1999 Brier
SLAM! Sports
SLAM! Curling
1999 BRIER
ON THE ROCKS
INTERACTIVE
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Scotland, at last!
After a two-year delay, Glasgow is ready to host next year's Worlds
In point of fact, it should have been host last year of the World Curling Championships.
Unfortunately, construction delays forced the Glasgow, Scotland, organizing committee to pull the plug on last year's event that was eventually awarded to Kamloops.
Had everything gone according to plan, the Glaswegians' trip to the 1999 Brier would have been a moot point.
"We bid for the Worlds five years ago but the stadium wasn't built," explained Gordon Brown, one of the four Scots in town to promote the first Worlds of the new millennium.
"It's now finished but it won't be open until August. If you fly into Glasgow it's just five minutes from the airport.
"Braehead, as the stadium is called, seats 4,000 and it's going to be used for hockey but curling is next in line.
"It's part of a shopping complex that cost $750 million (Cdn) to build.
"I haven't been in it yet, but it's like West Edmonton Mall."
More than half of the 4,000 available seats have already been snapped up by curling fans from across Canada, meaning it could be slim pickins for European fans.
Brown says more than a few curling afficionados have stopped by the Worlds booth on the concourse at Skyreach Centre and whipped out their cheque books.
All of which renders the arduous 221/2-hour trek from Glasgow to Edmonton a worthwhile proposition.
"We went to Manchester and the plane was an hour late," related the 54-year-old farmer. "Then we were held up and sat on the plane for an hour and a half.
"When we finally got to Toronto, we had a three-hour stop there. Then we boarded the flight to Edmonton, the airplane in front of us blew a tire and that held us up for another couple hours. But I'm acclimatized to drink now.
"We've had a great response to our packages. We've only got 4,000 seats which is a shame because we've got nearly 2,000 sold and it's not hit the Scottish public yet."
The country that gave the world golf, not to mention a good single malt beverage to take the edge off a bad round, also lays claim to the roaring game.
According to Brown, curling's roots in Scotland date back to 1496.
That means the Celts started heaving stones down the ice four years after Christopher Columbus talked the Spanish monarchy into bankrolling his three-ship tour to the Caribbean.
"We were first," Brown grinned. "We've got curling badges in Scotland that go way back to 1496."
While they have the badges to prove the point, Brown maintains the Canucks are clearly the front-runners in the atmosphere department.
Truth be told, Brown claims his fellow Scots could learn a lot from a trip to the Brier.
Pitching the notion of fun and frivolity to the staid Scots could, however, be a tough sell.
Nor does Brown like the chances of swapping Brier Bear for Br'er Rabbit.
"The curling is completely different here," Brown observed. "The teams stop for television adverts and there's always noise.
"I've loved your Brier Bear, he's been hilarious. I would hope we're going to have something like it. But the Scottish people wouldn't like that.
"They'd figure you'd be putting the curlers off. These curlers this week have had more to put up with than anything you'll ever have to put up with in Scotland."
Evidently, even the likes of leather-lunged Russ Howard bellowing on the ice pushes the envelope of good form in the minds of most Scots - who are apparently bracing themselves for the arrival of their uncouth curlin' cousins from Canada.
After a week of burning the candle at both ends and more than a few trips to the Brier Patch, Brown figures the Bonnie lads and lassies have got to lighten up a little.
"I don't see why we can't have a little fun," Brown wondered. "If you had some boys (in the crowd) with their shirts off in Scotland, they'd look down their noses at them.
"They've loved them here with their shirts off. They had the TV cameras on them. It's all brilliant. In Scotland they watch curling like they'd watch golf.
"They always think when the Canadians come over what a noisy bunch they are. I can see here, the reason why. It's a way of life for them. I've loved it."