Gushue/Ferbey

As I browse on CurlingZone today I noticed the thread about the splitting of the Gushue/Ferbey experiment. Ferby made comments about the way Gushue runs his team and Ryan Fry defended Gushue with some not so flattering words about Ferbey. You can read both blog articles on Al Cameron's blog.

Al Cameron had permission to publish Ryan Fry's email response on his blog. Many people have said that Ryan Fry is being very immature and I tend to agree with the majority. Fry could have said what he said in a much more politically correct way. But it makes me think that the relationship between Gushue and Ferbey was doomed from the start from how harsh Fry's comments were. Also there is more beneath the surface of Fry's comments than most of us can see. He gave Al Cameron permission to post his email for a reason.

Randy Ferbey was trying to clearly state that Brad Gushue is a control freak in the nicest way possible. Mark Nichols has curled for Brad Gushue for a very long time and Ryan Fry has curled with Brad for a few years. Jamie Korab has been kicked off the team and brought back on more times than I can shake a stick at. When I watch Brad Gushue I get a sense that he not completely comfortable on the ice. Ever since his Gold Medal in 2006 something Gushue has seemed different. It might be time for Gushue to call up Russ Howard and get some advice. It will take time but Brad Gushue will figure it out and become a better curler than he has ever been.

Scott Madams Interview

Scott Madams after his 11-5 victory over Don Homles from the Willow Park out of Fin Flon.

Chase for the Playoffs

Only one of the top eight seeds has fallen at the 2011 Safeway Championship. David Bohn of the Assiniboine Memorial went bang bang this time around. He lost two close games to David Hamblin of Morris 8-7 and his first game in an extra end to Hamiota's Brent Strachan 9-7. Sometimes we fall on the wrong side of the inch and for Bohn and his team it was there turn.




Strachan is part of thr eight teams still alive on the "A" side of the championship so far. Strachan will play Brandon's number 3 seed Rob Fowler, number 1 seed Mike McEwen will play Deer Lodge's Sean Grassie, defending champion Jeff Stoughton of Charlsewood takens on Willie Lyburn and the final match up in the "A" qualifying games has Peter Nichols playing Vic Peters.



When and if you get the chance to come to Beausejour please take note of these three players who I believe don't get enough attention.



Steve Irwin - He often goes overlooked as the third for Terry McNamee. Steve is a very quite guy and he is making his return to the Safeway Championship after missing last year. His first son was born last year on the Thursday of the Safeway Championship. He is a great shooter and shows plenty of consistenty on the ice.



Alex Forrest - The second for Willie Lyburn of Deer Lodge. Alex was the runner-up last year the M & M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championship. In the last end of the final Alex missed a takeout to give his team a great chance to win and threw it just a bit wide. He teamed up this year with Willie Lyburn, James Kirkness and Greg Melnichuk. They are showing him the ropes of the men's game and are all consistent winners on the cash circuit. Alex also has a sibling that he can look up to. His brother Tyler Forrest was the lead for Jason Gunnlaugson this and last year.



Corey Chambers – Third for Sean Grassie. I curled with Corey for the past few years and he showed to me he has the potential to be one of the great curlers in Manitoba for years to come. You could compare his slide somewhat to John Morris but his slide is much slower. Corey can generate lots of power from his hack foot but backs it up by having a great finesse game.



Look for these curlers next time you have a chance and I promise you won’t be disappointed. All three of them are very quite but you can see the passion and intensity in their eyes while they play the game.

First Controversy

One day into the 2011 Safeway Championship and already we have some what of a controversy. Andy Stewart was surprised to learn that he had run out of time when he thought they were in a timeout. In the 10th end of his game versus Dave Boehmer he was debating what shot to play when his game time ended. It turns out Stewart’s team had already been credited with taking two time outs when they thought they had only taken one. The officials had to end the game right before Stewart through his last stone. Head official Don Campbell said he would review all information and make a decision ASAP.

The interesting thing about this situation was the game was on tape delay on Shaw. Surely some type of instant replay could have been used. It may be a little time consuming but surely someone could have reviewed the tape to see if Stewart’s team had actually taken two timeouts already. Not every game at this Safeway Championship would have the luxury of having this type of instant replay but we want to get all calls right. Every curler at this event will admit they would never want to win by the other team running out of time. Andy Stewart is a very even keel type of guy so he would never get out of line.

