Golden sleep for Jacobs

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This article was published 09/03/2018 (2968 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

REGINA — Brad Jacobs was heartsick the night the Canadian women lost their bid for a medal in curling at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

So, he went to bed with his Olympic gold medal tucked beside him — counting his blessings.

“When Rachel (Homan) lost to miss the playoffs, I actually slept with my gold medal that night. That’s a true story. Not too many people know that,” Jacobs said Friday.

“To watch both Homan and (Kevin) Koe was really, really tough. It was unfortunate for all of Canada.

“I just felt so fortunate. I felt lucky and blessed to have that thing, because that could have been us. It really could have been us four years ago. We’re fortunate it wasn’t.”

The dynamite Northern Ontario team — ranked fourth on the World Curling Tour’s order of merit — is competing this week in Regina at its ninth Brier together. A perennial contender, the foursome is firing at 87 per cent, second only to Team Canada (91), and has booked one of four coveted spots in the Page playoffs, which start today.

Jacobs, 32, and his Sault Ste. Marie foursome of third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden and lead Ryan Harnden faced the similarly massive expectations placed on Homan and Koe when it donned the Maple Leaf at the Sochi Games in 2014.

Winning its first-ever Brier title in dominant fashion the year before, the weight of a nation was on its shoulders — and the crew responded.

Jacobs went 7-2 in the round-robin, beat China in the semifinals and then swept past Great Britain 9-3 in the gold-medal game. Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones captured gold in women’s play.

Fast-forward four years, and Canada left the Gangneung Curling Centre without hardware. Koe lost a semifinal to eventual gold medallist John Schuster of the United States, and then fell to Switzerland with bronze at stake. Homan’s team didn’t just miss the podium, it didn’t qualify for the playoffs.

“Seeing the Canadian teams not medal definitely made me appreciate our gold medal a lot more,” said Jacobs.

He’s also acutely aware of the struggle and sacrifice required to make it to sports’ biggest stage.

Only months ago, Jacobs felt the frustration of coming up short in his pursuit to represent Canada at a second straight Olympics. The team missed the playoffs with a 3-5 record at the Roar of the Rings trials in Ottawa in December.

The team simply couldn’t get any momentum going, he said.

“Obviously, a very disappointing week for us. We under-performed massively,” Jacobs said.

“We trained so hard and went for it so hard (that four-year cycle) that we needed to step away.”

And they did, stowing their brooms and sliders for the better part of three weeks — including the holiday season — to relax and enjoy life with family.

“We needed distance from curling for a while,” said Jacobs, noting they’ve made no final decision on whether or not to make another run at the Olympics.

Back to business in early January, the squad geared up for the Northern Ontario playdowns and, after some early hiccups, stormed to yet another championship — highlighted by a come-from-behind victory over young Sudbury skip Tanner Horgan, whom they immediately recruited to be their alternate in Regina.

“Stepping away for a few weeks brought that hunger back, that desire back, and I think we accomplished that. We’re playing really well the second half of the year,” said Jacobs.

The Brier week hasn’t progressed without challenges for the Jacobs quartet. Ryan Harnden missed Friday’s afternoon game — a 5-3 defeat to Team Canada’s Brad Gushue — because of the flu. The symptoms included dehydration, which seemed to be cause for concern, and he was still getting checked out at the hospital Friday evening.

Horgan has thrown lead rocks in three games, and spotted for Fry at third during a couple of blowouts earlier in the week, tossing up a sparking 93 per cent shooting accuracy.

“He played unbelievable (against Gushue). He made everything, so we’re not losing anything as far as our shooting, that’s for sure.

“If he has to keep playing, I believe we can win this thing with him.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell