A heavy heart wearing the Purple Heart

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This article was published 04/03/2019 (2721 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — There will be moments this week when Scott McDonald looks up in the stands at his first Brier, expecting to see the face of his mom.

Other times, he’ll be struck by something funny and wish he could share it with his brother.

The absence of his two cherished family members — who died within the last dozen years — remains the regrettable part of his unforgettable week at the Canadian men’s curling championship.

“I miss them here,” Team Ontario’s 32-year-old skip acknowledged Monday. “My mom was someone who would show up to every one of my curling games. She’d be up there knitting in the stands. The last couple of years have been tough because I go to these big events — we got into the (Grand) Slams this year — and I look into the crowd and just imagine she’d be watching and cheering me on.

“She would love being here,” added McDonald, just minutes after posting his first-ever victory, a 9-2 rout of Nunavut, at Brandon’s Westoba Place. “There’s no question she would have had such a good time here, being my biggest fan.”

Laura McDonald lost her battle with cancer in November 2016, a decade after her youngest son, Michael, was killed in a motor-vehicle collision in London, Ont., where the family lived. He was only 17.

Michael curled junior with his older brother for about four seasons. McDonald said he recruited him almost out of necessity, but the then-13-year-old stunned everyone with his energy and talent.

“I was 16 and skipping the team and we needed a lead, so he joined our team. It was the typical little-brother dynamic. But sometime within the first tournament, my teammates were like, ‘This guy is good.'” he said. “The next four years we played together and found some success. We came so close (to winning Ontario juniors) but never came through.

“Then he passed away in a single-vehicle accident in 2007, which kind of rocked our family.”

There’s a strong possibility the brothers — Laura and David McDonald’s only kids — would have continued competing together, gunning for an Ontario men’s championship.

“Absolutely, that could have happened. (Michael) had the trajectory to be a better player than I was, I really think,” said McDonald. “He was always a front-end player for me but he had a lot of talent and was a really good teammate. For a 17-year-old to being playing with three older guys at the time he passed away really speaks to how mature he was for his age.”

The family was heavily involved with the Highland Country Club in London. McDonald said the support from the curling community during the time of the tragedies was overwhelming.

“People were so good to us over the years. If there is any silver lining in something like that, it really showed us how strong the ties were and just strengthened the bonds I still have today,” he said. “In some ways, despite the tragedy there were some positives. People know our story and have been so good to us over the years.”

McDonald’s dad, David, and his uncle, John, travelled to the western Manitoba city to follow the team’s progress, watching intently as the Ontario squad dropped its first two games before sweeping past Dave St. Louis of the Iqaluit Curling Club.

Any other result would have been a head-scratcher, but a win’s a win when you’re making your Brier debut.

“It’s nice to get the first one under your belt. We had a couple of tough games to start. We knew Nunavut was looking to get their first win, they were going to go out and try to play well, and they made a lot of shots against us so we had to be sharp,” said McDonald, flanked by third Jonathan Beuk, second Wesley Forget and lead Scott Chadwick.

The foursome played 80 games this winter to quickly gain familiarity and experience. The team is currently 15th on the World Curling Tour rankings and ninth on the Canadian Team Ranking System.

In the Ontario Tankard, they defeated 2018 provincial champion John Epping three times, including the championship game, and had to get past former Canadian and world champion Glenn Howard — one of McDonald’s curling idols — to make the final.

“(The) Purple Heart — no matter where you’re from — it’s a badge of honour. But from Ontario it really speaks to how much work we put in and how well we played when it mattered the most,” said McDonald, an insurance adjuster in London and a youth curling instructor. “You look at the names on that (Tankard) trophy and it’s such a storied history, from the Howards, the Werenichs, the Middaughs and even further back. These are people you heard about in legend, and now to be able to share that trophy with them meant a lot to all of us. It’s pretty special.”

Coming here, the team received no special favours from the draw-master, facing two-time defending Brier champion Brad Gushue (7-6 loss) and two-time world champion Kevin Koe of Alberta (8-5 loss) in its first two tests.

Gunning for a split, McDonald said they embraced the positives from the two defeats.

“I think you focus on the things you did well. We were able to make a lot of good shots and be competitive the first two games. You want to go to the Brier to play the best teams and play your best while you’re here,” he said. “You just look at how they handle themselves and go about their business, they’re consummate professionals. They make a ton of shots, they work so well as teams and that’s something we can emulate.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell