Current issue: April 2008
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As we come to the close of another curling season, here's what
our columnists are writing about.
Opening Shot: 2007-08 History Lessons
--- by Paul Wiecek.
Wiecek reflects on the major happenings in the 2007-08 season ...
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
A smart guy said that once and I think it applies to the topsy, turvy and frequently cranky
curling season that we've all just witnessed.
So here then, in no particular order, are eight lessons learned from the curling season of 2007-08:
1. Gas your teammates often enough and sooner or later you're going to get burned.
Newfoundland's Brad Gushue learned this one the hard way at the Brier in Winnipeg when his latest installment at
lead -- Dave Noftall -- proved to be woefully unequal to the task.
Noftall actually shot a 71 percent in one game -- at lead, remember -- but will probably best be remembered for hogging
his first rock of the tenth end in a tiebreaker against BC, just when Newfoundland was trying to generate a deuce.
By the time Gushue pulled out of town playoff-less, I'm thinking Jamie Korab, Mike Adam and Russ Howard were all looking a
whole lot better to the young Newfoundland skip.
2. It's never over until it's over.
Just ask the Canadian women's curling champion, Winnipeg's Jennifer Jones, who limped out of the gate in Regina to a 3-4
record only to rattle off eight straight wins to run the table and claim one of the most unlikely Canadian women's titles
we'll see in a long time.
3. Don't waste time.
History will record that Newfoundland's Heather Strong had a chance to bury Jones Wednesday morning but failed to do so in
large part because she had basically run out of time.
Leading Jones by two, Strong threw her last rock of the tenth end with just two seconds left on her time clock and the result
was predictable -- a guard attempt sailed to the back four-foot, setting up a raised-double that gave Jones a game-winning
three-ender.
The win was the first of what would prove to be eight straight for Manitoba, and hopelessly derailed what was otherwise
looking like a rare playoff run for Newfoundland.
Failing to plan leads to failure
--- by Bill Tschirhart.
Bill offers his thoughts on the importance of planning throughout the year ...
Failing to plan is planning to fail. “We’re not in Kansas anymore Toto!” Those prophetic
words by Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” can certainly be applied to our sport not only at the highest levels, but throughout
as teams eye successes and championships never dreamed of by their predecessors (can you say Olympics?).
In my day, four curlers in the curling lounge late in a season, over a libation or two, might talk
about forming a team for the next curling season in hopes of getting to the provincial competition and who knows, even
"The Brier" or "The Scotties". Hah, what a joke if that conversation were to be heard today! Those four would be dreaming in
technicolour! Never one to squash someone’s dream, but a goal without a plan is just a dream! And if planning for you means
getting your bonspiel calendar in order and assigning a teammate to get the entries in a.s.a.p., you too are dreaming in
technicolour!
One of the best contributions a coach can make to his/her team is to get them to plan effectively
and execute that training plan!
Last Shot: Alberta, Alberta, how great thou art!
--- by Con Griwkowsky.
Con plucks his feathers about his home province's performance ...
Oh, Lord, it's hard to be humble. And Alberta certainly is far from being perfect in every way.
But, to know it is to love it.
Pardon me if you can't stand the verbal pom-poms.
But just remember one thing as this curling season draws to an end. In the world of curling, Alberta
walked the talk this season.
Try and rip down the engine of Canada's economic growth all you'd like in the name of knocking
somebody off their high horse. Make as many snide comments about how the obvious track record is some kind of empty
chest-thumping. But it's never been scientifically proven that that type of put-down talk about those who have found a way
to get 'er done makes the critic any better.
I still recall the words of former Edmonton Eskimos GM Hugh Campbell, when it was suggested the team's
dominance in the CFL during their five-in-a-row Grey Cup run in the early '80s was bad for the league. "What would you like
us to do?" Campbell said. "Get worse?"
Answer me this. Would you jealous whiners out there like Alberta's passion for curling to get worse? Or would
it be better to put your energies in trying to get better? Up to you.
Is there something inherently wrong with Edmonton going for the trifecta and cashing in with hosting the
Canadian Curling Trials next December? After the Brier set attendance records in 2005 and the Ford World Men's followed suit
in 2007, why would the Canadian Curling Association go anywhere else for the 2009 Trials?
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