Official Newspaper of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts Friday, February 27, 2009

DAY6

Skip Rebecca-Jean MacPhee has guided herPrince Edward Islanders to a playoff tiebreaker.

Friday, February 27, 2009 2

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System needs retoolingHeart drops and other leftovers . . .

Calgary’s Cheryl Bernard is among themany competitive shooters who isn’tgreatly enamoured with the current

Canadian Team Ranking System and its ef-fect on the game in general.

“I think it needs to be revamped and stud-ied,” she was saying the other day. “The lureof the trials has severely reduced the pool ofgood teams. And I wonder why would someof these teams keep paying ’spiel entry feesand getting their asses kicked?

“It’ll be interesting to see on Dec. 15 howit all shakes out after the Olympic trials. Imean, would I build a new team? No. I don’tthink I have it in me. The work we’ve doneover the last four years? I wouldn’t do thatagain.

“Would I put together a team of experi-enced players for a couple more years.Maybe. I doubt our team will stay together.

Two of them want to have kids. Carolyn’s(second Darbyshire’s) done, she’s hadenough of this. Our team would at least takesome time off. I’ll bet you a lot of people willjust take a year off and maybe say, call me ina year.”

One other possible future consideration for

the Calgary smoothie? Joining her city’sother top skip, Shannon Kleibrink.

“There was talk at one point,” she said witha nod. “Maybe it was some reporter makingthings up. She and I have never talked. And,you know, I think it’d probably be like Kevinand Randy curling together. I think we’reboth strong personalities.

“Maybe there would be a time when I’dstep down to play for somebody young, likeSue (O’Connor). You know what I mean?Play third for her to get her going. She’s agood little curler, my third. I’d enjoy helpingher build a team. Give something back thatway. So that’s a possibility.

“But,” she said, flashing her pearlies, “thatwould mean I’d have to sweep.” . . .

n n nScotties frontrunner Marla Mallett of Van-

couver pooh-poohs charges of CTRS distrac-tion.

“It’s only a distraction if you let it be a dis-

traction,” said the B.C. skip this week. “Imean, there’s a lot of different ways to getpoints. And I think it’s good from the aspectthat those teams at the top of the pile for anumber of years are getting in. But, you canput good combinations together that are re-ally capable in one year and not have the op-portunity in the next year.

“I think it’s only going to make us stronger,though. All those other countries are improv-ing, too. We just can’t maintain this level,we’ve got to step it up as well.”

Cautioned B.C. coach Ken MacDonald:“Perhaps they fixed what they thought was

broken but didn’t make it as strong as it couldbe.”

Mallett, by the way, favours 10-end gamesin the controversy surrounding the length ofthe tilts.

PLEASE SEE WOOD P12

Bernard puts thumbs down on rankings

LarryWOOD

It started with eight teams in contention. Byafternoon there were still eight teams. Andby Thursday dinner time the field had been

reduced to six.Then came the final draw of the Scotties

round-robin preliminaries at the Save-OnFoods Memorial Centre. Only B.C.’s MarlaMallett, the leader for most of the piece, en-joyed an extra life even though she was twicebitten on the final day. Quebec’s Marie-France Larouche and Rebecca Jean MacPheeof P.E.I. were through and playoff bound. Al-

berta’s Cheryl Bernard and defending cham-pion Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg were on thebubble.

It was Jones and Mallett in the final feature.And the defender grabbed control early andhung on for a 6-5 decision to cling to life anda sudden-death tiebreaker engagement withThe Islanders today at 1 p.m.

It was sudden-death but nothing new for theJones team that won eight straight with its backagainst the wall a year ago to win the Scottiestitle. This time, they face a five-game gauntlet

to survive, including a tiebreaker, Page Three-Four playoff, semi-final and final.

Mallett, meanwhile, remained the only teamon the premises with only three defeats head-ing into the playoffs. And B.C. will face Que-bec’s Larouche in the Page One-Two scuffletonight at 6:30 p.m. with the winner advancingdirectly to Sunday’s 5 p.m. final.

Larouche qualified for the final on thestrength of her final-round 7-5 conquest ofSaskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton on Thursdayafternoon. That pulled Quebec even with theGreen Machine. Both held the winning edgeover Jones and MacPhee in games among thefour, all breathing with four losses in the bank.

Bernard wasn’t so fortunate on the late shift.

The Albertans bowed 6-5 to Ontario’s KristaMcCarville of Thunder Bay in an extra end.The two finished square with five losses each.McCarville had suffered her fifth setback in theafternoon at the expense of the pesky Polarsfrom Yellowknife skipped by Kerry Galushawho engineered three in the 10th end for a 9-7win.

