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Brier heads back to Ottawa: Will the pigeon be in attendance?
The Brier is heading back to The Capital. Organizers will do their level best to ensure the games are not hijacked by a pigeon this time.
Hot on the heels of the Canadian Curling Association's announcement that its major events helped generate $57 million in economic activity for host cities and provinces last season, comes word that the 2016 Canadian men's curling championship will be held in Ottawa.
From the CCA's media release:
The 2016 Tim Hortons Brier will be staged March 5-13 at TD Place in Ottawa. It’ll be the first time the Canadian men’s curling championship has been played in the nation’s capital since 2001, when Alberta’s Randy Ferbey prevailed in the same building.
That Ferbey win was memorable for more than just reasons of curling. The 2001 Brier was halted, on occasion, by a pigeon that had made its home in the rafters of the arena. The players' brooms came in handy for sweeping more than just rocks that day. From a CBC report:
By the third end of the Brier final, a pigeon fluttering around the rafters of the Ottawa Civic Centre was calling the shots, holding up the game when crews were forced to clean up the queasy bird's droppings.
Vic Rauter, longtime voice of curling for TSN, remembered the pigeon well, writing in an email: "Thank goodness it was just a pigeon..can you imagine a goose?"
While the pigeon provided some comic relief (or frustrating delays, depending on your perspective), the 2001 Brier proved an attendance success. Figures for the week topped 154,000. Not bad for a 10,000 seat venue.
There is one person who may not be thrilled by this announcement; Brad Gushue, the 11 time Newfoundland and Labrador champion, who's been gunning for a Brier to be held in St. John's. He will have to hope for 2017.
These are heady sports times in Ottawa. The massive redevelopment of TD Place (it was known as Lansdowne Park and the Civic Centre when the Brier was last held there) has led to the rebirth of a CFL team this season. There are persistent rumours that the city is the preferred site for the 2017 Grey Cup, which would plop it into the vortex of planned, massive celebrations surrounding Canada's 150th birthday.
The CCA will be happy to see the positive comments of a provincial minister, who reiterates the financial boon claims put forward by the CCA yesterday.
“It’s great to see the Tim Hortons Brier coming back to Ontario in 2016. Events like this attract tourists, create jobs and support economic growth, which is why we were proud to support the Ottawa Host Committee with a grant through our Celebrate Ontario Program,” said Hon. Michael Coteau, Ontario’s Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. “Get your brooms ready — the countdown to the 2016 Tim Hortons Brier in Ottawa begins today!”
Let's assume those brooms will be needed only to help guide rocks.