1999 Brier
SLAM! Sports
SLAM! Curling
1999 BRIER
ON THE ROCKS
INTERACTIVE
ALSO ON SLAM!
Newfound friends
Newfoundlander Glenn Goss has a cure for what ails our nation.
The idea was actually the brainstorm of a farmer from Saskatchewan, but Goss wholeheartedly endorses the suggestion... and is actively promoting it through the media.
"I was talking to Gerald Shymko in there the other day,'' began Goss, alluding to the players lounge at the Labatt Brier, which concluded round-robin competition last night at Skyreach Centre.
"We were just having a good chat and he was saying, 'You know the way we're all getting along so well. We're having fun and everybody's getting to know one another, and everybody knows everybody else's first name,' '' continued Goss, a human resources manager back home on the Rock in St. John's.
"He said, 'You know something we should do is maybe kick all the politicians out of politics and let the curlers run the country. I think we'd be in a whole lot better state.'
"There's something to be said for that. And I think he's right," Goss said. "I'll vote for him if he'd run.''
Hear, hear, Mr. Speaker.
That particular mentality also underlines what the national men's curling championship is all about.
The roarin' game's competition is not only a rockfest, but once the gloves come off to shake hands, the socializing begins and cross-country friendships are cemented.
Not that Shymko, the Saskatchewan skip out of Yorkton, has aspirations to follow in the prime ministerial footsteps of John Diefenbaker 40 years removed.
"It was just an off-the-cuff remark, I'm sure, but I thought it was a real good comment,'' quipped Goss. "It just says something about the camaraderie of the people who play this sport. You take the game seriously. It's life and death when you're playing, but when it's over . . .''
Time to sit down and quaff a libation together.
"Yeah, it's the only sport I've ever played where you can be as competitive as you want to be, but afterwards you're allowed to be friends with the guy you played,'' said Goss, adding that such fraternization is often frowned upon in hockey, soccer, baseball and most other team activities.
"In this sport, if you're not friendly and sociable with the other guys, then you're an outcast. And that's the way it should be.''
The affable Newfoundlanders did play the role as spoilers during Wednesday's action, however, upstaging crowd favourite Guy Hemmings of Quebec, plus local lad Ken Hunka.
"We felt bad,'' admitted Newfoundland third Glenn Turpin of placing Hunka squarely behind the 8-ball. "Not too, too bad, but we did feel for the (Alberta) boys. It would have been nice to see him go on. It would have been good for the fans.''
No apologies were forthcoming, though, for giving Hemmings a bad hair day.
"That was nice - nicer than beating Alberta,'' winked Turpin, 40, an electrical engineering technician for Newfoundland Power. "Guy's got such a following.''
Goss also had mixed emotions about Hunka's predicament, but winning, after all, was the object of their cross-country journey.
"We made it tough on Hunka and I guess 12,000 people, but it's not the role of spoilers we were trying to play,'' said the 41-year-old skipper.
"It would have been nice to see Alberta in the playoffs to fill this place and get it rocking, but to be honest with you I really wasn't fussy about letting him do that at our expense. His fate was in his hands.''
Goss sympathized with the high expectations Hunka faced performing in his home town.
"I know how tough it must be for him to play with all the pressure that the western curlers are under, but sometimes it doesn't work out,'' he said matter-of-factly.
"Hey, I don't mind getting beat, but I hate losing. There's a difference.''
The Newfoundland duo are golfing buddies during the summer and it was on the links that the skip convinced Turpin to return to competitive curling last year following a 12-year absence.
"I got away from it for a while,'' explained Turpin, who became frustrated following provincial runner-up finishes in 1983, '84 and '86. "But it's in my blood again now.
"Myself and Glenn golf together, so he said, 'Why don't we get together (curling) this year?' So we did.''
What calibre of golfers are they?
"Ah, hackers,'' chuckled Turpin, although Goss had a different assessment of his third man's ability with the shillelaghs.
"If he says he's a hacker, that'll tell you something about my game,'' chortled Goss, revealing that Turpin plays to a four or five handicap. "He's not a hacker. He can play.''
Goss is an 11.
"I'm only an 11 because I can find my way out of the woods, I'm always in the friggin' trees. I've got no problem getting it out of the woods, but I can't hit it when I'm on the fairway.''
Golfing, curling - the Newfies certainly appear to be fun-loving dudes to be around.
Plus, Goss is also politically correct.