Saskatchewan draws the day off today butgets the Jones-MacPhee winner on the PageThree-Four tussle on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.The winner moves onto the semi at 4 p.m.

Five-team race to finish

3 Friday, February 27, 2009

By LARRY WOODHeart Chart Editor

Defending champs survive to live another day

Team Canadaʼs Jennifer Jones (left) survived to play in todayʼs tiebreaker while Quebecʼs Marie-France Larouche is in the 1-2 Game.

PLEASE SEE SCOTTIES P10

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5 Friday, February 27, 2009

Up Close

They are the sport’s unsungheroes.

Curling fans at thisweek’s Scotties Tournament ofHearts can likely reel off thenames of all 12 skips, and someof their thirds, too.

But the front-end players?That’s when fans have to reachfor the program.

That’s because the lead andsecond players on almost everyteam are virtual unknowns. Toplay, they must check their egosat the door. They are mostly no-table for feverishly sweeping theskip’s stones, and gettinghollered at for most of the game.

But on occasion a front-endwill break through.

Saskatchewan’s lead Lana Veyand second Sherri Singler haveemerged as one of the best frontends in the nation with their per-formance this week at the Scot-ties. Both are No. 1 statisticallyin their positions, and togetherthey can drag a rock from theSave-On-Foods Centre to theEmpress Hotel. They are onefantastic brushing machine.

Their performance this weekhas helped the team from Saska-toon to recover from a disastrous0-3 get back in the hunt for theCanadian women’s curlingchampionship at the Save-On-Foods Centre.

Singler says the secret to theirsuccess is the satisfaction theyget from doing their jobs well.

“You have to be happy in yourpositions,” says Singler. “I’ve al-ways been front end and I enjoysweeping and throwing the shotsfront-enders do. Maybe somedayI’ll want to move up, but I enjoy

what I do.” Vey says a good front-ender

must take the position seriously.“I still think your job is just as

important (as back end),” shesays. “We can attack the otherteam just as much as the backend can.”

Vey has settled nicely into thelead position, which was some-thing new to her when she wasrecruited by Saskatoon skip Ste-

fanie Lawton two seasons ago.“Yeah, I like it,” says Vey, who

lives in Regina but makes thecommute up the highway to theTooner for practise when possi-ble. “There’s no ego for me. I’llplay wherever. I get to draw a lotand play some soft shots, which Ireally like.”

Both agree the importance ofsweeping is often ignored by theaverage fan. And that doesn’tnecessarily mean how far a frontend can drag a rock. It also meansthe art of knowing when — andwhen not — to sweep. There aretimes the front-enders have tomake their own call, overridingthe skip’s call or non-call.

It’s not a skill developedovernight. It takes years of expe-rience to know precisely whenit’s time to lean on the brushes.But the two women have meshedquickly, on and off the ice.

“Judging a rock is a huge com-ponent of the game today,” Sin-gler says, “so you have to workwell together. But our personali-ties hit it off right from the start.”

Says Vey: “Some peopleyou meet and things clickright away. We have asimilar approach to sportsand the game, so I thinkthat makes it easy.”

Of course, when it’s timeto lean on the brushes, Sin-gler and Vey can providesome friction.

Strength and enduranceis important.

“It’s a long week,” saysVey, “so you have to be inshape. I’m only 24,Sherri’s 35, I’m still a littlesore at the end of the day,my hands are tired, so I can

imagine how she feels at the endof the day.

“But it's all part of playing thefront end.”

Saskatchewwanʼs LanaVey (left) and SherriSingler know theimportance ofteamwork.

EDITOR Larry WoodASSOCIATE EDITOR Dave KomoskyPHOTOGRAPHER Andrew KlaverPUBLISHED BY The Victoria Times Colonist

Saskachewanʼs front endcheck egos at the door

By DAVE KOMOSKYHeart Chart Associate Editor

It’s a numbers gameBeing the daughter of an accountant, I

grew up surrounded by numbers.Funny how things work out. That the

game I love would now be embedded bynumbers, too.

Enter the time clocks. Each team at theScotties gets 73 minutes per game plus twoone minute timeouts. This should be morethan ample time to complete a 10-end game.With the current rules encouraging morerocks in play, the ends can get busy. But withthe lovable 10-end game, a team can banksome time in a clean end if need be, but stillplay offensive when warranted. It’s all abouttime management.

