1999 Brier
SLAM! Sports
SLAM! Curling
1999 BRIER
ON THE ROCKS
INTERACTIVE
ALSO ON SLAM!
Shymko turns green with pride
Horde of adoring Saskatchewan fans hoot their hero into the playoffs
Suddenly he feels like he's quarterbacking the Saskatchewan Roughriders at the 1997 Grey Cup.
"Now I know what Rider Pride feels like,'' said the 42-year-old Calder, Sask., wheat farmer after making a most amazing shot against Bert Gretzinger of B.C. to win his way into playoff play at this most amazing of Labatt Briers.
It was the shot of the Brier to create the scene of the Brier.
Ten busloads of Saskatchewan fans woke up at 4 a.m. yesterday to make the trek to Edmonton for the afternoon draw.
On a day trip to promote next year's Brier in Saskatoon, 500 guys and gals in green garb showed up waving flags and hooted their hero home along with most of the 12,175 fans at Skyreach Centre.
Shymko had never curled in front of more than 800 fans in his life, and that was only last month in Meadow Lake, Sask., at the provincial playdowns.
"This is awesome. I think all of Saskatchewan was in the upper deck today,'' said Shymko.
"Saskatchewan is just a little back home country and I know that made the people happy. I know all of Saskatchewan is cheering for us.
'`Not just all of Saskatchewan but anybody who came from Saskatchewan and is living in Western Canada. All of a sudden we're getting fax and e-mails from Australia, New Jersey, Chicago ...''
This is definitely deja vu all over again.
For Bluenosers, Spud Islanders, Newfies, Polar People and assorted other folks here who think the Brier is Canada's big sports show and don't pay much notice to the Grey Cup, the same story unfolded here a mere two years ago.
The Eskimos were supposed to be in their own Grey Cup game. But the Roughriders beat the Eskimos in the Western Final in Commonwealth Stadium.
Thousands of sodbusters flooded out of the wheat fields to come to the Edmonton Grey Cup game, buying the remaining 12,000 or so tickets and providing a $3-million-plus profit for the Eskimos.
Edmonton adopted the happy hordes and a good time was had by all.
Same thing happened here yesterday.
There's no question the Edmonton fans have switched saddles from the local Ukrainian hero to the SaskatchewUke who has survived to hear the cheers another day even if his fans have headed home.
The 10 busloads of Saskatchewan fans proceeded directly to the Brier Patch after the 5-4 win over B.C. and were finally poured on the buses home.
Shymko lost the much less crucial nightcap 8-5 to P.E.I.
With an 7-4 record, he ended up third. He will play the winner of the Russ Howard vs. Paul Fleming Maritime match - the New Brunswick vs. Nova Scotia morning tie-breaker - in the 1 p.m. 3 vs. 4 game under the Page playoff system.
The win over B.C. made the difference.
It was an amazing shot with an even more amazing payoff from the Skyreach Centre crowd.
Down 4-3 with last rock, Shymko had to gamble the game on a high-wire act double for the win.
"We made it past that guard by about 1/100th of an inch,'' said Shymko.
He spilled both B.C. rocks and stuck for the win.
The place simply exploded.
"I felt like Ken Hunka,'' said Shymko.
"I always wanted to be like Kenny,'' he laughed.
"Wow, it is nice to have everybody behind you like that. I mean the crowds have been cheering for great shots by whoever made them all week. But it was a nice feeling to have the crowd behind you like that and play well.''
Shymko knows how close he could have come to having been on the other end of the standings.
He started this Brier with two-and-a-half losses before his team finally got it going.
"We had to get our game going and to play well. We knew in the middle of that third game that if we didn't get our game going, all of a sudden we could be 1-10.''
Two Saskatchewan teams have gone 1-10 - and none have won - since Rick Folk won the original Labatt Brier 20 years ago.
Shymko, at the time, admitted he'd thought of Don Gardiner and Jim Packet. Gardiner turned his trick here at the Edmonton Brier in 1987.
"We never panicked,'' said Shymko, saying after he became 2-2 and started his roll, he never thought of Gardiner and Packet once. But he said he received a lot of help from those who had failed before him.
"Most of the previous reps called before we came here. They phoned with a lot of good tips,'' said the skip.
Saskatchewan's Olympic gold medal winner, Sandra Schmirler the Curler offered daily "do this and do that'' advice along the way via e-mail.
Word is that hundreds of Saskatchewan fans are suddenly headed here to replace the busloads which went home.
No word on Schmirler the Curler.
Listen to 'Terry Jones At Large' weekdays at 8:35 a.m. and 5:05 p.m. on 790 CFCW.