“It’s all anyone is talking about”
CALGARY—When you arrive at a Scotties, there’s always a level of buzz that surrounds the first couple of days. Everyone gets their new jerseys, receives their jewellery at the banquet, gets glammed up for media day, and it all leads to an amazing atmosphere that is a combination of nerves and excitement.
The last time the Canadian women’s curling championship was held at the Markin MacPhail Centre, however, there was a different kind of buzz.
We weren’t allowed to talk to anyone besides our teammates.
Everyone wore masks everywhere.
We were COVID- or temperature-tested every day.
We couldn’t leave the hotel unless it was to go straight to the arena, and even then we had to scan out of one building and into the other.
I remember looking out of my hotel room window at the Starbucks that was a mere 200 feet away, craving a latte. I could have it, but I had to order it from a delivery service and wait 30 or more minutes to get it.
As much as I craved the coffee, more than that, I craved a simple walk outside of the hotel parking lot.
That year, there was a buzz of excitement for us to be out of our houses and doing what we love. I was very grateful I got to play in the “bubble” as I think many of us were. If I had it to do again, I would still enter the bubble. But it was also a very difficult experience.
When this year’s competing teams were posting photos and videos of their Friday arrival at the venue, the visual of the host hotel (which was also the bubble hotel) made me shudder. Don’t get me wrong here—it’s quite a lovely hotel and was a great setup for the bubble, with little kitchenettes and balconies in the rooms (the latter definitely saved my sanity on many occasions while inside).
Being essentially locked in that hotel room for weeks, however, was mentally challenging. The excitement when you got to go play a game was palpable, for all the usual reasons, but also, PEOPLE! SOCIAL INTERACTION! (DISTANCED) CONVERSATIONS! A SENSE OF NORMALCY!
Calgary is a great city that loves winter sports. WinSport and the Markin MacPhail Centre are absolutely amazing facilities, both in their beauty and their incredible array of offerings and functionality. This is a phenomenal place to host a Scotties, and as someone who has lived in Calgary for nine years now, I’m really looking forward to watching this city and this venue show off.
I’m also happy for (and a little jealous of) the players, who will be treated to an amazing week of great fans, great ice conditions, and a good ol’ Cowtown welcome. My only “hometown” Scotties was that 2021 bubble event, and I’m so grateful for that, but I hope this one will represent what a Scotties should be … and that the players get to truly enjoy the entire experience.
Here’s to a successful non-bubble Scotties!
* * *
There was another buzz that was soon to erupt on Friday.
The first few days of a championship are always exciting. The players arrive and the arena and hotel are abuzz with everyone’s nerves and excitement, all eyes on a prize they’ve dreamed about most of their lives. Usually, it’s all about speculation of who might win, who’s coming in playing the best, what are the ice conditions like, are the pools even, and on and on.
Recent STOH buzz was all about Jennifer Jones, who announced her retirement from four-player curling earlier this week.
Before Friday’s opening draw, it became something else.
A bomb dropped.
The four-time defending champions, Team Canada’s Kerri Einarson—looking to make history with a fifth consecutive win—have lost lead Briane Harris for the tournament due to “ineligibility.”
What? How is that possible? What made her ineligible? This has become the buzz around the event since the news broke.
If you missed it, Curling Canada issued a statement just a few hours before Einarson’s opening game against Quebec’s Laurie St-Georges. It read:
Curling Canada has been made aware that Briane Harris of Team Canada is ineligible to compete in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. No further information is available at this time. There will be no further comment on this situation from Curling Canada or members of Team Canada.
My phone blew up, as I’m sure every curler and curling fan’s phone did, once the public became aware. Everyone, from top tier competitors to casual fans, want to know what happened.
I’ll be very clear that I have legitimately no idea what happened. Zero. Less than zero. And I absolutely, vehemently refuse to speculate, because it isn’t fair. It isn’t fair to Team Canada, to Briane, or to anyone who would listen to me.
In my mind, the question at hand is: what does the silence do to this situation? In the bubble year, when someone tested positive for COVID, it was announced and there were maybe a few comments, but it was basically done after that. Kind of a “que sera, sera” attitude.
But was that because we knew what happened? Because we had closure on the situation and therefore could accept the reality, and move on? Was it because it was COVID and it was happening regularly to people in all facets of our lives, not just athletes on our television sets?
Here’s the thing: the silence is more than likely aimed to protect the privacy of those involved, and in that way, I fully support it. There may well be other reasons, but again, what those reasons are would require assumptions or speculation on my part.
The challenge is that because no one knows, it’s all anyone is talking about. That’s hard on Team Canada, first and foremost. It’s also hard on every other player and team in the field. It immediately becomes the major storyline of the Scotties, the thing everyone is talking about while they’re in line for a beer at the Original 16 patch. That is the part that I struggle with the most.
I understand the decision to stay quiet, and I’m sure there are more reasons for it than anyone outside this situation currently knows or understands. I do think player privacy rights, at the end of the day, are a key concern in the heat of this situation.
Team Einarson, by the way, brought heat in their first game, beating Quebec 8-2 in eight ends. Alternate Krysten Karwacki has been with Team Canada since 2021, and shot 88% in Harris’ spot.
That being said, the mystery and aura that now surround this will draw the focus away from what this event is truly about. All I can say is, I hope whatever happened is resolved and cleared up soon, so we can all move on from the rumours and speculation and just enjoy an amazing week of curling from a group of incredible athletes.
They have earned that. They deserve that.