Rachel Homan Interview

This interview will air on Rock Talk on February 9th at 7pm CST only on Sports Radio 1290. You can listen to the full interview here as a special treat for visiting my blog. Please stay tuned to the blog as I will be making reguler updates at the 2011 Manitoba Safeway Championship from February 9th-13th.

Rock Talk January 5, 2011

This is the January 5th edition of Rock Talk. Adam Norget joins us Resby and I in studio to speak about the MCT Championship, Alberta Curling and much more. The show is an hour long so please take some time to listen in.

Declining Numbers & the Future of Curling

The chase for the Scotties, Brier and M & M Juniors is well on its way. The last couple of week’s teams across Manitoba have been competing in zone play downs for a chance at competing at the provincials later this curling season. I would like to congratulate all the teams that won their zone.

Now to the unfortunate news, the number of teams competing is down from last year. This may not seem all that crucial but it is very concerning. I can understand at the higher levels of curling why teams are just not competing. The skill gap between the elite teams and club teams is greater than it has ever been. This fact can be a large deterrent for the average Joe who is thinking of competing in the play downs. I just don't understand why juniors are suffering so much. ONLY 11 teams entered the Junior Men's zones & 7 teams for the Junior Women's zones in Winnipeg. There were 3 spots to provincials for both the Junior Men and Women. The numbers have not been strong for a long time but we are told time and time again that the numbers in junior programs are strong. I want proof from someone. Last week on Rock Talk on Sports Radio 1290 we had 2 members from the Elmwood on the program to discuss their club's 100th anniversary celebrations. We asked them how their numbers were in their junior program. They responded and said there were about 100 juniors from little rockers to their competitive league. The kids may or may not being encouraged to compete at a higher level and that’s fine. It is their decision but the future of curling lies in their hands.

Curling is reaching a point where it is on life support. TSN draws a pretty big audience on their broadcasts but their demographic is getting older. Only 10 years ago when Greg McAulay won the brier people were a lot younger. Crowd numbers at the Brier and Scotties have declined over the past few years with a few exceptions in Alberta. Even in 2008 when the Brier was in Winnipeg numbers were not great. Curling has always had trouble attracting the casual fan.

What I think will happen is curling will move to a more defined professional and amateurs sides. With the creation of the Dominion Club Championships club curlers will have a chance at a national championship that will be attainable. Teams at the top are obviously better but are not treated like other athletes in other sports. Could you imagine watching a sports channel and suddenly there is breaking news. Kevin Martin has signed a 2 year extension with Saville Sports Centre for 500 thousand per year. This will never happen in our lifetime. Curling will become the first sport to have 2 levels of completion: amateur and amateur/pro.

Warren Hansen of The Last End wrote an interesting piece which you can read here. In the article he speaks about how things were when the juniors were the National School Boys championship and the decision by the CCA to change the age of juniors twice. He suggests that the CCA should change the age of juniors to 21 and the creation of a juvenile national championship where kids are no older than 16, 17 or 18. I think the age change would be nice change as that would finally synchronize Canada with the rest of the world. Great news for the creation of the national juvenile championship, it already exists. The Optimist International Under-18 Curling Championships was created in 2001 and some great curlers have already competed in it. Kaitlyn Lawes, Matt Wozniak, Daniel Kammerlock, Chelsea Carey, Charley Thomas, Derek Samagalski, Rachel Homan have all competed at the Optimist Curling Championship. The Optimists have done a fantastic job creating a breading ground for juveniles to compete at a national championships but it is time either the CCA or the WCF steps in and sanctions this as an official event. Most provinces already have a play down to decide a winner who gets to go to the U18 championship. Hell, they even provide a banner and jackets to match for the winners. The only thing the U18 does not have is the official sanction. The championship has proved that it can survive and great curlers have already come from the championship. Warren Hansen has some great ideas in his article.

That is enough of my rambling for now. If you have any suggestions or comments please leave them below and I will answer them ASAP. You can catch me Wednesday night on Rock Talk with Resby Coutts on Sports Radio 1290. Email your questions or comments to rocktalk@mymts.net and we may just have a chance to talk about it.

Happy Holidays,
Jordan

P.S. Here is a picture of my team and I at the 2003 U18 Optimist Curling Championship. Not the greatest picture :D