The motto is 鈥淵ou Gotta Be There,鈥� and now curling fans know just who will be competing at the upcoming Ford World Men鈥檚 Curling Championship, slated for March 30 to April 7 at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria.
Northern Ontario鈥檚 Brad Jacobs 鈥� with third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden and lead Ryan Harnden 鈥� tore through the Tim Hortons Brier playoff field in Edmonton over the weekend.
The Sault Ste. Marie rink is not exactly a household name yet, and certainly not among the big three 鈥� Kevin Martin, Glenn Howard or Jeff Stoughton 鈥� organizers were hoping for to help sell more tickets, but it is one of the country鈥檚 up-and-coming younger teams.
Jacobs鈥� crew defeated all three of sa国际传媒鈥檚 curling hierarchy 鈥� Martin and Stoughton in the round-robin and Howard and Stoughton in the playoffs 鈥� to capture the first Brier title for Northern Ontario since Al Hackner鈥檚 1985 victory.
Jacobs easily disposed of Stoughton, the 2011 Canadian and World champion, 11-4 in nine ends in Sunday鈥檚 final. Jacobs downed Howard 9-7 in the semifinal 鈥� thanks to a steal of two in the fifth end and a theft of one in the eighth 鈥� and hammered Martin 8-1 earlier on in recording an 8-3 round-robin record. Jacobs also defeated Newfoundland鈥檚 Brad Gushue 9-4 in round-robin and 6-5 in an extra end in the Page 3-4 game to start the Brier playoffs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a dream come true,鈥� an emotional Jacobs told TSN immediately following the triumph. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 even have the words to explain what just happened. I鈥檓 so proud of the guys for playing so well all week.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait [for the Worlds]. We鈥檙e going to wear that Maple Leaf proud and we鈥檙e going to curl our hearts out all week, like we did here, and hopefully bring the gold to sa国际传媒.鈥�
sa国际传媒 has won the last three world championships with Howard of Ontario, Stoughton of Manitoba and Alberta鈥檚 Kevin Koe claiming the string of victories.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 great,鈥� Victoria co-chair Chris Atchison said of the Jacobs rink. 鈥淭hey are a young, very capable team.
鈥淭hey killed some giants in that event, knocking off Gushue, then Howard in the semifinal and then everyone thought this would be Stoughton鈥檚 year, again, but Jacobs made short order of them.
鈥淭hey are an excellent, young team that will bring a lot of energy to this event. They don鈥檛 have the experience of a Stoughton or Howard, but you don鈥檛 win the Brier by accident. It鈥檚 set up to make sure the cream rises to the top and that team out of Sault. Ste. Marie was something to behold. As soon as they got into that Page [playoff] 3-4 game, they found another gear.鈥�
Team Buff, which the Jacobs crew has often been dubbed because of its impeccable fitness levels, ripped through the competition in the playoffs like Popeye goes through spinach.
鈥淭hey were certainly the best team on the weekend,鈥� added worlds co-chair Keith Dagg. 鈥淭he big thing for us is to have sa国际传媒 secure a win here and If they play like that ... . They鈥檝e been knocking on the door for a long time. They didn鈥檛 luck it out, they definitely won it.鈥�
Dagg and Atchison said the Worlds committee has so far sold $600,000 worth of tickets for the nine-day long event in Victoria and is hoping Jacobs can bring in several more.
鈥淚 think there is an advantage having a team as young and dynamic as the Jacobs rink coming for the first time because it will be fresh,鈥� said Atchison. 鈥淭he following from Northern Ontario, with the first win since Hackner, will be exciting.鈥�
And the moose calls 鈥� which die-hard Northern Ontario fans bellow out during games 鈥� will be ringing through SOFMC.
鈥淓xactly,鈥� said Atchison. 鈥淵ou have your biases and favourites, but the more I thought of it [Sunday] night, after getting over the surprise of how they dispatched these big-name teams at the Brier, I think it鈥檚 a good thing for curling and it will be a good thing for this event.
鈥淭here鈥檚 probably a real appetite for Canadians to have a new team to cheer for and a new team to follow to Victoria and there鈥檚 freshness to that.鈥�
Just as Rachel Homan鈥檚 young Ontario women鈥檚 team did with the Scotties title.
鈥淚 think a lot of people wanted this,鈥� Jacobs told reporters late Sunday night. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 great. I know a lot of people have been sending us messages, saying, 鈥楾his is your time. You have to win this thing, it鈥檚 about time someone else, besides the top three guys, wins.鈥� That鈥檚 the impression I got.鈥�
EXTRA ENDS: Tickets 鈥� in packages or single-game events 鈥� for the upcoming Worlds can be purchased by calling 250-220-7777. . . . TSN鈥檚 numbers from the Brier are trickling in and Saturday鈥檚 1-2 game drew 832,000 viewers after 728,000 watched the Page 3-4 game.
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