Curling

The 2015 Tim Hortons Brier is set to begin on Saturday in Calgary with 12 teams from across Canada competing for one of the biggest prizes in curling.

As ever, the winner of this year's Brier will go on to represent Canada in the World Men's Championship, beginning in late March.

Thus the stakes are very high ahead of the action at the Scotiabank Saddledome, with reigning champions Alberta—this year competing as Team Canada for the first time—looking to make it two victories in succession.

Proceedings begin on Saturday, Feb. 28 with the start of the round-robin phase when each team will play each other. The full schedule is available via curling.ca.

The main draw opens up with Northern Ontario's clash with Quebec, following the Brier's first ever pre-qualifying stage which sees Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island (PEI) and the Yukon battling for the final place in the tournament proper.

As noted by The Guardian's Dave Stewart, the Yukon were convincing winners in the pre-qualifying opener:

Not a great start for PEI in the relegation round at the Brier. Lost first game 8-1 to Yukon.

— Dave Stewart (@DveStewart) February 27, 2015

Following the round-robin phase, a Page playoff round will decide who competes in March 8's final, the top two teams meeting for the first knockout round with the winner advancing straight to the final.

The loser of the first playoff match will move to the semi-final to face the victor of the knockout match between the teams who finished third and fourth at the round-robin phase.

The standout clash in this year's schedule sees Team Canada face Team Alberta on Tuesday.

Victorious Brier skip from 2014, Kevin Koe, left the triumphant Alberta side soon after last year's win, to be replaced in Team Canada by John Morris.

Koe replaced retiring legend Kevin Martin and leads Team Alberta in this year's tournament. He will face his old teammates on Tuesday in the 2015 Brier's most anticipated match.

Morris is already a two-time Brier champion—from 2008 and 2009—and also picked up a gold medal at the 2010 Olympics.

Thus, the 36-year-old has enormous experience and will be looking to lead his new side to another victory this time around, and he is clearly eager to make an impact with Team Canada, per TSN:

This is an historic event. Having a Team Canada there and to be asked to skip it from the other guys, it's amazing. I feel great and very grateful for it and I'm looking forward to putting on that Maple Leaf at the Saddledome.

There is set to be plenty of pedigree on show at this year's Brier with two other Olympic champions also taking to the ice.

Sochi gold medallist in 2014 Brad Jacobs leads the team from Northern Ontario, while 2006 champion Brad Gushue competes for Newfoundland and Labrador.

Calgary is set for nine days of intense action and immense quality with some of the world's best curlers on show, and as ever, the stakes are incredibly high.

The 2014 World Men's Curling Championship wrapped up on Sunday after a week-long competition in Beijing, China. The final day of competition pitted Canada against Switzerland for the bronze medal and Scandinavian rivals Norway and Sweden for the gold. Below are the full results of the last day of action:

Game	Teams	Result
Bronze Medal	Canada vs. Switzerland	SUI, 7-5
Gold Medal	Norway vs. Sweden	NOR, 8-3

For those who were unable to catch the curling live, here's your one-stop shop for the recap of the two matches, as well as the top performers from each contest.

Gold-Medal Game

Norway not only returned to the podium for the first time since 2010, when they finished second to Canada, but they defeated their biggest rivals to claim gold and thwart Sweden's quest for back-to-back championships.

Norway raced out to an early 5-0 lead en route to a dominating 8-3 win. Skip Thomas Ulsrud set the tone with by taking the first point on the first end, then turned the game in the third end with a double take-out on his last stone, allowing Norway to steal to points for a decisive 4-0 lead.

Ulsrud also sealed the game with a nose-hit on his last stone in the eighth end to earn the final two points, bringing the score to its final tally. After the win, Ulsrud told Emily Goddard of InsidetheGames.com that his team's experience allowed them to break through after years of heartbreak: 

We've been training so hard for this for so many years, for so many Worlds. I've been close a couple of times but to be called world champion, that sounds amazing. We've been in a lot of championship finals and we've been here before, so experience made the difference I think.

Meanwhile, Swedish skip Oskar Eriksson earned his fourth medal in five years, though not the gold he desired. Eriksson also earned a bronze medal at the Sochi Olympics, where he was an alternate on the team that defeated China to reach the Olympic podium.

Norway's victory marks their country's first world title since 1988, when skip Eigil Ramsfjell won the world championships in Switzerland. Ramsfjell was actually in attendance to witness his country's breakthrough, as he was inducted into the World Curling Hall of Fame during the closing ceremonies.

