Worlds Tougher Field Than Brier: David Murdoch

08/04/2009 05:59

Scotland skip Murdoch's comments stir up controversy, Norway's Ulsrud doesn't disagree

Kevin Martin tried his best to duck the question Monday at the Moncton Coliseum.

Told that Scottish skip David Murdoch had made the claim in the Eye Opener newspaper -- the free publication handed out to fans at the Ford world men's curling championship -- that the worlds field was tougher than last month's Tim Hortons Brier field at the Pengrowth Saddledome, the defending world champ attempted to go into diplomat mode.

"Well, I don't think I should say anything, really," said Martin. "None of the European or Asian teams play in the Brier, and I guess from the Canadian point of view, we have, so I don't think it's a level playing field as far as commenting both ways." Except, it was pointed out to Martin, no one is more qualified to comment, seeing as how he's the only one in the field here who's played in both the Brier and world championship, for two years running; Murdoch was at the Calgary Brier, but he didn't play.

So what does he really think about the Murdoch statement? "Obviously, Canada has a pretty good record as far as world curling goes, and it's (Brier) a tough event, a tough event to win," said Martin. "There are five or six teams at a Brier that could win any event on the planet." True? Not true? It's a thoroughly subjective argument, one that can never be compellingly answered until the sixth-place team at the Brier (for the record, this year it was B.C.'s Sean Geall) gets a crack at the worlds field.

But the top-end talent in Canada seems to be getting the job done at the world championship on a regular basis, and Martin's 5-0 record is more support for that statement.

Martin, backed up by third John Morris, second Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert, drilled Jiri Snitil of the Czech Republic 10-4 before a testing 6-4 triumph over Andy Kapp of Germany on Monday to keep pace with Norway's Thomas Ulsrud, who's 5-0 after posting a pair of tough wins on Monday -- 7-5 over John Shuster of the U.S. and 7-6 over Fengchun Wang of China.

Canada takes on Norway in the featured game of the week so far tonight.

Ulsrud, for the record, doesn't necessarily disagree with Murdoch's statement.

"It's not far off," said Ulsrud. "I think last year, (Martin) was unbeaten in the Brier and he lost a couple in the worlds (to China and Murdoch in the Page playoff 1 vs. 2 game; Martin came back to beat Murdoch in the gold-medal game). I'm not saying it's going to happen, but I'd be surprised if he goes unbeaten this week." Ulsrud's coach, Ole Ingvaldsen, who's helmed the Norwegian men's program for a decade, isn't so sure, though.

"I very much doubt that, but it could be on the same level," said Ingvaldsen, who was in Calgary for the last weekend of the Brier.

"The weakest teams at the Brier would probably not be able to be top four here. And when (Glenn) Howard played Kevin Martin, those were the best games I ever saw. The top teams drag everything up, in my opinion, and the lowest teams at the Brier are level, and probably a little bit above the level of the lowest teams here." While Morris believes Canadian teams, on average, still hold a strategic edge on the rest of the world, he's a fan of the way non-Canadian squads have ramped up the physical part of the game.

"Those athletes are training really hard, especially the teams like Japan, China, Switzerland, Scotland and Norway; they're training all year, and I think on average they're fitter individuals than some of the curlers in Canada," said Morris. "I would say the top teams at the Brier realize you have to stay fit and be athletic to have a real good chance. I think that's one thing internationally that they've done a better job than us over the last five or 10 years. They've taken it to a new level as far as conditioning goes.

"As Canadians, we have the curling in our blood, but if we want to continue in the future years to really compete against and continue dominating the other nations, we have to make sure we have to stay up to par in terms of fitness." Canwest News Service

SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:

What would David Murdoch know about the Brier field? Boy, he’s sure one annoying little Scotsman, folks, I’ll tell you that.

Guess what Murdoch? You’re not nearly as good a curler as you think, either.