17to85

It's a damned shame too. It's a great sport but the younger generation doesn't give it enough respect. Too concerned with their NFLs or UFCs.

Has to be related to a lack of the known names this time around. It's such a new group of teams this year, all the old familiar faces aren't around. Either that of the demographic that watches curling is just so old that that many people have died since 2009.

In an isolated event yeah Mcewen can beat anyone. Hell he wins as many or more bonspiels as anyone going. I just think that he doesn't have that mental edge, and the way he ducked the post game interviews after losing the provincial finals I question whether he has the mental maturity to win the "big" events. That's where the Jacobs team has really improved lately. They've all matured and gotten better at not having those break downs mentally. I don't see that same growth from Mcewen. Plus the guy damned near lost a best of 3 series to a team of scrubs in university, how good can he really be?

TIL envy and disdain are the same things. Just goes to show the level of delusion amongst that fan base. So much smoke blown up their asses they actually believe it.

Carruthers plays on tour all the time as well so it's not a case of one team playing at a higher level than the other, and all of Carruthers team except for one guy has brier experience too. Mcewen has more success on tour without a doubt but none of them have any brier experience, and given all the trouble he's had winning Manitoba I don't think it's a stretch to suggest that they might not be the guarantee at the brier some think in their first go around. That team is good, but they have a lot of mental demons they need to get over. Carruther's team does play on the tour, but with not as much success. The team is new, so they have to get more playing experience together. Are they strong enough positions 1 thru 3 behind Carruthers? Time will tell. McEwen has always had those "demons" and seemed to have overcome them, especially within the last year and a half. It's a shame he has Manitoba Select issues because he would be a top 4 candidate in this field of competitors. well he should be, but he's lost to teams he should beat in the provincials a lot of times and he's never done much of note at any of the olympic trials either. To be blunt I think he and his team don't have the mental strength to win events when there is pressure on them. It's one thing to win on the tour where there's few people watching and not much media exposure, but when the bright lights come on and there's a lot more attention on it he seems to fade. Curling is such a mental game if a guy has shown time and time again that things get into his head maybe we stop pretending like winning a bunch of early season bonspiels matters all that much. Great for his bank account but not so good for his legacy as a curler.

Carruthers plays on tour all the time as well so it's not a case of one team playing at a higher level than the other, and all of Carruthers team except for one guy has brier experience too. Mcewen has more success on tour without a doubt but none of them have any brier experience, and given all the trouble he's had winning Manitoba I don't think it's a stretch to suggest that they might not be the guarantee at the brier some think in their first go around. That team is good, but they have a lot of mental demons they need to get over.

He hasn't sucked all week, he's been really inconsistent. That's how he won the select. Play well at the right time you can win games, play poorly at the wrong times and you lose.

He lost to Reid twice in a row at the select, hard to say he's the best when he can't beat his competition...

it might be OK... I guess.

Bottom line, the NDP made them hire local, you hire people without relevant experience issues like this pop up. Thanks dippers!

Connor McJesus is so highly touted they changed the lottery so that every team that misses the playoffs has a chance to get him, he's so highly thought of the Sabres and Coyotes are having one of the most epic tank battles ever seen to try and get him... he had a better world jr. tournament than Crosby did at the same age.... Something would have to go very very wrong for that kid not to turn into an absolute superstar.

You know maybe BLM is just happy to be playing football somewhere he's appreciated rather than trying to go through the grind in teh NFL for no guarantees. Some guys are happy being a big fish in a small pond.

Everyone on TSN is bad for it. It's part of their whole thing where the game can't sell itself, they need to have another story to tell because that's why people watch on TV. Just disgusting.

Well Jacobs is curb stomping everyone at the Brier this year so I wouldn't worry too much about Carruthers losing that one. It was the losses on the opening weekend that really shouldn't have happened. As for how he won Manitoba I don't think it's that complicated. They're not a bad team just seems a bit inconsistent and Mike Mcewen has a real problem with choking at the provincials. All in all it's a pretty close field at the brier this year. Jacobs is running away with it and Koe isn't as sharp as they should be but there's a whole lot of teams in the middle of the pack and as a curling fan it's kind of fun to watch when you really don't know what's going to happen. Used to be you just pencilled in Stoughton and Howard and whichever team was out of Alberta into the playoffs.

this is why people laugh at Jets fans.

What are some examples? I'm looking to be entertained. All events where they might be on TV. Hockey games and curling bonspiels (Brier, Scotties, etc...) It's really sickening. Has anyone mentioned the Arizona Coyotes "Rider Nation" night that they're doing? Getting all those jagoffs to fly down and try to pack their arena with Rider gear. Disgusting. And let's not forget making the Team Canada juniors wear ******* green jerseys. That **** is just an insult to the rest of the country.

I wish rugby was a bigger deal in Canada than it is. If it's ever on TSN I find myself watching it and being fascinated. I have no clue what is going on but it's a ton of fun to watch never the less.

Cotter and Laycock are the biggest surprises to me so far. I keep waiting for Saskatchewan to fall back to the pack because I don't see them as anything more than a middling team, but nothing yet. Cotter has been a bit up and down when it comes to win, but he showed a lot of stones to beat Koe on Saturday night and is the kind of guy who if he gets hot might be a pain in everyones ass.

a big part of it is TSN. They started blowing smoke up the asses of the die hard rider fans when the team started to turn around, and you know what, I got a lot of respect for those die hards who were there through the hard times. The problem was everyone in that god forsaken province started to believe the hype and suddenly EVERYONE was a die hard Rider fan who was there through thick and thin and they really ARE the greatest fans in the world. Just not so, the attendance numbers clearly show the number of real die hards was much much lower, just a lot of really annoying bandwagon jumpers.

That's it. No player coming the other way which is strange considering Calgary lost Mark Giordano maybe for the rest of the season. They're challenging for a playoff spot. That's the thing right there... without Giordano the Flames are not going to be a threat for much. The way he's played this year is phenomenal and it changes the entire make up of the flames team. Without Giordano playing like a norris candidate the rest of the team is nowhere near the same. Brodie is OK but he's riding Giordanos coat tails, Wideman and Russel are OK but again they're in a situation where you can play behind a guy who eats 25 hard minutes at a high level every night. Giordano might be the most valuable player in the league.... well behind Carey Price in Montreal I guess. He means THAT much to the Flames.

Can't wait for that team to implode and the bandwagon to empty out. Started in 2003 and only got worse. Team stopped sucking the hind *** and all of a sudden people who know nothing about football are HUGE rider fans. Just insufferable.

but back in your day it seems like there was more curling going on and it was easier to get involved with anyway. It just seems to me that even at the club level it's gotten too competitive to be easily accessible to newer players. It really killed the mens league and bonspiel in the town I grew up in. guys tried to put in stacked teams to win and you took away from the overall field.

but technically all the best teams were represented when you look at it from the perspective that the provincials are an extension of the national championships.

That's a lot to pay for an old defenceman who only just came back now from a blood clot issue.

We've discussed this before but I just really do like seeing a national championship where every corner of the country has some representation. Everyone has to go through their provincial qualifications so the team that comes out of each province will have to best the top competition there. You really do come across as a butt hurt Mike Mcewen fan who is upset cause he has a bad case of choking when the provincials role around.