Curling, Etcetera_ A Whole Bunch of Stuff About the Roaring Game - Bob Weeks [2]
In-turns and out-turns came much later. In the book The History of Curling by Reverend John Kerr, published in 1890, the author details what was called the Twist:
“…to be able by a turn of the wrist to give the stone a rotary motion which shall make it run against the bias of the ice, or to transform an object of offence into one of defence by making the stone curve round the right or left side of a guard by an elbow-out or an elbow-in delivery, is one of the highest accomplishments in the art of curling and greatly increases the interest and skill of the player.”
Kerr also referred to this type of shot as the Fenwick Twist because it was a group of curlers from a village of the same name who were the first to purposely utilize this type of shot.
THE HARMONICA MAN
Piping the players onto the ice before draws of major championships is standard practice these days, but it wasn’t always so. At the first few Briers, held inside Toronto’s Granite Club, the curlers were actually paraded onto the ice surface by a man playing a harmonica. Art Condie, who was one of the early directors of the Brier, would play his harmonica at both the opening and closing ceremonies of the competition, usually leading the curlers to the ice. In 1940, when the Brier moved into an arena in Winnipeg, Condie’s harmonica was simply too quiet to be heard by the fans. Still, he was allowed to perform at the closing ceremonies and was listed in the program as the Official Brier Musician.
CLUB OF CHAMPIONS
The Strathcona Curling Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba, holds the distinction of being the home club for the most Brier-winning teams. It has seven Canadian championships to its credit.
STOP, START, THEN STOP AGAIN
It’s not often someone retires, then un-retires only to retire all without playing a game. United States skip Bruce Roberts, however, did just that in 1984. Roberts was a three-time U.S. men’s champion, winning in 1967, ’76 and ’77, also taking the 1976 World Championship. ‘76 and ’77, also taking the 1976 World Championship. But after that run, the resident of Duluth, Minnesota, retired from competitive curling, in part due to injuries.
But the 1984 World Championship was hosted in Duluth, and Roberts decided he wanted to make one more try at the Silver Broom in front of his hometown fans. And so, with his brother Joe throwing last rocks, he made a comeback and played exceptionally well, losing just four competitive games all year en route to representing the U.S.A. at the world final.
Despite the success, Roberts stated prior to the start of his comeback year that he would be retiring when the season was over. So, effectively, he announced his un-retirement and re-retirement all at the same time.
Roberts and his American rink lost a final round-robin game to Germany to finish with a 5-4 mark, one game short of the playoffs. True to his word, the U.S. Curling Hall of Famer hung up his broom—again—at the end of the ’84 World Championship.
CITY ACCESS
For five years, two cities were given entry into the Brier. Teams representing Montreal and Toronto fielded rinks in the Canadian men’s national championship from 1927 to 1931 before being dropped in favour of provincial entries only. In 43 games, the Montreal team won just 10 matches. Toronto’s team played 46 games—including three playoff contests—and came out on top in 28 of those.
AMERICAN SUCCESS
The Bemidji Curling Club in Bemidji, Minnesota, is easily one of the most suc-is cessful in the United States, if not the world. The club can lay claim to having 18 U.S. national championship teams and 50 state championship rinks, a record that most clubs can only envy.
DEBBIE MCCORMICK
One of the most successful curlers in U.S. history, Debbie McCormick played in five World Junior Championships, six World Curling Championships, and two Olympics. A few notes on the American curler:
• She is the only American woman to skip a team to the World Championship title.
• Her World Championship title in 2003