Jones makes it look easy

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This article was published 23/01/2015 (4121 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINKLER — Kelly Wiwcharuk got a new hairdo out of the deal. And some technical advice on her curling delivery from one of the best in the business.

So yes, there was some good that came out of the 10-1 throttling Snow Lake’s Wiwcharuk suffered Thursday morning at the hands of a little curling outfit known as the Jennifer Jones foursome.

First, they primped for their early morning date with greatness. And then they got taken to school.

“We all did our hair this morning,” said Wiwcharuk with a laugh. “And we learned — they helped us out a lot out there. They were really good.

“We’re getting it. And we want to finish strong. We’ve got this over with, so now we’re looking ahead.”

And so it goes here at the provincial Scotties Tournament of Hearts as a succession of teams has emerged from the ice looking for even the smallest silver lining after taking a beat-down from Jones.

To the surprise of no one, Jones is undefeated through four preliminary- round games coming into this morning. And with a pair of 10-1 victories on Thursday — they also beat Roland’s Colleen Kilgallen 10-1 later in the day — they have now outscored their opponents here this week by a combined score of, get this, 37-9.

Now, no one will debate that in an age when sports is high finance, the unique charm of curling remains its playdowns system, where even a global powerhouse and reigning Olympic champion like Jones begins the long road to this year’s world championship from the same starting position as a lowly club team like Wiwcharuk’s.

It’s weird, when you think about it.

The Chicago Blackhawks, for instance, don’t have to beat a beer league team to get to the Stanley Cup playoffs. And yet that is basically what is being asked of the Jones team here this week, less than a year removed from their gold-medal performance in Sochi.

It’s quaint, in a uniquely curling way. But it also has an ugly side and that has been on display here the first two days of this competition as Jones has destroyed the dreams — and faint hope — of one opponent after the other.

It’s not even remotely a fair fight, but that’s the rules of the game.

“I approach it as a realist,” said Kristy Mcdonald, who won this event last year as third for Chelsea Carey but has no illusions about a repeat performance this week now that Jones is back in the provincials instead of chasing her Olympic dream.

“I know how good their team is and how professional they are,” Mcdonald continued. “This is their job — they’re paid to come here and win. That’s what they do and I fully expect that to happen again this week.

“I know what it takes to beat them. But doing it is a tall order — it’s a tall order for any team in the world.”

And so the result is this strange little dance here this week where Jones has built up huge early leads on opponents and then spent the latter ends actually coaching her opponents.

Wiwcharuk said Jones was full of encouragement and friendly advice during their game.

“‘Oh, good try — maybe more rotation on your rock,'” Wiwcharuk quoted Jones as telling her. “Those are the things we learned. Arena ice is a lot different than curling club ice.”

The unique situation in which she finds herself this week comes with its own particular set of challenges for Jones, who is in effect being asked here to put a governor on her team’s throttle — doing just enough to win but not so much as to embarrass her opponents.

That’s a balancing act in a sport with delicate sensibilities about exactly this kind of thing.

But after a decade of dominating the women’s game provincially, nationally and globally, Jones — perhaps better than anyone else in the women’s game — knows how to walk that tightrope.

“They were so excited to play the game and they said to us before the game that they were a little bit nervous,” Jones said of her game against Wiwcharuk.

“So we just wanted to make sure we had fun out there. And they haven’t played on arena ice before and it really is quite a bit different…

“All the teams out here have qualified so we always come in with the approach that we have to play our very best.

“But we wanted to make sure everyone had fun out there today and that it was an enjoyable experience and one that they’re going to remember.

“They were so excited to play us and she made an absolute beauty to get her one (point). I think she’ll remember that one forever.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @PaulWiecek