1999 Brier
SLAM! Sports
SLAM! Curling
1999 BRIER
ON THE ROCKS
INTERACTIVE
ALSO ON SLAM!
Last call sounds for some rinks
Matter of fact, it's come and long gone.
Something had to give yesterday when the occupants of the Labatt Brier's bottom rungs met in the proverbial Toilet Bowl.
Along press row, the usual cynics were billing the monumental collision between 1-6 Prince Edward Island and 0-7 Yukon/Northwest Territories as the Clash of the Titanics.
And, yes, it even required an extra end for the dust to settle with Bud the Spud's outfit emerging as 9-8 victors over the Polar Bears, who now appear unable to avoid a dubious 0-11 finish never previously bestowed upon an outfit in the Canadian men's curling championship.
Magnum P.E.I. skip Robert Campbell, in his fifth Brier appearance, heaved a huge sign of relief prior to devouring a luncheon salad that was immediately followed by his second win of the day - this time a monumental 7-5 upset of B.C.'s Bert Gretzinger.
"I've been better,'' muttered Campbell, hardly elated with dodging the embarrassing bullet of losing to the outclassed northern rookies. "We tried (to lose) at times, but we managed to pull it off, thanks to the boys sticking with me.
"They played well and gave me a chance to win, luckily,'' added Campbell, who drew to the four-foot with the hammer to avoid the setback. "We had to suck it up. We're not happy with our record, but we'll try to keep our heads up.''
NO PLAYOFFS
Campbell's belated double conquest still leaves him at 3-6 with no playoff possibilities in sight.
Destined for an early exit - along with Yukon (0-9), Newfoundland (3-6), Northern Ontario (4-5) and, yikes, even Ken Hunka (4-5) - Campbell is impressed with those remaining in the hunt.
"You might not see the biggest names ever in curling, but it's a deep field - a lot of depth,'' said Campbell, whose best Brier showing was 7-5 in Halifax four years ago and who overall sports a 23-31 resume. "It's about as tough as it can be.''
Just ask the chaps from Yellowknife, who pretty much have exhausted any fleeting opportunity for a lone victory with the loss to P.E.I.
Last night they were trumped 13-1 by Quebec's Guy Hemmings in six ends.
"All we've hoped and dreamed of doing is winning one since we went 0-7,'' sighed second Brian Wasnea, alluding to a disheartening 7-5 setback to Saskatchewan Tuesday night.
A couple of errant skips' rocks by Orest Peech resulted in a three-point swing during the sixth end. A potential 6-3 lead resulted in the match being knotted at 4-4.Yorkton's Gerald Shymko - his life passing before his very eyes - took advantage of the charity and never looked back.
"If anything will happen, it's happening to us in the worst ways. I think there's a 'pick' button that the iceman has and when we're in close, they push it,'' lamented Wasnea, referring to how the curling gods frowned during yesterday's 10th end when the Yellowknife side had a deuce set up.
But Peech's rock picked up some debris off the ice, hit and rolled out as another potential winning situation went for naught.
"We didn't have our brooms on the ice to clean it. A rookie rink's mistake,'' lamented Wasnea. "Murphy's law.''
With two very difficult draws remaining, the Yukon had one last night to dream of that elusive victory.
"We still want to win one and there is a . . .,'' stammered Wasnea, the Fort Vermilion native. "There is a pace of things happening here. I mean, we're getting closer. We went 10 ends with Saskatchewan and today we were in an extra end, so maybe ... ''
Not that anyone would notice.
Last call has long been summoned and it's only tougher from here on in.
"No doubt,'' admitted the 39-year-old, who manages the plumbing department at Northern Metallic Sales. "Our best shot was against P.E.I., they were 1-6 at the time ... ''
Today's round-robin completing schedule pits Yukon against pre-tournament favourite Jeff Stoughton of Manitoba in the morning draw and New Brunswick's Russ Howard at night.
"Russ is on a roll and Jeff would have to slip a long ways, I think ... but it's never over until the fat lady sings,'' said Wasnea.
She's clearing her throat, however.
SURPRISED
"Actually, I'm surprised we've been in a few games,'' admitted Wasnea. "After the first few games, I thought we were going to get cleaned out every game. But the reverse is happening. We're still not winning, but we've been in (a couple) of games.
"Saskatchewan's always been a strong province and we were up on them. So. I'd have to say in that respect, yeah, I think we can curl with you guys in a couple of years.
"If we keep coming back, we'll hold our own better, that's for sure.''
For this particular bonspiel, last call was vs. P.E.I.