are happy.
Why wouldn’t they be? They just
happen to live in the world’s most happiest
place, Denmark, according to a report —
prepared by the sustainable Development
Solutions Network (SDNS) and the Earth
Institute of Columbia University — that
urges nations, regardless of wealth, to
tackle inequality and the environment.
The Danes are also competing in the
most significant curling event for them,
outside the Olympics.
So, happy, happy, happy!
Well, wait a minute. There appears
to be some room in Nielsen’s happiness
account. A world title would certainly make
her happiness quotient swell, although
that might be a tough thing to accomplish
considering the depth of the field here in
Swift Current, and the Danes’ first-round
8-7 loss Saturday to Canada.
And the task has been made even
tougher this week in light of what happened
to Nielsen’s team from the Hvidovre
Curling Club just before crossing the pond
for this event. Nielsen lost her third, Helle
Simonsen, who tested positive for a
prohibited drug. Simonsen, hoping to
become pregnant, took a fertility drug
and was unaware it was banned.
So Nielsen, skipping in her fifth
world event, had to do some quick
lineup juggling, slotting former
alternate Isabella Clemmensen into
the mix at second. Former second
Stephanie Risdal Nielsen now
throws third stones while Charlotte
Clemmensen remains at lead.
“It’s our first championship with
this lineup,” said Nielsen, 29, who
admitted it is going to take a little
time for the unit to gel. “We have
to see this as a long-term goal. We
need to get going here and get the
team up and running.”
The ultimate goal, of course, is to
make it to the 2018 Winter Olympics in
PyeongChang, South Korea.
“It’s (Olympics) the biggest thing you
can do as an athlete,” said Nielsen, who
finished sixth at the 2014 Olympic held in
Sochi, Russia. “Hopefully that’s going to
happen (again).”
Nielsen, who works as an insurance
underwriter in Hvidovre, faces the same
obstacles as other competitive curlers who
hold down a full-time job — finding a few
hours in the day to practise.
LENE NIEL
SEN
“I
practise a bit in
the morning, again in the evening, and
most weekends,” she said. “I have a very
understanding employer. I get the time off I
need but it is very difficult.”
As for her country’s happiness ranking,
Nielsen said Denmark is indeed a great
place to live.
“It’s a small country and we don’t have
a lot of crime. We have a good school
system and a great health care system
where everything is free. That goes toward
SMC_newspaper_ad-curling.pdf
C
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CM
MY
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1
a
great deal of our
happiness. It removes some of the burden.”
Denmark’s cost of living is higher than
Canada’s, which placed sixth in the report,
but Nielsen said wages in Denmark are a
bit higher, so “it evens out.”
Just for the record, the Top 10 list was:
Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway,
Finland. Canada, the Netherlands, New
Zealand, Australia, and Sweden.
2016-01-22
5:16 PM
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Page 13
EYE
OPENER
Editor ­— Dave Komosky
Associate Editor — Cam
Sport is more
than a game.
Sport skills
are life skills.
Hutchinson
Reporter ­— Michael Connors
Layout — Dave Connors
Photographer — Mike Burns Jr.
Printer — Transcontinental,
Saskatoon
• Respect teammates,
competitors and
officials both on
and off the ice
• Win with dignity
and lose with grace
Rachel Homan took battle of sexes to a new level.
You go, girls!
- truesport.ca
Let’s make battle of sexes an annual event
By PATTI DAWN SWANSSON
I
Eye Opener Contributor
t was Friday afternoon and the boys
and girls perched on the bar stools in a
downtown Victoria watering hole were
staring up at a couple of flatscreen TVs, which
featured Rachel Homan and Emma Miskiw
plotting strategy.
A few feet behind them stood Brad Gushue
and Mark Nichols.
“Come on, girls,” one of the men at Bart’s
Pub yelped. “You can beat these guys.”
Well, sure, on any given day Homan,
Miskew and their gal pals can beat the boys.
On this particular day, however, in Draw 6 of
the Elite 10 Grand Slam of Curling extravaganza unfolding at the Q Centre on Victoria’s
West Shore, it wasn’t to be.
Gold-medal Olympians Gushue, Nichols
and mates from Newfoundland prevailed after
an iffy first four ends to deliver the Ottawa
women an early ouster from the 10-team
skirmish, heretofore a male-only gathering
of curlers of loft. Neither that result, a 2&1
victory for Gushue, nor Homan’s aborted bid
to qualify for the Elite 10 playoff round likely
raised any eyebrows or dropped any jaws,
because they were not unexpected developments.
What they did do, however, was siphon the
most delicious storyline from the event.
Never before had we witnessed a top-flight
outfit from the distaff side of the sport go
mano a mano with the hombres.
Oh, sure, there have been battles of the
sexes. Vera Pezer once bettered Orest Meleschuk. Glenn Howard gave Jennifer Jones
a good and proper paddywhacking in a Skins
game. Kevin Martin beat Cheryl Bernard
(barely) in another Skins match. But those
were hokey, made-for-TV one-offs.
This was the real deal.
