The Toronto Curling Association released a statement on the recent OCA Special General Meeting and it can be summed up in a Fockerish way: "I'm watching you." The TCA, which was outspoken against the Ontario board after a few months of disaster for the latter, found a few positives from the meeting. First, it found promise in the new OCA Executive Director, Stephen Chenier. It also was pleased to...
The longtime lead for Team Kevin Koe is now a part of Team Morris, a rink that will debut the Team Canada spot at the 2015 Tim Hortons Brier. I talked to Nolan about the unusual season that saw his team win a Grand Slam, go 2-5 at the Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings, [...]...
Eve Muirhead is playing golf with the big boys this week, teeing off at the European Tour's biggest event of the year, the BMW PGA Championship. She's playing in the celebrity pro-am ahead of the tournament. That means she'll be playing alongside the likes of Ernie Els, Graeme McDowell and Sergio Garcia. Muirhead, for those who don't know, is a scratch golfer who had scholarship offers from U.S. schools....
Rachel Homan is not just a great curler but also a great person as evidenced here by her work with the Canadian Hunger Foundation. Homan went to Ethiopia to help the non-profit raise its profile and in return got a glimpse of how another part of the world lives. Here's t he touching story from CTV Ottawa: ...
In a post on Team Homan's web site , Earle Morris announced that he's stepping away from his coaching duties with the Canadian champs. The coach said that the time commitment to continue with the gals was a a factor in his decision. To be a part of their amazing success has been very satisfying and I want to thank the team for this tremendous opportunity. While it has been a privilege and an...
The first lineup shuffle that became news was one that included 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist Marc Kennedy. Marc talked about the new rink, how it came about, his former skip’s retirement and more. If you’re like 99.9% of us, you can’t throw the rock like Marc. The good news? You can look like you have [...]...
With all the changes going on with Canadian teams, it seemed only a matter of time before there were changes elsewhere in the world. And the latest comes from Eve Muirhead's bronze-medal winning rink, where Claire Hamilton has announced she's parting ways. "I would like to thank the girls for the fantastic opportunities and experiences that being part of the team has brought me," she explained. "I'm...
I'm not really sure why Rhona Martin's gold medal from the 2002 Olympics was in a museum, but it's not there any more. That item along with a another Olympic gold from the 1924 Olympics were lifted on Wednesday night. This from the web site Fansided.com “A number of very rare artifacts have been stolen,” said David Lockwood, manager of Dumfries Museum, in a press release ...
One of the country's great writers, Cam Cole, offers up a nice piece on the changing of the guard in curling. The information isn't really all that newsy but the perspective on the changes is very interesting. Cole talked with Kevin Martin, who decided to invite all the curlers at the final Grand Slam in Summerside, PEI, back to his room for an end-of-the-season bash. And while he was at it, he opened...
So by most accounts, Sunday’s OCA special general meeting turned out to be a positive affair. After months and months of nasty, dirty, down-in-the-ditch attacks and lies and innuendo, the board came to the table with something that Ontario curlers could feel good about. It wasn’t perfect. And there’s a lot that needs to happen to reassure the curlers from Windsor to Ottawa, but for the first time...
After a mostly successful year for Swiss teams at international events, I caught up with Armin Harder for a conversation about the state of the sport in his country and in Europe. Even if you don’t curl like a Swiss champ, there’s no reason you shouldn’t look like you know what you’re doing on the [...]...
Sunday’s special general meeting is approaching and with it, the future path of curling in Ontario. The meeting will be the second in a month for the embattled Ontario Curling Association, which will once again face its membership over a variety of issues. However this time, it won’t be in control of the agenda. On the table this time out are votes of non-confidence for both the board and the president....
A brief story of the team from Brazil competing at the mixed doubles world championship in Scotland this week. Turns out Aline Lima Goncalves moved from Brazil to the Yukon (can you say culture shock?) and took to curling in a big way, says this CBC article: "I started playing in 2011 and since then I became hooked to the sport. I am always playing or practising doing one of...
Yup. Just a few weeks after announcing he was going to take the year off, Johnny Mo is back. In a release from the CCA, Morris said has agreed to skip the three remaining Team Canada players although the schedule will be quite limited. “My plan was to take the 2014-15 season off as I move ahead in my career as a firefighter,” said Morris, a resident of Chestermere, Alta., just outside of Calgary....
This Sunday is the special general meeting of the Ontario Curling Association, the one that was called by Dale Curtis, the former vice-president who was ousted from her position by the current board. The meeting is at 1 p.m. at the Mississaugua G&CC (NOT High Park which was the original location). For those planning to attend, please note there is a dress code at the club . As of this morning,...
No big surprised here but Brad Gushue announced today that Mark Nichols, late of the Jeff Stoughton rink, is heading home to re-join his gold-medal winning skip. Gushue made the announcement on the team's Facebook account: "I am very pleased to announce the return of Mark Nichols to our team. It will be great to be teammates once again, as Mark brings experience and talent that will certainly benefit...
Now that Kevin Martin has announced his retirement, it’s fair to look back at his career and wonder where he fits among the greats and what his legacy will be. I was lucky in that K-Mart’s time on the ice more or less paralleled by years at the Globe and so I spent a lot of time interviewing him. I don’t think our reporter-athlete relationship started off all that great. I found him to be a bit arrogant...
Big release today from Sportsnet about the Grand Slam of Curling, with the four-event series moving to five for next year. As well, the bigger news is that Kevin Martin will join the on-air team, calling it a career on the ice. “It has been an amazing run. I am closing the chapter on my playing career in the sport of curling that has been so good to me,” said Martin. “I can't wait for what lies...
The Ontario Curling Association's board received a kick to the pills this morning when the Toronto Curling Association issued a press release stating its unease with the actions of the provincial board. It's joined with similar associations in Ottawa and Hamilton to express serious concern about the OCA board's operation. The TCA Board has been watching the Ontario Curling Association and its challenges...
It has certainly been a busy spring in the player movement front, hasn't it? Teams changing, players retiring, moving vans hired . . . and so far there doesn't seem to be too much in the way of bad blood The latest news came in a Tweet from Paul Wiecek concerning Jeff Stoughton. Breaking -- Jeff Stoughton putting finishing touches on a new team with 3rd Rob Fowler, 2nd Alex Forrest and lead Connor...