1999 Brier
SLAM! Sports
SLAM! Curling
1999 BRIER
ON THE ROCKS
INTERACTIVE
ALSO ON SLAM!
Hemmings, hair and now
The tousled skip from Quebec has the fans on his side - again
That love-in with Guy Hemmings finally showed some signs of happening.
The few brave souls who ventured out to morning draws made it happen.
"Guy, Guy, Guy,'' they chanted when he made an eighth-end angle takeout against Gerald Shymko of Saskatchewan.
"Guy, Guy, Guy,'' they chanted when he made a perfect draw behind cover with his second rock.
Steal of two. The crowd goes wild as he wins 8-3.
That's the way it is for Hemmings, a nightmare for hair-brush salesmen everywhere.
His hair was all over the place yesterday, not like Day 1 when it looked semi-normal.
"It was a bad hair day, I guess,'' he said.
Everybody laughs.
"I don't know what happened,'' said Hemmings. "If the hairs are tight, they're going to be tight. If they're straight up, they're going to be straight up.''
Only Hemmings could get away with calling a good hair day a bad hair day.
It's part of his charm and sex appeal that people seem attracted to.
Flashback to the men's provincials in Grande Prairie. Everybody's asking the reporters who's qualified for the Brier.
Howard. Uh, huh. Shymko. That's nice. Hemmings. Oh, really! Especially the ladies.
Hemmings has a way of working the crowd. He likes to be part of the scene, not apart from the scene.
"I guess the crowd appreciates something,'' said Hemmings. "When they're yelling something out of the crowd, it's tough not to turn around and give them a reply. They like it. If they appreciate it, that's fine by me, because I appreciate it.''
Guy, Guy, Guy. It's not something he heard before his Brier appearance last year. Now, he's hearing it more.
"We don't have a big crowd back at home,'' said Hemmings. "I guess if we would have a crowd, we would have people saying it. During the provincial final, some people did come in and start 'Guy, Guy, Guy.' ''
He's built up a large cult following. Guy-mania has followed him to the Brier for the second year. It's not quite the same as it was. The second time never is.
"It's not as big a surprise,'' said Hemmings. "I don't know what it is. Probably because we have the Latin blood in our veins, so we're a little different.
"I didn't know it was going to be that big. It's like a snowball now. People appreciate it and are giving a bit more. If you never turn around when people are yelling at you, they're going to stop yelling. It keeps going and going.''
Part of the rink's appeal is making a point of showing up at the Brier Patch every night. Doesn't matter if they had to play the morning draw, like they did yesterday.
"We didn't stay too late,'' said Hemmings. "We just wanted to go in, have a peek and see what it looks like. Take some pictures, sign some autographs. People appreciate it and we're having fun. The people in the Patch are going to stay there all week, they're going to watch us on TV.
"All the teams should go there and shake some hands and sign some autographs.
"The people appreciate it. It's not for the beer.''
Just walking by, you can see they're having every bit as good a time off the ice as they do on the ice.
He's more recognizable in Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary than he is in his own home town.
They're as animated a foursome as there is out there.
"The guy who plays third for us (Pierre Charette) likes to talk a lot,'' said Hemmings. "He's talking all the time. Even when he has nothing to talk about, he finds something. We end up getting used to it.
Forgets about it
"We try to stay loose. We try to stay relaxed, even if a guy misses a shot or two.''
His easy-going demeanour never lets the bad moments spoil his fun.
"If I have a bad moment, it's not the type of thing I like to remember,'' said Hemmings.
"As I'm getting older, I don't have as good a memory as I used to, so it's easy for me to forget about it.''
It should be interesting today. Hemmings, who the crowd has warmed up to, faces Ken Hunka in the 1 p.m. draw.
It may be the only time during the round-robin that Hemmings gets less cheers than his opponent.