If you’ve ever wondered the process they use to make a curling stone, watch this interesting video:

Here is a fun video that promotes the social aspect of curling from the fine folks at Banff/Lake Louise Tourism.

This video was filmed at the Banff Curling Club in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

No this isn’t your Monday night rec league, but a funny clip of a classic SCTV skit with the (late) John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy and Rick Moranis. Great stuff – enjoy…

• First and foremost for the digital enthusiast: curling looks unbelievable in High Definition – this is marked as the first event to be broadcast 100% in HD
• Semifinal #1: in a squirrelly game on the new ice Howard gets the breaks early and Middaugh gets them late, when it counts, and takes the first match
• The Rama Entertainment centre ice, sitting on top of the room’s concrete floor, played as you would expect in the first game. But should be kenner by the time Sunday’s final rolls around
• Is the best still to come for Wayne Middaugh: he seems to have just been ‘hanging around’ the high echelons on the game the past few years. Will we see Wayne take a run at a Brier or an Olympic berth in the next few seasons? I suppose he has to get out of Ontario (and by Glenn Howard’s team) first…
• Remains to be seen is Howard’s team has the same magic as they did a season ago. maybe its time to switch up those white belts??

More later…

Calgary Herald columnist Al Cameron has launched a great new blog and today I noticed an interesting post he wrote about Russian skip Liudmila Privivkova’s team and an alleged (foot wedge) sweeping violation they committed that has caused somewhat of a stir:

Sweeping used to be the one big area where you’d find rulebreakers who used dumping techniques — in essence, moving debris in front of the rock with their brooms in an attempt to either slow it down or adjust its line — to some perceived advantage, although the big problem today, I think, is that nobody really understands the convoluted language of modern sweeping rules, so it’s tough to actually break the rules.

Here is the visual evidence from Youtube:

So, what do you think? We’d like to know.

For the record we think its looks a little suspicious and here is what Al Cameron thought:

First of all, I tip my cap to anyone who can use their foot that precisely to help make a shot, so I have an extremely hard time believing she did it on purpose. I believe it was purely accidental.

But — and this is a Sir Mix-A-Lot big but — I also have an extremely hard time believing she didn’t know her foot had touched the running stone, and therefore, it was up to Ezekh (the sweeper on left) to tell someone she’d done it. And, after a round of oh-so-Euro high-fives all around, she did no such thing. And that’s reprehensible. In Canada, a player who did that would be, quite rightly, ostracized as a cheat and would have a hard time finding a new team.

Are you a curling enthusiast? Are you an amazing writer and journalist? Then you are perfect for CurlingRink.ca.

CurlingRink.ca is looking for an outgoing individual who loves curling to join our team as a Curling Writer and Community Manager. The Curling Writer and Community Manager will contribute to our online community as well as explore the web for more content to incorporate in our site. With the bloggers’ excellent writing skills, he/she will post blogs about the Brier, the Grand Slam, what’s going on in competitive curling, and other events on our website for our up and coming online community.

If you have something to say – we’ll give you the avenue to say it. Please drop us a line if you’re that person, we’d love to hear from you. This is a wonderful opportunity to talk about curling at a national level.

Please send correspondence to: courses2007@ontgolf.ca

Following the departure of Dave Parkes in May, the Canadian Curling Association has named Greg Stremlaw as it’s new CEO.

Stremlaw, a native of Niagara Falls Ontario is not a curler but he surely knows his way around the business of sport. His resume has seen him helm a number of sports organizations and that experience serve him well in his new position. He will begin his duties at the CCA in May.

Currently a resident of Cambridge, Ontario, Stremlaw was most recently the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Chicopee Ski & Summer Resort in Kitchener, where he has been employed since 2002. Prior to that, he worked as Director, Sport Services & Bobsleigh/Luge for the Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA) from 1996-2002, which included his role as Race Chairman/Race Director for all International World Championships/World Cup events in the sports of Skeleton, Luge and Bobsleigh.

He also holds degrees from the University of Miami (Masters of Sports Management) in Coral Gables, Florida, the University of Maine (Masters of Business Administration) in Orono, Maine and the University of Western Ontario (Bachelor of Arts in Commerce) in London, Ontario.

Certainly part of Stremlaw’s job will be to restore confidence in an organization that has seen it’s share of controversy. A number decisions made by his predecessor Parkes including ones involving the TV schedule have left the CCA struggling to gain the trust of the Canadian curler. It should prove interesting to watch how Stremlaw makes his mark in his new role.

One thing is sure, we’ll all be watching.

We’ve been hard at work here recently adding to our facility guide, and thought we’d share with you some recent additions to our Canadian curling club listings.

If you have any additions or updates we should add to our database, please don’t hesitate to contact us and let us know.

The Glencoe Club (AB)
Strathcona Curling Club (AB)
Westlock Curling Club (AB)
Two Hills Curling Club (AB)
Garrison Curling Club (AB)
Lancaster Park Curling Club (AB)
Medicine Hat Curling Club (AB)
Hanna Curling Club (AB)
Smoky Lake Curling Club (AB)
Avonair Curling Club (AB)
Derrick Curling Club (AB)
Crestwood Curling Club (AB)
Baddeck Curling Club (NS)
Halifax Curling Club (NS)
Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club (MB)
Parksville Curling Club (BC)
Regina – Wheat City Curling Club (SK)
Swift Current Curling Club (SK)
Saskatoon Granite Club (SK)
Port Elgin Curling Club (ON)
Renfrew Curling Club (ON)
Carleton Place Curling Club (ON)
Brockville Country Club (ON)
Stratford Curling Club (ON)
Weston Golf & Country Club (ON)
Uxbridge & District Curling Club (ON)
Oshawa Curling Club (ON)
St. George’s Golf & Country Club (ON)
Chinguacousy Curling Club (ON)
City View Curling Club (ON)
Peterborough Curling Club (ON)

Talk about old school…

Check out this promotional� Manitoba curling commercial from 1986. Pretty funny stuff, kind of reminds me of a Juicy Fruit commercial.

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If you’ve ever wondered where curling stones come from, I uncovered this interesting story about Ailsa Craig, an island off of Scotland. Apparently there was a mass operation to� gather stones from this protected island.

A MAJOR operation is under way to take 1,500 tons of granite from Ailsa Craig — to meet the demand for new curling stones. And Scottish women’s curling successes in Olympic and World championships have given a boost to the six-week enterprise. For it is envisaged the game will gain new popularity in the wake of the triumphs. And Ayrshire firm Kays of Scotland are ready to produce new stones to meet the anticipated demand. Mauchline-based Kays have exclusive rights for the unique Ailsa Craig granite, and the firm has ferried heavy lifting machinery from Girvan harbour on to the rock. A company spokesman said: “Weather held us back, but we finally got the machinery on to the island, and we’re now ferrying granite twice or three times each day.”

Kays stress that the operation, originally scheduled for a year ago, has been planned in co-operation with the conservation watchdogs at Scottish Natural Heritage. And it is understood that no blasting or quarrying is taking place — large granite boulders being simply collected from former quarries. Most of the larger speckled ‘Common Ailsa’ boulders will come from the south end of the island, while the rarer ‘Blue Hone’ will be collected from the north. Ailsa Craig’s large gannet colony — boasting more than 20,000 pairs — is located on the west of the island, and should be unaffected by work which is now at the halfway stage.

Makes for interesting read, check out the entire article here.