Antics not entirely appreciated

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This article was published 09/04/2011 (5487 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

REGINA — It was the day after the self-admitted “clown show” from the night before and a lot of the talk at the 2011 World Men’s Curling Championship was still about the antics of Team Canada Thursday night during their loss to Norway on the final round-robin draw.

The conduct of the Canadians, which featured everything from funny top hats and on-ice pizza deliveries prior to the game to an elaborate skit during the game to the entire Canadian team celebrating a 50-50 win on the ice while the game was tied in the 10th end, raised more than a few eyebrows for its brashness in a famously gentleman’s game.

“That was a disgraceful display. And it was very disrespectful to the game,” was the austere appraisal of one Scottish observer here.

The Canadians were playing Scotland’s Tommy Brewster at press-time Friday night in the Page playoff 1 vs. 2 game — with the winner advancing straight to Sunday’s final. But following a team practice earlier on Friday, Team Canada third Jon Mead did offer an explanation of what had gone on the night before.

Mead said the tone for the night was not entirely of the Canadians’ own making. He noted the Norwegians jokingly brought out a pizza prior to the game for Team Canada coach Norm Gould. And Mead said some fans sitting along the end sheet where Team Canada was playing were impaired and engaging in constant banter with the Canadians.

But Mead admitted things did get out of hand and the Canadians were at least partly responsible.

“It was a bit of a clown show out there with everything that happened,” said Mead.

He said the cardboard cutouts gag was thought out long in advance. The two team Canada coaches, Rick Lang and Norm Gould, along with team leader Paul Webster and fifth Garth Smith had cutouts made of themselves which they painstakingly set up in coach’s row while they retreated to the stands to eat popcorn. The gag was broadcast by TSN.

The setup took the better part of a couple of ends to set up and caused a disruption in the crowd. Mead seemed to suggest Friday that the Canadians sensed they might have been pushing the envelope.

“We talked about it a lot,” said Mead, “where is the line?… No one on (the Norwegian) team took any offence at all.

“If there’s people out there who do, I would certainly — I don’t know apologize would be the right word — but if for some people that crossed the line and didn’t show the right respect for the game, then I would certainly feel bad if people would come out of it with that perspective. That wasn’t the intent at all.”

The dust had no sooner settled on that episode then Norm Gould again caused a scene in coach’s row — and the entire home end of the Brandt Centre — when he realized the Canadians had just won a big 50-50 jackpot.

Gould yelled down to the Team Canada players on the ice surface, who raised their brooms in celebration even as the game was tied 6-6 in the 10th end and Norway was playing for their playoff lives.

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The Canadians ended up losing the end and the game on a steal when Stoughton was heavy on a draw to the four-foot with the last rock of the game. The loss sent Norway to a playoff tiebreaker Friday afternoon, which they promptly won 5-4 over France to qualify the 2010 Olympic silver medallists for today’s Page playoff 3 vs. 4 game against Sweden.

“How we lost that game, I don’t even know,” said Mead. “The 50-50 thing made it ridiculous. Nobody saw it coming and it was just ridiculous. But we played a great end and Jeff just missed his last shot. But we needed red clown shoes after that one.”

In retrospect, Mead conceded it probably would have been wiser if Gould had saved the news of the big raffle win for after the game.

“Plus it cost us a lot of drinks in The Patch afterwards because we won all that money. But what do you do? People react, people are human, that’s a pretty hard one to stifle.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca