Once he was Goldilocks, now take your choice of three bears.
At least, such has been the evolution of Kevin Martin's days on curling's national stage.
"We call him the Ol' Bear," offered Alberta second Marc Kennedy, referring to his skip's long-held nickname, "And he's the old growling bear when we're not playing good. I call him the Grizzly bear when we're struggling."
The third bear? We'll get to that later. After all, none of Martin's bears are out of the woods yet, as today Alberta will face Ontario's Glenn Howard in the 2008 Tim Horton's Brier final at the MTS Centre.
But no better time to ask, just who is this Martin guy, anyway? Will he ever be universally beloved by curling fans everywhere (answer: probably not) and will he ever patch up his public feud with arch-rival Randy Ferbey (answer: probably never)?
But on the topic of Martin, there is one fundamental agreement.
"I'd say he's the best player in the world," submitted B.C. skip Bob Ursel.
"Top three of all time," Kennedy agreed.
"He's one of the top shotmakers on the planet today," added Howard.
And, this just in from Ferbey: "There's no doubt he's one of the best curlers to ever play the game."
Huh? Ferbey praising Martin? Does this mean world peace is at hand? Not exactly.
But there's no doubt the friction between Martin and Ferbey only serves to remind us that despite all his accomplishments on the sheets, Martin has never really found unconditional love, nor reaped international success despite unparalleled cash winnings of almost $2 million.
For the record, Martin disagrees.
"I'm not with you on that one," he said. "I get a lot of e-mails and they're usually pretty darn positive."
Still, some say Martin is misunderstood. He's not the mercenary or cold fish that he's been portrayed through much of his career dating back two decades -- when Martin was literally the fair-haired boy who won his first Brier at age of 24. This is his ninth trip back, with two Brier victories.
But Martin's fair hair has largely deserted him, and his career, for all its monetary gain, has been pock-marked by straw brooms, boycotts and a running feud with Ferbey.
Martin would call all of the above old news. Others would call it a career history.
Remember the 1991 Worlds in Winnipeg, when Martin, who was already considered somewhat aloof, brought out the straw brooms at the old Arena when losing to the Scots. In an instant, Martin went from home team to being lustily booed?
Ever since, Martin was dubbed a villain in some quarters. The boycott of the Brier in the early 2000s didn't help for many fans, either.
"If he's misunderstood, help me understand him," Ferbey asked. "Help me find out the true Kevin Martin."
Well, for starters, Martin wins too much. Ask Kennedy about why Martin doesn't get universal approval and he just shrugs.
"Who does?" Kennedy replied. "Especially the people who win a lot, you'll find a lot of people don't like them because they like cheering for underdogs. A lot of people don't like Russ Howard, a lot of people don't like Colleen Jones, a lot of people don't like Jennifer Jones, a lot of people don't like Kevin (Martin), Glenn (Howard) or Brad (Gushue). When you're on TV that much people are going to pick on you, that's just the way it is."
Kennedy points to the controversy surrounding the World Curling Tour the Brier boycott as a source of disenchantment -- and the basis of the Martin-Ferbey feud. Martin was a major player in the boycott. Ferbey not only played in the Brier, but along with vice-skip Dave Nedohin, he won four of them (six total).Go figure there was bad blood at the end of what was essentially an ugly union dispute. Time has not healed all wounds.
"I'm over that," Ferbey said. "I don't think he (Martin) can get over it. I can sit down in the Brier Patch and have a beer with everybody in this building but him."
Neither did the boycott endear Martin to traditional fans, who didn't like him putting cash ahead of a Canadian institution.
But that was a time when, incredibly, it would cost players money to compete in the Brier. Not only did the boycott force the CCA to up the Brier ante, they established several big-money bonspiels to complement the WCT's Grand Slam events.
Yet for Martin curling has always been serious business, with the emphasis on business. Especially on the ice.
"Kevin is very, very talented. And he's a little bit quirky," said Ontario skip Glenn Howard. "He definitely likes things his way.
The boycott was no different.
"If it wasn't for what Kevin and a few others did, there would be no money at the Brier, we wouldn't be playing for any money," Kennedy noted. "We wouldn't have Grand Slam events, we wouldn't have a TV contract. That was all because some of the players took a stand.
"A lot of people didn't like him for it. They thought he should be playing just for the love of the game."
Indeed, it wasn't easy being the Norma Rae of curling.
"It wasn't easy," Martin allowed, of the boycott era. "(But) I thought it was important that the game progress. It wasn't a tough decision. That's the best thing we've ever done in curling.
"We took a lot of heat early. But either way, when you do something that's really important and you stick to your guns, you really think you're right. Then after awhile people notice that you haven't wavered...
