OT: The Brier 2020
Many of you get into curling once every four years, while it's on seemingly continuously during the winter Olympics. However, there is much more than just the Olympics. The Tim Hortons Brier, the Canadian Men's Curling Championship, is in the playoff rounds this weekend and it's wild. The whole event is streamed on ESPN so you can watch TSN's broadcast - it's far easier to watch Canadian curling in the US than our own curling championships.
Quick note on format: 16 teams qualify, 14 provincial/territory champions, the defending champion (Team Canada) and a Wild Card that qualifies based on ranking points. Two pools of 8 play a round robin, with the top 4 in each advancing to the championship pool, where they play the teams advancing from the opposite pool. After 11 games per team over the past week, the top 4 advance to the playoffs.
However, after the clear top 3 seeds for the playoffs were set, there was a 4-way tie for the 4th seed. One of the cool things about curling is there are generally no tiebreakers based on head-to-head or other mechanisms; instead, they play tiebreakers among the tied teams. So the 4 teams tied are currently playing a mini-playoff today for the right to advance to the actual page playoffs tonight. This means there is curling all weekend - the first round of tiebreakers is on now, then more games at 2 and 7. Then tomorrow, the semis and finals. Over the course of 10 days, the teams will have played 13 to 17 times, each taking nearly 3 hours.
This is the most well attended and arguably highest level curling in the world. The 8 teams in the championship round are all ranked in the top 14 in the world. More info is here
I can't wait for Ailsa Craig to go back on the market.
The island off Scotland? Or the town in southern Ontario? I was unaware that either would be for sale. And only the latter seems to have anything to do with curling.
I think the last harvest of curling stone granite from Ailsa Craig in Scotland was around 2010. Around that time I recall there was a bit of a waiting list for stones for some clubs and particularly with curling expansion in Asia and worldwide.
I have been to Ailsa Craig, Ontario and not a lot going on there, to be honest. If the locals there were going to curl they'd need to drive to Ilderton Curling Club about 15 km East. The more you know.
She's available from Thompson & Morgan: https://www.thompson-morgan.com/p/onion-ailsa-craig-giantshow-vegetable/510TM
For those not much into curling (I'm not), the island of Ailsa Craig is considered the best source for granite for making curling stones. It is also a wildlife reserve not likely to be for sale any time soon, and mining the granite is severely restricted. There is also a quarry in Wales that provides granite for curling stones, but those seem to be the only two sources for the right type of granite.
The Ailsa Craig linked above is an onion cultivar that, given the right growing conditions, produces giant onions, just right for winning blue ribbons at your county fair for the largest onion. There is also a tomato cultivar by the same name.
This is the stuff the gives MGB it’s glowing reputation amongst the literati.
Anna Sidarova.
That is all.
Soulless corporate sponsorship, Canadian style.
Admittedly it was better in the 80s. True curling story: Labatt also used to sponsor the provincial championships (called the Labatt Tankard) which, as a young man, they held in my community at the local arena. It drew big crowds of several thousand for just a provincial event. Of interest, the sponsor, Labatt would put a case of beer in the dressing room for the teams to share following each game. Some absolutely legendary drinking teams/stories.
I think before that it was sponsored by MacDonald Tobacco
One of the few coats-of-arms where you will see a broom prominently displayed.
It’s harder to win a Brier or Tournament of Hearts (the Canadian women’s tournament) than it is to win a world championship or Olympic Gold.
Sounds dramatic but it’s not really hyperbole. Brad Jacobs, for example, is young and fit and a runaway Olympic gold medalist, and he can’t buy a Brier title.
Wait. Is that song about curling or... life?
For the record, I hate Winnipeg too...
I wish they would get back together
@SJRK
IIRC Brad Jacobs won a Brier in 2013. Absolutely dominant team in that time frame and completely changed how the game is approached from a fitness standpoint.
You are wholly correct regarding the process to win the Brier (although you can make an argument that it is currently easier for teams at the highest level such as those who complete on the World Curling Tour as two spots are reserved in qualification for "wildcard" teams who have the highest accumulation of CTRS points. That was not the case "back in the day" where even the most elite teams had to follow the following process:
a) win out of your club
b) win out of your zone
c) qualify out of your region
d) win your Provincial Tankard (championship)
e) only then can you compete to try to win a Brier played on unbelievably perfect ice in front of (usually) 15000 to 20000 people per draw against (at least) 80% of the top teams on the planet.
To put the level of the Brier in context, the vast majority of provincial championships in Canada would have a higher number of world ranked teams than any other nation's championship. These events are typically broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet (TSN's main competitor) and get solid ratings.
Back in the day I competed on teams that got as far as Regional competition but never to the Tankard. It is incredibly difficult to capture the idea that a team of basically amateur curlers playing a couple nights a week and holding down day jobs might also play a former provincial champion/Brier competitor at any one of these stages but that's how it works. If you have a team and the entry fee you can compete and there are many stories over the years about big time teams losing out early. This latter point is why the province now takes several teams per year with CTRS points similar to the Brier Wild Card model.
Brian, it might be the right time to start a BlogGoBrier website.
(Pitbull probably doesn’t go as well that audience though)
Sounds like hometown refs.