(Guardian image)
(by Jim Day)
“NICE shawwwwwtah.”
The exuberant assessment of a quality shot has become a common and colourful refrain at the 2011 Scotties Tournament of Hearts this week in Charlottetown.
Doug Kreviazuk of Ontario has been delivering the strong bark of approval with greater gusto than most, if not all, of the average 2,000-plus spectators that have been filing into the Civic Centre for each draw.
Kreviazuk is here to root on his daughter Alison Kreviazuk — Team Ontario’s second stone. He and his cheerleading sidekick, Steve Seguins, the boyfriend of the team’s skip Rachel Homan, can often be heard above the enthusiastic crowds hollering their collective chant of “OOn-Tairrrrrrrrrr-Ree-Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, On-Tairrrrrrrr-Ree-Ohhhhhh.”
Kreviazuk, always with his loud green horn at the ready, says he picks his moments for letting out a good holler.
“You try not to yell when anybody is in the hack but you yell for a great shot,” he explained.
“I think before every event the press should run articles that it’s okay to cheer for your team.”
Majorie Baker of Charlottetown finds the Ontario duo too loud at times. She goes more for what she calls a “polite clap” rather than expressing her approval with hoots and hollers.
“It’s just the Island way, I guess,” she said shortly before the tournament¹s 13th draw got underway Wednesday afternoon. “It’s just the way we are.”
That isn’t to say Islanders haven’t been getting a great charge out of the Scotties.
In what was clearly the highlight of the week, Suzanne Birt’s P.E.I. team thrilled a sell-out crowd Monday night by polishing off Team Canada. Island fans were uncharacteristically boisterous from the draw’s start to its exciting finish but were quieted to less than a peep after slipping out of a run at the title with two heartbreaking losses on Wednesday.
While a script having the Island rink playing this weekend for the big prize would most assuredly have electrified the province, the Scotties has proven to be a big success for P.E.I. just the same.
There is, of course, the economic payoff tagged at between $15 million and $18 million — more than an adequate return on the $1.6 million budget for the national women’s curling championship.
Islanders were quick to embrace the Scotties after the announcement was made Nov. 20, 2009 that Charlottetown’s bid was successful. Well over 30 sponsors came on board. More than 500 volunteers signed on.
“I chose to volunteer because I think this is a great thing for Charlottetown and obviously it doesn’t work without volunteers,” said Bruce Moore, 64, of Stratford.
He says as a volunteer driver, he gets to rub elbows with the stars of the show. As of Wednesday, he had already given a ride to half of the teams.
“You tend to have an affinity with them when they’re on the ice,” he said. “I’ve had a soft spot for New Brunswick…because I¹ve driven them the most and they’re having such a rough time (in the competition).”
Kelly Murphy of the Canadian Curling Association, who has kept very busy the past 11 months attracting sponsorship and building up anticipation for the Scotties, says all of the competing 12 teams have raved about the hospitality and volunteer services. She says volunteers have been informative and friendly — truly top notch.
“You couldn’t ask for anything better,” she said. “This is really the Island way.”
Host committee chair Kim Dolan says Charlottetown has been more than up to the challenge to host this year’s Scotties.
“I had a great response from a great committee and the people that stepped forward have done a fantastic job,” she said.
Dolan says the event has been going off without a hitch. Success, she adds, can be measured on several levels, notably attendance, sales in the HeartStop Lounge where some 18 acts will have performed on the big stage by week’s end, and sponsorship. By mid-week, those numbers were on pace to please organizers.