Stoughton’s crew fared pretty well as part-timers

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This article was published 12/04/2011 (5525 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jeff STOUGHTON and his team of Jon Mead, Reid Carruthers and Steve Gould won the worlds the old- fashioned way — part time.

The Stoughton rink captured the Brier and last weekend’s world curling championship by practising most days on their lunch hour. Jump in the car, zip down to the Granite and throw a few rocks while slamming back some PB and J. Toss the broom in the back of the mini-van and then head back to work.

Not exactly the picture of modern- day sport.

Stoughton and Co., barring an unexpected retirement announcement, will attempt to ramp up again and take a shot at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

But the road gets tougher starting right now as the rest of the country’s curlers, some of the top rinks being full-time athletes, will also be looking for that precious Team Canada berth.

Team Stoughton clearly rivals the best teams in Canada and the world but doing it year in and year out while dealing with the strains of full-time employment is difficult. Certainly, teams that focus mostly on curling have an advantage.

It’s tough not to wonder how good this crew could be if curling was their job — and not their hobby.

HAWKS OR DOVES: The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup last spring and immediately went about saying goodbye to large chunks of their third and fourth lines in order to fit under the NHL’s salary cap. Fast forward to the end of this year’s regular season and Jonathan Toews and his crew backed into the post-season. Now that they’re there, what will they do?

The Hawks face the Vancouver Canucks in the first round and a tougher test they couldn’t have. Flipping the switch at playoff time just doesn’t happen. Toews and Patrick Kane are about to find out why last year was so special — winning the Stanley Cup is hard and players are lucky to win it once, especially in the salary cap era.

SO MUCH FOR THE BALKAN: Last week ESPN radio personality John Kincade out of Atlanta told us about a mysterious buyer for the Atlanta Thrashers, known only to Kincade and flying under the name The Balkan.

“When this story came down, I became privy, through various interactions with the person who would like to purchase all three entities (Thrashers, NBA’s Hawks and Philips Arena), and I began to say The Balkan existed. There is a person that exists that is negotiating to buy all three right now. I can tell you that yesterday, extensive negotiations between The Balkan and the Atlanta Spirit group to purchase all three entities were going on,” said Kincade. “The negotiations are far from preliminary.”

On Sunday, Thrashers president Don Waddell told Atlanta media there has been little progress on a sale.

“We’ve had lots of people inquire,” he said. “We’ve had a couple groups go to the next step… Nothing is close at all.”

ROARING OR TAMED? One had to wonder, watching Tiger Woods on Sunday at the Masters, if this was a preview of more great things to come from the talented golfer or a look into the future of a spent player. Can Woods be just about to burst through the ceiling or is he destined to the continued frustration of coming up short?

Likely a bit of both. Woods showed he can still get hot and rev it up. But the rest of his career will be less about him and more about the rest of the field. There was a time when a Woods surge would send tremors throughout the course. He could intimidate from three holes behind or a different nine altogether.

But the new breed doesn’t seem to be awed by Woods. They know he’s human. We all do. Woods can get in trouble at home, his body can betray him and his putter can go south. Just like the rest of the field.

There will be days and weeks when Woods will be dominant — he showed on Sunday he’s still got the shots in his bag. But as for a three- or four-year stretch when he can win at will? Those days are gone.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca