VEGAS PUTTING ON A SHOW FOR WORLD’S BEST CURLERS
Men’s event trades snowsuits for Speedos as Nevada hosts its first championship
Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas, curling capital of the world.
OK, the iconic sign located in the median at 5100 Las Vegas Blvd. South hasn’t been changed to say that. But for the next nine days it is.
Who would have dreamed it five years ago when Jon Killoran and friends conjured up the implausible plan of bringing pebbled ice to the desert with the first of what turned out to be three Continental Cups held here?
Saturday at the Orleans Casino and Hotel Arena, the World Men’s Curling Championship, which was played last year in the actual world capital of curling in Edmonton, gets underway here.
This will in no way resemble the one that closed the old Northlands Coliseum with the largest attendance for a curling event in the world last year.
There’s no snow on the ground. The temperature Thursday was 26 C. And the famed Brier Patch that goes with big-time curling events will be a little different here.
They’re calling it the Pool Patch.
“With an April event rather than a January event, we immediately thought that hosting the first ever Pool Patch would be a unique offering,” said Killoran.
“It’s not often fans have to pack their sunscreen when they attend a curling championship. The Pool Patch will be in operation between the morning and afternoon draws and again between the afternoon and evening draws.”
There were no such distractions involved at the world women’s championship last week in North Bay, Ont.
The sessions after both the morning and afternoon draws will be held poolside, complete with the usual autograph sessions.
When your correspondent asked Gushue about that, he laughed.
“I think it’s a great idea for the fans, but I hope it doesn’t impact us at the pool.” he said.
“You know our history. We don’t spend a whole lot of time at the Patch, but we do spend a lot of time at the hot tub at the pool.
“Hopefully there’s an arrangement there where we can spend time at the pool without being part of the Patch.”
“The only thing people have to worry about is seeing Brad in his Speedo,” said third Mark Nichols.
Actually Gushue showed up here to collect his credentials and discovered the picture on his pass belonged to second Brett Gallant. Gushue could claim the guy in the Speedo bathing suit wasn’t him.
Gushue didn’t play in any previous Las Vegas events. Only Nichols has Las Vegas experience, having played in the first one in 2014 with Jeff Stoughton.
Sweden’s Niklas Edin, on the other hand, has played in all of them.
And while Gushue arrived here to find his teammate’s mug shot on his credential, Edin showed up to find his picture on the front door of the Orleans with the words “Welcome Back!”
Gushue doesn’t figure Edin will have a Vegas advantage.
“Once you get into playing two games a day, it’s going to be the same as any other event, except it’ll be 25 or 30 degrees instead of -5,” said Gushue.
Maybe. But Vegas is going to be a bit of an eye-opener for Gushue.
Several successful components from the trio of Las Vegas Continental Cup presentations will be featured for the worlds, including the grand march of the teams from the Orleans casino through the football field-length corridor to the arena.
The fans line the parade route through the casino, down the corridor, across the parking lot and into the 7,500-seat Orleans Arena. Having covered two of the three Continental Cups here, I can testify it’s a wonderful experience for the teams. And because it’s the world championship, Vegas plans to up its game.
Vegas showgirls, in all their plumage, not to mention a multitude of Elvis impersonators, etc., were employed to lead curlers onto the ice in the Continental Cups. Expect that again and more. Top Vegas stars may also be involved on championship weekend.
This year, Olympic gold medal winner John Shuster and his U.S. rink, with special guests, will throw out the ceremonial first rock at the opening ceremonies and everybody will then head to the Pool Patch before the first draw for a Team USA pep rally, where Shuster passes the broom to the world championship team skipped by Greg Persinger.
Clearly, it’s not going to be your normal world championship.