Several years ago, I introduced my son-in-law to curling – a sport that I’ve enjoyed for over fifty years. As I was introduced to the ‘roaring game’ at a young age, I fondly recall post-Christmas junior bonspiels, inter-club competitions, all-nighter cash spiels, and of course, the Manitoba Curling Association (MCA) spiel. Although I’ve lived in Ottawa for thirty years, it has become a family tradition for us to venture to Winnipeg to partake in the world’s largest bonspiel. I always have a certain glee going back to my birthplace and ‘rekindling serious hit-weight’. As the MCA involves drinks, family, and curling – it’s a trifecta that’s pretty hard to beat. We particularly enjoy seeing the many different clubs, as well as playing a range of teams from ‘newbies’ to those few seeking a provincial berth. Many teams we’ve faced were National champions, including the American Men’s team, as well as the Canadian Women’s Deaf team. On the other hand, a few games were simply ‘Friendly Manitobans’ who enjoyed curling. By way of example, one team we played was aptly named “Pepito Bismali”, who immediately lined up 8 shots of a pink liquid (closely resembling Pepto Bismal) for pre-game ‘shooters’. Half the fun is that you never know who you’re going to face. The point being that regardless of the skill or age of the opponents you face, generally, everyone has a great time just being out on the ice. As such, you can only imagine my joy of having my grandson active in a ‘little rocks’ league. A dream of mine involves the day that he can join his Dad and I in the MCA bonspiel – just imagine, three generations on the same team! What I love about curling is that it’s the only sport I know where competitors shake hands both before and after their match. Although shared values of honesty, integrity and ‘fair play’ have always existed in curling, due to pronouncements south of the border, they have recently re-entered the National dialogue about treasured Canadian traits. I ‘tongue-firmly-in-cheek’ posit that you don’t have to be Canadian to be a ‘good person’ … maybe just maybe, you have to be a curler! Although come the end of the day, curling is ‘just a game’ – the life lessons it teaches is priceless. Perhaps the world simply needs more curlers.
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