Team Jacobs has bigger fish to Fry at Brier

By: Jason Bell Posted: 10:29 PM CST Friday, Mar. 1, 2019

BRANDON — Ryan Fry’s major bout of bad behaviour made national news, but the veteran curler says he’s offered his apologies and taken steps to be a better person and athlete.

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BRANDON — Ryan Fry’s major bout of bad behaviour made national news, but the veteran curler says he’s offered his apologies and taken steps to be a better person and athlete.

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BRANDON — Ryan Fry’s major bout of bad behaviour made national news, but the veteran curler says he’s offered his apologies and taken steps to be a better person and athlete.

The former Winnipegger is back at the Brier national men’s championship this week with the Brad Jacobs foursome, representing Northern Ontario. The 2014 Olympic gold medallists are, indeed, one of the favourites.

But it’s been a roller-coaster season for the Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., quartet.

Ryan Fry was filling in at a World Curling Tour event in November when he and his teammates were kicked out for drunken behaviour. (Jeff McIntosh / The Canadian Press files)

Fry, who was filling in at a World Curling Tour event in Red Deer, Alta., in mid-November, was kicked out — along with teammates Jamie Koe, Chris Schille and DJ Kidby — for what organizers say was unsportsmanlike behaviour resulting from excessive drinking. Brooms were smashed and games on other sheets were interrupted.

The players later apologized for their actions. Fry left the team for about six weeks, returning the second week of January at a Grand Slam Curling event in North Battleford, Sask.

On Thursday, Fry said the fallout from the embarrassing incident forced him to do some serious self-reflection.

“It was a mistake that I apologized for and that’s all you can do. From the time it happened until now, it’s been all about working on putting that in the past and moving forward and just being a better version of myself,” he said after a practice session at Westoba Place.

“Either you’re a person that can take what other people tell you and put that into your own life, or you’re a person that has to make the mistake first and then grow from it. I’ve always been the guy who has to make the mistake first and then grow from it. But the one thing with me is I never make the same mistake twice.”

During Fry’s absence, the Jacobs team had instant success in its first event with Marc Kennedy coming out of retirement to join the team at the Canada Cup, a Grand Slam in Estevan, Sask. Jacobs knocked off Kevin Koe in the final.

Fry said he was grateful the team didn’t falter without him, despite the distraction of his misstep.

“This is a professional curling team and Mark Kennedy is a professional third, so to have him come in and play for the Canada Cup, there was no expectation they wouldn’t perform at such a high level. I’m happy they were able to go out and play as well as they did,” he said.

When Fry informed the team he was ready to return, he was welcomed with open arms, said Jacobs, adding he has enormous respect and admiration for the guy he shares all the major discussions with in the house.

“I think Ryan Fry himself has handled all of the distractions very well and he’s on a great trajectory in terms of self improvement. I think his mindset, his headspace, is getting healthier and healthier all the time, and I believe he’s ready to come out here and compete and show everyone how good he really is,” Jacobs said.

● ● ●

Sheet C got a thorough workout from Team Manitoba on Friday afternoon.

That’s the playing surface for the team’s Brier opener on the 2 p.m. draw Saturday against Kirk Muyres of Saskatchewan. Brandon-born skip Mike McEwen, third Reid Carruthers, second Derek Samagalski, lead Colin Hodson and coach Rob Meakin paid particular attention to the idiosyncracies of the sheet and the traits of the rocks stationed there.

Research was a major component of the one-hour practice session — when every team had 15 minutes on each of the four sheets

“We’re trying to match the set (of rocks) that we’re going to throw on ‘C’, that’s what we tried to get out of it. They might not necessarily like them but they’ll work with them,” Meakin said. “That’s what we’re figuring out, so we’re prepared. And the good thing is (Friday night’s wild-card game) they’re playing on ‘C’, so we’ll be able to check it out.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell