The 2016 Tim Horton's Brier is come and gone. I was fortunate to travel and attend for most of the week, visiting my parents in the process. Look for a thoughtful, well meaning article in the upcoming year end issue of The Curling News. For now, here is a haphazard list of unconnected thoughts from yours truly...
- If you listened to my brief interview with Dean Gemmell of The Curling Show podcast and this is your first time here, welcome. It was my first time meeting Dean in person and gave me a chance to praise him for his fantastic skills as a podcast host and contributions to curling. He's been at it many years and only seems to get better each time he breaks open the microphone.
- The top four teams we expected to challenge at the beginning of the week were there at the end. The semifinal was an entertaining game with an anxious measurement, reminiscent of the 2012 Scotties semifinal between Nedohin and Jones. In both cases, the difference of a millimetre or two resulted in a National Championship for Alberta.
- The Championship Final included a 7th end that appeared out of a skins game. After thirds stones every rock was in play. Not what you often see from Team Koe when up with hammer. The result, after 3 time outs and team deliberation on several shots, an eventual clinching three points for Koe to go up 7-3. So much for blanking odd ends with hammer.
Team Koe from Alberta is Yellow and Brad from Newfoundland is vexing
- Gushue's comeback in the 1 versus 2 game was a shocker. Jacobs was 24-1 when up 3 points with 5 ends remaining. Not sure the in-off attempt was their best shot choice in the 7th end. A very difficult shot with little margin for error attempting to score two when a soft hit on shot stone may have gotten Northern Ontario a single or at worst hold Newfoundland to one. If Jacobs cuts Gushue to a steal of one and takes a tie with hammer into the final three ends, their Win Expectency (WE) is 65%, but with a steal of 2 they dropped to 39%. Score one point and NO has an 81% WE. There was no imperative to score 2 points in this situation. Then again, ice conditions in that spot may have been an issue and Jacobs may have felt there was a better chance to score with the shot he called.
- Parking was painful. My parents live in Kanata, possibly in the most western tip of Ottawa and driving to Lansdowne Park to the TD Place Arena was relatively painless if you avoided rush hour, but parking was not easy. Bus services were available along Bank street, enabling you to travel from your overpriced parking lot to the event. I discovered a bus from Kanata that could have taken me right to the gates, except, as the women I spoke with from OC Transpo explained, it only runs for special events. By this she means RedBlack football games and not Canadian Curling Championships. Not a big deal for most out of town guests but because of the parking pain, my parents may not have gone to more than one draw if I hadn't been visiting. This could have been an issue for other local attendees. Curling Canada's Angus McBreakAndEnter may have a magical portal to the event, but everyone else has to get there on their own.
- TD Place Arena, previously the Ottawa Civic Centre (approx. 10,000 seating), was built in 1967 to replace the Ottawa Auditorium. My father told me how he and his older brother (my uncle Al) used to walk down Bank street from downtown to save 5 cents on bus fare to watch hockey games. In 1948, my uncle walked back home without my dad (then 11 years old), who was left to sleep in the mayor's section while he was locked in the arena. That same type of family dysfunction follows me to this very day.
- The arena had leaking problems a few weeks before the event and I'm not entirely certain it was the best building for curling ice (warm and humid temperatures created frost problems later in the week), but the size of the venue seemed to properly fit the size of recent Brier audiences.
- With the exception of having to step outside to grab food from a truck (though nothing beats poutine from a poutine truck), the Patch location could not have been better. It was held in the Aberdeen Pavilion. Built in 1898, nearly demolished in 1991 and most recently renovated in 1994, it is just a few steps from the North East gate of the arena. I correctly guessed it was used for cows. In fact it's nickname was (and perhaps still is to some) "Cattle Castle" because of the many agricultural shows it hosted. It is also the oldest surviving building in which the Stanley Cup was contested (1904).
Aberdeen Pavilion. From cows to hockey to curlers
- Hair brooms being banned from play meant teams were limited in their ability to battle the frost during play. This likely needs to be addressed for next season. I hope some type of hair solution can be found that doesn't contribute to directional sweeping.
