1999 Brier
SLAM! Sports
SLAM! Curling
1999 BRIER
ON THE ROCKS
INTERACTIVE
ALSO ON SLAM!
As Gould as it gets!
Manitoba fifth Steve Gould wins car in Hot Shots competition
Manitoba fifth Steve Gould beat Newfoundland skip Glenn Goss in Friday's tie-breaker to qualify as the eighth and final man for the final round of the six-shot skills contest.
When it came down to brass tacks yesterday, the 26-year-old Gould needed only five of six shots to defeat Quebec's Guy Hemmings 23-17 and win the keys to a $24,000 Ford automobile.
None too shabby for a guy who didn't figure he'd even be at the Brier, let alone driving away in a brand new Mercury Mystique LS.
"I never really thought about winning the car," smiled Gould, who operates a Fabutan franchise in Brandon and wound up in Hot Shots when second Gary Van Den Berghe's cranky back began acting up Friday afternoon.
"I just thought I'd play and see how it went. As it turns out, I got lucky enough and the boys swept properly and I got the car."
Trailing after the first three shots, Gould put it on the button in the port draw, picked up the maximum five points for the shot and fashioned a 15-13 lead over Hemmings.
Gould then scored four more on the raise shot to up his lead to 19-16.
On the hit and roll, Hemmings couldn't stick and was forced to settle for a single point. In near textbook fashion, Gould clipped the guard, rolled into the four-foot and scored four points to put the competition out of reach.
Instead of playing the double takeout, Gould and Hemmings shook hands.
With Van Den Berghe's back on the mend, Gould isn't banking on spot duty this week.
"I'm not throwing that good. All I threw was out-turns," offered Gould. "There's a chance I could play but hopefully, not. These guys have won the provincial championship and I live two hours from them.
"I didn't even compete in a game with them. They're just good friends and great champions who were good enough to bring me along as the fifth man. I never dreamed of winning a car when I came here.
"I've only played in the Hot Shots three times. I lost a tie-breaker to (skip) Jeff (Stoughton) at the Worlds in Hamilton and he lost in the semis. Up to now I haven't done very good in Hot Shots."
For his part, the tousled-haired Quebec skip settled for the second-place prize of two tickets anywhere in Canadian Airlines International's world.
All of which isn't bad for what amounts to about four hours work over a couple of days.
"I don't know where I'm going to go," offered Hemmings. "I'll have to sit down with my wife and talk about it. Maybe I'll go to Fort McMurray or something.
"I think Steve got fooled a little bit. There's no way you can get to Hong Kong by car, so I might get there before him. I think I got the best prize. Imagine how much gas it would cost him to go to Hong Kong.
"It's a fun event. It's the first time I had a chance to win it. I played last year in Kamloops and didn't make the cut. I should have changed sweepers. I'm going to blame it on my sweepers."
Hemmings' second Guy Thibodeau finished third in the event and takes home a mini-satellite dish along with six months worth of free viewing.
"I have to console myself by watching TV," chortled Thibodeau.