Curling great, broadcaster Don Duguid dead at age 90

Legendary Manitoba curler and broadcaster Don Duguid, a three-time Canadian men’s champion and two-time world champion, has died at the age of 90.

His son, Winnipeg Liberal MP Terry Duguid, announced his father’s death on social media Thursday.

“He was a larger-than-life figure,” the MP told the Free Press on Thursday. “He had a very rich and long life.”

Duguid died peacefully Wednesday night, his son said.

“While today is a difficult day for our family, we are also reflecting on his long and extraordinary life. He leaves an enduring legacy in the sport of curling as a two-time world curling champion and longtime broadcaster,” Duguid wrote in a Facebook post.

Duguid is survived by his wife, Barb, along with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

“Our family is deeply grateful for the many messages, prayers, and expressions of concern that have been shared over the past weeks. Your support and thoughtfulness have meant more than you know,” Duguid said.

The family thanked the doctors, nurses and staff at Grace Hospital.

Duguid cemented his place among Canada’s curling greats by winning back-to-back world men’s championships in 1970 and 1971, in addition to three Canadian men’s titles in 1965, 1970 and 1971. At the time, he was just the second skip to win back-to-back Canadian titles.

He was inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in 1974, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1991, and the World Curling Federation Hall of Fame in 2013.

Both of his world championship teams were inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame after going undefeated at the tournaments, including a remarkable 17-game winning streak across the two events.

“He was really dominant for a couple years when I was growing up,” said Peter Nicholls, the president of the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame and Museum.

“We all admired and (recognized) the whole aura of Don Duguid. He kind of set the standard.

“He was a fierce competitor. Like I played with people who played against him, and they’d say he was a fierce competitor who did anything and everything to win. I think people respected him for that.”

Duguid helped revolutionize the sport with his signature delivery, dubbed the Manitoba Tuck — a technique later adopted by Manitoba curling standouts Jeff Stoughton, Vic Peters, Kerry Burtnyk, Mike McEwen and Barry and Ryan Fry.

“He started the first curling schools,” Duguid said. “He helped curling become the global sport that it is today.”

In 2020, he was appointed to the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honour.

“That was a great honour,” Duguid said. “He got a standing ovation in the House of Commons, from all parties. I took him around, particularly to the Conservative benches because every rural community in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, the Prairies, has a curling rink. So everybody knows who my father was and it was a real thrill for him.”

After retiring from competitive curling, Duguid built a second career as one of Canada’s best-known curling broadcasters, joining CBC’s coverage alongside play-by-play announcer Don Wittman and former world champion Colleen Jones, among others.

He was a curling commentator at five Winter Olympic Games, from 1992 to 2010, commentating for CBC in 1992 and 1998, before switching to NBC in 2002, 2006 and 2010.

“Don Duguid was a name that every curler in Canada knew for so long,” said Nicholls.

Away from the rink, Duguid raised five boys and was an entrepreneur, spending much of his working life in sales.

“He had little education, but lived by his wits, provided for his family,” Duguid said. “He was a gregarious, charismatic guy, which showed up on television in spades. He had a good run. Ninety years. Working class family. His father was right off the boat from Scotland, a railway worker who ran a curling club at night, at the Victoria Curling Club. So he literally grew up at a curling club, helping my grandfather make ice, pebble ice, clean the ice.”

Duguid said his father was very supportive in his aspirations as a politician, even helping going door-to-door to talk with constituents.

“Having the last name in some parts of my riding was very beneficial for me, for the name recognition.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca