Of ice and men: a curling tale

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/01/2011 (5647 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It is, and always has been, the consummate blue-collar event — working guys taking a few days off from work to throw rocks on 17 different ice surfaces over five straight days.

It is nothing flashy. The ice can be dicey and as sporting events go, this one has always most closely resembled a withering marathon, where you don’t so much beat your opponents as you outlast them.

And so there was something fitting then that in the championship finale of the 123rd MCA Bonspiel, it was a couple of quintessential lunch-bucket teams in the final.

Petersfield roofer Dave Boehmer took on everyman Dave Elias in Monday night’s Asham main-event final — the MCA Bonspiel’s title match, these days — at the Grain Exchange Curling Club Monday night and all you had to know about the character of the last two teams standing in this event was written on their on-ice jackets. Or, rather, unwritten.

In an age when all the elite curling teams have so many sponsors these days that they look like NASCAR drivers, the Boehmer foursome had nothing but their club emblazoned on their jackets last night, while the Elias squad went with a gag sponsor — “Chico’s Bail Bonds — Let Freedom Ring.”

All of which is a nice way to say that no one was willing to put up a dime to bankroll either of these two outfits when the bonspiel began back on Thursday night.

But five days later and their stock — if not necessarily their price — has gone up. For starters, both Boehmer and Elias earned provincial berths over the last few days, meaning they will both live to fight another day at the Manitoba men’s championship in Beausejour next month.

And it is hard to overlook the fact that of the 384 teams who began this bonspiel on even footing last Thursday, only Boehmer (8-0) and Elias (7-0) were still undefeated heading into Monday night.

The final was something less than a classic as Elias left all kinds of points on the table, notably in the fourth when a raised-takeout for a possible six missed entirely and gave Boehmer a steal of one instead.

That proved to be the difference as Boehmer went on to eke out a 6-4 victory for his second MCA Bonspiel title in three years. “It’s a great confidence-builder for Beausejour coming up,” said Boehmer, who was supported by Allan Croy, Terry McRae and Jeff Donohoe. “We lost early in our zone, which isn’t a very good confidence-builder. You start thinking, ‘Jeez, maybe we’re not that good.’

“But what is there at this thing?” mused Boehmer. “Out of 384 teams and you’re on top? That’s great.”

Now, it’s true that for all those numbers, the best of Manitoba men’s curling was conspicious by their absence. Neither Jeff Stoughton or Mike McEwen — who will be overwhelming co-favourites to win it all in Beausejour next month — entered this year’s MCA Bonspiel.

Stoughton and McEwen both took the weekend off and will participate instead later this week in a Grand Slam event in Oshawa.

If the bonspiel is blue-collar, this week’s Canadian Open is all champagne, with a $100,000 purse up for grabs for the players and a $1-million promotion for the fans that will see six knee-sliders get a chance to draw the button for a seven-figure prize.

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There were no such perks on hand last night at Grain Ex, which will fall victim later this year to progress and a wrecker’s ball, but on this night seemed a perfect setting for the finish of a bonspiel that itself survives against the odds.

No one got rich last night, no one ever does at the MCA Bonspiel. And it’s hard to see either Boehmer or Elias stopping Stoughton or McEwen in Beausejour.

Still, for a night, the game went back to its roots, a sport where the most ordinary of guys still once in a while do extraordinary things.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca