The Brier, up close and personal

Yesterday afternoon, maybe at about 1:00 PM, Neil talked me into giving him a quick haircut. As the reason for the haircut was so that he could look his best for his trip to the Brier later that afternoon I obliged and not too long afterwards he and Rebecca went out to see Newfoundland play Saskatchewan in the 4th draw.

After this game all three of us meet up for dinner at a restaurant near the Metro Centre (the location was chosen because they were giving a 10% discount for people with Brier tickets). Following our very pleasant meal Neil and I made our way back up the hill to the Metro Centre for the 5th draw. Our primary goal was to watch the Newfoundland and Alberta game, though I was pleased to hear that Stoughton and the rest of the Manitoba team were to be playing on one of the other ices.

Almost as soon as we settled into our seats it was quite clear that Neil had picked great seats. We were in the third available row and near the middle of the sheets. We could see both houses clearly, though the one to our right was definitely a little closer. Because we were near sheet A, the televised sheet, the game was also being shown on the arenas jumbotrons, meaning that we were able to get somewhat frequent overhead shots of the stones in play.

In contrast to the quality of the seats, the food service stood out as pretty sub-par. The first problem that I encountered was that the on-site Tim Hortons (and remember that we are at the Tim Hortons Brier) did not have a full range of sizes (they just had medium and large). Another problem with this Tim Hortons was that they were not handing out Roll Up the Rim cups (which was definitely disappointing). The other major food problem was that the concession stands were not fully stocked, in particular they seemed to have run out of sausages. Though it took me a minute to warm up to the idea, I eventually became quite psyched about the sausage combo only to have my hopes crushed by supply problems.

As much as I enjoyed the experience, the game itself was a bit of a disappointment. Players on both the Newfoundland and Alberta teams missed some pretty open shots and made some bad calls. In the video below Koe, the Alberta skip, misses a hit for two allowing Newfoundland to steal two and Gushue, the Newfoundland skip, missed a hit and roll which allowed Alberta to take three.



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For those of you who are curious, Korab seemed as friendly as always and was the only one (on either team) who really engaged with the crowd as the game progressed.

After the game Neil and I decided to head to the Brier Patch, the nightly live-music/party associated with the Brier (admission is free with a Brier ticket). As Neil and I were walking in to the event from the stadium I was a IDed. This is something that bothers me more than it should (though I think I am somewhat justified in thinking that the system is jacked when I know that the person they have let in just before me is more than two years younger than I am). While I don't think that I am at risk of becoming a Brier Patch regular it was pretty fun to see some of the curlers treated like celebrities as they walked through the crowds. Just moments after our arrival the group next to us dragged Jeff Stoughton to their area for a few photos.