Winnipeg Free Press

1. Manitoba in line for more big events

   So now what? Updated 2:00 AM

2. Brier week offered up a little bit of everything

   Free Press scribes Ed Tait and Paul Wiecek take a look back at the Brier week that was at the MTS Centre, offering up some highlights, Updated 2:00 AM

3. Cream of the crop at the Brier come from Alberta, Ontario

   The finalists dominated the Tim Horton's Brier all-star teams chosen by the Canadian Curling Reporters and announced Sunday. Updated 2:00 AM

4. Adam puts face on the agony of defeat

   Memories aren't always pretty, and images are not always gilt-edged celebrations with the confetti raining down and teary group hugs. Updated 2:00 AM

5. If only the ice was clean

   It's a pair of titles Glenn Howard and his foursome grew to love and were ready to vehemently defend: Brier and world champions. Updated 7:01 AM

6. Final Highlights

   1. Blank. Updated 2:00 AM

7. Who's the best team in the world? Today we'll find out

   It's not the dream final organizers of this 2008 Tim Hortons Brier had hoped for. Updated 11:58 AM

8. Nice guys finish last...

   Once he was Goldilocks, now take your choice of three bears. Updated 8:49 AM

9. Canada (OK then, Alberta) rules senior curling

   Canada has won both men's and women's titles at the 2008 World Senior Curling Championships in Vierumaki, Finland. Updated 12:15 AM

10. Saskatchewan doused in boiling oil again

    'We have to learn to make that extra one or two shots that puts the nail in the coffin' Updated 12:15 AM

11. Hot-diggity! Howard has all the moves

    Ontario third Richard Hart gave it a 9 out of 10. Updated 6:10 AM

12. No fan-cy figures for Winnipeg

    It's not cake and victory cigars just yet, but organizers of the 79th Brier are a lot happier with attendance figures today than they were in the days leading up to the event. Updated 6:07 AM

13. Today's Top 8

    Top 8 things we're going to miss about not having Don Wittman in the CBC booth today: Updated 6:09 AM

14. Ursel's loss won't stain 'phenomenal event'

    Bob Ursel's Brier experience ended Friday much the same way it began: with a hug from his old man and a session signing autographs and posing for photos with old friends and family. Updated 6:11 AM

15. Stoughton would give Brier badges to Alberta

    Former world champ Jeff Stoughton has been blogging this week for cbc.ca and offers this bang-on assessment of Alberta's Kevin Martin: Updated 6:10 AM

16. Hammered hecklers malign Martin

    Security had to be beefed at MTS Centre Friday after Alberta skip Kevin Martin was the target of some heckling and taunting by fans. Updated 9:33 AM

17. Gushue's season crashes on rocks

    His frustration was evident after he handed B.C.'s Bob Ursel a steal of three in the first end, but 2006 Olympic gold medallist Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador knew in the big picture his Brier effort was flawed. Updated 6:09 AM

18. Today's schedule

    Updated 7:06 AM

19. Blue loonies for Brier fans

    One thousand free blue loonies will be handed out to Brier fans on Saturday to help them save on parking and bus fare. Updated 3:07 PM

20. Thursday highlights

    1. Alberta's Kevin Martin continued to plow through his rivals like a bulldozer through a field of daisies and with whuppings of Ontario and Yukon/N.W.T. became just the 16th team in Brier hi.story to finish the round robin undefeated with 11 consecutive wins. Interestingly, sixth of the last seven teams to finish unblemished hail from Alberta (Matt Baldwin in 1957, Ron Northcott in 1969, Pat Ryan in 1985 and 1988 and Randy Ferbey in 2003 before Martin). Manitoba's Vic Peters was a perfect 11-0 in '97 before losing to Martin in the Brier final. Updated 2:00 AM

21. Simply not good enough

    It seems weird to say and yet there it is -- in the end, Kerry Burtnyk simply wasn't good enough to keep curling in the Brier. Updated 7:18 AM

22. Burtnyk's still a winner in my books

    You know those posters you see that proclaim "Everything I ever needed to know about life I learned in kindergarten" or "Everything I ever needed to know about life I learned from my Siberian Husky?" Updated 2:00 AM

23. Around The Rings

    Alberta third Jon Morris was born in Winnipeg and his dad, Earle, played in three different Briers for three different provinces. Updated 2:00 AM

24. Red-hot Martin playing like there's big bucks on the line

    IT may be the Brier's Bad News -- at least for every team other than Kevin Martin and his Alberta juggernaut. Updated 2:00 AM

25. Soo's Jacobs one cool kid

    IT'S a true changing of the guard, Northern Ontario style, and on Thursday afternoon, it reached an incredible crescendo at the 2008 Tim Hortons Brier. Updated 2:00 AM

26. Kennedy relishes rivalry with Ontario

    Alberta second Marc Kennedy said he revels in playing against defending Brier champion Glenn Howard from Ontario. Updated 2:00 AM

