The ends are about to get odd.
When you cover the Grand Slam of Curling for over a decade, you’re bound to see stranger things.
It’s time to look back at some of the most unusual moments in Eight Ends.
First End: The Fog Bowl
For a sport that takes place indoors, you’d think the only weather-related incidents would involve getting to or from the arena. Newfoundland says, "Hold our screech."
The morning fog rolled through the town of Paradise — and into the Paradise Double Ice Complex — during the women’s final between Team Tirinzoni and Team Homan in the inaugural Tour Challenge in 2015.
Skip Silvana Tirinzoni used the changing conditions to her team’s advantage. Trailing by three points with two ends to play, Tirinzoni scored two points in the seventh end and stole two in the eighth to come from behind and win 6-5, capturing her first career Grand Slam of Curling title.
"I was dreaming about this for such a long time," Tirinzoni said. "Now that it actually came true, it’s just a great, great feeling. It’s hard to believe, actually. It was a tough week and not always easy ice conditions, but we just found a way to win, and we are so happy."
Second End: A double extra end? What does this mean?
GSOC games were once played to 10 ends, just like at the world championships, before they were tightened to eight beginning in 2006. Sometimes one extra end isn’t enough to solve things, as skip David Murdoch learned at the 2016 Players' Championship.
Murdoch held the hammer in the extra end of his team's round-robin game against Team Epping, but he faced a pile of granite in the house with no clear shot to win it. All Murdoch could do was throw a heater and hope for the best.
As it turned out, the best was every rock spilling out of the house, leading to a blank and a second extra end.
"We weren’t left many options," Murdoch explained at the time. "We could have maybe just stuck it because we were in a lot of trouble, but we wanted to make sure that at least we got everything out of there and maybe got an extra extra.
"Yeah, 10-end games. We didn’t [play in] worlds this year, so maybe that’s how we get 10 ends."
Let’s try that again. Murdoch made good on the draw in the second extra end to win 6-5.
Third End: It happened again
Yep, in the following event and in a final no less between Team Carruthers and Team Epping at the 2016 Champions Cup.
Skip Reid Carruthers held the hammer in the first extra end, but he hit and rolled out with his last rock, leading to a second extra end.
Take two: Just like Murdoch, Carruthers had to draw instead of hit with his last shot in the second extra end and nailed it to win his second Grand Slam title and first as a skip.
Strange that it happened once. Stranger that it happened twice in consecutive events (and against Team Epping both times).
Fourth End: It’s a tie
What happens when two rocks are close? You bring out the measuring stick.
What happens when the measuring stick is inconclusive? You bring out the laser.
What happens when the laser is inconclusive? You get Sportsnet's most-watched video of all time with over 22 million views.
Skip Brad Gushue made a superb clutch draw while facing three during his crew's match against Team Carruthers at the 2018 Elite 10. Gushue's stone curled up right next to the Carruthers rock on the button. Out came the measuring stick, but as Carruthers circled, he said, "Oh, that’s a tie, man."
Measure twice, cut once. Carruthers spun the stick around again but still couldn’t determine which rock was closer.
“It looks red over the top,” Gushue said.
“Well, of course it looks red to you,” Carruthers replied.
GSOC director of competition Pierre Charette brought out the laser that should have led to a decisive answer … and it was a tie, resulting in a blank end.
Gushue avoided giving up a steal, but since the Elite 10 operated under match play rules, Carruthers got the hammer for the following end.
In a way, they were both winners. But in another, more accurate way, Gushue was the winner as he managed to steal the next two ends en route to victory.
“The way the guys swept that down there, that was an incredible shot just to get a tie,” Gushue said. “They swept that to perfection, and a tie or a win in that situation, it was a carryover, so we were happy.
"I’ve never had it happen and to get a laser in there, and have it be the same, that’s incredible."
Fifth End: Fujisawa throws other team’s rock, hilarity ensues
Hey, sometimes you throw the other team’s rock. It's easy to forget if you're red or yellow.
It’s happened a few times, but as a dictionary example, let’s showcase Satsuki Fujisawa’s blunder in the Calgary bubble from the 2021 Players’ Championship against Team Hasselborg.
Fujisawa realized her mistake as she was sliding with the rock, and laughter ensued (more than usual for Team Fujisawa).
Any other sport would likely penalize you for such an infraction. Not curling. Simply swap the misplayed stone with one of your own and let play carry on. You’ve got to love it.
Sixth End: Team Edin (minus Edin)
Team Edin’s fourth Grand Slam title came at the 2022 Tour Challenge, with skip Niklas Edin not even on the sheet.
