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• He moved to British Columbia in 1991 and, in 1993, won another Brier playing third for Rick Folk. He became just the second player to win a Brier as skip and then at another position.

• He created and marketed a series of curler trading cards that sold extremely well.

• He has two other national titles to his credit. He won the 2007 Canadian senior and the 1986 Canadian Mixed.

• Ryan’s daughter, Lynsay, appeared nude in a calendar to raise awareness and funds for women’s curling.

WHAT A CROWD

Brier attendance figures have steadily increased over the years. Here is a look at some notable milestones when it comes to the turnstiles:

First Brier to reach 50,000 Regina, 1955 (51,725)

First Brier to reach 100,000 Brandon, 1982 (106,394)

First Brier to reach 150,000 Saskatoon, 1989 (151,538)

First Brier to reach 200,000 Calgary, 1997 (223,322)

First Brier to reach 225,000 Edmonton, 1999 (242,887)

First Brier to reach 275,000 Edmonton, 2005 (281,985)

Brier opening ceremonies

VERA NICE

Saskatchewan curler Vera Pezer is one of the first stars of women’s curling, with four Canadian championships in five years. Pezer has many other accomplishments in curling and her business life that make her one of the most remarkable people to play the roaring game. A few notes on the career of Vera Pezer:

• She learned the game in her hometown of Meskanaw, Saskatchewan, on a two-sheet natural ice club her father maintained.

• She won her first Canadian title in 1969, playing third for Joyce McKee. For the next three titles, she played skip while McKee moved to second.

• After winning three consecutive titles, the team disbanded.

• She holds a Ph.D. in sports psychology and served as sports psychologist for two Canadian Olympic teams.

• She did some work with another Saskatchewan legend, Sandra Schmirler.

• She is currently the chancellor of the University of Saskatchewan.

• She wrote two books on curling: Smart Curling: PerfectYour Game Through Mental Training and The Stone Age: A Social History of Curling in the Prairies.

• She won two national fastball titles in 1969 and ’70 as part of the Saskatoon Imperials, and played in two Canadian Senior Women’s Golf Championships.

MONCTON 100

The richest bonspiel in curling history took place in 1990 in Moncton, New Brunswick. The event was created to help celebrate the city’s centennial and it pitted 16 top teams playing for $250,000. It is still the most lucrative bonspiel ever held and also one of the most significant in that it was the first to utilize rules that are now standard. Some notes about this legendary bonspiel:

• The field included two women’s teams, skipped by Heather Houston and Linda Moore, four European teams, and two from Atlantic Canada. The rest were hand-picked by the organizers from across the country.

• This was the first major event to use a variation of the free-guard zone. The rule stated that leads could not play takeouts on rocks anywhere between the hog line and the tee line. It was a huge hit with the curlers.

• The event was the first to include a separate singles’ skills competition for an extra purse. The players in the main event also participated in the challenge, being scored on their ability to play a number of difficult shots. A similar challenge was later added to both the men’s and women’s Canadian championships.

• It was the first event to use a draw to the button to determine last rock. All four players threw one stone, and the team with the lesser cumulative distance had last rock in the first end.

• The teams were charged an entry fee of $1,000 but received free airfare to Moncton, complimentary hotel rooms and, if they lost all their games, $1,500 in prize money.

• With the new free-guard zone rule in place, most games were high-scoring, close affairs … except for the final. Ed Lukowich defeated Russ Howard 13-2 to win the Moncton 100. Lukowich earned $100,000 for the victory.

CRAZY FOR CURLING

People called Ken Murphy