- On the topic of sweeping. This might go down in the history books as the Brier with an asterisk. Most players, coaches and fans all seem to agree something more needs to be done to curb the impact of sweeping to put back the premium on shot making (and not shot adjusting). One hall of famer mentioned to me it was "offsides" and teams may as well use a hockey stick to stick handle the rock down the ice. We also need to consider teams have only been implementing these techniques for a few months. With more practice, what level could this reach by the 2018 Olympics?
- I spoke to Mike Harris who sees this could be an evolution in the sport, and that the maneuvering of rocks (ie. improved placement of stones and sweeping for curl) puts more emphasis on strategy, but we all want this to be within reason. I tend to agree that some directional sweeping itself may not be a problem, but the ability to correct poor shots is not something we want. Perhaps a balance can be reached.
- For Worlds the directional technique can't be used, players need to sweep across the path. Haven't found anything definitive online on what this actually means and not sure how it will be policed, but all eyes will be watching to find out.
- More on the World Curling Federation. One rumour I heard was the WCF had rejected a new material submitted by Balance Plus. A material that was in fact the exact same one (from the same supplier) submitted by Hardline and approved as their replacement for the flipped IcePad. If true, it implies their testing techniques are not yet foolproof.
- Further material discussion. Talk of several BP teams using different heads on their brooms at this event. I'm going to avoid getting any deeper into this topic but will state that I always support a team that will do what it can within the rules of the game to win. This behaviour isn't new to sports and nothing less should be expected. Ideal gas law not withstanding.
- What is troubling in all this broom controversy is the behaviour of some players just a few months ago and the animosity that bubbled in an otherwise respectful sport. Calling out other players as cheaters was clearly premature and we now have seen that technique is as much of a concern as the fabric (or hair) itself. I suggested to coach Jon Mead that Mike McEwen, a rep for Hardline, may have been impacted by the broom battle and it was reflected in their results earlier in the year. He agreed, mentioning Mike is a thoughtful guy who takes things to heart and ultimately wants to do what is best for the game. He also said there are players out there who still owe Mike an apology for what has been said in the past.
- Jacobs decision to pull the Brent Laing burnt stone in their round robin game is something most every other skip at the Brier would have done. As another future hall of famer mentioned to me, it's bad sportsmanship to pull a draw that gets tapped as it's stopping in the four foot, another issue entirely on a peel weight shot that's 25 feet from its target. If the tap had come a few feet earlier, prior to the hogline, Jacobs would not have had a choice, it's suppose to be pulled immediately. The reason the rules allow for the option by the non-opposing skip is to deal with an intentional burn that would benefit his team if it had not been touched and removed. What it also does, unfortunately, is place the team in the courtroom of public opinion. Not many sports where a non-offending team gets put into this position. Rather than be critical of this anomaly (like many posters on CurlingZone), I appreciate this unique aspect of our sport, even though I empathize with teams who are put in this position.
- Relegation came and went with fans thankful there is only one more of these pre-Brier fiascos to go. It just doesn't seem like a Brier without all the yellow hats.
Bluenosers watch the Draw 1 "play-in" qualifier game anxiously.
Nova Scotia would go on to lose to Team Jaimie Koe of Northwest Territories and miss a second Brier.
- With Warren Hansen's announced return as a consultant to Curling Canada, we can only wonder what the 2018 Brier format could be. If you read Warren's article from the December 2015 edition of The Curling News, he advocates a Brier in two parts to take place over 9 or 10 days. A 14 team field in 2 groups of 7 to determine a single entry to a 7 team round robin (a la Canada Cup) against Team Canada, Canada Cup winner, and other Slam winners and/or CTRS points leaders. Interesting concept that I see some merit in, but limiting it to one qualifier makes the entire first portion of the event less, ah, um, eventful. If the Brier goes this route (and I hope it doesn't), I'd recommend 3 or even 4 teams come through the 14 team portion, otherwise there seems to be very little point.
- On drinking rules that make no sense, a fan who had attended the Scotties in Grande Prairie told me they were required to open the cap on water bottles before leaving the bar. No word if they were limited to two per person.
- Many examples of teams positioning their hammer in even ends and trying to play the scoreboard. After the Sunday morning draw where scorekeepers ran out of zeroes and a Friday morning game between Newfoundland and Northern Ontario that ended 4-1 with 6 blank ends, some fans are wondering if curling needs newer rules to make it more entertaining. I have a few thoughts on this that I'm leaving for my article in The Curling News. Stay tuned.
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