Tim Hortons Brier – Team SK Daily Blog #1
Hey Saskatchewan, welcome to a glimpse inside Canada’s greatest national championship – The Brier. It certainly will be an honour for me to be a small part of Team Sask this week. Adam Casey, Catlin Schneider, Shaun Meachem, Dustin (Deuce) Kidby, and Jamie Schneider had a fantastic provincial tankard – managing the highs and lows teams can go through in a typical season and ending up stronger having had those experiences. The feeling of going to your first Brier for Catlin, Shaun, and Deuce is one that is difficult to explain. Remembering back, it’s a recipe something like 3 cups excitement, 1 cup nervousness, a tablespoon of ‘ this is going to be the coolest thing ever’, a teaspoon of ‘ I can’t sleep’, a pinch of ‘ is this really me’, and a dash of ‘ my heads going a hundred miles a minute’. For Adam in his 6th Brier, same dish – slightly smaller portions. No matter how you slice it, this will be a pretty tasty experience for the boys. If I can manage to not jump over the scoreboard or start yelling line calls behind the bench we’ll be good.
This version of Team Sask has some very neat storylines. Adam is returning to Newfoundland – a province he has represented at the Brier with Brad Gushue. Shaun has battled in the trenches of the game for years with close calls in both Saskatchewan and Alberta previous, and in true work-like fashion has persevered to get to his first Brier. In a family rich with sporting success, Deuce has held up his end of the bargain as well, setting up a very intriguing match-up with Ben Hebert later in the week. And last but not least, at some point this week Catlin will likely have an opportunity to play with his Dad in a Brier – pretty special indeed.
We decided to leave for Newfoundland a day early – on Wednesday – an uneventful travel day for 5 of us, but ironically not for Adam, who ended up driving to Halifax to catch a late flight to St. Johns after a flight cancellation. Thursday was a great day – a little practice, a little sightseeing, good food, and a chance to get comfortable. Friday was practice day in the arena, pictures and hotshots. The boys looked good, and were all in contention heading into the last shot. When I played with K.Koe, we used to have in team bets as to who could finish the highest without qualifying for the playoffs which dragged out right before our opening draw – one we seemed to always play – thus avoiding the quick turn-around. Veteran move for sure ( or terrible excuse )!! Friday ended with a team intro in the patch. The fellas are getting ancy to play – tomorrow it’s for real.