Have you heard the numbers being yelledout by the sweepers? For communicationpurposes when sweeping, teams have dividedthe playable area (between hogline and backline) into 10 zones. The first three zones areoutside of the rings extending to the hogline.The next three zones are from the top-four-foot to the top 12-foot. The most sought-after

zone is seven, which is the tee-line. And thelast three zones are from the back four to theback line.

We also see curlers using stopwatches toassist in both sweeping and throwing. Thereare a few systems in place and it comes downto preference. Hog-to-hog times, split times(back line to hog, tee-line to hog) and hog tostop times are commonly used. However,

being a coach of many, sometimes thewatches become a crutch and curlers forgetthe feel, so beware.

All right, so let’s get down to the nittygritty of this column — stats. The questionalways is asked, do we need to spend timeand effort collecting a bunch of numbers?Hmmm …

Unlike some people who think stats are awaste of time, I don’t. As a player, a coach,and a fan of the game I think stats are a goodthing and serve many purposes. Stats can cre-ate interest in the game for everyone, even as-sist the media (not a space filler), offer playercomparisons (strengths and weaknesses) andprovide detailed information to coaches.

Currently, the method is a simple four-point system — four for perfect and zero fora complete miss, and then 1–to-3 for half-shots and those judged somewhere in be-tween.

PLEASE SEE SOLIGO P11

Stats becoming big part of curling

MelissaSOLIGO

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7 Friday, February 27, 2009

TODAY’S QUIZ

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

We all know the skip who has won themost games in Canadian women's cham-pionship history. Name the skip who haswon the second-most games.1. How many Canadian championshipsand how many championship games hasshe won?2. Name the last skip to sail through theCanadian women’s championship withouta defeat, also the year, venue and record. 3. Who was the last Canadian championskip to suffer but a single defeat at theScotties?4. Name the skip who beat her. Also thatskip's hometown.5. The year of that Canadian champi-onship and the venue, please?6. Name five curlers who have won both

the Scotties and the national juniorwomen's curling championship as skips,and the provinces they represented inboth.7. Name any other Canadian junior cham-pion skips who went on to play for Scot-ties champs.8. Name any other Canadian junior cham-pion skips who went on to play for Scot-ties runners-up.9. Name any other Canadian junior cham-pion players who went on to skip Scottiesprovincial champs.10. Name the first Canadian juniorwomen’s championship skip to advance toskip in a Canadian women’s champi-onship.11. She skipped for which province in jun-ior and which province at the Canadianwomen’s?12. Name the first Canadian juniorwomen’s championship player to skip aCanadian women’s winner.

(Answers)

QofD: Connie Laliberte.1. Two championships, 74 games.2. Linda Moore was 11-0 in 1985 at Win-nipeg.3. Cathy (King) Borst.4. Kelly Kaylo of Yellowknife.5. 1998 at Regina.6. Cathy (King) Borst (Alberta); AlisonGoring (Ontario); Julie Sutton (Skinner)(British Columbia); Jennifer Jones(Manitoba); Kelly Scott (Manitoba-British Columbia).7. Kim (Gellard) Griffin, Heather (God-

berson) Nedohin, Cathy Overton-Clapham, Chris (Pidzarko) More, JodieSutton, Kay (Smith) Zinck.8. Kim (Armbruster) Hodson, Marie-France Larouche.9. Suzanne Gaudet, Marla (Geiger) Mal-lett, Meredith (Doyle) Harrison, JanetHarvey, Andrea Kelly, Stefanie Lawton,Jill Mouzar, Cathy (Pidzarko) Shaw,Barb (Kirkness) Spencer, HeatherSmith-Dacey, Cindy Street, RobynMacPhee. 10. Chris (Pidzarko) More.11. Manitoba.12. Cathy (Pidzarko) Shaw.

Hearts Trivia

Be sure tocheck page 14for HeartStop

Lounge information!

Albertaʼs Cori Bartel (left) and Susan OʼConnor study the situation..

Friday, February 27, 2009 8

SKIPAGE: 34RESIDENCE: East St.PaulPARTNER: HusbandScott LabonteEMPLOYMENT: Cor-porate lawyer,Wellington WestCapital Inc.SHE IS: Shy,dreamer, caringLOVES CURLINGBECAUSE: Of thepeople you meetand the experi-ences we get toshare.

Jennifer Jones

Cathy Overton-Clapham

THIRDNICKNAME: Cathy OAGE: 38RESIDENCE: WinnipegFAMILY: Husband MikeClapham, son Andrew 10,MacKenzie 6.EMPLOYMENT: Co-owner of FlatlandersFlooring and ‘mom’.SHE IS: Happy, fun, competitiveLOVES CURLING BECAUSE: Of the com-petition and because of the friendshipsI’ve made.

