What does life look like after competitive curling? Brad Thiessen knows all about this. From balancing life and high-profile sport to the transition out of competitive play, Brad gives his perspective on taking a step BACK without taking a step AWAY.
If you’re curious about Brad’s journey, interested in his new curling draft website CurlingDraft.com or keen to keep the curling conversation going in your home then come sit down with Brad and Evan at 7PM MST on Monday, March 4!
Through meaningful conversations and interactions with our engaged guests and curling communities, we offer you a humble insight and experience beyond the glass, off the sheets and into your homes!
N And hey there fans folks families and friends if you are joining us this lovely but busy Monday evening then of course you have heard the buzz that we have an incredible guest joining us uh tonight to talk a little bit more about life and life beyond curling and what it
Looks like for some of our athletes who are slowly maneuvering their own worlds and their own passions but nonetheless we have a lot of curling going on we have a lot of curling going on right now and I’d be surprised to see some live viewers here on our YouTube channel or
As you notice maybe on Facebook or on Twitter as we’ve got everything melded connected and put together so you can find us all going all at one time every Monday night for as long as we can until we get tired of it or until you the
Viewer get sick of seeing me on your screen we also have curling on our other screens too as well so if you are joining us thank you so much I know it is a big task when there is so much to view so much curling to consume and of
Course our main goal is to keep curling and curling conversations in your home but before we get too carried away before we get things rolling I do want to take an opportunity to acknowledge our land acknowledge the indigenous peoples of course that uh were here before us so we acknowledge the
Indigenous people of all the lands that we are on today while we meet on our virtual platform and I would like to take the opportunity and moment to acknowledge the importance of the lands which we each call home we do this to reaffirm our commitment and responsibility in improving
Relationships between nations and to improving our own understanding of local indigenous peoples and their cultures from coast to coast to coast we acknowledge the ancestral and unseated territory of all the Inu mate and First Nations people that call this land home please join me in a moment of reflection
To acknowledge the harms and mistakes of the past and to consider how we are and can each in our own way try to move forward in a spirit of reconciliation and collaboration now viewers I know there is a ton the going on right now with curling and we’re going to dip into some
Of the things that aren’t so visible like the Scotties or the Brier but some of the things that have happened here in our own province I do appreciate all of our viewers we have been getting an overwhelming amount of love from across Canada so thank you
So much for those of you who do join in either live right here on Monday night or if you are joining in afterwards to look at the video recording we greatly appreciate it but most importantly our uh guests who have the opportunity to share their narrative it’s really
Wonderful that you are there joining and participating alongside of them to hear their stories to hear how curling is their passion and how they got started but also to highlight some of our incredible athletes and some of the incredible uh opportunities that are building momentum right now in our
Province so wonderful thank you so much for joining us okay let’s get into our next section here I know Bradley is itching to get on screen with all of you and spew everything he has to share about curling because he is so passionate about it but over the past
Week there’s been a ton that has happened in our Province so let’s get down to business first and foremost we have the Brier playing right now kui is playing as we speak uh they were of course the wild card spot they’re at a record of one and three in pool B and we
Have slinsky playing right now to as well in pool B who is currently sitting at a record of two and one pool a we have botcher our other Alberta team three of them they are sitting at a record of I believe three in one after they just lost this afternoon to Northern
Ontario aside from the Brier many other championships have been happening here within our provincial borders that we definitely want to highlight because new Champions were made new Champions were crowned over the past weekend 2024 Canon ascus Nordic Spa Masters both men’s and ladies congratulations to team Santos of
Lesley mckuin Pauline Erikson Jackie Ray Greening Debbie Santos and Ed Erikson from the Sherwood Park Curling Club They just won the Masters championship and they’re going to be heading off to the Nationals Masters Nationals so well done and to team Olen of Millard Evans Douglas Ro uh Jerry
Wilson David Olsen and Grant cook from the thistle Curling Club congratulations and well done I know you’re going to make excellent representatives for the province at the national championship as well this weekend was the 2024 u15 kurling Alberta’s u15 Championship presented by mnp and core9 commodities limited now this is a unique
Championship because the 25 Championship allows a variety of combinations of different teams so there can be mixed teams men’s teams ladies teams it’s all about the opportunity to play so for those of you who are watching for those of you who have young curlers at home
Who are aspiring to be like the people they’re looking at on the screen right now and I’m not just talking about myself but some of these Elite athletes we can get an amazing start really really soon by having an opportunity to compete not only with um people of the
