Northern champs could have been more gracious
By John Cameron
There is a silver lining to every loss and hopefully that holds true for Joe Scharf.
The draw against three to give Brad Jacobs a trip to the Brier is still at the top of the minds of local curling fans. It was pointed out to me by a close friend, that Al Hackner suffered a similar heartbreaking loss to Manitoba’s Kerry Burtnyk in 1981 in Halifax on a draw for the win. Hackner bounced back to not only win the Canadian championship, but the worlds the next year.
Here’s hoping Scharf and his teammates Mike McCarville, Robin Champagne and Gary Champagne give it another shot to play in the Sault next year.
As for the Jacobs rink, they may be Northern Ontario champs, but certainly did not endear themselves to local curling fans or other teams competing at the Northerns last week. The on- and off-ice demeanor of the Sault Ste. Marie squad left a lot of to be desired.
Sure, they were all business about winning. That’s fine, but the arrogance has left a bad taste in the mouths of many who attended last week’s championship event.
The sportsmanship displayed by throwing their brooms on the heels of their gift victory Sunday was the icing on the cake, after the broom-smashing incident on Friday afternoon, when they were upset by Jeff Currie.
The lyrics from a John Hiatt song Perfectly Good Guitar delivers the message best . . .
Oh it breaks my heart to see those stars
Smashing a perfectly good (guitar) broom
I don’t know who they think they are
Smashing a perfectly good (guitar) broom
The Jacobs rink will find out who they are at the Brier in London, in what will be one of the best fields ever. I wonder if they will be smashing their brooms if the losses start piling up against the likes of Martin, Howard, Stoughton, Gushue, Simmons, Adams and others in a deep field. Let’s hope they keep their cool, and come out with a winning record. One thing for sure, fans and officials in London will not be as tolerant.
TBayTel Skins: Scharf and his rink will be back in action next weekend for a local cash event, the TBayTel Skins scheduled for the Port Arthur Curling Club on Saturday, Feb. 26.
Scharf will be one of four local rinks from the TBayTel Men’s Major League of Curling who will be playing for a purse of $2,025.
The Bryan Burgess, Mike Assad and Jeff Currie foursomes qualified through a points system awarded local men’s teams through the competitive curling season based on their showing in playdowns, cashspiels and the major league.
The format next Saturday will see Scharf play Currie with Burgess to take on Assad in the semifinals at 11 a.m.
The winners advance to the final at 2 p.m. Fans are encouraged to come out and support this inaugural event and are asked to bring a non-perishable food item as admission, with proceeds going to Shelter House.
Changes for Dahl: There will be a shuffle in the Dahl house for next year. Marlo Dahl will be back at skip with her long-time lead Carly Ray, with the two joining forces with Rhonda Skillen at third and Tiffany Stubbings at second.
Skillen also brings Bruce Melville in as coach. Dahl, who made the provincials the past two years, looks to improve on their performance this past year when they just missed the playoffs.
Another big event: Thunder Bay has won the bid to host another major curling championship.
The Dominion of Canada Insurance Company has selected the Fort William Curling Club to host the Dominion Canadian Curling Club Championship in 2013.
The championship event will showcase the top club curlers from each province and territory, and will be held Nov. 25-30, 2013 in Thunder Bay.
The championship was created back in 2009 to build the interest in grassroots curling in clubs across the country.
Around the clubs: The Fort William Curling Club is in for another big event this weekend as they host the annual Bearskin Airlines Hope Classic.
The popular women’s charity bonspiel for cancer research gets under way Friday and wraps up Sunday morning. Organizers are looking at going over the $2-million mark over the 15 years for the event.
For more information on the Hope Classic, visit www.bearskinairlineshopeclassic.com.
John Cameron’s curling column appears Wednesdays. If you have club news or bonspiel results to pass on, you are encouraged to contact John at jocamero@shaw.ca or 623-3135.