Edin injured his knee while warming up for the semifinals, forcing him to miss the remainder of the tournament. Oskar Eriksson, Rasmus Wranå and Christoffer Sundgren carried on as a trio and miraculously defeated Team Gushue 6-5 in the semis and Team Dunstone 7-3 in the final to win the championship.
It’s the only time a team of three has won a Grand Slam title (so far).
That’s not the only reason why this one made the bizarro list. While playing as three, the lead and the second each have to throw three rocks. During the final, Wranå jumped the gun and tossed one of Sundgren’s rocks. That meant Sundgren, the lead, had to throw the last rock of the end. Yes, a lead throwing the last rock. It turned out to be a key shot of the game as Sundgren broke a 1-1 tie with an easy open hit to score three points.
"I guess [Rasmus] went into his natural habit. 'It’s third rock, it’s my turn playing,'" Eriksson said. "We were joking a little bit, I said to Christoffer, 'Let’s hope you get a draw for three instead of something hard,’ so we were happy to get that nose hit for three."
Seventh End: The one with the dripping ceiling
Precipitation leaking from the roof has impacted a couple of Grand Slam events over the years, such as the 2002 National in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and the 2014 National in Fort McMurray, Alberta. The workaround in those cases involved moving to an adjacent sheet (Sault Ste. Marie) or shifting the games over to the curling club that’s attached to the arena (Fort McMurray).
What happened during the 2024 Tour Challenge in Charlottetown was something else.
As Team Gushue and Team Edin played their round-robin game, condensation building on the ceiling began dripping onto the ice.
As the ice crew scrambled to find a solution, play resumed with our fearless director of competition Charette standing on the sheet and holding a pan to catch the drips.
Eventually, the ice crew managed to MacGyver together a contraption to relieve Charette of his on-ice duties.
“A human guard,” Eriksson said following his team’s 7-5 win. “When they threw the corner guard on that side too in the fourth end, it was like, OK, we’ve got a guard on the middle of the sheet.
“We were just trying to make sure we had as many shots on the other side of the sheet as possible during the ends. Still, we were making sure we were focused and reading the ice because it was changing, so it was a nice win.”
Eighth End: Boo-rad
It was quite clear who the fan favourite was during the 2024 National in St. John’s, N.L., as the Mary Brown’s Centre was packed to the rafters with the crowd roaring for hometown heroes Team Gushue.
The men’s quarterfinals featured another classic chapter in the “Battle of the Brads” with Gushue taking on Team Jacobs and elimination on the line. The two teams had faced off many times in high-profile matches, but the electric atmosphere pushed this one over the top when something interesting happened late in the seventh end.
Leading by one and facing two Gushue stones, Jacobs opted to give up a single steal to tie the game but retain the all-important hammer for the final frame.
The crowd didn’t like that. At all.
The boos rained on Jacobs while he slid down the ice, with the skip embracing the heel role. Jacobs twirled his finger and raised his arms, calling for more. The booing continued through the eighth end, but the risky strategic call paid off for Jacobs, who scored a single to win 6-5 and advance to the semis.
“First of all, we all loved it,” Jacobs said. “There were a lot of apologies from a lot of people. A lot of people actually felt like it was uncalled for, but you know what? Curling needs more of that.
“In any other sport out there, there’s a team that people want to win, and there’s the villain. I know we’re both Brads, the Battle of the Brads for how many years now? Well over a decade. We embrace that. That’s good theatre, that’s good TV, that’s good for the sport and that makes it worth it for all of those bums in those seats.
“I also thought to myself, if any individual can reach a point in their life where they’re in an arena and they’re booed by 6,000-plus people, they’re probably doing something right in their life. We embraced it. I know that we rained on the parade a little bit, but they get a lot of rain out here, so they’re used to it, right?”
Gushue reflected on his own experience from the 2006 Winter Olympics when he was booed in Italy and felt the sport needed more of that.
“I know there are going to be some people out there that are probably not going to like it. Personally, I love it,” Gushue said. “I thought it was great. I think we need more excitement. We need the fans to get into it. I thought Brad handled it really well. You know what? He’s the right person for that because that probably motivates him, but I think he understood it. I think he wants that energy from the crowd and I think the crowd was amazing this week.
“I think anybody that talks against it, I’d tell them to grow up and move on. It’s the way sport is and it’s the way curling needs to go. We’ve had this ritual of that’s not appropriate, but it’s done in every sport. If you support a team, support them and I certainly appreciate the way the fans supported us this week.”
Even curlers who weren't on the ice at the time believe the sport needs more of that engagement.
“To be honest, if we want crowds to be here and we want to have this kind of support and this kind of energy, they can do whatever they like,” said skip Anna Hasselborg. “Just keep going, keep shouting, keep clapping, keep feeling emotions. Sports is about emotions, so just go.”
