Ferbey winding it down

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/09/2011 (5400 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SASKATOON — Edmonton’s Randy Ferbey is contemplating a future without rocks, brooms and ceaseless winter travel.

The idea of retiring, perhaps as early as the coming off-season, doesn’t sound so bad to the four-time world men’s curling champion.

“Realistically, this is my last year of curling, I’d say,” Ferbey said Friday after a 7-4 win over Yorkton, Sask.’s Gerry Adam at the Point Optical Curling Classic.

“It’s getting harder and harder for me to prepare to go out there. I’ve mentioned it to the guys; I love the game, but I don’t like what you have to do to get there — the preparing, the travelling, the practising. I don’t enjoy that as much as I used to. Will I be curling in the Olympics in 2014, or playing in 2014? I highly doubt it.”

But Ferbey hedged his bet, just a little, when asked point-blank whether fans would see him back on the ice next winter.

“Right now, I’d say no,” Ferbey said. “But stranger things have happened.”

Ferbey, 52, played last season with Brad Gushue after breaking with his storied team that included Dave Nedohin, Scott Pfeifer and Marcel Rocque. The partnership with Gushue ended with an acrimonious breakup.

He reconnected with the sharpshooting Nedohin — who stepped away from the game most of last winter — for Alberta playdowns in January, and the two opted to stick together in 2011-12. Ted Appelman is at second and Brendan Melnyk at lead.

They’re playing a slimmed-down World Curling Tour schedule, which is fine with Ferbey.

“It took me a while to really commit to this team,” Ferbey said. “They said they wanted a commitment from me and I said I’d give it my best shot, but it’s hard. It really is.

“I think we’ll give (the Brier) a shot. Mentally, it’s kind of up to me on this squad, and I’m not 100 per cent there. I’m not where I should be with the preparation and the mental part. Once I’m on the ice, I’m OK, but you need much more than that to succeed at this game.”

That said, Ferbey added that he’s still having fun at the game and that he’s still competitive. The team went 7-1 at the recent September Shootout in Edmonton and placed first.

Ferbey is feeling a little sentimental as he makes what — for right now, anyways — could be his final tour of rinks around the country.

“I walked in here tonight thinking I’ve got some memories at this club, and I started laughing to myself,” Ferbey said while relaxing in the Nutana Curling Club lounge. “Every club in every city I’ve been to, there’s something special about it. We’ve had such great times. That’s what I’m going to miss about the game, is walking away from this. But all things come to an end. I’ve got to get on with my life and get to know my wife a little bit better over the winter. That’s not a bad thing.”

Nedohin, who has existed in close quarters with Ferbey since the late 1990s, understands where his skip is coming from.

Nedohin stepped back from competitive curling last season until playdowns, and he wasn’t even sure he’d play this year until teammates did a little arm-twisting.

His criteria included a shortened schedule and enough sponsorship to make travelling realistic, and both those things happened.

He says he sat out last year to spend more time with his family, and to allow wife Heather Nedohin to pursue more of her curling goals.

“I didn’t miss it at all last year,” Nedohin said. “But now that I’ve got a team going again and it seems like everything’s balanced well with my curling schedule, my wife’s curling schedule and being around the kids . . . I’m enjoying it more than I have in a while.”

 

— Postmedia News