This was the team of Homan, Miskiw,
Joanne Courtney and Lisa Weagle — arguably the finest on the Third Rock from the Sun
despite their absence at the World Women’s
Curling Championship — against nine of the
very best, prime-time men’s outfits on the
planet. This would be Serena Williams joining
the men’s draw at Indian Wells. It would be
Carmelita Jeter trying to match Usain Bolt’s
lickety-split. It’s Annika Sorenstam teeing it
up with the boys on the Professional Golf Association Tour.
So, what are we to take from Team
Homan’s dip into the deep end of curling’s
testosterone pool?
Well, it confirmed what some of us have
believed for many years: Not only can elite
female curlers compete with elite male curlers, they can beat them.
We now know this to be so because we
have undeniable evidence. When Charley
Thomas’s final stone wrecked on a long guard
in the eighth end not long after sunrise on
Friday morning, there was a big, fat W beside
Homan’s name. She had one-upped him.
Game, set, shake hands, Charley. And thanks
for coming out (methinks poor Charley’s
mates won’t be letting him live this down for
a spell).
It should be pointed out that the Elite 10
operates much like match play golf. It’s not
so much how many points you score, but how
many of the eight ends you win. With hammer, you must score two points to win the end.
Without hammer, a steal of one is sufficient.
Anything less is a push and you lose hammer.
It’s quirky, but it works.
Homan and her girls got off to a wonky
start on Thursday, with Ontario’s John Epping
rag-dolling them 4&3, but then they took
former Manitoba champion Reid Carruthers to
his final rock before beating Thomas and losing to Gushue on Friday. That left them with a
1-3 record, the same as Sweden’s Niklas Edin,
who just happens to be the reigning men’s
world champion, and better than the doughnut
that both Thomas and Brendan Bottcher put
up.
What we’re left to wonder, I suppose, is if
this will be another one-off. I hope not. I like
to think of this as a precursor to an annual
GSOC event that features an equal measure of
female and male teams, perhaps five of each,
competing in open competition.
Maybe it will be Homan again, and perhaps Canadian champion Chelsea Carey and
former world champion Jennifer Jones can
join in the fun.
It’s bound to happen (talk about a TV ratings grab), and I’ve just got one thing to say to
them: You go, girls!
Patti Dawn Swansson is a longtime
journalist who has covered numerous Scotties
Tournament of Hearts, Briers, world curling
championships and Roar of the Rings Olympic
Trials.
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FROM PAGE 7
The other three members of the team live in
the United States.
“We are a bit spread out, so that’s a bit of a
problem U.S. curlers face for the most part.”
They have tried to overcome the distance by
playing in more bonspiels.
“We have played a lot in competitions this
year. We have played a lot in Ontario and out
west a bit, in Saskatchewan and in Manitoba a
couple of times. We’ve been together a lot on the
road, but distance is an issue.”
Brown says there have been times when
she has contemplated stepping back from
competitive curling.
“But I have continued to have some success
over the past four or five years, since the last
time we were in Swift Current (2010). I started
skipping and as a skip I have had some success
and feel like every year I am still learning and
still improving . . . it’s hard to quit when you feel
your best is maybe yet to come.”
Brown said she is excited to be back in Swift
Current.
“I was thrilled when I saw the world
championships were in Swift Current. There is
no better place to play a world championship
than in Canada. I have always said that and I
believe that. It’s such a great environment to
compete in.”
CORRECTION: Erika Brown is married
to Ian Tetley. Incorrect information appeared in
yesterday’s Eye Opener.
ANSWERS:
See answers below
“They played incredible. In the second end we
had a potential three set up, she welds a freeze
for shot rock that I didn’t think was even there
— that’s why I didn’t throw it — and she made
it perfect.
“They played great as a team and Lene herself
played amazing. If they keep doing that, they will
be tough all week.”
In other opening games, 2014 world champ
Binia Feltscher of Switzerland defeated Erika
Brown of the United States 5-4 in a wonderfully
played game, Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa downed
Oona Kauste of Finland 7-5 and Russia’s Anna
Sidorova defeated Federica Apollonio of Italy
8-2.
There are draws at 9 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
today at the Credit Union iPlex. Canada is back
on the ice today at 9 a.m. against Switzerland and
again at 7 p.m. against the U.S.
Bring it on
3. False. Pia-Lisa Schoell is the
daughter of 1988 world champion
Almut Hege.
4. Sweden is No. 2 on the hit
3. True or false: German lead PiaLisa Schoell is the daughter of
former world curling champion
Andrea Schopp.
5. A curling crowd is best known for:
a) Grey hair.
b) Wearing funny hats.
c) Trading pins.
d) Drinking beer.
e) All of the above.
The Canadians played a flawless 10th end,
holding Denmark to one to set the stage for an
extra end.
When Carey hit and stuck on her final shot
of the extra end for the win, and one of many
outbursts from the supportive Swift Current
crowd.
“We did a really good job of the girls for
staying calm and hanging in there and battling,”
the Canadian skip said.
She said the crowd was definitely a factor.