27. Quebec's Duke of Decibels

    1. Elliott Spitzer's wife, five minutes before that news conference. Updated 2:00 AM

28. Game's fan base slip-sliding away

    So just what is the state of curling in Manitoba, anyway? Updated 2:00 AM

29. Win or die for Burtnyk

    Kerry Burtnyk had talked for weeks about this opportunity as though it were a dream, a chance to cap a remarkable career by playing in front of a hometown crowd in what could very well prove to be his last appearance ever at a Brier. Updated 7:03 AM

30. Brier 'Morning Classes' put curling on ice

    Take 60 years of tradition, toss in a bunch of old friends, top up with a generous helping of early morning hospitality, then add a few gallons of gin and enough fresh-squeezed lemon juice to fill a bathtub. Updated 7:48 AM

31. Gushue feels the heat

    How hot is Brad Gushue? Updated 2:00 AM

32. Wednesday highlights

    1. This one's a highlight for every curling fan out there -- even though TSN isn't supposed to be showing morning draws this week, they've decided to televise this morning's marquee matchup between Alberta's Kevin Martin and Ontario's Glenn Howard. Game time is 9:30 a.m.. Updated 6:49 AM

33. Around The Rings

    Frustrated with a 2-6 start that featured a string of bad luck and blown opportunities, Quebec pulled the ol' switcheroo Wednesday afternoon with Jean-Michel Menard handing over skip duties to third Martin Crete. And the results were instant, as Team La Belle Province pummelled P.E.I. 8-2 in seven ends with Crete shooting 82 per cent and Menard, now throwing third stones, finishing at 91 per cent. Updated 2:00 AM

34. Today's Top 8 List

    Eight reasons why provincial Tory Leader Hugh McFadyen might not be the stiff he's made out to be: Updated 2:00 AM

35. Happy just to wear a Bison

    REID Carruthers just wrapped up his school this week at the University of Winnipeg, but one of Manitoba's best up-and-coming skips is doing a whole lot more learning as fifth for Kerry Burtnyk at the 2008 Tim Hortons Brier. Updated 2:00 AM

36. Is this finally the year for Sask,?

    There are just some things you could always count on in sports -- the Toronto Maple Leafs will be lousy, the Chicago Cubs will not win the World Series, the New York Yankees will spend like drunken sailors and Saskatchewan will go into the tank at the Brier. Updated 2:00 AM

37. CBC's '05 gaffe likely ended curling era

    We're getting down to the final few rocks here, and there aren't going to be any crazy double-angle raises to save the day. Updated 2:00 AM

38. Geriatric crowd in the house

    Deep thoughts and three dots from a football guy parachuted in to help cover the 79th Brier... Updated 2:00 AM

39. Tuesday highlights

    1. Quebec's Jean-Michel Ménard snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on the morning draw, giving up a game-tying three to Saskatchewan in the 10th end and then giving up a game-winning steal in the extra end to lose 9-8. The loss was the 2006 Brier champion's fifth and effectively eliminated him from playoff contention. Updated 6:39 AM

40. Uphill fight for Burtnyk

    Here's the good news -- five times Manitoba has faced doormats at this 2008 Tim Hortons Brier and five times they've been victorious. Updated 6:42 AM

41. Curling clergy throw devine rocks

    If Kerry Burtnyk is looking for some divine intervention to reverse his team's fortunes at the Brier, he might want to pay a quick visit to St. Boniface. Updated 1:56 PM

42. Saskatchewan skip Simmons ready for prime time?

    Lord knows your humble agent has wolfed down enough Timbits this week, so it's high time to offer up some tasty tidbits.... Updated 2:00 AM

43. Around The Rings

    HUNDREDS of school kids again packed themselves into the upper bowl of MTS Centre Tuesday, cheering on Manitoba to its fifth win of the 2008 Tim Hortons Brier, a 9-3 rout of Northern Ontario's Eric Harnden. Updated 2:00 AM

44. Big crowds not nice to ice

    Careful what you wish for -- those big crowds that organizers of the 2008 Tim Hortons Brier at the MTS Centre have worked so hard to attract this week may yet come back to haunt the event. Updated 1:02 PM

45. '58 miracle, 50 years later

    FIFTY years ago this week, a brash but talented group of teens turned the curling world upside down with a run through the Manitoba playdowns that got them a provincial title and almost ended with a 1958 Brier championship in Victoria. Updated 2:00 AM

46. Pin collectors passionate, but definitely not nerdy

    OK, here's what I want you to do: Take a couple of medium-rare steaks and strap them to your body. Now jump into a large tank containing at least a dozen extremely hungry sharks. Updated 2:00 AM

47. World's elite wouldn't miss our showcase

    The first thing on they did right after touching down, not surprisingly, was to drop their luggage off and... Updated 2:00 AM

48. Top tussles getting buried

    It has all the makings of a dandy heavyweight bout: two unbeaten champions going toe-to-toe in a marquee match-up fans would have had circled long before the Brier draw was released. Updated 2:00 AM

