“After we take into consideration curling, we take into consideration the Briers within the ’80s and ’90s and that nostalgic feeling that’s related. We’re very immune to rule modifications typically,” he stated.
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Within the view of Canadian males’s champion Brendan Bottcher, curlers must be open-minded about rule modifications coming down from the World Curling Federation and begin adapting as quickly as doable.
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“We’d all be sensible to determine how one can work inside these guidelines versus combating a choice that has already been made,” Bottcher stated from Edmonton on Tuesday.
“I believe we also needs to be open-minded once we have a look at a few of these rule modifications and attempt to see the worth in how this perhaps additional will increase the viewership and the demographic of the individuals which are watching our sport.”
Many Canadian curlers had been shocked over the weekend when the WCF introduced three trial rule modifications that will probably be carried out on the 2022 world males’s and girls’s championships.
Probably the most controversial change is casting off additional ends throughout the round-robin portion of a match, and going to a draw-to-the-button contest to resolve how additional factors within the standings are awarded. Groups which win video games outright (in 10 ends) will probably be awarded three factors, whereas the staff that wins the draw to the button will get two factors and the staff that loses the draw will get one level.
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Many Canadian curlers balked on the announcement, with Newfoundland’s Brad Gushue calling it “excessive,” Edmonton’s Darren Moulding calling it “horrible” and Calgary’s Chelsea Carey referring to it as “full B.S.”
Bottcher, Moulding’s teammate, has a way more balanced view.
“It definitely will be checked out as a optimistic,” Bottcher stated.
“If we are able to condense the sport, even by one finish, and it suits right into a TV window and offers us extra publicity, I positively assume, as athletes, we must be accepting of that change.
“Within the comparatively quick period of time that I’ve been doing this, each couple of years we’ve gone via rule modifications. The athletes moan a bit on the entrance finish — all of us have to regulate what we do — however I believe the standard of curling has elevated fairly a bit in the previous couple of years. From a viewership standpoint, I believe it’s as thrilling now because it ever has been.”
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The opposite trial rule modifications embrace end-by-end timing, with groups being allotted 4 minutes (4 minutes and 15 seconds after 5 ends) to finish and finish, as an alternative of 38 minutes to finish all 10 ends, and a “no-tick rule,” which can stop groups from shifting rocks off the centre line within the free-guard zone.
Most curlers just like the “no-tick rule” however have a tough time understanding the worth of end-by-end timing and the removing of additional ends.
“Sure, having no additional ends does change the technique fairly a bit however I believe it’s artistic within the sense that it actually helps consolidate the window right into a time slot for TV,” Bottcher stated. “I do see the worth in that rule although, as an athlete, it’ll take some adjusting. However it’ll additionally spur on some new technique that perhaps we haven’t seen earlier than. Typically we might play the late ends of a curling recreation solely to have hammer within the additional finish, and now we’ll should be just a little extra aggressive as a result of it will likely be a bonus to try to win in eight or 10 ends, versus making an attempt to go to that additional finish. You would possibly see extra aggressive play in that finish, which is fairly good for TV additionally.”
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Bottcher stated he has taken half in trials of every of the brand new guidelines up to now. He competed in Curling Evening in America, a made-for-TV occasion, in 2019 and performed the 3-2-1 level, no extra-end rule there. The “no-tick rule” has been trialled a number of instances and the end-by-end timing was used on the 2018 Canada Cup, although it was panned by a lot of the curlers.
To some, it appears loopy to attempt the brand new guidelines at occasions as huge as the boys’s and girls’s world championships (the ladies are in Prince George, B.C., in March, the boys in Las Vegas in April), however Bottcher sees good logic in that as nicely.
“The WCF solely governs one set of occasions and that’s the world championships,” Bottcher stated. “They’re doing all they’ll after they provide to trial one thing on the worlds. That is the right yr to trial one thing. The Olympics (in Beijing in February) are gonna overshadow the worlds anyhow. This provides them a yr to perhaps attempt a couple of new issues.”
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Curling Canada is in discussions about utilizing the brand new guidelines on the 2022 Canadian males’s and girls’s championships. The Scotties Event of Hearts will probably be performed in Thunder Bay, Ont., Jan. 28-Feb. 6 and the Brier in Lethbridge, Alta., March 4-13.
Occasions co-ordinator Nolan Thiessen stated the principles will not be but set in stone on the WCF stage, because the board continues to be planning on doing consultations within the coming weeks, however he stated Canada must be prepared for the modifications after they occur.
“From a Curling Canada perspective, as soon as the WCF makes its final choice, I believe we might be remiss if we didn’t have a look at trialling these guidelines at our occasions as nicely,” Thiessen stated.
“There’s two items to that. One can be the preparation for our groups and the second piece is we might be serving to out as stewards to the WCF. We’d be serving to out with one other 150 video games of pattern measurement for a few of these rule modifications to see how issues play out. There’s no formal choice however we might positively have a look at it simply to verify we put our groups in the absolute best scenario.”
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Bottcher was not shocked by the response of Canadian curlers to the rule modifications.
“In Canada, we now have a really conventional view of what curling ought to appear to be,” he stated. “After we take into consideration curling, we take into consideration the Briers within the ’80s and ’90s and that nostalgic feeling that’s related. We’re very immune to rule modifications typically.
“In every single place else on the planet, the common roller is far youthful and the common roller is far more keen to attempt one thing new. In Canada, we’d like to have a look within the mirror and perhaps change a couple of issues when it comes to our considering and perhaps be extra open to a few of these modifications. If we are able to develop the game in all of these different international locations, it’ll assist us right here at house too. We have to give it a shot and see the way it goes.”
twyman@postmedia.com