“That was pretty cool when everybody freaked
out when we made it. It’s neat. I don’t think that
was ever a negative in that whole game. It was
awesome to have the crowd on our side. They
were yelling at us to steal when we were two
down and stuff. It was a lot of fun. It was cool.”
Carey said she was impressed with the play of
her opponents.
1. Queen Victoria watched a
demonstration of curling by the
Earl of Mansfield on the ballroom
floor of Scone Palace Near Perth,
Scotland.
2. Match the curler with her
occupation:
a) Franziska Kaufmann Pastry chef
b) Marika Trettin hairdresser/
Makeup artist
c) Federika Apollonio Ticketing agent
d) Oona Kauste Accountant
4. Canada has won the most world
championships in both women’s
and men’s curling, with 15 and 34
titles, respectively. This country has
collected the second most:
a) Norway.
b) Sweden.
c) Switzerland.
d) Scotland.
FROM PAGE 3
parade when it comes to world
curling titles, with eight on the
women’s side and seven for the Tre
Kroner men.
1. The first rules of curling were
drawn up and adopted by the Grand
Caledonian Curling Club, which was
formed in 1838. It became the Royal
Caledonian Curling Club after Queen
Victoria witnessed a demonstration
of the game at this venue:
a) A hotel ballroom
b) The Loch Ness
c) The Loch Lamond
d) Buckingham Palace
Extra
5. Curling fans like to trade pins
that they stick on their funny hats
that cover their grey hair while
drinking beer. In other words, all of
the above is the correct answer.
CURLING QUIZ
2016 Ford World Women’s Curling Championship
2.
Franziska Kaufmann, ticketing
agent;
Marika Trettin, accountant;
Federika Apollonio, pastry chef;
Oona Kauste, hairdresser/makeup
artist.
Page 14
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Sunday, March 20, 2016
Profile:
Japan
Page 15
FACTS
Tokoro
Curling Club
Tokoro
Alt.: Mari Motohashi
Coach: James Lind
Formal name: Japan
Local name: Nihon
Local formal name: Nihon Koku
Location: Asia
Status: UN member country
Capital City: Tokyo
Main cities: Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya,
Sapporo, Kyoto
Population: 125,422,000
Area: 125,422 sq. km
Currency: 1 yen = 100 sen
Languages: Japanese, Korean, Chinese
Religions: Shinto, Buddhist, Christian
Satsuki Fujisawa
Years on team: 1
Occupation: Office Worker
Hobbies: Soft Tennis
Most memorable achievement: 2013
WWC (7th), 2015 PACC (1st), 2016
JCC (1st)
Delivers: Right
Languages spoken: Japanese
1. Queen Victoria watched a
demonstration of curling by the Earl
of Mansfield on the ballroom floor of
Scone Palace Near Perth, Scotland.
ANSWERS:
5. Curling fans like to trade pins that
they stick on their funny hats that
cover their grey hair while drinking
beer. In other words, all of the above
is the correct answer.
Age: 24
Born: Hokkaido, Japan
Lives: Kitami, Japan
Family: Single
Years curled: 19
2.Franziska Kaufmann, ticketing
agent;
Marika Trettin, accountant;
Federika Apollonio, pastry chef;
Oona Kauste, hairdresser/makeup.
artist
SKIP
JAPAN AT THE WORLDS
Last five years:
2015: Ayumi Ogasawra (6-5)
2014: DNQ
2013: Satsuki Fujisawa (5-6)
2012: DNQ
2011: DNQ
Last championship — N/A
World titles — 0
4. Sweden is No. 2 on the hit parade
when it comes to world curling titles,
with eight on the women’s side and
seven for the Tre Kroner men.
3. False. Pia-Lisa Schoell is the
daughter of 1988 world champion
Almut Hege.
Chinami Yoshida
Yumi Suzuki
Yurika Yoshida
THIRD
SECOND
LEAD
Age: 24
Born: Hokkaido, Japan
Lives: Tokoro, Japan
Family: Single
Years curled: 17
Years on team: 1
Occupation: Office
Worker
Hobbies: Driving my
car, swimming
Most memorable achievement: 2014
Olympics
Delivers: Right
Languages spoken: Japanese
Career highlights: Olympic Games: 2014
at Sochi, Russia, 4-5 overall (as alternate
for Ayumi Ogasawara).
Age: 24
Birthdate: December
2, 1991
Born: Hokkaido, Japan
Lives: Hokkaido, Japan
Family: Single
Years curled: 15
Years on team: 5
Occupation: Office
Worker
Hobbies: Football
Most memorable achievement: PACC
2015 (1st), JCC 2016 (1st)
Delivers: Right
Languages spoken: Japanese
Age: 22
Birthdate: July 7, 1993
Born: Hokkaido, Japan
Lives: Tokoro, Japan
FAMILY: Single
Years curled: 17
Years on team: 5
Occupation: Student
Hobbies: Swimming
Most memorable achievement: PACC
2015 (1st), JCC 2016 (1st)
Delivers: Right
Page 16
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