1999 Brier
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SLAM! Curling
1999 BRIER
ON THE ROCKS
INTERACTIVE
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Fare thee well, Nova Scotia!
Flemming had some fun
Likable Nova Scotia skip Paul Flemming's hopes of turning the unprecedented double double for his province were shattered yesterday morning.
Flemming won the Canadian mixed this year. His third at that event, Colleen Jones, became the first-ever curler to win two national titles when she won the Scotts at Charlottetown.
Nova Scotia had never been in a Brier playoff. The week started full of dreams and the crowd was pulling for the dreams to happen.
They were scuttled by two-time world champ Russ Howard, who turned back Flemming's crew 5-4 in yesterday morning's tiebreaker.
As they stepped off the ice, Flemming's crew pulled all the Frisbees they had left in their bags and flipped them out into the crowd. No need for them any more. Their week was done.
"Hopefully, we'll be back,'' said a disappointed Flemming.
"We enjoyed ourselves. We had a good week. I guess we'll go enjoy some of the sponsor's product now. We had fun. We were happy with the way we played.
'`We thought we could go further. A shot here, a shot there and we would have. It was quite good for our club back home and good for our province.''
Flemming did get a lot of support from the Mayflower Club and Jones kept in touch, sending encouraging words by e-mail.
"We got a few from her,'' said Flemming. "She'd say, 'Whatever I can do, you guys can do better.' It was nice to hear from them. We had a lot of e-mails, a lot of faxes.''
Despite falling a bit short, Flemming will go back home with plenty of good memories.
"We made a lot of good friends,'' said Flemming. "There's a lot of hard competitors out there. I was the all-star skip, at least that's something. We had a fun week.''
Being in the Brier for the second straight year helped Flemming relax and cope with the distractions much better. He had a third, Blayne Iskiw, that lived in Edmonton until last September.
There were plenty of reasons for the crowd to cheer for him and he gave them reason to cheer.
"I had a lot more fun this year,'' said Flemming. "I had fun last year, but I was a lot more comfortable and enjoyed myself more. I was a little worked up last year. We've got a good taste of it and I'd love to have another crack at it.''
Already winning the mixed was no consolation to lead Tom Fetterly, who threw second rocks for Flemming at the nationals.
"It doesn't make it feel any better,'' said Fetterly. "Every championship is different and we didn't come here to go home today, either. Paul threw great all week. He's the all-star skip and he's just one of those people that come along every once in a while. He's a prince to curl with.''
Fetterly will not soon forget the week and the great times he had here.
"Great Brier, beautiful city, beautiful rink,'' said Fetterly.
The stars may have not lined up right for Flemming this week, but even though he fought it for a while, he was born to curl.
In fact, he's the only curler this week to have competed in a Brier, a mixed and a Lassie.
Back in 1968 his mom Donna threw second rocks for Nova Scotia at the national women's final. Even though he didn't know it at the time, he was along for the ride.
"Technically, I curled in a Lassie and a Brier,'' said Flemming, with a laugh. "The experience we gained at that Lassie was phenomenal. When I look back, I'll cherish that week for the rest of my life. It's my father's (Don) favourite trivia question.''