Brier win arrives before baby after false alarm

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This article was published 06/03/2018 (2966 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

REGINA — He’s got his first win at a Brier and a bunch of frequent flier miles.

But David Harper still isn’t a new dad.

The British Columbia lead, making his Brier debut, had to leave in the middle of Saturday night’s draw and head home to Kelowna to be with his wife, who suddenly went into labour.

Or so they thought.

Turns out, it was a false alarm. So, with wife Jessica’s blessing, Harper jumped on a plane Monday and, after some travel hassles, arrived late at night by way of Calgary and Saskatoon, got a few hours sleep and was on the ice Tuesday afternoon with the Sean Geall squad.

And the boys from B.C. finally hit got a victory, downing Newfoundland-Labrador 12-6.

“She said, ‘You need to go back and play a game, live out your dream,’” said Harper, who was the alternate for John Morris’ B.C. team at the 2017 Brier in St. John’s N.L., but didn’t get into a game. “The curling gods were with me. This has been awesome.”

He’s not the only one with his cellphone ringer set to loud. B.C. teammate Jeff Richard’s wife, Brooklyn, is due any day now, too.

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John Epping’s got a keepsake in his pocket he hopes will bring his Ontario team some curling kismet.

It’s a gold-coloured imitation coin used as a booze token during the 1992 Brier held here at the Brandt Centre, formerly the Regina Agridome.

One side shows the Brier logo, the other shows an image of curler Garnet Campbell from Saskatchewan, who won 10 provincial men’s titles between 1947-71 and claimed the 1955 Brier.

“Isn’t that cool?” Epping said, one of Canada’s best skips for a decade, but finally getting his first taste of the Brier this week. They defeated Glenn Howard in the Ontario final.

“A longtime friend of my parents from the Peterborough Curling Club gave me a coin that he wanted me to keep on me the whole week as a good-luck charm.”

Appropriate, too, because Epping vividly recalls sitting in front of the tube, soaking up that national championship won by Winnipeg’s Vic Peters. 

“That’s the first Brier I ever watched. I remember watching Vic win,” said Epping, 34, who is guiding a team that includes third Matt Camm, second Pat Janssen and lead Tim March.

“It means a lot. (Bob Ford) gave it to my mom, and she gave it to me. She’s here now. She wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell