Other than a couple Euro-Monsters I’ve never seen Goo manhandled like that. Dunstone really did a job on the Super Newfies.
The tie-breaker stuff was pure crap. I thought head to head was the #1 criteria and Ram Carruthers beat Long John Epping in their round-robin match. Nope! Its draws to the pin extrapolated over 8 draws. Yikes!
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The tale of the broom from yesterday and what’s in store for the playoffs:
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Goo got himself back in the game and severely molested an obviously shaken Jacobs in the first playoff round.
No worries, the smart money is still on Jacobs to confront Goo in Sunday’s Brier final. Suspect the only other team with half a chance to have the “pleasure” of being out-witted by Goo are The Dunstone 4.
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I didn’t see any of the games, but Jacobs must win 3 in a row. A daunting task. My pre tournament favourite was Gushue. I think him and Dunstone are the ones to beat. Still two Manitoba teams left after McEwen was eliminated. We’ll see.
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Didn’t see last nite’s matches - watching Jets destroy NJD in Joisey.
Sad Sack (McEwen) had a nice ride thru the round-robin but couldn’t withstand the blistering pace Ram Carruthers put upon him. A fitting end for Sad Sack - story of his curling life. No energy, no fire! Now curling out of Saskatchewan! What’s next for Sad Sack? Maybe hooking up with Kevin Koe - as Koe seemed thoroughly disgusted with his current squad.
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Great semi final game. Gushue had a shot to win down one in the 10th, but uncharacteristically choked to hand Jacobs the win.
The best team all week being Dunstone won’t have to beat Gushue for a 3rd time tonight, but rather beat Jacobs just once. Jacobs will be seeking his 4th playoff win in a row for an unlikely run to the title. Should be a good one.
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The 2025 Brier Final from Kelowna,
Brad Jacobs vs Matt Dunstone
Final
Dunstone 3
Jacobs 5
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In the rewarding failure category, have the hammer, fail to score a point, get the hammer again. Seems stupid to me
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You would think that for the final at least that they would have the teams wearing different colour sweaters.
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If Dunstone can somehow finish this thing off, he’ll deserve whatever accolades he garners.
Gushue & Jacobs are curling monsters. Maybe Dunstone now the 3rd MONSTER?
Welcome to the MONSTERS’S CLUB MATT!
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Unfortunately Matt couldn’t put Brad away when he had him on the run for most of the first half of the game. Northern Ontario beats Manitoba for the Brier title.
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???
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The Mattster had Jacobs on a total run in the game’s first 7 or 8 ends. . . . . but Jacobs, being the monster he is, was making all kinds of silly cross house doubles to nullify Dunstone to every end.
Finally, in the 9th end - Matt whiffed on a routine hit 'n roll, alllowing Jacobs to stack 3 stones in the 4 ft. area. Matt made a great shot to score 1, taking a 3-2 lead into the 10th but he abdicated hammer. And a wily, veteran laden Jacobs squad played a stellar/perfect 10th end to end Dunstone’s run with a final stone chip out for 3.
Dunstone looked distraught after the game, especially during the medal ceremony - but he has no one to blame but himself. Whiffing a hit in the 9th end cost Manitoba a Brier. Other than that, Dunstone was every bit Jacob’s equal. Colton Lott has developed into a superb 3rd but can’t match Mark Kennedy’s grizzled and gnarled experience on the T. The Brush Bros. (The Harndens) are great front-enders for Dunstone but Gallant and Benny took them on fearlessly.
GREAT GAME - Dunstone missed one shot and it cost him a Brier.
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That is where Jacobs is from. Sault Ste Marie. His previous curling accolades including his Olympic gold medal came when he was curling for NO. He is a rent a slip for Alberta just like McEwen was for Saskatchewan.
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Back to Curling proper. Don’t think many top teams will make roster adjustments in the off-season. Reason #1 - its Olympic Trial time. Now, of course Rachel Homan is the prohibitive favorite to secure Canada’s berth at the Olympics. Only one team in Canada can come close - and thats mercurial Kerri Einarson. Even then, Homan tends to blow Einarson out of the water, just about every match. Rest of the squads are pretty evenly matched. I’d even say Einarson’s original front end ‘The Plough Horse Girls’, Harris & Birchard are a tad better than Big M & Wilkes. After that, the girls are basically playing for participation medals, although with Einarson’s up 'n down yo-yo type of game, its not inconceivable another team goes up against Homan in the Trials final. So the big wonder is whether Birchard returns for another go - she was a for several years the best 2nd in the women’s game and whether Briane Harris gets reinstated to this team. . . . . or perhaps they go with the smaller but far spunkier lead Krysten Karwacki?
Mens? Do the rent-a-skips (McEwen, Epping, Jacobs, etc.) stay with their current charges? Of course, Jacobs is a given now that he’s a Brier champion again. Sad Sack McEwen? You never know. Homegrown teams like Reid Carruthers, Kevin Koe, Jean Luc Menard are good field competitors - but basically playing for 3rd place or a participation medal.
Gushue? I suspect he’ll stand pat. He only has himself to blame for losses to Dunstone & Jacobs at this year’s Brier. He’s the chess-master in the men’s group. That ain’t gonna end anytime soon.
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There was a brief conversation earlier in this thread about whether the Brier (or for that matter the Scotties) field should stick to or change their qualifying procedures yet again. Here is an article that addresses that.
The NWT gave up an average of 11 points a game and lost one game 20-2. Not a big fan of that look, although I don’t claim to have the answers.
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Most of the fawns (lower level teams) were pretty good. Couldn’t hang with the monsters but then again, who can?
The two section round-robin is a bit shady, I’ll admit. Nothing really happens until the FINAL 6 get into the weekend playoffs.
Like golf, most players (teams) have to be satisfied with being tour players who get to the Masters or U.S. Open on a regular basis before shooting themselves out of contention.
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A preview of the women’s worlds starting this week:
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The Mean Girls (Team Homan) won’t just have to deal with one half-decent team (Einarson) at this event.
Savanah Tirinzoni and her hired gun Alina Paetz (4th stone) are past masters at this event. Can’t discount the bubbly Swede, Hasselborg either. Americans don’t have much success but they have one thing other teams lack - stubborness and willpower. Peterson knows how to stick it out. Pretty much a fresh batch of Asians this go round for Homan to deal with. The over/under for Homan in the round-robin should be 1.5 (ie. the number of losses she incurs during round-robin play). With travel fatigue and different diets, I can actually see Homan stunned for 2 losses during the round robin. Other commentators may not go this far out on the limb.
Look for Homan vs. Paetz in the final (55%)
Homan vs. Hasselborg (35%)
Homan vs. Asia (7%)
Homan vs. ??? (3%)
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