Thus, his presence served as a fitting symbolic succession, as Ulsrud and the rest of the Norwegian team have finally erased over two decades of frustration to forge their own place in Norway's curling history.

Bronze-Medal Game

It was a stunning fall for Canada, traditionally the world's most dominant curling powerhouse. The Canadians failed to reach the gold-medal game for the first time since 2004, and compounded their disappointing showing by failing to reach the podium for the first time since 2001. 

Swiss fourth player Benoit Schwarz came up with a clutch performance. In the first end, Schwarz cleared out two Canadian stones to steal a point for his country. Later on, Schwarz retook a 5-3 lead on the sixth end after his teammates set up a simple draw for him on his second stone.

Most critically, Schwarz hit Canadian skip Kevin Koe's stone out of the button on the ninth end, and Switzerland was able to force Canada out of stones during the 10th end. Per the World Curling Federation, Swiss skip Peter de Cruz expressed elation at the stunning upset:

It feels really awesome. We came into the week thinking we had a chance if we played good. We didn’t start off so well and then we started getting better as we got used to the ice. My guys played an awesome game today. We were really ready for the game and I think that we probably wanted it more than them – that made the difference.

The bronze medal for De Cruz's team marks the continuation of a successful season for his country. Sven Michel led a European title-winning team, while Yannick Schwaller won the men's junior title.

It's not an entirely unsuccessful season for Canada, as both the men and women came away with gold at the Sochi Olympics. However, in an event they have traditionally dominated, failing to reach the podium is simply a failure.

The action in Beijing at the 2014 world men's curling championships is about to wind down to a close, but not before epic gold-medal and bronze-medal games decide who will finish on the podium. 

It's an all-Scandinavian final in the gold-medal match as Sweden have advanced to face Norway in the championship game after the Swedes upset Canada, the world's top-ranked national team, 10-8 on Saturday. 

After the loss, the Canadians will move on to face Switzerland with the winner claiming the bronze medal and the loser falling off the podium completely. 

Although there have been some surprises, each of the four nations still standing are in the top five of the world curling rankings, making for some enticing final bouts to decide who will leave Beijing with a medal draped around their necks.

Let's break down both of the upcoming games. 

Gold-Medal Game: Sweden vs. Norway

The Swedes have an old foe standing between them and their second straight world men's curling gold medal. 

Across from them stands Norway, which hasn't reached the podium since 2010 when they lost to Canada in the gold-medal game and claimed silver. The neighboring Scandinavian countries spectacularly haven't faced each other in a world championship final despite them sharing 19 appearances in the gold-medal game. 

Sweden, the defending champions, will really make Canada's pain worse if they are able to make it two straight golds. It will take many more to match the Canadians' recent successes, but it's a start. 

In order to do that, Swedish skip Oskar Eriksson commented on what must happen from his national team to the world championships' official site: 

We just need to play like we played today and the last five or six games. I think we’ve done really, really well so far to get to the final in our first World Championship. If we can defend the title it would mean everything to us.

The 22-year-old Eriksson will gain his fourth medal in four years regardless of who wins the gold-medal game. 

Bronze-Medal Game: Canada vs. Switzerland

Make no mistake—this year's finish at the world men's curling championships will be seen as a huge disappointment either way. But fail to win against Switzerland, and the Canadians would make it their worst finish in more than a decade.

2004 marks the last time Canada didn't finish in the gold-medal game, but they at least won bronze that year. To find the last time Canada failed to medal, you would have to go back to 2001. 

But the Canadians can forgo that happening with a victory against the Swiss in Beijing, which would make it 13 straight years with a medal for the national team. That would be at least a little consolation for having to watch the gold-medal game and see either Sweden or Norway take the championship. 

It will be a tough test to get past the Swiss, however. They haven't made it this far in the tournament since 2007, and that comes despite them staying among the world's elite and even hosting the tournament one year. 

Canada will have to be up for the competition despite suffering a heartbreaking loss to Sweden that eliminated them from the gold-medal game. Canadian curler Kevin Koe commented on the tough turnaround, per the world championships' official site:

We'll try our hardest to win. It'll be hard, we're disappointed - we came here thinking we'd be in that gold-medal game. But we'll be here in the morning and we'll be trying to win a medal.

Switzerland will be hungry to end Canada's medal streak, and if the Canadians are still emotionally down from their loss to Sweden, another upset could be brewing. 

There are certain events every four years that capture the attention of the sports world with a combination of national pride and pure intrigue and curiosity. It’s part of what makes the Olympics so memorable. 