49. Alberta's 'Johnny Mo' truly one in a million

    WINNIPEG -- On the surface, John Morris is pretty easy to figure out. Brilliant curler. Brilliant athlete. Movie-star looks. Updated 2:00 AM

50. Knowledgeable curling vets keeping stats

    TWO-TIME Canadian women's champions Jennifer Jones and Cathy Overton-Clapham have taken their shifts. Updated 2:00 AM

51. Brier Top 8 - best things about covering curling:

    2. Norway skip Pal Trulsen was the only athlete at the Salt Lake City Games to stand atop the gold-medal podium with a pack of smokes in his pocket. Updated 2:00 AM

52. Today's schedule

    Draw 9, 9:30 a.m. Updated 6:34 AM

53. Leaders of the pack

    The round-robin won't cross the midway point at the 2008 Tim Hortons Brier until today, but already this is shaping up as an event of clearly demarcated haves and have-nots. Updated 7:27 AM

54. Around The Rings

    Could Saskatchwan , gulp, win the Grey Cup and Brier within months of each other? Updated 6:42 AM

55. Monday highlights

    Three of the four games on Monday's morning draw were blowouts, but the B.C.-Quebec tilt was an emotional, high-energy, loud back-and-forth that ended with B.C.'s Bob Ursel eking out a 6-5 win. The former Manitoban twice gave up steals to 2006 Brier champ J.P. Menard but got his one in the 10th for his first victory of the week. Updated 6:38 AM

56. Burtnyk wrecks perfect record

    HIS draw weight was off, his rocks picked, he had trouble calling the right ice and he got clobbered 7-2 by Ontario -- no wonder Kerry Burtnyk was looking forward to chilling out on the town Monday night. Updated 2:00 AM

57. Heartfelt salute on a broom

    It was a subtle thank-you and acknowledgment sent from a sheet of Manitoba curling ice all the way to worn-torn Afghanistan. Updated 2:00 AM

58. They major in building and minor in curling

    We expected slide rules, frankly. And computer printouts. Pie charts and graphs, laser levels and magnetic locators. Updated 2:00 AM

59. Curling writers throw rocks -- at each other

    Yankees versus Red Sox in baseball. Celtic versus Rangers in soccer. Cowboys versus Redskins in football. Leafs versus Canadiens in hockey. Updated 2:00 AM

60. Today's Brier events

    Schedule of Games Updated 8:33 AM

61. Now for the hard part

    The recipe for winning a Canadian Men's Curling Championship is as simple as it is elusive. Updated 7:09 AM

62. Sunday's Brier highlights

    Ontario versus Quebec on the afternoon draw was a classic. The two teams went back and forth and it was only fitting Quebec gave the fans a bonus when they scored a deuce in the 10th to force an extra end. It didn't do Quebec any good, however, as Ontario went on to score one with the hammer in the 11th end to register an 8-7 win. Updated 8:29 AM

63. Around The Rings

    Chad Cowan of Whitehorse, Yukon, was all smiles after improving to 1-1 Sunday with an 8-6 win over Northern Ontario's Eric Harnden in what is his third Canadian men's curling championship. Updated 2:00 AM

64. Wipe N-ON-tario off map

    Sorry, Northern Ontario, nothing personal. Updated 2:00 AM

65. Top 8 sights and sounds Sunday

    2. The guy in the black leather jacket and orange T-shirt who kept nodding off in Section 114 at MTS Centre during the afternoon draw. Updated 2:00 AM

66. Like a rock

    It all started with a wicked hangover 28 years ago... Ever since, through good times and bad, cool Kerry Burtnyk has kept the party going Updated 6:40 AM

67. Don't have to be a rocket surgeon...

    'It was supposed to be in a cast for six weeks, but I took the cast off after only one week' Updated 6:45 AM

68. Want to see Burtnyk and the boys on TV? You'll have to wait

    Manitoba's Kerry Burtnyk opens his Brier today with a soft schedule. Burtnyk takes on Yukon/N.W.T.'s Chad Cowan on the first Brier draw, today at 2 p.m. He then comes back out at 7 p.m., when he'll take on P.E.I.'s Peter Gallant. Updated 6:14 AM

69. Helpful hints for curling's clueless

    If you're a diehard curling aficionado, we suggest you bail out on this story right here and now. Updated 6:42 AM

70. Curling's court jester could play, too

    He arrived a virtual unknown, a vegetable grower from Quebec with a bad haircut and an engaging smile. Updated 6:41 AM

71. Kerry back in Brier hack

    BRANDON -- It's been a seven-year itch for Kerry Burtnyk, but he finally scratched his way to another Safeway men's curling championship title Sunday and will be wearing Manitoba's bison on his back at the Winnipeg Brier next month Updated 2:00 AM

72. Burtnyk struggles at Canada Cup

    KAMLOOPS, B.C. -- Winnipeg's Kerry Burtnyk continues to stuggle at the Strauss Canada Cup of Curling here. Updated 6:23 PM

Latest Brier Results

Final, Mar. 16	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Martin (AB)	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	5
Howard (ON)	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	4