“Oh, Brad. Please say it isn’t so. Oh Brad, please don’t do this to us. Oh Brad, how could you?”
I know this might sound like a poorly written scene from a daytime soap opera, but this is serious questioning of a skip who has been the sweetheart of the curling world since he won his first junior championship in Newfoundland in 1995.
He’s achieved too many curling victories since then to name them all, but in Canada, at least in my eyes, Brad Gushue was king, being the embodiment of all that is considered good in the game of curling.
In recent years his team has been steadier than most, with only slight modifications to the makeup, the most notable being the addition of E.J. Harnden to replace Brett Gallant two years ago.
And then it happened. The news broke that Harnden and Gushue had agreed amicably to part ways, E.J. going who-knows-where, and Gushue going through potential replacements for a second who is arguably the best sweeper anywhere in the game.
I cringed when I heard the name of at least one of the potential additions, thinking to myself “No way would Brad Gushue ever make such a silly selection.”
But then he did it. He announced for the curling world to hear that he had invited Brendan Bottcher of Alberta to become the new second on Team Gushue.
Thus my earlier beseeching of Gushue to disavow the announcement as a hoax, something he did to stir up Canadian curling just a touch.
However, in his usual polite and calm way, he explained that despite Bottcher being much less of a sweeper than Harnden, Bottcher will learn and will work closely with Geoff Walker in Alberta to hone his sweeping skills before it is time to play the games that really count towards the next Olympics.
Perhaps that will happen and if it does, that is the only bonus this disgruntled fan can see coming from this new alliance. I’m still unhappy that Bottcher fired Darren Moulding in 2021, putting words in Mounding’s mouth that weren’t accurate.
And being such a good sport, I cheered, but quietly, when Bottcher’s team fired him in April, saying they were going in a different direction in the future. He was quickly replaced by Brad Jacobs.
Fans will need a roadmap to figure out who belongs where but I am one of the fans of the game who will have to decide if I can cheer for only three-quarters of a team. How does that work? Or should I find a new team to support from my curling armchair? Will Gushue care?
After some deliberation, I have decided to give the new Gushue look a chance. But all bets are off if Brendan Bottcher doesn’t start wearing longer socks so fans aren’t subjected to so much skin when he throws from the hack.
Maybe some friendly Newfoundlanders will knit him a pair or two of leg concealers.
This might turn into a season of discontent for curling fans. Brad and Brendan? Oh, fiddle.
Joyce Walter can be reached at [email protected]
