It wasn’t the most wide-open game of curling ever seen but Brad Jacobs will take the Home Hardware Canada Cup win over Kevin Koe any day of the week.
“I think (third) Marc (Kennedy) said it best: nice, boring final,” said Jacobs. “We got a nice early deuce and really controlled that game. I’m just really proud of the way the three guys in front of me played all week.”
Kennedy stepped in for Ryan Fry, who took some time off curling after an incident a couple of weeks ago in Red Deer, Alta., where he was filling in and got disqualified for being drunk at that event.
But at this game, the tempo was measured and controlled – and the game was fully controlled by Jacobs for most of it.
“I think we controlled our emotions very well,” said Jacobs, clutching the Canada Cup during the media scrum. “I think that’s the most relaxed I’ve ever seen our team in a long time. Everything went well. I think that’s the thing we’ve been working on most, is controlling our emotions and not letting our emotions controlling us.”
Getting two early points also helped the team grab the game early.
“I think we outplayed them up and down the lineup,” Jacobs said. “We didn’t give them too many chances or opportunities to score a deuce back. They stole the one there and stopped the time clock and kind of ruined that deuce for them.
“But that’s the rules for this event. You’ve got to be careful of that stuff. It happened a few times this week and to see that happen in the final is unfortunate, but what can I say? You’re going to take every break you can in the final.”
There was a discussion and strategy session before Koe’s first shot of the fifth end, even including two time outs by Koe. There were two seconds on the clock but he maintains an official told him there were 11 seconds. Time wound down as Koe went to the hack and played his draw for two – and took too long as it turned out, as an official walked out from near the scoreclock, appearing to affect the potential sweeping instructions of Koe’s third B.J. Neufeld.
“I think the officials did their best but they did a really poor job,” Koe said. “We took a timeout earlier and he said we had 11 seconds and they didn’t correct the clock. We thought he was going to do it and the guy at the other end didn’t know.
“I know I missed my shot in five, but we probably could have communicated better and … the official’s out there telling B.J. to stop right away,” Koe said. “I know they’re trying their best but it’s an important part of their job and if they’re going to come do it, they’ve got to do it right.”
The other thing that bothers Koe about the 30-second timeouts that all teams can take is that curlers don’t know how much time they have left.
“You have a guy saying something, and you can’t hear anything,” Koe said. “We should have had lots of time, we had a quick chat, we had 11 seconds and it’s poor communication and poor job on their part.”