Profiles: Team CanadaHOME CLUB: ST. VITAL CURLING CLUB (WINNIPEG)

Jill Officer

SECONDNICKNAME: JillyAGE: 33RESIDENCE: WinnipegPARTNER: Husband De-vlin HincheyEMPLOYMENT: Commu-nity spokesperson, RBCSHE IS: Fun, loyal, loudLOVES CURLING BECAUSE: Of the friend-ships I’ve made, the travelling I get to doand because of my passion for compet-ing.

Dawn Askin

LEADNICKNAME: Super DAGE: 28RESIDENCE: WinnipegPARTNER: Mike McEwenEMPLOYMENT: FederalGovernment of CanadaSHE IS: Generous, easy-going, supportive.LOVES CURLING BECAUSE: It’s alwaysbeen my passion since I was young andalong with the highs of winning I get totravel and meet a lot of great people.

THE COUNTRYPopulation: 33,212,696 (July 2008 est.)Area: 9,093,507 sq kmConfederation: July 1, 1867Motto: “A Mari usque ad Mare”which means from sea to sea.Capital City: OttawaLaguages Spoken: 67.1% English,21.5% French 11.4% other Leading industries: Automobile manu-facturing, pulp and paper, iron andsteel work, machinery and equipmentmanufacturing, mining, extraction offossil fuels, forestry and agriculture.

TEAM CANADAAT THE SCOTTIES

Last three years:2008 — Kelly Scott, Kelowna (5-6)2007 — Kelly Scott, Kelowna (12-2 -champion)2006 — Jennifer Jones, Winnipeg (10-4 - runnerup)

Last championship — Kelly Scott(2007)Canadian titles — 6World titles — 6 (Heather Houston in1989, Sandra (Schmirler) Peterson in1994, Colleen Jones in 2002, 2003 and2004, Kelly Scott in 2007).

DID YOU KNOW. . .

n Canada is the home of many greatinventions, including: basketball, theelectric light bulb, the electric range,the electron microscope, standardtime, television and the telephone.

FACTS

9 Friday, February 27, 2009

SKIPAGE: 42RESIDENCE: CalgaryFAMILY: Terry Meek(common-law), Con-nor 14, Evan 18 (step-sons)

EMPLOYMENT:CurlerTHREE WORDSTHAT DESCRIBEHER: Goal-driven,determined, ad-venturousLOVES CURLINGBECAUSE: Theincrediblefriendships de-veloped.

Cheryl Bernard

Profiles: Team AlbertaHOME CLUB: CALGARY WINTER CLUB

THE PROVINCEPopulation: 3,064,200 Area: 661,848 sq kmMotto: “Strong and free”Joined Confederation: 1905Capital City: Edmonton Laguages Spoken: 81% English, 2.1%French, 3.2% German, 2.0% Ukrainian,3.6% bilingual 8.1% otherPrincipal Products: Natural Gas, Oil,Wheat

ALBERTAAT THE SCOTTIES

Last five years:2008 — Shannon Kleibrink, Calgary(11-2 - runnerup)2007 — Cheryl Bernard, Calgary (7-6)2006 — Cathy King, Edmonton (6-5)2005 — Cathy King, Edmonton (6-6)2004 — Shannon Kleibrink, Calgary (6-5)Last championship — Cathy Borst

(King) (1998)Canadian titles — 5World titles — None

DID YOU KNOW. . .n Although many people think of theRockies when they think of Alberta,they are not an official symbol of theprovince.

FACTS

Susan O’Connor

THIRDAGE: 31RESIDENCE: CalgaryPARTNER: Engaged toTodd BrickEMPLOYMENT: Respira-tory therapist at FoothillsHospitalSHE IS: Hard-working, competetive, fun-lovingLOVES CURLING BECAUSE: You meetamazing people and it has given me anopportunity to see different places.

Carolyn Darbyshire

SECONDAGE: 45RESIDENCE: CalgaryFAMILY: Husband Rod,stepson Shea 14, daugh-ter Alexandria 7 EMPLOYMENT: Officemanager, Canadian Decal InstallersSHE IS: Hard-working, competitive, fam-ily-orientatedLOVES CURLING BECAUSE: Of the peoplethat you meet, that you have curledwith and against across Canada.

Cori Bartel

LEADAGE: 37RESIDENCE: CalgaryPARTNER: Sean MorrisEMPLOYMENT: Recruiterwith Friday ProfessionalGroupSHE IS: Friendly, loyal, persistent (somemight say stubborn)LOVES CURLING BECAUSE: I’ve metwonderful people, around the world, allthrough curling (and usually over a fewbeverages)!

