Russ kisses the cod while the rest of us eats crow!
So much for my predictions regarding the Tim Horton's Roar of the Rings this past week at the Metro Centre.
How many of you picked Brad Gushue to win the men's event and Shannon Kleibrink to win the women's? Not many hands there.
Kleibrink was a darkhorse pick of mine so I feel somewhat validated but Gushue's win came out of the blue (pardon the pun).
The Newf's decision to bring in Russ Howard as an alternate (and later convert him to second stones) was a stroke of genius. While I'm lukewarm to the idea of teams bring in 'ringers' there is nothing in the rules that says you can't do it and Gushue took advantage of the loophole.
Howard is a two time world champion and the all-time leader in games played and wins at the Brier, but while his credentials were an asset, his calming influence on the youthful Gushue proved to be the turning point in what was a disappointing season for the Newfoundlanders on the cashspiel circuit.
Not that the media and most fans in attendance gave this team hope. The move for Howard spoke of desperation and the 49 year-old's best days were behind him but what would transpire over the week caught the entire country by surprise.
An 8-1 record led the field and put Gushue in the final versus Jeff Stoughton. The Manitoba skip defeated John Morris in the semi to set up the showdown. Stoughton had said before the tournament that Gushue stood 'no chance' and that the recruiting of Howard wouldn't change a thing.
But Stoughton is a crowd favorite and despite the fact that 90% of the crowd were cheering for Gushue, the 8400 in attendance were well behaved for the most part with the exception of a miss by Stoughton in the fourth that gave the Newfs a steal of two and a 6-2 lead.
Things got tense at the end with Stoughton trailing 8-6 in the 10th, Gushue executed a take-out with his last stone to win the game (or so it seemed).
A red rock belonging to Stoughton appeared to be outside the rings but he still threw his last rock into the rings and hoped the measurement gave his side the second point. This didn't work out and Gushue held on for the 8-7 win.
One woman behind me indicated that she wished Stoughton had won because 'he would be a better representative' and I couldn't disagree more with this.
The experience will only benefit the youngsters and the presence of Russ Howard can only benefit them down the road. The title above says it all and I hope that everybody stock up on screech because I feel we might have a gold medal coming back to Canada.
Some other memorable things that happened over the last few days:
- I actually saw Annie Lemay! Darren was mad because I noticed Marie-France Larouche's team practicing at CFB less than 48 hours before the first game. Lemay is cute but lead Veronique Gregoire is even cuter.
- The Friday kick-off party was even crazier. Darren and I showed up an hour late but who do we see getting in their van to leave but the Ferbey 4. We decided not to ask for autographs but Darren admitted he wished he hadn't finished his whopper because he would have given it to lead Marcel Rocque.
- Second Sherri Singler is a real hottie but I couldn't believe she is almost 32 years old. I got her autograph after Lawton's tie-break win over Sherry Middaugh and she's even cuter in person with a winning smile to match. If you ever read this Sherri thanks for making my day!
- I was relieved to see Gushue win on Sunday because I thought my presence around these curlers was actually putting a hex on them. Case in point:
a) We pass the Ferbey 4 getting in their van (result: missed the playoffs)
b) I took a photo of Darren by the Dacey van (result: missed the playoffs)
c) Darren took a photo of me by the Adams van (result: missed the playoffs)
d) The Singler autograph. (result: lost the semi-final to Kleibrink later that afternoon)
e) Almost got Gushue's autograph after his win over Morris on Thursday (result: defeated Stoughton...thank heavens!)
The only disappointment was that I never got much chance to visit the Keith's Patch due to work and other issues but it was a great time and I hope to have a few pictures from the week up on our website in the very near future.
Cheers,
Terry
http://www.curlingrocks.com/team/rajuncadiens/
How many of you picked Brad Gushue to win the men's event and Shannon Kleibrink to win the women's? Not many hands there.
Kleibrink was a darkhorse pick of mine so I feel somewhat validated but Gushue's win came out of the blue (pardon the pun).
The Newf's decision to bring in Russ Howard as an alternate (and later convert him to second stones) was a stroke of genius. While I'm lukewarm to the idea of teams bring in 'ringers' there is nothing in the rules that says you can't do it and Gushue took advantage of the loophole.
Howard is a two time world champion and the all-time leader in games played and wins at the Brier, but while his credentials were an asset, his calming influence on the youthful Gushue proved to be the turning point in what was a disappointing season for the Newfoundlanders on the cashspiel circuit.
Not that the media and most fans in attendance gave this team hope. The move for Howard spoke of desperation and the 49 year-old's best days were behind him but what would transpire over the week caught the entire country by surprise.
An 8-1 record led the field and put Gushue in the final versus Jeff Stoughton. The Manitoba skip defeated John Morris in the semi to set up the showdown. Stoughton had said before the tournament that Gushue stood 'no chance' and that the recruiting of Howard wouldn't change a thing.
But Stoughton is a crowd favorite and despite the fact that 90% of the crowd were cheering for Gushue, the 8400 in attendance were well behaved for the most part with the exception of a miss by Stoughton in the fourth that gave the Newfs a steal of two and a 6-2 lead.
Things got tense at the end with Stoughton trailing 8-6 in the 10th, Gushue executed a take-out with his last stone to win the game (or so it seemed).
A red rock belonging to Stoughton appeared to be outside the rings but he still threw his last rock into the rings and hoped the measurement gave his side the second point. This didn't work out and Gushue held on for the 8-7 win.
One woman behind me indicated that she wished Stoughton had won because 'he would be a better representative' and I couldn't disagree more with this.
The experience will only benefit the youngsters and the presence of Russ Howard can only benefit them down the road. The title above says it all and I hope that everybody stock up on screech because I feel we might have a gold medal coming back to Canada.
Some other memorable things that happened over the last few days:
- I actually saw Annie Lemay! Darren was mad because I noticed Marie-France Larouche's team practicing at CFB less than 48 hours before the first game. Lemay is cute but lead Veronique Gregoire is even cuter.
- The Friday kick-off party was even crazier. Darren and I showed up an hour late but who do we see getting in their van to leave but the Ferbey 4. We decided not to ask for autographs but Darren admitted he wished he hadn't finished his whopper because he would have given it to lead Marcel Rocque.
- Second Sherri Singler is a real hottie but I couldn't believe she is almost 32 years old. I got her autograph after Lawton's tie-break win over Sherry Middaugh and she's even cuter in person with a winning smile to match. If you ever read this Sherri thanks for making my day!
- I was relieved to see Gushue win on Sunday because I thought my presence around these curlers was actually putting a hex on them. Case in point:
a) We pass the Ferbey 4 getting in their van (result: missed the playoffs)
b) I took a photo of Darren by the Dacey van (result: missed the playoffs)
c) Darren took a photo of me by the Adams van (result: missed the playoffs)
d) The Singler autograph. (result: lost the semi-final to Kleibrink later that afternoon)
e) Almost got Gushue's autograph after his win over Morris on Thursday (result: defeated Stoughton...thank heavens!)
The only disappointment was that I never got much chance to visit the Keith's Patch due to work and other issues but it was a great time and I hope to have a few pictures from the week up on our website in the very near future.
Cheers,
Terry
http://www.curlingrocks.com/team/rajuncadiens/
posted by curlerboi @ 8:35 p.m.
0 comments
