Format fight brewing

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/03/2009 (6265 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CALGARY — The format of the Brier, unchanged for decades, may be about to change — making it both bigger and smaller at the same time.

A new committee formed by the Canadian Curling Association to look at revamping the national championships is studying a controversial proposal that would see each of Canada’s three territories given its own team and a Team Canada also added to the existing 12-team field.

But, to make that change work, the committee is also studying a proposal that would see the Brier field then split into two pools, where the top finishers (maybe eight) from the previous year would be automatically slotted into the next Brier while the bottom teams would have to play off in a companion event for the right to join the big boys (maybe two spots).

That would surely be a controversial move because it could mean teams from the three territories and smaller provinces like P.E.I. could go years without actually playing in what is supposed to be Canada’s national curling championship.

“The issue is the ability for every member association to have the right to access the championships,” CCA governor Laura Lochanski of Edmonton, who’s chairing the committee, told the Calgary Herald’s Allen Cameron Sunday. “We put on the table two basic options, but we’re not naive enough to think that there won’t be a hybrid option voted on to go forward. This is just a starting point.”

The new proposal stems from concerns at the CCA level that Nunavut, which just held its first national curling championship with the 2009 Canadian Mixed, could challenge the $2 million the CCA receives in federal government funding because it’s not allowing the territory equal access to Canadian championships.

A two-tier change would probably not affect a province like Manitoba, which consistently finishes in the top eight of the Brier.

But other provinces are already voicing their opposition. “If New Brunswick doesn’t make the top eight in 2009, then whoever goes there next year doesn’t get to play in it?,” said an incredulous Russ Howard. “That sucks. Every year things change. I like it the way it is. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton, on the other hand, likes the idea. “Sounds good to me. Why not?” said Stoughton. “It means every game at the Brier means something to every team. You’re going into that last game with two wins and you need to win to make sure that you don’t get relegated, it becomes a big game.”

Alberta’s Kevin Martin also thinks the two-tier idea would lead to more entertaining games for the fans. “They want to see the best playing the best because those are hellish good curling games,” said Martin.