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ScottiesFrom Page 3

Jones opened with a deuce in the critical evening gameand led 4-2 at the half. Mallett stole a ninth-end single to tieit but left Jones an eight-foot draw for the win at the finish.

“I think we controlled that from start to finish,” Jones al-lowed afterward. “We had to be better and I thought weplayed better. We’re still alive and that’s all you can ask for.Now we have to play as good as we can and hopefully that’llbe good enough to keep going.”

Jones was nicked for the fourth time Thursday morning,8-7 by the Islanders. Only P.E.I., Newfoundland and the Ter-ritories have failed to produce Canadian women’s curlingchampion teams and all three bested Team Canada this week.

Mallett also lost to the gutty Spud Islanders, 7-5 in the af-ternoon.

“We’re delighted,” said Rebecca Jean MacPhee, who skipsand tosses third boulders. “We knew we had to beat the toptwo teams to survive today, we knew we had to come out fir-ing and this is just fabulous. Robyn played so well and I thinkwe’ve got it going now.”

Sister Robyn MacPhee, who tosses last rocks, issued sev-eral clutch shots on the day including a key last-rock hitagainst Team Canada.

Both MacPhees will advance beyond the Scotties prelim-inaries for the third time. RJ skipped a team to the PageThree-Four playoff at Calgary in 1995 and played third forSuzanne Gaudet in 2003 at Kitchener-Waterloo when the Is-

landers finished third. Robyn also played on the latter squadand was with Gaudet in the Page Three-Four at Lethbridgein 2007.

“You set your goals at the first of the week to make play-offs and you never know what record is going to be re-quired,” said RJ MacPhee. “This tells us we can beatanybody here. Play well, anybody’s beatable.”

Lawton bounced back from her costly afternoon loss tohammer Manitoba’s Barb Spencer 7-5 on the late shift.

Larouche bounced off the floor to win twice and erase thememory of a sloppy two-loss day on Wednesday. The Que-beckers started in the morning with a 9-4 cruise overSpencer.

“We knew we had to win both games so we’re pretty proudof the fact we did,” said the skip from La Belle Province.“And I played much better. I had the draw weight and I wason the broom and I’m happy because those were my prob-lems yesterday.

“That (last win over Saskatchewan) was only the secondcomplete game we’ve curled this week. All four of us werecurling to our capabilities for only the second game.”

Alberta remained in contention by squeezing past the Ter-ritories 8-6 in the morning before bowing out at the last gasp,failing to engineer as much as one multiple count.

Newfoundland’s Heather Strong plummeted from con-tention with a pair of losses — 7-6 to Nancy McConnery ofNova Scotia in overtime and 6-5 to Andrea Kelly of NewBrunswick.

The Newfoundlanders and Herringchokers finished with5-6 records while the Polars were 4-7, Nova Scotia and Man-itoba 2-9. Stefanie Lawton mulls over playoff picture.

11 Friday, February 27, 2009

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SoligoFrom Page 6

There is always the elusive bonus point aswell. In a completed 10-end game, the maxi-mum score for a player is 80 points (4x2x10).An extra end fattens the total by a maximumeight. The kinds of statistical information pro-vided at the Scotties help the media makeplayer comparisons for the viewers and thereaders of the sport.

But in reality, stats are not just about anumber form 0–4. They are about the datathat can be collected using those numbers. Itis about creating reports to identify overallpercentages, in-turn versus out-turn, hit ver-sus draw, force efficiency, steal efficiency andhammer efficiency. Teams that collect infor-mation can use it to their benefit!

This is a game of inches and any advantageis a useful advantage.

As a player, I always wanted to know whatmy percentages were. It was nice to get theego stroked (this is where I assume I playedwell), but if the stats were not good, I would,being the fierce competitor that I was, chal-lenge myself to do better.

As a coach, I make use of the numbersspecifically related to strengths and weak-nesses of opposing players. As we know inthis sport, one shot can make a huge differ-ence, by knowing any weak spot; say forcinga draw versus a hit — this ‘ammo’ is good tohave in the back pocket.

To be fair, I can see the other side of thestats debate. Stats are subjective and the scor-ing does not always reflect the skip’s deci-sion-making process. The numbers are highlydependent on a scorer’s experience and con-sistency.

And most importantly, the current scoringsystem doesn’t reflect the shot difficulty, theimportance of each shot or the context inwhich the shots were missed.

Although statisticians are usually seasonedcurlers with knowledge and experience, theywill never know a team’s game plan or thereasons behind a decision but they will havethe best guess (and seat) in the house.