While archery was the sport that did just that in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, curling could capture the attention of many in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Canada should send one of the stronger teams to the event now that its qualifying trials are in the rearview mirror.

Let’s look at some of the marquee names on the roster to know following the Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings (the Olympic trials for Canada’s curling team).

Jennifer Jones

Jennifer Jones is the skip of the Canadian women’s curling team, and she will be traveling to her first Olympics after defeating Sherry Middaugh 8-4 at the Roar of the Rings.

The magnitude of the moment was not lost on Jones, as she explained to Kyle Jahns and the official web site of Canada curling:

You dream of it since you’re a little kid and we’ve had many dreams come true, but this is so rare—this opportunity. Our dreams came true today in the most amazing way. It’s unbelievable. 

If Jones can score multiple three-enders at the Olympics like she did at the Roar of the Rings, her Canadian team should be in good shape. By scoring aggressively early, Jones would be able to play more conservatively with a defensive game plan on the way to victory.

Brad Jacobs

It’s been an impressive stretch for skip Brad Jacobs and his curling team. After taking home the Tim Hortons Brier, he knocked off John Morris 7-4 at the Roar of the Rings and clinched a spot in the Sochi Olympics in the process.

Jacobs not only earned the right to compete in the Olympics at the trials but also made history. He went undefeated in the round robin as well, which made his team the only men’s or women’s squad to go unblemished at a Canadian Olympic Curling Trials event. 

If Jacobs can continue his dominance in Sochi, a medal is certainly not out of the question.

Tom Coulterman

Tom Coulterman is the coach of Jacobs and the Canadian men’s curling team bound for the Olympics, and it will fall on his shoulders to ensure that the squad maintains its high level of play.

Jacobs and his team have been incredibly accurate lately, which is a primary reason why they won the Tim Hortons Brier and the Olympic Trials at the Roar of the Rings. Whatever Coulterman has been doing at practice is clearly working.

Sticking to the course could be enough to take home a coveted medal in 2014.

Canada's premier curling stars will square off in Winnipeg to determine who represents the nation during the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Some may know the Roar of the Rings as that curling tournament where Will Ferrell will provide color commentary as Ron Burgundy. That's an extraordinary testament deserving of our celebration, but this event hosts more than a man with incredible hair and a thick mustache. 

This isn't just a matter of bragging rights throughout Canada. The winner gets an express path to Olympic glory. Canada wins a medal in curling every time. To put it in clearer terms that Brian Fantana can understand, both the men's and women's squads have placed in the top three every year since the sport was reintroduced to the Winter Games in 1998.

So yeah, this is kind of a big deal.

Starting Monday, Dec. 1, eight male and eight female teams will hash it out to determine Canada's Olympic representatives. While Brick Tamland won't kill anyone with a trident, the stakes are enormous during the week of round-robin play.

I'd like to extend to you an invitation to the Roar of the Rings party, which is even better than Brick's pants party.

*A full list of the draws can be viewed on the Roar of the Rings' official site.  

Tuesday: Team Brad Jacobs vs. Team Glenn Howard

Great Odin's raven! It won't take much time for the excitement to ensue in Winnipeg.

One of the favorites heading into the tournament, four-time world champion Glenn Howard is looking to add one more first-place finish to his tally. According to the Winnipeg Sun's Paul Friesen, this will be the 51-year-old skip's last opportunity to qualify for the Olympics before he calls it quits.

"It's probably my last year of Trials," Howard said before Sunday's opening draw. "Whether it's my last year of curling, probably not."

Howard's team fell just short last time, losing to Team Kevin Martin in the finals four years ago. In his early tournament experience this year, his team faces a surging Brad Jacobs squad.

Last year, Jacobs' unit surprisingly won the Brier in March. While Jacobs still almost missed the cut, he topped 2006 Olympic gold medalist Brad Gushue in trials to break the final eight.

This early bout will provide a true test for each team looking to climb back into the spotlight.

 

Wednesday: Team Jennifer Jones vs. Team Rachel Homan

Like Burgundy's apartment, Wednesday's matchup between Team Jennifer Jones and Team Rachel Homan smells of rich mahogany.

While the men's bracket is anyone's guess, Jones and Homan lead the two factions expected to compete for top billing in the Olympics. 

Amid a group of veterans close to leaving the rink resides Homan, a 24-year-old poised to dominate the curling scene for years to come. She emerged during the 2013 Scotties, where her team defeated Jones' unit in the finals.

Also victors in the Ontario Championships, this is an extremely talented unit led by one of the sharpest skips in the game.