Other gender or of other aspects of the sport but also be able to construct teams in our own local clubs of any combination and send them off to what would be a championship so that they have the opportunity to feel what it’s like to compete and that u5 Championship
Has a variety of opportunities for our young people to feel successful and our gold medal team was team whitbred and our silver Med medal team was team Miller bronze was team Kennedy and then they have a b event C event D event and E EV so tons of opportunity for our
Young peoples to play our B event winners was team Morrison our C event was Team basik D event was doer and E Event was padet so there’s tons of opportunity for our young people to play you Need to seek it out if you’re not sure where to go always check in with
Our folks at curling Alberta connect with your local Club to see what’s available they might be hosting or they might know which events are close by for our friends to join in on but honestly I was so enamored this stuff was never around when I was a young person or it
Was around but it didn’t have the opportunities like it does now to play and to compete so please make sure you’re seeking out these incredible events lastly before we meet Brad this week upcoming starting tomorrow I believe our teams are already there preparing is the u20 um men’s and ladies
Provincial championships so that one H we saw a few weeks ago uh we talked about team at the world championships and team to at the world championships this would be that event uh that age range right now competing to win their Provincial Championship and go through that whole cycle again and that
Provincial Championship is presented by the Hector V academic and Scholarship Foundation if you’d like to see all the scores you can head over to curling alberta.ca scores and you can find all of the scores both both present and previous to check in on your curling knowledge to see where our folks are at
Some of our amazing champions and also to see which events are live and in your local area okay without further Ado we got to get him on the screen because he’s probably bouncing off the walls right now if I know him then he’s ready to see you I
Hope that you’re ready to see him but everybody I have an amazing guest here in Brad T it’s been months years in the making probably to have a sit down and I get the opportunity to sit down with Brad uh and bring it live to you in your
Uh wherever you’re comfortable in your living rooms or wherever you’re comfortable so without further Ado here is our friend Brad P hi Brad how are you hey Evan how’s it going I’m doing well well you know what Brad aside from the fact that it’s no longer a summer
Outside and we’re starting to get hit with crazy winter weather which in just outrageous I’m actually doing really well and it’s even better because you’re here and I get the opportunity to sit down and chat with you because it seems like nobody’s wanted to do that in the
Last year and they’re crazy for not doing it welcome to the home end now Brad you know what Brad our our broadcast and our time here is it’s a super humble look at curling it’s all about creating conversation and bringing in conversation that comes from a perspective that’s uh closer to home and
We recognize that in the last year you’ve done some pretty incredible things and we want to be able to pick your brain a little bit so for our viewers at home are listening in and I believe it’s 26 of them live 26 live people are watching us right now is that
Isn’t that nice broad wow probably a little bit a little bit less than what would be watching you at the Brier of course but totally a little yeah a little yeah though Brad just to remind our viewers at home you have made Seven Brier appearances you won one two as
Well you went to a world championship you have four grand slam victories your most recent was within the last year at the Players Championship with team koi but aside from your incredible men’s career you career you’ve also had a successful career in uh mixed and in
University too as well you were the 2016 Canadian mixed Champion with some incredible names including uh Sarah wils and Mick Lismore oh and this person called Allison uh T I think was on that she is yeah I don’t know either anyways um Canadian mixed champion then of course University uh universi ad bronze
Medalist and then tons of silver medals in there we don’t have to list them all because of course there’s the saying the dirty little Silvers and they get you every time don’t they they do yeah that’s what Allison says all the time those dirty little Silvers now Brad we know that curling is
Close to your home and our viewers of course have seen you on their big screen for time and time again but let’s really take it back to that uh that one that that year the one year where you and Allison both made your first appearances at the National Championship in the same
Year so that I believe what year was that 2017 so you have a great connection to curling obviously but what is your what got you started in it what got me started in curling yeah or okay uh yeah that would be yeah back when I was maybe 12 I guess
Yeah I was about 12 my dad just took me curling one day uh to the Derek Curling Club here in Edmonton just a little four sheeter I believe and I just really enjoyed it and I don’t know just sliding on ice and throwing rocks and just the atmosphere
Of it just really enjoyed it and then yeah got into a like a Junior League the next year that’s where I met Brendan and just really enjoyed the social aspect and like like the everyone’s just you know it’s a lot more of a I guess friendly game you could say
Like you’re off the ice everyone just really gets together and there’s yeah I just really enjoyed that aspect of the game and that’s kind of what kept me in it for for a while and um that’s what really got me hooked so now Brad I mentioned that you and Ally made it to