Curling’s shooting percentages provide thedata that is needed and currently it is best ob-jective measure of the game we have. And ifcurling exists to be enjoyed, then the shootingpercentage is a useful tool to help us enjoythe game.

And if nothing else, stats always give uslots to talk about.

Dawn Moses of the Territories gets down for a low-level look.

Friday, February 27, 2009 12

OK, now the fun begins.The Scotties Tournament of Hearts

reached critical mass Thursday at the com-pletion of round-robin play, and the multi-tude of tiebreakers everyone dreads failedto materialize.

But it wasn’t completely cut-and-dried,either.

This is how the Page playoffs/tiebreakersituation developed Thursday night:

British Columbia’s Marla Mallett fin-ished in top spot with an 8-3 record. Que-bec’s Marie-France Larouche,Saskatchewan’s Stafanie Lawton, TeamCanada’s Jen-nifer Jonesand PrinceEdward Is-land’s Re-becca Jean

MacPhee allfinished with 7-4

records and in a huge logjam for secondplace. But on the basis of head-to-headgames in the round-robin, Quebec wasawarded second place and Saskachewantook third. That leaves Team Canada andthe Spud Islanders to fight it out today in a

tiebreaker. That game goes at 1 p.m. withthe winner nailing down fourth. The losergoes home.

Then it’s on to the Page playoffs.The winner of the

Team Canada vs. P.E.Igame faces

Saskatchewanin the sud-

den-deathThree-Four

gameSatur-day at

11:30a.m. Thewinnermoves toSaturday’ssemi-final

at 4 p.m. The loser is gonzo.The One-Two game between B.C. and

Quebec goes tonight at 6:30 p.m. with thewinner moving directly to Sunday’s final.

The loser, meanwhile, gets anotherchance in Saturday’s semi-final.

Sunday’s final is slated for 5 p.m.

1

2

3

4

6:30 p.m.Today

11:30 a.m.Saturday

4 p.m.Saturday

5 p.m.Sunday

Loser of 1-2 game

Page 1-2 /3-4 Games Semi-final Final

Guide to PagePlayoff System

B.C.

Quebec

Saskatchewan

Canada or P.E.I.

WoodFrom Page 2

“I think eight is too short,” she said. “It’s greatwhen you’re on the upside of the scoreboard butwhen you’re on the downside it’s nice to have theextra two ends.

“I enjoy both games. But I think we need consis-tency. It would just be nice to play the same num-ber of ends no matter what the event we’re playing.The differences in the games demand a completeadjustment. I think it would be easier on the playersif it was uniform. So, from a preparation stand-point, I’d rather it be consistent.” . . .

n n nJoe Pavia of the Ottawa Sun brings up another

current Olympic trials issue.“The U.S. is holding its Olympic trials right

now,” Pavia writes. “A number of other countrieshave already decided their teams for next year inVancouver. Canada, meanwhile, won’t pick itsteams that will go for gold in 2010 until mid-De-cember — about two months before the VancouverGames begin. And many commentators and playersbelieve that is too late.

“Do countries that choose their Olympic repre-sentatives earlier win more medals than Canada?Since curling became a medal sport in 1998,Canada has won two gold, two silver and twobronze medals — more than any other nation. Still,many elite Canadian curlers say giving athletesmore time to prepare before the Olympics would bea benefit.

“In his book Hurry Hard, 2006 Olympic goldmedallist Russ Howard complained that the timebetween the end of the trials and the beginning ofthe Torino Games was very unsettling for the play-ers and not conducive to preparing for the most im-portant games of their lives. The Canadian CurlingAssociation counters that the current timetablemeans Canada’s best will be in peak form headinginto Vancouver . . .

n n nRandy Ferbey has been complaining to Edmon-

ton columnist Terry Jones that Kevin Park’s inclu-sion on Manitoba’s Brier team skipped by JeffStoughton “isn’t right”.

Why? Park is a longtime Edmontonian who ap-parently established residency in Winnipeg this sea-son.

Frankly, the old curling residency restrictionswent the way of the do-do bird years ago. What’sthe difference in this case and that of Russ Howard,a New Brunswick resident, playing for BradGushue’s Newfoundlanders at the Olympics andthe preceding trials?

Still, it may be time for provincial associations totake a hard look at relaxed residency rules amongmany other rules that need tightening where so-called elite teams are concerned . . .

n n nNewfoundland’s Heather Strong is likely to draw

all-star rating as a Scotties skip for the first time yet

her team was eliminated from contention on Thurs-day afternoon.

“We won’t be happy,” she said earlier, “if wearen’t in the playoffs because we think we’re capa-ble of that.”

