1999 Brier
SLAM! Sports
SLAM! Curling
1999 BRIER
ON THE ROCKS
INTERACTIVE
ALSO ON SLAM!
Shymko rocks!
There may not be enough trees in Saskatchewan to take care of the forest of faxes their curling hero, Gerald Shymko, is receiving.
After Shymko's Yorkton crew beat two-time world champion Russ Howard of New Brunswick 6-4 in yesterday's quarter-final playoff game, the machine at the Skyreach Centre started humming again.
"This morning there was about 50 faxes waiting for us from Yorkton and area,'' said Shymko, a grain farmer from Calder, population 50, about a half-hour drive outside Yorkton.
"And that doesn't include the e-mails. How we're going to thank them, I have no idea. It's just great. We're excited. We're getting roses and champagne and everything sent into our rooms.''
Just at that moment, Shymko was handed another handful of faxes from people who had witnessed his win.
"We're getting them from curling clubs, from businesses, you name it, they're coming,'' said Shymko. "We're just enjoying reading them. Keep 'em coming, guys.''
It's been that way since the Gentle Giant bounced off what was promising to be a disastrous start.
When Shymko started out the week 0-2, some people were invoking memories of Jim Packet and Don Gardiner, a couple of stubblejumpers who could do no better than 1-10 in recent Briers.
Now, it seems, they figure Shymko and his crew are the second coming of Rick Folk, who last won the Brier title for Saskatchewan in 1980.
"We're just kind of playing like we have been,'' said Shymko, the 255-pound skip with the gentle touch.
"We're enjoying the fans. I've really got to take my hat off to Saskatchewan and all the transplanted Saskatchewanites here in Alberta who have given us a pat on the back.''
Maybe that explains the low ticket sales from our neighbouring province to the east.
"When we were 0-2, everybody was still behind us - keep going, get it going,'' said Shymko. "Once we started playing well, it was good going. That's just great. People make it happen and that's what it's all about.''
They have been waiting a long time, a frustratingly long time in next-year country.
Rod Montgomery was in the same position last year in Winnipeg. He got bounced by Guy Hemmings in the semi.
Brad Heidt in 1995 and Randy Woytowich in 1991 made it all the way to the final, only to lose.
"You want to make the playoffs,'' said Shymko. "You don't know what to expect. You know the calibre of the teams that are here. We just didn't know what the Brier is all about.''
Now that he's gone through the grind, he knows what it's all about. There wasn't a hint of nervousness out there during his first sudden-death game.
"Nerves? There weren't any,'' said Shymko.
"We've been here all week.''
That's because he feels right at home. He's been comfortable here all week taking in the western hospitality he's been accustomed to.
"I just can't say enough about Edmonton and this Brier,'' said Shymko. "They can be so proud because they're so knowledgable. I just can't say enough about them.''
He's been a competitive athlete for a long time.
Shymko, like Alberta's Ken Hunka, was a pitcher in the now-defunct Western Canadian Major Fastball League.
"Not only am I getting faxes from curlers in Saskatchewan, now I'm getting them from people I played ball against in Manitoba,'' said Shymko. "They're just coming. It makes us feel good.''