Right on the button
Jargon is common in all sports (that’s why it’s called “sports-tugese”). Talking the tongue of the sport shows insider status and a fan’s thorough understanding of the game. All sports have some great language but it should come as no surprise that curling, a winter sport that came from Scotland, a place where whisky and wordsmiths are held in the highest regard, has the best lingo.
CN Centre manager Glen Mickelson was making curling (and doughnut) puns throughout the announcement Thursday morning that Prince George is making a formal bid to host the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier, the Canadian men’s curling championship. He did miss a few.
He should have encouraged people to “hurry hard” to reserve their seats for $20.20 at pgbrier2020.ca. It will take a skip’s hammer stone in an extra end, swept hard through a narrow port in front of the house, settling right on the button while facing two others in the four foot, to win the Brier bid.
There’s a different language, however, that needs to be used to convince Curling Canada to choose Prince George over two Ontario cities – Kingston and St. Catherines – to host the Brier in two years. Like all sport governing bodies, Curling Canada’s decision to choose a host for a major event will come down to two simple metrics – cash and community.
Recognizing that, Prince George’s bid committee is off to a smart start by asking area residents to spend $20.20 on a fully-refundable deposit towards a nine-day event pass. Prince George is already familiar with this kind of cash-on-the-table support. That tactic helped convince the B.C. government to give Prince George its own university 30 years ago.
Fiscally, it’s also much smarter than Kingston, which has been selling $50 deposits since it announced its formal bid in late November. The difference between $20 and $50 is the difference between the avid curling fan and the proud Prince George resident who understands the economic benefits and civic pride that come out of a hosting a national sports championship.
Kingston also announced its bid at a low-key event, with the chair of the bid committee standing in front of a small, cheesy sign in the lobby of Rogers K-Rock Centre, Kingston’s big hockey rink. Prince George does things bigger, of course, so the announcement was made at ice level at CN Centre, the scoreboard lowered to ice level to show the bid sign and Mickelson, Mayor Lyn Hall and Tourism Prince George CEO Erica Hummel wearing curling pants so garishly loud that even the Norwegian men’s team wouldn’t wear them in public.
Cash and community are critical to securing bids for these types of events but it’s this kind of flair that separates the winners from the also-rans.
When Prince George beat out Kelowna and Kamloops to host the Canada Winter Games, folks down south were shocked but they weren’t witness to the wow factor of the Prince George bid package, submitted inside a beautiful mountain pine beetle blue stained carved wooden box.
Nor did they see what happened when the Canada Games officials came to Prince George for a site visit. They weren’t just greeted with the We Are Winter slogan, they experienced it on a sunny August day in front of the Civic Centre, where hundreds of local residents took part in making ice sculptures and throwing snowballs.
Details big and small will help Curling Canada decide whether the Brier comes to Prince George.
To give Prince George’s bid for the Brier the double takeout weight it needs coming out of the hack, head over now to pgbrier2020.ca and make your deposit.
- Editor-in-chief Neil Godbout