Just goes to prove statistics are for losers. Strongled all skips heading into Thursday night whilevice-skip Cathy Cuinningham was No. 2 overall,second Laura Strong was No. 4 and lead Peg Gosshad a share of No. 4.

Just ain’t no justice . . .n n n

Question: Is there an intimidation factor for someteams facing Jennifer Jones’s Team Canada unit?

“They might intimidate some teams,” saysSaskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton. “They’re TeamCanada and they have a lot going for them.They’re very confident girls and they make greatshots. Some of what they bring could be intimi-dating to some of the teams. I remember the firsttime we played Colleen Jones it was like, ‘wow,we’re playing Colleen Jones’. We were excitedabout the opportunity but we were also very nerv-ous.”

n n nOn the subject of Saskatchewan, second Sherri

Singler missed most of the fall cash season recover-ing from a back injury.

“It felt good being together again,'' said Lawton.“There is a lot to get used to when you bring in adifferent person. To have Sherri back feels so great.We all clicked and we’re a real team out there.'”

n n nAnybody recall that Lana Vey, the Saskatchewan

lead, was a second-team all-star third in this eventtwo years ago? Vey was with veteran Jan Betkerwho lost in the Scotties final to Kelly Scott.

“Maybe this time someone will know who I am,”said Vey, en route to Victoria. “It will be nice to goback there and do well again.'”

Statistically, Vey has been the No. 1 lead in theSave-On for most of the week.

Vey, by the way, was married following the Leth-bridge Hearts and allowed:

“I would have to rate getting married and gettingto the final at the Scottie as equal.'”

Wow!!!! . . .n n n

Quote/unquote Marie-France Larouche, on theeight-end, 10-end debate: “The difference betweeneight ends and 10 ends is the hammer in the firstend. It doesn’t mean so much in 10 ends. I likeeight ends in a series where we have to play a lot ofgames in a short time. In a tournament like thiswhere you play no more than two games a day, 10ends is fine.”

n n n

“People tell me I look so calm on the ice, but I’mgoing crazy inside,” Krista McCarville of ThunderBay told Brian McAndrew of the Toronto Star.“That’s a good thing. If you’re not nervous, there’sa problem. It’s more than butterflies and there willalways be butterflies, but they’re good butterfliesbecause they mean excitement.”

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Scotties Tournament of Hearts Join us after the Draw for

a workout. Bring this ad to

a public swimming session

at the Crystal Pool and Fitness

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adult or child admission.

Valid until May 31, 2009.

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Friday, February 27, 2009 14

We’ve got all the angles covered.Daily sports, commentary and the latest results.

LOUNGEFRIDAY, FEB. 27

4:45 p.m. Up Close and

Personal with

Kerry Galusha

Heather Strong

Nancy McConnery

Andrea Kelly

10:00 p.m. Timebenders

SATURDAY, FEB. 28

3:00 p.m. Team Autograph

Session

8:00 p.m. The Chevelles

SUNDAY, MARCH 1

2:00 p.m. The Chevelles

8:15 p.m. The Chevelles

Schedule subject to change.

A daily draw ticket is required for admis-sion to the HeartStop Lounge, convenientlylocated in the Victoria Curling Club.

HeartStop LoungeVictoria Curling Club

Two Menus to Choose From

7:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.

Breakfast Burger (served daily 7:30am-10:30am)

Pulled Pork on a BunChar Broiled Burger

Chili & BunClam Chowder & Bun

Assort. Cold Sandwiches (egg salad, salmon,ham)

Daily SoupFries

Caesar SaladVeggies & Dip

Pizza by the Slice

Food For Thought Menu10 a.m. – 10 p.m.

Choice of West Coast Seafood Chowderor Soup of the Day

Entrees:Chicken or Beef Pot Pies

Moroccan Chicken Peppers,Onions & Sweet Spices

Balsamic Chicken with choice of sidesIndian Curry (Chicken or Beef) yogurt East Indian

spicesBeef Dip with au jus

Wraps

Choice of sides and salads:Rice

NoodlesRoasted potatoes

Caesar SaladBaby Mixed Greens

California Pasta olives, sundried tomatoes,artichokes

Apple & Fennel Slaw Green and red cabbage,carrot

Chicken & Rice Indian Curry, rice, Caesar saladBalsamic Chicken roast potatoes, apple & fennel

slawBeef Dip ciabatta bun, Caesar salad

(For any above meals substitute soup for saladfor an extra $2.00)

Food For Thought ComboBuild your own combination 1 entrée and 2 sides

What’s onthe menu

15 Friday, February 27, 2009

W LB.C. (Mallett) 8 3Quebec (Larouche) 7 4Saskatchewan (Lawton) 7 4Team Canada (Jones) 7 4PEI (MacPhee) 7 4Ontario (McCarville) 6 5Alberta (Bernard) 6 5N.B. (Kelly) 5 6Nfld/Lab (Strong) 5 6Y/NWT (Galusha) 4 7Manitoba (Spencer) 2 9N.S. (McConnery) 2 9

WEDNESDAYDRAW 158:30 a.m.

P.E.I. (MacPhee) 000 220 021 01 — 8Team Canada (Jones) 110 002 200 10 — 7 S P % S P %P.E.I. 87 279 80 CAN. 88 288 82

Quebec (Larouche) 003 010 203 x — 9Manitoba (Spencer) 010 101 010 x — 4 S P % S P %QUE. 72 249 86 MAN. 72 219 76

Y/NWT (Galusha) 120 100 002 0 — 6Alberta (Bernard) 001 030 120 1 — 8 S P % S P %Y/NWT 80 241 75 ALTA. 79 255 81

N.B. (Kelly) 002 022 100 2 — 9N.S. (McConnery) 020 400 020 0 — 8 S P % S P %N.B. 80 236 74 N.S. 80 236 74

DRAW 161 p.m.

Sask. (Lawton) 010 020 011 0 — 5Quebec (Larouche) 101 101 100 2 — 7 S P % S P %SASK. 80 269 84 QUE. 80 276 86

B.C. (Mallett) 000 020 102 0 — 5P.E.I. (MacPhee) 020 102 010 1 — 7 S P % S P %B.C. 79 250 79 P.E.I. 80 224 70

Nfld/Lab (Strong) 101 000 210 x — 5N.B. (Kelly) 010 113 000 x — 6 S P % S P %NL 80 266 83 N.B. 79 263 83

Ontario (McCarville) 010 030 111 0 — 7Y/NWT (Galusha) 202 101 000 3 — 9 S P % S P %ONT. 80 252 79 Y/NWT 80 246 77

DRAW 177 p.m.

N.S. (McConnery) 100 210 110 01 — 7NL (Strong) 001 002 002 10 — 6 S P % S P %N.S. 88 291 83 NL 88 255 72

Alberta (Bernard) 010 010 101 10 — 5Ontario (McCarville) 002 002 010 01 — 6 S P % S P %ALTA. 87 282 81 ONT. 88 308 88

Manitoba (Spencer) 100 010 021 x — 5Sask. (Lawton) 003 101 200 x — 7 S P % S P %MAN. 80 260 81 SASK. 76 264 87

Team Canada (Jones) 200 020 100 1 — 6B.C. (Mallett) 010 101 011 0 — 5 S P % S P %CAN. 80 283 88 B.C. 80 264 83

STANDINGS

LINESCORES

TODAY

TIEBREAKERTEAM CANADA

VS.PEI

1 P.M.

PAGE PLAYOFFS1-2 GAME

B.C.VS.

QUEBEC6:30 P.M.

SATURDAY3-4 GAME

SASK.VS.

WINNER OFCANADA/PEI

GAME11:30 A.M.

SEMI-FINAL4 P.M.

SUNDAYFINAL5 P.M.

SHOOTING PERCENTAGES (CUMULATIVE) Can. B.C. Alta. Sask. Man. Ont. Que. N.B. PEI N.S. NL Y/NWT

Skip 78 79 77 78 67 75 78 77 76 72 79 73Third 86 82 82 80 77 79 78 75 79 77 84 75Second 83 81 83 84 80 79 77 76 72 72 78 75Lead 84 82 84 90 86 84 87 82 82 76 84 77TEAM 83 81 81 83 77 79 80 78 77 74 81 75

DRAWSCHEDULE

Manitobaʼs Brette Richards looks like sheʼs ready for takeoff.

Monsanto and the vine symbol are trademarks of Monsanto Technology, LLC © 2008 Monsanto Company.

Monsanto is proud to be the official team sponsor of Team Jennifer Jones, the 2008 Canadian and World Women’s Curling Champions. We are also pleased to lend our support as a Diamond sponsor to the 2009 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

As a company committed to creating a better future for our customers, employees and consumers, we are proud to support the passion, camaraderie and competitive spirit that an event like the Scotties Tournament of Hearts inspires in communities across the country. Whether as Team Canada or as provincial representatives, all participants have shown great commitment and dedication. We have enjoyed the entertainment every step of the way and wish all competitors the best of luck.

Learn more at monsanto.ca