OCTOBER/OCTOBRE 2003 Guy Hemmings By Bruce Deachman blasphemous west draw as much of his tal- of the Ontario- ent from his sheer en- Manitoba border. joyment of the game In Edmonton in as he does from the Tour Dates 1999, however, the years of practice. It’s part- feeling was unani- ly from that ugly delivery of his October 20-22, 2003 mous. that we derive a kinship: are not Corner Brook, NL “They’re all great shows,” says our own deliveries equally flawed? Contact: Gary Oke Hemmings of his four Brier visits (he also His friendliness and accessibility, too, are [email protected] competed at the 2001 Ottawa Brier and also irresistible, especially when so many October 28-29, 2003 last year’s championships in Halifax). “It’s of his contemporaries have chosen Dauphin & Swan River, MB like having the chance for a week each to adopt holier-than-thou, standoffish Contact: Bev MacKenzie year to play in (baseball’s) major-leagues. postures; who can forget Middaugh’s 204-638-3244 Photo by Michael Burns Photography Photo by “Obviously the first one is a bit special, semi-off-ice attitude in Ottawa in 2001, because you spend so many years dream- where he clearly placed himself far October 31 to November 2, 2003 ing about going there. But one thing above the fans. Whereas many top curlers New Liskeard & area, ON Contact: Steve Amyot Guy Hemming made his Brier debut in that’s special about going to the Brier is - especially in men’s curling - widen the [email protected] 1998 in Winnipeg, where he shook off that you dream about it for so many gap between club curlers and elite ones some early-round cobwebs and went on years, and, once you’ve been there, you by their attitude, Hemmings effectively November 11-13, 2003 to win his final four round-robin games dream even more about going back bridges it until it almost disappears. Cape Breton Island, NS Contact: Gordon Granchelli to secure second-place. In the 1-vs-2 Page again.” Of course, it’s been a while since curlers [email protected] playoff game, his Quebec squad of Pierre But what’s so special about Guy like Alberta’s Kevin Martin, so successful Charette, Guy Thibaudeau and Dale Ness Hemmings? What makes him the one as a junior and so quick to translate that November 25-27, 2003 lost 10-4 to Ontario’s Wayne Middaugh, Quebecker to have such a positive impact early success into Brier fame, have had to North Battleford (and area), SK eventually earning a berth in the final by in Western Canada, when so many be- struggle in zone and regional playdowns, Contact: Greg Mackie [email protected] defeating Manitoba’s Dale Duguid, 7-5. fore him had failed? let alone club championships, and so it In the championship game, Middaugh Well, for one, he’s almost the quintes- might be unreasonable to expect much December 3-4, 2003 beat Hemmings for the third time that sential Western curler. True, his English, empathy from their quarters. Chicoutimi, QC week, stealing three early ends en route she’s not so good, but for a guy whose Hemmings’ trail, on the other hand, Contact: Gilles-Paul Tremblay to a 7-4 win, and the title. awkward slide emerged from a tuck de- has been the sort of Cinderella story that [email protected] The following year, in Edmonton, livery, and who spends his summers made the Minnesota Twins such an un- January 12-14, 2004 Hemmings’ story was almost identical: farming, he’s about as close to Ernie derdog favourite in recent baseball circles. Prince George (and area) BC his 8-3 round-robin record once again Richardson as la belle province has ever Martin and Middaugh are perennially the Contact: Chris Hale earned his team a second-place finish, produced. New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves of [email protected] and they again lost the 1-vs-2 playoff He’s also The Entertainer, sort of curl- curling, expected shoo-ins with little to January 16-18, 2004 game, this time to Manitoba’s Jeff ing’s version of hockey’s Eddie Shack, ex- worry about, save where to display yet Grande Prairie (and area) AB Stoughton. An extra-end win against cept with way more talent. In his 1999 another championship ring. Hemmings, Contact: Michael Bain Saskatchewan’s Gerald Shymko followed, semi-final match against Shymko, the in stark contrast, is the equivalent of the [email protected] and then, just as he had done a year ear- diminutive Hemmings drew roars of Montreal Expos; showing up with a lier, Hemmings came up against a team laughter from the audience by watching lunchbox each day and hoping for the he couldn’t beat, as Stoughton stole a sin- some of the match in a crouched posi- best. gle in the sixth and scored three in the tion, peering through the legs of And whereas the Martins, the eighth, eventually running the Quebec Saskatchewan’s “Jolly Green Giant.” In Middaughs, the Stoughtons, et al, only skip out of rocks in the 10th for a 9-5 win. Ottawa, after a large advertising sign fell give us a sense that our own aspirations The only difference this second time from one of the Civic Centre’s walls and were left too late, Hemmings helps us to What’s Inside around was that everyone was watching, onto the ice surface, Hemmings again de- realize that, no, it isn’t yet time to give up, and cheering, Hemmings. If fans only lighted the crowd, this time by donning that hope, indeed, springs eternal. Guy Hemmings began to notice him in Winnipeg; they a hockey helmet. And last year, in Halifax, “When I started to play this game,” he Rockin’ the House Tour ..............1,2 absolutely loved him in Edmonton. One the reaction was similar when he was recalls, “I was pretty old, and I just played Curling Clubs Go Smoke Free ............3 case in point was a banner waved by a fan spotted, mid-game, reading from a copy for the fun of it, like a kid who didn’t at Edmonton’s Skyreach Centre: “Guy of “Curling For Dummies.” want to grow up. Volunteer Burn Out................................4 Hemming for Prime Minister,” it read, a He is, in short, every-man’s (and every- “There’s no way I could play this game sentiment that would once have been woman’s) curler, a guy who seems to without enjoying myself,” he adds, “and 2003 CCA Volunteer maybe I enjoy it more than those guys, or of the Year Award ..........................5 at least express it more.” The Blind River Curling Club ..............5 Now 41, Hemmings didn’t even start curling until he was 23 (Middaugh, by 2003 Curling Development Fund........6 comparison, was 23 when he competed The Legacy of Montreal Thistle..........6 in his first Brier). That would have placed him in Montreal’s Outremont Curling LaScie - A Success Story! ..................7 Club in 1985, a time, he likes to joke, when the club’s second-youngest mem- Abby and the Curling Chicks ..............7 ber was 63. It wasn’t especially ‘cool’ to After the game... ..................................8 curl then, but that wasn’t what attracted him. “I liked all kinds of games,” he ad- Your Curling Club and the mits, “cards, board games, and all the Sandra Schmirler Foundation ......8 sports I could play. And this game (curl- 2004 Strauss Canada ing) is a sport I could play. I’m lucky I can Cup of Curling..................................8 play it because, at 40 years old, there Continued on page 2 OCTOBER/OCTOBRE 2003 Guy Hemmings continued in the next few days, the CCA will get calls from the surrounding towns. It’s a sign we’re doing to compete with the something good, and we’re pretty Brier, curling was still proud of it.” in the news. Hemmings adds that he’s de- “I remember get- lighted by the CCA and WCT’s ting some phone recent agreement to work to- calls from the WCT,” gether. “It’s good for curling,” he says Hemmings, says, “that finally both sides will “asking me if I’d be play together. That’s what peo- boycotting the Brier. ple want to see.” And I asked, ‘Why In fact, he points out, the did you call me? I re- question of relations between tired from curling. the two sides was the most- Why don’t you call often-asked question he’s Ed Werenich? He’s heard since touring for the retired, too, and you CCA: When are you guys don’t call him for his going to get together? vote?’” Despite being “Now people can watch all the good half a world away, curlers at the Brier, and all the good teams need four good players. In the late-70s Hemmings was still a on the Grand Slam. Fans will get the best aren’t too many games you can play and and early-80s in Quebec, there were lots considerable curling force in this country. of both worlds.” dream about being the best in the world. of good players - enough for more than The Canadian Curling Association rec- “I’m not better-looking because my “If I was into gymnastics, I would have one team, but they didn’t know they ognized what had slipped through its fin- neighbour is ugly,” he adds pointing to been gone at 23, but with curling, you needed four good curlers per team.