Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Middaugh Takes over from Hart

As expected.
“I was stunned when Richard told me he was retiring,” said Howard. “Richard and I had spent 11 years curling together, and I consider him one of my best friends.”

Howard asked Middaugh if he would be interested in joining the Coldwater foursome. Reached in Florida, where he was vacationing with his family, it didn’t take Middaugh more than a millisecond to say yes.

Despite filling in for Hart periodically last season, Middaugh had no sense he was about to retire.

Friday, May 13, 2011

RIP CurlTV

It was never clear to me, and is not today, as they announce their own demise, whether they were ahead of or behind their times.
But when Thomas Ulsrud at the Ford World's described watching the Brier on-line, it was pretty clear that unless CurlTV had a good cut of that licencing, it was out of business.
I do not know the story. I will miss them.

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Marie-France Larouche Loses her Third

It has been a brutal season for thirds, and now Annie Lemay has joined the parade to the exit doors, and is retiring. (h/t the tweeting Curling News)
She wants to spend more time with her family.
« Les dernières années ont été assez remplies. J'étais prête à m'arrêter, a raconté Lemay durant une pause à son emploi à l'Agence du revenu du Canada.
« J'ai été rarement aussi fatiguée que lors de la dernière saison. J'étais au bout du rouleau. »
Jongler enfant, gardiennage et travail s'avérait un défi hebdomadaire. Ajoutez à cela que son conjoint Jean-Michel Ménard, un ancien vice-champion du monde, mène aussi parallèlement une carrière fructueuse sur la scène du curling masculin canadien.
("The recent years have been quite full. I was ready to stop", said Lemay during a break at her office at the Canada Revenue Agency. "I have rarely been so tired as during the past season. I was at the end of my rope." To juggle a child, caretaking, and work was a weekly challenge. To add to that, her partner John-Michel Ménard, a former vice-world-champion, also has a productive career in Canadian men's curling.)
« Peut-être qu'un jour, il y aura un retour. On verra bien. Mais pour l'instant, c'est la famille qui prend le dessus », a répété Annie Lemay.
("It could be that one day, there will be a return. We'll see. But for the moment, it's the family with the priority", she repeated.)

Monday, May 02, 2011

Canadian Election and the CurlingNews

Oddly they seem to like pork directed at curling arenas, whatever they say on the side.
Though I will give them credit at least for a final bit of advice:
This year The Curling News will not endorse any political party, although we will urge all Canadian citizens to do their civic duty and go vote.
In the words of one of the country’s better political writers, “it is better to risk buyer’s remorse than to let others do the shopping in your place.”