TSN’s Rauter pining for the return of curling to Canada’s airwaves
Canada’s curlers have company when it comes to missing the roaring game.
Vic Rauter, who has been handling curling play-by-play for TSN since 1986, is also longing for the sport’s return.
“I’m not surprised by the number of people who miss the curling because it’s a little bit like a friend and they miss the companionship of it,” Rauter said from his home in Orillia, Ont. “I’ve always said that curling is like a slipper or a comfortable shoe. You can have it on in the background and it sort of keeps you company.
“Then when it gets exciting, the voices rise, and now you can turn back to it. Then OK, now you can go back to whatever you were doing. It’s heartfelt that people are missing it.”
Rauter hasn’t called a curling match since the March 8 final of the 2020 Brier, in which Newfoundland and Labrador’s Brad Gushue defeated Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher 7-3.
Shortly after Gushue’s win in Kingston, Ont., Curling Canada and the World Curling Federation cancelled all of their remaining events due to COVID-19, leaving Rauter and TSN colleagues Cheryl Bernard and Russ Howard without any games to call.
There is hope for curling fans with the recent announcement that Curling Canada intends to conduct the 2021 men’s and women’s Canadian championships, the national mixed doubles championship and the men’s world curling championship under a bubble in Calgary.
The bubble would be similar to the model used by the NHL to conduct its 2020 playoffs in Toronto and Edmonton. Fans weren’t allowed in that bubble and it will be the same for curling.
“I’ll miss the people and I still think every sport misses the fans,” Rauter said. “I still have my doubts that it’ll happen because of the fact that COVID is exploding in the west. You have to play if you want to send people to the 2022 Winter Olympics, so we’ll see.”
Rauter had been filling his free time while helping out with the Salvation Army’s Kettle campaign. He started volunteering in 2007 and appreciated those who donated to the worthy cause.
However, the restrictions due to the rising COVID-19 numbers and deaths in Ontario recently shut down the Salvation Army’s initiative.
Rauter had a ball in that role, especially when passers-by recognized the voice that was so familiar from TSN’s curling broadcasts.
“I’m a pretty outgoing guy,” Rauter said, “so people would walk by and with a mask on and I said, ‘Merry Christmas, take care of yourself and stay well, everybody,’ and that kind of thing.
“When they hear the voice, they all say, ‘Oh, I know that voice. How are you?’ It almost triggers it and then they put something in the kettle. From that standpoint it helped to be recognizable.”
TSN was on board with Rauter’s effort this year with the donation of 11 branded hats. He decided to reward the most generous donor from each shift with a hat, which he then recognized with a photo on his Twitter account.
“People realized that others really do need some help and they are just that generous,” Rauter said, adding that it usually took a donation of $20 to win a hat. “This is not a disrespectful thing and it’s actually a positive. You see people from whatever community they are and who you wouldn’t believe would have two nickels always found two nickels to give.”