Miracle on Ice II

There we were, curling when it was 24 C outside on a splendid Saturday afternoon... playing towards what could have been a nice way to finish off an otherwise forgettable season.

First, a little background. I joined Team Sigurdson midway through the year when Al Bernier retired. I played during the city zones and watched as they came to within a game of returning to the Safeway Selects for a third consecutive year. This after my regular team went on hiatus as careers interrupted curling, as they often do.

So, after several "exciting" league games and club championship playoffs, we found ourselves in the City Club Champions Championships at the Charleswood Curling Club last week.

The boys - Bob Sigurdson, Darren Oryniak and Chris Girling - were not as "into it" as I was, considering their breadth of experience at the Selects. Well, Darren was still into it. He's always "on" like I am when it comes to curling, regardless of the event. Having said that, Bob and Chris were not dogging it during this competition, as we all worked hard to try to bring the title back to the Granite.

We started off by beating my old nemesis from West St. Paul: Brian Cox. What were the odds of drawing that team? After takin' care o' bidness 7-1, we won a couple of more games and found ourselves up against Dean Zammit from West Kildonan in the A-side qualifier. He utilized the "less-than-a-single-revolution" technique to perfection and made several WTF shots to beat us with his last rock.

Luckily, we somehow drew him again after winning the B-qualifier game and beat him with a solid, consistent effort over 10 ends in the semi-final. I'm still a little quesy over the chest hair... but that's a story for another day.

In the final, we ran up against Andrew Atkinson of St. Vital, who was on fire. Literally, I believe there were flames eminating from orificies as he slid.

He made two draws against potential fours to save the game, and then won it in dramatic fashion with a long angle-raise takeout in the tenth end to take three.

The ice was straighter than Yvan Cournoyer's stick, but the draw times were very consistent. Kudos to the icemaker for pulling that feat off in summer conditions.

After all was said and done, I was sitting with my family upstairs at the 'Wood, sipping on a Fort Garry Draft, holding my newly acquired "Finalist" badge (see inset photo) and wondering where it went wrong. As the Atkinson team accepted the giant trophy and the applause from the gathered throng, I gazed up at the Safeway Select Championship banners covering the walls, testament to the greatness of Team Stoughton over the years, and I vowed to be playing for one of THOSE next season.