"Now people (shrug) and say, 'Okay, the guy was right.' "
Regardless, Martin's faltering at the World Juniors (silver, 1985) Olympics (4th, 1992; silver, 2002) and World championships (2nd, 1991; fourth, 1997) has only exacerbated his money-first reputation.
"There's a stigma that he's only a money player," Kennedy said. "I don't think that's true because I've never seen Kevin approach any event any different whether there's $50,000 on the line or $10,000 on the line. I do think he plays a little better when there's a lot on the line in a big game."
Said Martin: "We had a good laugh about that today, actually. I can't imagine anybody who doesn't like money. What does that mean? I don't understand.
"To get into nine Briers isn't bad," he added, with a hint of playful sarcasm. "Winning a couple isn't bad. A couple Olympics..."
Still, it's no state secret that there is one prize Martin covets.
"The Olympic gold (in 2010), I really want," Martin said. "That's No. 1. I've been to two of them and it's such a special thing, it really is."
From Goldilocks to Ole Bear to Grizzly Bear...
To the Golden Bear?
After all these years, turns out, Kevin Martin is still looking for that fairy-tale ending.
randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca
Around the rings
Wittman and colleagues
recognized for service
Winnipeg broadcast legend Don Wittman -- as well as colleagues Don Chevrier and Doug Maxwell -- were recognized posthumously for their decades of service to curling during the fifth end break of Saturday's semifinal.
Fans were shown a video tribute to the three men, who covered curling for CBC and other outlets. All three men died over the past winter.
Wittman's daughters Karen and Kristen as well as granddaughter Katie were presented with a painting depicting a scene of pond curlers.
Winnipeg's Don Duguid, who covered curling for CBC for almost 30 years before moving over to the same role with NBC, was also presented with a plaque for his years of service to the Canadian game.
Duguid perhaps best summed up the feelings of all four men with this remark during his short speech.
"While it was a little bit of work," Duguid told the crowd, "it was a lot more fun."
Black day for Brier
Over 8,000 curling fans took in Saturday's semifinal -- 8,201, to be exact -- pushing the total attendance at the 79th Brier to 155,852. A similar crowd today -- organizers are expecting at least 9,000 -- should push the event into the black. Canadian Curling Association officials estimated the Brier needed to draw 160,000 fans to turn a profit.
If the totals reach the 164,000-165,000 range it will rank as the seventh-best attended Brier in the championship's history.
Advice free, but a bit late
More evidence that Winnipeg curling fans know their stuff.
As Saskatchewan's Pat Simmons released his final stone of the eighth end in Saturday's semifinal, hoping to hit and stay to crack a game-tying three against Ontario's Glenn Howard, MTS Centre fans were quick to give Simmons' sweepers some free advice.
"Clean, clean, clean," came the urging from the crowd.
The curling faithful, clearly on Saskatchewan's side, were well aware that Simmons' last stone in Friday's 1-2 Page playoff game picked after the sweepers left it alone, costing the Saskatchewan foursome the win and a quick trip to today's final.
Saturday's crowd-assisted shot turned out better, though the game result was the same.
Top 8
Bob Picken's all-time Brier moments:
1. Brandon, 1963 -- A hill in the rings on an outside sheet allowed Arnold Richardson to sweep a spinning stone back out the front of the house.
2. Saskatoon, 1965 -- Watching Manitoba's Terry Braunstein win the Brier in what was my first assignment after starting as CJOB sports director earlier in the week.
3. Winnipeg, 1970 -- The ear-splitting ovation for Don Duguid's victory in the final round-robin game; the Golden Boy must have been quivering. 4. Quebec City, 1971 -- The worst Brier I attended: a snowstorm and a blackout, Alberta's Matt Baldwin arriving at the arena on a snowmobile and Saskatchewan's Bob Pickering saying the stones being used "should be thrown into the St. Lawrence River."
5. Halifax, 1981 -- Manitoba third Mark Olson doing cartwheels on the ice after Kerry Burtnyk's winning shot in the 10th end of the final against Al Hackner.
6. Moncton, 1985 -- The miracle shot by Al Hackner in the 10th end against Pat Ryan to force an extra end in Hackner's second Brier victory.
7. Calgary, 1997 -- The enormous crowd for the Kevin Martin-Vic Peters Brier final (almost as awesome as the 248,243 total attendance to set the world championships record in Winnipeg in 1991).
8. Winnipeg, 2008 -- Glenn Howard's brilliant through-the-port shot in the eighth end for a raise takeout that led to his 3 vs. 4 win over Bob Ursel.
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