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SLAM! Sports 2000 in Review A LOOK BACK INTERACTIVE CONTESTS ALSO ON SLAM! 
| Sunday, March 12, 2000 McAulay wins BrierSASKATOON (CP) -- No way, no how was Greg McAulay going to lose. The B.C. skip knew he might never get another chance to write his name into curling lore, so he replaced his usual laid-back, West Coast attitude with cold concentration to defeat New Brunswick's Russ Howard 9-5 in nine ends Sunday and win the Labatt Brier. "I got up this morning, just sat there and said 'I'm going out and winning this thing,'" said the big autobody mechanic from Richmond, whose voice seems to come from the bottom of a gravel pit. "There was no way we were going to let this one slip away." McAulay, who showed little emotion all week, pumped his arms in the air and was wrapped in a bear hug by third Brent Pierce after the final rock. B.C. flags waved in the crowd of 12,241 while wives and girlfriends poured onto the ice to hug the newly crowned champions. "It's hasn't hit us yet," said McAulay, 40, shouting over bagpipes that marked his victory. "For years you dream of this. "It's just so amazing, throwing that last rock and hearing the people scream and jump up and down. It's an awesome thing. There's a lot of happiness for friends and family." McAulay will join women's champion Kelly Law of Vancouver and represent Canada at the world championships in Glasgow, Scotland, beginning April 1. It will be the first time two rinks from one province represented Canada at the world championships since Manitoba's Connie Laliberte and Kerry Burtnyk in 1995. "When Kelly won that was so motivational for us," said McAulay, who also clinches a berth in the 2001 Canadian Olympic trials. The B.C. junior men also are going to the junior world championships. The loss ended Howard's attempt to bring New Brunswick its first Brier title. "I prepare myself either way. I'm fine, we had a great year," said Howard, who lost his chance to become the first skip since Ron Northcott in 1969 to win three Briers. "It's disappointing for the guys because they've never won before." The recent death of Sandra Schmirler put the loss in perspective for Howard, who at 44 was the oldest skip in the competition. "Let's face it, after what happened to Sandra there are more important things than winning a curling game Sunday at the Brier," said Howard, who curled out of Ontario for years before moving to Moncton in September 1998 to operate a golf course. Sunday's crowd pushed the week's total to 248,973, breaking the previous Brier attendance record of 242,887 established last year in Edmonton. McAulay had to wrestle back control of the game after momentum shifted to Howard in the sixth and seventh ends. McAulay used solid sweeping from his front end of second Brian Miki, named the playoff's most valuable player, and lead Jody Sveistrup to score two and regain the lead in the eighth. He then stole three in the ninth when Howard's attempted draw for a single wrecked. The steal left Howard frustrated. "I can't throw a rock better," he said. "That's the best I curled in my life. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could touch that wide guard." Howard and his rink of third Wayne Tallon, second Pick Perron and lead Terry Odishaw, advanced to the final with an 8-5 victory over Quebec's Francois Roberge in Saturday's semifinal. McAulay finished the round-robin with a 9-2 record, then beat Howard 5-3 in a playoff game Friday. All week he had been overshadowed by the surprising play of rookie skips Roberge and Peter Coroner of Ontario, the poor performance of Kevin Martin of Alberta and defending champion Jeff Stoughton's attempt to win back-to-back titles for Manitoba. "I guess I'm out of the shadows now, eh," McAulay said with a grin. |