It used to be the pinnacle of the sport of curling in Canada, but the Tim Hortons Brier is now a glorified warmup for the biggest event of all 19 months from now — the Olympic trials.
For starters, the Brier field is much weaker than your standard Grand Slam event, of which there are six throughout the winter across Canada. Every province is represented this week at the Kingston Brier, which means no-hope teams from the Territories, Nunavut, P.E.I., New Brunswick, etc., will serve as whipping boys for the sport’s titans.
Nine men’s teams — along with nine women’s foursomes — will qualify for the December 2021 Olympic Trials in Saskatoon, aiming to wear the Maple Leaf in Olympic competition in Beijing in 2022. Those precious nine positions in the trials feature eight qualifiers from a number of events leading up to the Trials, with the final spot being determined by the winner of a ‘pre-trials’ qualifying event.
The winning team this week is not only the Brier champion and winner of around $100,000 in prize money but it’s an automatic qualifier for the Trials, which, if you ask the curlers, is the biggest plum at stake this week.
So who will win? Watch out for Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs, who shook up his team this year by saying so long to third Ryan Fry and adding former Kevin Koe third Marc Kennedy. Jacobs and Kennedy form a formidable back end, and the Brush Brothers — E.J. and Ryan Harnden — have few peers at the front end. The addition of Kennedy has helped vault Jacobs’ crew to three Grand Slam victories in four events this season.
Those three victories make Jacobs a big favourite at Kingston this week, but the other main contenders forming the cream of the curling crop in Canada — rinks skipped by Kevin Koe, Brendan Bottcher, Brad Gushue, John Epping, Matt Dunstone, Jason Gunnlaugson, Jim Cotter and either Mike McEwen or Glenn Howard (one of whom will be the wildcard qualifier) won’t make it easy on the Sault Ste. Marie team.
The Brier is still a big deal, but it’s not the end-of-season finale it once was. There are still two Grand Slam events to go, as well as the world championships, but the winner this week in Kingston will breathe a huge sigh of relief that it gets to spend a week in chilly Saskatoon in December 2021.
- Comedy writer Jim Barach on the rebranded XFL fully embracing sports betting: “To which Pete Rose is saying, ‘Did I pick the wrong sport to play or what?’”
- Comedy writer Argus Hamilton: “President Trump heard about the cheating scandal in major league baseball today and issued a pardon to the Houston Astros.”
- Comedy guy Brad Dickson of Omaha: “This is Week Two of the XFL. Who could have even imagined that the league would last this long?”
- Jim Barach again: “A Pennsylvania Little League system has dropped “Astros” from the choice of team names. Even worse is they are replacing it with ‘1919 Black Sox.’”
- RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com: “According to research, highly intelligent people are more likely to think their opinions aren't valuable. In a related story, Don Cherry charges up to $50,000 per speaking engagement.”
- Comedy writer Alex Kaseberg: “The Houston Astros' former No. 1 prospect, Francis Marte, was banned 162 games for drug use and it has nothing to do with the team's cheating scandal. ‘Hey, back off, we're working this side of the street,’ said the New England Patriots.”
- Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “Former NFL wideout Quan Bray, along with free-agent tackle Greg Robinson, was arrested after drug-enforcement agents in Texas said their rental car had 157 pounds of marijuana in it. So much for trying to shake his reputation as just a possession receiver.”
- Perry again: “With the spectre of opposing pitchers plunking Astros hitters at a record rate over the team’s sign-stealing scandal, just have to ask: Will Houston’s promotional giveaways include Astros Replica Jersey Night, sponsored by Target? By season’s end, will Houston — not Boston — be laying claim to the title of “Bean Town?”
- Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, to reporters, explaining how his 22-3 team could lose at home by 22 to unranked N.C. State: “Sometimes when you’ve eaten a lot, you’re not as hungry.”
- Jack FInarelli of Sportscurmudgeon.com, on one place TV could cut back on its XFL game telecasts: “Sideline reporters are as useful as a trombone player in a duck blind.”
- Argus Hamilton again, on the Daytona 500: “Thirty-nine compete to see who can turn left the fastest. No wait — that’s the Democratic debates.”
- Shane Lantz of the Mason City (Iowa) Globe Gazette, via Twitter, on MLB commissioner Rob Manfred botching his attempt at damage control of the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal: “He’s trying to put the blaze out with a leaf blower and has basically started a forest fire.”
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