Ontario curling...so far

Where to start--Ontario

After being away for a bit, I thought I would take a quick look at what has happened in the curling world in Ontario for the months of September and October.

Brad Jacobs and his team didn't seem to miss a beat, as they came out of the gate with a pair of victories.

They won the Stu Sells Tankard on Sept. 6, winning in the final over Kevin Koe.

The field at the Stu Sell Tankard was deep, and included Menard, Gushue, Frans and Kean—as well as a number of teams that are regulars at the Ontario provincials.

During the weekend of Sept. 19-22 at the AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic in Brockville, Jacobs' rink won once again, beating Jeff Stoughton and his team in the final.

The field was strong, with Brad Gushue (he finished third), Niklas Edin, Kevin Martn, Glenn Howard, John Epping, Jean-Michel Menard, Mark Dacey, Pete Fenson and others.

If you know of a tougher field, let me know. With this being the first Shorty Jenkins Classic since he died last year, it must have been a bittersweet event.

At the StuSells Toronto Tankard, held Oct. 11-14 in...um, Toronto....It was Glenn Howard's rink winning in the final over Mike McEwen. Bryan Cochrane and Mike Anderson had a good weekend, finishing tied for third.

Cochrane skips the team, with up and comer Mathew Camm throwing final rocks. This will be a team that can go far if they qualify for provincials. They have a 17-9 record on the Ontario Curling Tour, and that's against top-notch competition.

The StuSells Tankard Toronto had a strong field, with Howard, McEwen, Epping, Gushue, Stoughton and Frans.

The Huron ReproGraphics Oil Heritage Classic took place this past weekend in Sarnia. I planned to go out and check things out, especially considering I was just around the corner watching my son play football and visiting relatives, but didn't make it over to the Sarnia Golf and Curling Club. Jake Higgs won the event, beating Scott McDonald in the final.

Also this weekend, the Challenge Chateau Cartier de Gatineau took place in, um...Gatineau.

Brad Gushue won in the final against Rob Rumfeldt. Another strong field with Menard and Jacobs amongst the teams.

I'm back

I'm back

Hey, I'm back. Did you miss me?

When I started this blog earlier this year, my vision was to be one of the top curling blogs in Canada. A place for people to read about curling from a fan's perspective.

I think I was somewhat successful in January to April of last year. I blogged just about every day, and more frequently during events such as the Scotties and the Brier.

I think I was onto something and had some momentum, judging by comments and page hits (14,000 people can't be wrong).

With this site I will post commentaries, recaps, and previews of the major curling stories of the day, as well as curling-related anecdotes, rumours and YouTube videos. The tone of the site will be somewhat acerbic and irrelevant--but without being rude.

If I start rating curlers by their looks or if start resorting to fart jokes--then I am doing it wrong.

Hopefully, Hurry Hard Blog is seen as promoting curling and somewhat more cool and fancentric than traditional mainstream websites. Although, that's easier said than done, considering I am in my 40s and drive a mini-van.

I knew during the summer things would slow down in the curling world, but the plan was to ramp things up around Labour Day. Then life got in the way.

Work and kids got in the way. I was working on a major project, but it wrapped up in mid-September. Then I got busy with my kids' fall sports--football and skating, and that took me out of the house six nights of the week.

I wanted to start up again in October, but just became too busy. I figured if I was going to come back, I wanted to come back 100 percent. I kept putting it off and off...Let's be honest, I screwed up and procrastinated. My Grade 8 teacher was right about me. But I'm back.

So--I am ready to give it a big go. We're 100 days to Sochi...so I hope to blog and write all about curling in the leadup to the Olympics. It will be a fun ride. I will be around every day, sometimes a couple times a day. Let's have some fun.

If you have any commentary or comments, feel free to pass them along.

Good curling.