But Jones would likely have something to say about that. While she is one of the most prominent figures on the women's side, her team faltered during the 2009 trials, leaving much on the line for the 39-year-old's brigade this time around.

This draw won't matter as much as a later bout that will likely occur with much more hanging in the balance, but it will at least provide an entertaining prelude that Burgundy will love more than scotch.

Friday: Team John Morris vs. Team Kevin Martin

In 2010, teammates John Morris and Kevin Martin swept through Vancouver to claim the gold for the home country. Now, they're clashing for the right to defend that sweet throne.

Talk about a glass case of emotion for these newly minted rivals.

After seven years of serving as the team's third, Morris decided to depart for a different unit. Here is what he said during his announcement (via the Canadian Curling Association's Allen Cameron): 

“Unfortunately we have had a challenging past few seasons and have not lived up to our expectations of being the best curling team in the world,” said Morris. “As much as we’ve all tried very hard to find a way to fight back and get better, in the end it was obvious that we needed a change. Myself and Kevin were no longer thriving in our back-end role like we did in our 2010 Olympic gold-medal run.

This match could bear significant implications leading up to Saturday's semifinal showdowns, but the tension between two former championship cohorts will create intriguing drama either way.

While no longer together, Morris and Martin figure to play prominently in deciphering which team will vie for the gold in Sochi.

September 14 sees the start of the European Mixed Curling Championships at the Murrayfield rink in Edinburgh, Scotland. The action will run until September 21 and see each European Member Association send one mixed team to participate in the tournament.

That will mean 25 nations lining up against each other in a three-group tournament, with each team playing each other once. The top two teams qualify for the quarterfinal stage, along with the third-placed team with the best result in the Draw Shot Challenge. The two remaining third-placed teams will then play each other to decide the final spot in the knockout stages.

The two winners of the semifinals will play for the gold medal, while the losing teams will battle it out for the bronze.

See the tables below for a breakdown of this year's groups.

The mixed teams are made up of two male and two female curlers, with Scotland looking to retain the title they won a year ago. However, they will have to do without Eva Muirhead, who has been forced to prioritise her Olympic training. Kay Adams will take her place, completing a strong Scottish team who remain favourites to take home the crown.

However, they will have to take down Germany in the opening round. Andy Kapp is the skip, with good form at Edinburgh in the past. Kapp has won the Edinburgh International Curling Championship, as well as claiming gold medals in the European Curling Championship in 1992 and 1997.

It's not all about Scotland and Germany, though. Ireland, Hungary and Norway all feature World and European Championship medal winners and are all in different groups, setting up gripping matchups in the later stages.

They still have to get through a tough group stage, with Sweden and Finland looking to improve on their silver and bronze medals from last year.

Switzerland—who were the winners in 2011—also feature in Norway and Sweden's group, marking Group B out as an early contender for heartbreak. With such large groups, there are no clear-cut paths to the next stage and every team will feel like they have a chance to qualify.

Scotland will have the home spectators on their side and an extra incentive to ensure that the championship will remain in the country, as it is Scotland's first time hosting the tournament. It's not a huge advantage, but with no TV coverage available and such a packed field, a 200-capacity crowd could mean the difference between triumph and obscurity.

Although many sports fans are unlikely to include curling on their list of most-watched events, this past week has illustrated to those north of the 49th parallel that hockey need not be the only competitive game on ice worthy of their support.

The recent spate of concussions and injuries around the NHL include a vicious hit on Max Pacioretty of the Montreal Canadiens and the possible season-ending concussions suffered by Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby.

The apparent apathetic response of Commissioner Gary Bettman and the NHL Head Office has hockey fans, sponsors and players reacting loudly and vociferously.

What is any self-respecting hockey lover supposed to do?

The answer may be found at the Brier Patch.

Annually, the best 12 teams vie for the Canadian Championship (the Brier) with the victor moving on to the Worlds.

Granted, hockey is often associated with beer north of the border and curling is sponsored by a major coffee and donut company but that does not mean that the competition is any less fierce. 

Brooms, albeit synthetic ones, are used to facilitate rapid and precise placing of the "rocks" that each player delivers.

Some call it shuffleboard on ice, but the tactics and the athleticism of the players belies that comparison.

Gone are the days of pot-bellied players standing at one end of the ice whilst chugging their rum and cokes, cigarettes dangling from their lips. This is not your grandfather's curling match.

Players have athletic physiques and a year round dedication to the game.

At the Olympics in Vancouver, the curling venue was sold out for almost every match, and the Canadian Champions (and Gold medallists) played a spirited game against the Norwegians who sported John Dalyesque pants as part of their uniform.