The national championships both the Scotty and the Brier prior to ask you a little bit about your home end because uh you actually have some longevity in curling both of you and your relationship that predates of course that National Championship but I believe you met at one of our curling camps
Alberto Rock’s curling Camp tell us a little bit about that sure yeah we met at the Alberta Rock curling Camp which yeah very good memories of that camp throughout the years uh yeah that was uh yeah so we met I believe yeah we met at the end of one
Of the camps in I 2006 so I would have been 16 at the time and we met at that camp and we were really good friends for a long time after that and then yeah eventually you know became more than friends and now we’re married and we’ve gone to mix championships and worlds
Together and competed and I’ve watched her at the Scotties and compete at multiple events pre-trials and she’s watched me throughout the years of many Briar and yeah it’s been really cool to be able to share that experience with uh my wife over the years so so a couple of
Lessons learned from that for all of our viewers number one if you attend a curling Camp you’re gonna find your long weighted partner it’s Destiny but also What I Hear Too Brad as well is that like cultivating this curling culture is not just something that you’ve tried to
Do it’s a family thing for you oh yeah for sure sure yeah it’s definitely a family thing it I mean it’s been in my family like my grandpa curled he I got I have old sweaters of his and then my dad curled and uh I’ve got cousins and
Cousins that curl and all my friends are in curling as well I guess just a yeah very very big part of my life for sure well you know Brad one of the running dialogues that we have with this broadcast and and with some of our other guests is this idea or this
Understanding more so than an idea that curling definitely has changed and it looks different in all of our households from the very nuclear way that we accepted curling through you know coming out of our family Dynamics and how our parents curled and we were just there at
The club all the time and now curling it looks a lot different for our up-and-comers and for the people coming into the sport and so to have that start and to have that curling memorabilia around you is wonderful now you’ve got two young kids and they’re going to see
This curling memorabilia like you had growing up too as well um will will you bring them into the world of curling uh yeah they’re already they are already involved in the world of curling a bit so like every like anytime there’s curling on whether it’s the Brier the
Scotties or even just like smaller events that are just being streamed like on whatever just behind the sheet it’s constantly on in the background at her house so yeah um both her kids they have just a constant background noise of curling going on whether we’re talking about it or whether it’s been whether
It’s on the TV um and yeah and obviously um my daughters they both watched me curl live at big events and so they’re definitely they’ve definitely seen a lot and they’ve been exposed to it quite a bit so I’m sure I think that’s the key word is exposure that’s
The key word right is exposure right yeah because I think curling’s a sport where you can really you don’t have to start at like age four you don’t have to like be pro at age four you can start a bit later in life and um so it’s just being exposed to it
And knowing what it is and uh I think that’s a pretty big step and yeah I’ll see hope thatd be cool if uh wner both of them took up curling and got really good at it but uh I’ll yeah we’ll see I’m not going to I’m not going to try
And force it upon either of them but uh yeah it’d be kind of cool to see them take it up at some point for sure well and I think it’s it’s so unique like when we’re watching the um Brier right now we see like Glenn Howard and Scott
Howard too as well is that there are still some really strong ties as families to curling and so um it’s nice to hear that you know like your kids already have a great background in it and that you’re committed to pursuing their adventures in whatever sport or any activity they want to play
But of course curling would be pretty cool if they got to do that too as well yeah yeah know and it’s cool to see like you said Glenn and Scott or there’s a lot of uh parents that curl with say their kids in mix doubles or and that’
Be kind of cool I could curl with mix doubles with one of them if they ever wanted to curl with me in 10 or 15 years down the road but yeah you’re not going to be cool to them anymore right want to hang out with me in 10 or 15 years from
Now Brad I think what one of our what what our viewers are really interested in learning a little bit about is um kind of the narrative around you stepping away from the game and I think it came as a shock to probably a lot of our viewers who uh followed and who had
A passion to following the teams that you were on both uh team botcher and then team kuie at the latter part of your career career but um I I say this because uh it feels maybe still after a year within the past year like maybe an
Early exit so what have you been up to in the last little bit since you stepped away after the PLAYERS Championship well I mean as we talked about I’ve got a one-year-old and now a four-year-old at home so that’s keeping me pretty busy for sure and yeah that to
Me was really important just to be home with them and see them grow up it’s such a short time in my like in their life to like at their the age they’re at they just grow up so fast and that’s something that I just really wanted to be a part of
And um yeah it was tough being on the road for me just to be away that much and uh from September to whatever April we’re on the road all the time so it’s just something that I that was really tough for me
And um I kind of had to cheat d a lot of what I wanted to en curling so that’s that was probably the main reasons why I didn’t like I had no problem stepping back uh at least for now and yeah I’ve been pretty busy with the kids and the
