[The Tim Hortons Brier starts a week from today in Edmonton]
(By Terry Jones ,Edmonton Sun)
EDMONTON – Eddie “Spuds” MacKenzie made his Brier debut in 1994 in Red Deer.
“Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!” they chanted there that year.
“Eddie Lukowich of Calgary was representing Alberta and regularly had the crowd chanting ‘Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!’” We had a running joke within our team and I’d routinely acknowledge the crowd even though they weren’t actually cheering for our teams shots,” said MacKenzie, who played third for Mike Gaudet’s 2-9 Prince Edward Island team that year.
“We had an average age of 21 that year and it was obviously thrilling to be there. Despite our record, we were competitive in all games.”
That was not the case the next time he made it to a Brier in 2011 in London, Ont.
“Our on-ice performance was less than ideal,” he said of finishing last with a 1-10 record and getting out-scored 100-32.
MacKenzie endeared himself to a lot of fans at that Brier with his honesty.
“We’re not only curling on the wrong side of the inch, we’re on the wrong side of the foot,” was one of his better quotes.
And then there was the controversy.
The Islanders were fined $2,000 for conceding a game after five ends when rules insist teams must complete six.
They were down 11-1 to Glen Howard of Ontario when third Richard Hart made them an offer.
“He came over and said ‘You know, we feel your pain. If you don’t want to keep going, we’ll split any fines with you.’ ”
“As for that fine, Richard Hart did make me out a cheque. But I’ll let the Canadian Curling Association comment on whether or not it had to be cashed,” MacKenzie said.