Kevin claims battle of the Koe brothers
Match vs. Jamie just fourth sibling battle in Brier history
It was a pretty special (moment) for our parents . . .
JAMIE KOE
There isn’t any room for brotherly love at the Tim Hortons Brier. Kevin Koe of Alberta proved that after slamming his brother Jamie of the Northwest Territories-yukon 11-3 on Wednesday in just the fourth head-to-head match of brothers skipping at the Canadian men’s curling championship.
“Someone has to lose and you basically want to get it over with,” Kevin, 37, said after beating his brother Jamie, 34, for the second consecutive time at the Brier. “You just go out there and hope that you beat him.”
The Brier started in 1927 and it took until 1942, when B.C.’S Donnie Campbell played Alberta’s Gordie Campbell, for the first set of brothers to square off in head-to-head competition. The Campbells both finished 7-2, tied for second. When Ontario’s Glenn Howard beat New Brunswick’s Russ Howard 7-2 at the 2009 Brier in Calgary, the match was more emotional than either skip expected.
“To play against my big brother and my idol was pretty cool,” Glenn Howard said Wednesday afternoon after improving to 8-1. “It’s not a lot of fun because we beat Russ and I felt bad for him. I’m sure he would have felt bad for us if he did it. There are a lot of mixed emotions.”
The 2012 edition of the Brier marks the second time the Koes have reached the Canadian men’s championship in the same year. In 2010, Kevin beat Jamie 8-3, en route to capturing the Canadian and world men’s championships.
The scenario in 2010 was much different from what took place Wednes- day morning. In 2010, Jamie was on his way to a 1-10 last-place record at the Brier. This year, Jamie is among the contenders for a playoff spot. He struggled Wednesday morning and the match was essentially over after Kevin grabbed a 9-2 fifth-end lead.
“It’s a pretty unique event and you have to be satisfied with that,” Jamie Koe said. “We knew that one of us had to lose, but we’re both in the running. They are a team in the running for the 1-2 (Page Playoff) game and we’re trying to get to the 3-4 game, if we can.”
Jamie will have to play better if that is to happen. He was beaten 10-5 by Manitoba’s Rob Fowler in Wednesday’s afternoon draw and fell to 5-3. Jamie has lost three in a row, but didn’t blame all of the attention that came with playing his brother in the morning draw.
“It was nice playing my brother and we’re both pretty laid-back guys,” Jamie said. “After the first end, it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. It was a pretty special (moment) for our parents and it was a big moment for Kevin and I to pay that back to them.”
The Koes appreciate their part in Brier history. They are lifelong curlers and their parents, Fred and Linda, were among the spectators.
The Koe brothers have curled together in the past. Kevin was the skip and Jamie was third on a Northwest Territories-yukon junior men’s team that finished second at the 1994 Canadian junior men’s championship.
There really isn’t much of a sibling rivalry between them.
“Because of our age difference, we never really competed against each other a lot,”said jamie.“i’ve only” played him three times before and now the last two times at the Brier where he has whipped us pretty good.”