Hockey is becoming more violent and for many fans curling has become the icy alternative. 

No one is swinging a curling broom at his opponents' head and curlers do not charge at each other at full throttle in order to ensure bodily harm.

Every match includes friendly and polite banter between the teams.

"Nice shot, John. Beauty, Kevin!"

And, at the conclusion, there are handshakes all around.

What could be more Canadian than that?  

The Winter Olympics features quite a few competitions most Americans aren’t familiar with. One that is constantly on the butt-end of jokes in the country is curling.

Although being a demonstration sport in the Olympics as early as 1932, curling became an official sport in the 1998 Nagano games.

People just don’t understand it. Since it’s easier to enjoy a sport when you know what’s going on, I’ve researched the sport and provided a basic viewer’s guide to how the game is played.

There are two teams of four players. Instead of quarters or innings, curling has ends. Each end consists of each player on both teams throwing (delivering) two stones (rocks) each down the ice for a total of eight stones a team per end and 16 total. Games last ten ends (extra as needed if there is a tie).

Then comes the infamous sweeping. Sweeping is done, if needed, to make the stone travel farther and/or change the amount of curl. The stones begin to curl as they slow down, so sweeping earlier increases their distance and straightens their path, and sweeping when the stone begins to curl increases sideways distance. Pressure and speed of the brush are determining factors in sweeping.

The objective is to get your stones closest to the center (button) of the target (house).

Like in bocce ball, the team closest to the center gets a point and an additional point for everyone of their rocks closer to the button than the closest from the other team.

The most points a team can get in one end is eight, which is referred to as a “snowman”. These are rare, and are said to be the equivalent of a perfect game in baseball.

No points are awarded to stones that are outside of the target rings.

There is the matter of the hammer, similar to getting “last licks” in baseball. Who gets the hammer (last-stone advantage) in the first end is determined before the game, usually by coin-toss. The hammer then is awarded to the team that did not score in the previous end. If no one scores the hammer stays with the same team.

There is also a timer; each time is allowed 73 minutes to throw all their stones and have two one minute time-outs. If the score is tied after regulation each team is given an extra ten minutes and one more 60 second time out per extra end.

If you’re a casual watcher of the sport during the Olympics and are curious as to what the game play is, than this is a good, basic, easy to understand starting point.

For more details visit the World Curling Federation’s rulebook at (PDF File): http://www.worldcurling.org/_upload/downloads/6_Rules_of_Curling-final.pdf

After a rough start 0-7 for American curling in the 2010 Winter Olympics, Both U.S. men's and women's team came out on top with victories today.

Earlier today in a hard fought match against Russia, U.S. women's curling team led by skip Debbie McCormick, would end up on top.

Facing a young inexperienced Russian team seemed easy for at first but actually it turned out to be an intense match of skill.

With the first two ends the U.S. remained scoreless after team skip McCormick missed critical shots, then after five frames the U.S. was tied with Russia at 1-1.

The fifth frame opened with both tied at 1-1, U.S. set guards to bury a rock behind them, the Russia hit a double takeout, the next shot cleared the house, Allison Pottinger tried to draw behind the Russian guard but was only minimally successful.

Then Russia's next shot was weak, then with the chance to take the lead McCormick missed on her shot, then Russian's missed their next shot badly, which left McCormick with the last stone, and then with the opportunity to score two, McCormick made the shot which gave the U.S. a 3-1 lead.

Then the seventh frame Russia scored two more to make it 3-3.

The eight frame U.S. scored one, then Russia scored another to make it even.

Entering the final frame with the hammer, Team U.S.A. would take full advantage.

At the beginning Russia set two guards, then they set a rock in the four foot circle. But with it being exposed, Pottinger redeemed herself by knocking it out.

McCormick's second to last shot was placed on the center of the circle instead of peeling the guards to knock the Russian rock. Unconventional shot.

Anna Sidorova of Russia, tried to place her shot behind the rock in the center but did not curl enough, leaving it exposed.

That shot put the game in U.S. hands, McCormick paused.

"When I cleaned my rock, I didn't feel good," McCormick explained. "I kept telling myself, "If it doesn't fell good, if it's not good in my hand, just redo it." It was a bid pressure shot -it was the game on the line, and I wanted to make that for our team."

McCormick would make the perfect shot scoring two points, which gave the U.S. a 6-4 victory over Russia. 

U.S. first victory in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The victory improved U.S. women's team record to 1-3 and gives them a chance of advancing to the playoffs. The next curling match is tomorrow against Great Britain.