Family and uh work’s been work’s always been busy so that’s no different but I have a bit more I’m not as absent from my work as I used to be during the winter they actually get to see me from September to April a bit so that’s good
For work I guess and then um yeah busy with the I had a side project as well that I started to work on uh called curling draft and yeah I’m sure we could talk about that a bit but it’s been uh uh yeah I’ve been busy with a few
Different things so well we are going to talk about curling draft because we want to get our viewers going in into it for sure but I think the um the one thing that you said about achieving what you had wanted to already and you’ve been on the road and just all those combinations
And all those layers of it really kind of added into what I guess is not an early exit I was calling it an early exit for so long but maybe it was just a timely one at that um Brad you talked about of course achieving what you
Wanted to but now since this past year all these I guess I’m gonna call them first it’s the first time since you’ve been away from the game and all of these things are happening again like the Brier so something that you competed in seven times uh previously what is it like to
Be I guess on this side after spending almost a decade there yeah it’s interesting I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about it but I’ve really just I’ve just been enjoying watching so yeah the last seven years it’s been like I enjoy going to the Bri and
Playing it but it’s a different kind of enjoying like it’s a very very like stressful and anxious week of making sure you compete at your best and compete at the top level and now just watching it it’s a just a lot more I can relax and enjoy it instead of worrying
About curling well now I can just relax and obviously I don’t have to worry about making shots I can just watch and see how everyone does and see how it all plays out so yeah I really enjoyed that aspect of it and just chatting with friends about it and talking about who’s
Doing well and who’s not doing well and yeah it’s been very yeah a lot of fun that way so and that’s what I was going to ask you next it’s like you’ve been there for seven years and this is your first time away but of course you would have relationships and connections with
People all across Canada and of course people competing there too as well as your former teams are uh competing there this week um so is that one way that you kind of stay in the Loop is that you stay connected to the people that you’ve
Met in the game yeah for sure yeah know I try and stay connected with people in the game and um yeah try and uh yeah it’s always fun to just talk to like I can chat with the people who are there at the Brier
Now if I want and ask them how it’s been going how the ice has been and kind of get a more inside look at things which is cool too uh yeah I obviously I know like I know most of the players there I’ve met them all and curled against
Them for many years at this event and many other events so yeah even from that perspective just the fact that I know most of them and have curled against them or on their teams that makes it even more interesting for me to see how they do and they’re not just people that I’ve
Only ever seen on TV like they’re people that I’ve hung out with in person and right curled with and been on the road with so yeah um Brad we teased the viewers a little bit about how it wasn’t just taking a step away from the game it was
Taking a step back and uh this year you stepped into a different role in mixed doubles and I know you’ve dabbled in it for a little bit but you joined up with Britney Tran I believe for mixed doubles um you’re not new to playing mix but you
Haven’t formed a mixed team yet and I know the provincial championships are just like a week away so that would be a surprise but um stepping away from the game um or maybe taking a step back as we’re going to call it um do you have
Any ideas or do you have anything in mind that you’re G to pursue uh moving forward are you keeping things on the down low uh I don’t have any yeah I don’t have much at the moment that I can really think of yeah well maybe after this broadcast there’s gonna be hundreds
Of people wanting to play mixed doubles to mixed to who knows what with you so I think we’ve just opened the door for a ton of people to realize that maybe you’re a little bit bored you spent a lot enough or enough time with your kids they’re fine you’re ready to go on
Another six or seven year Hiatus yeah probably yeah we’ll see who knows yeah maybe it’ll be one of those situations when you’re off and then back to curling so as Allison is swearing at us in the other room as she’s listening in okay Brad now you alluded to it before that
Uh you’ve been working on a couple of projects now first before we dive into this project which I think is absolutely brilliant and when we talk about taking a step back there are so many ways to get involved in curling and we know there’s coaching to um playing to being
A part of your curling board or being a part of your uh Curling Club but you found kind of this niche market or this Niche aspect to get involved in in a different way and it plays to your skill set so first of all I know you said that
You had this work life balance and work is seeing you more but give the context to our viewers a little bit about what you actually do for a living that would give you some of these neat skills to be able to work on such a project sure yeah
So for those who don’t know I’m a I’m a software developer I work at laipo uh so went to University for computer science uh so that yeah my specialty is uh like software development as well as uh like uh web development specifically so I have a lot of expertise in that
Area and it was something that I always wanted to try and apply that expertise to kurling somehow and I felt like there was maybe a bit of a demand for something like fantasy curling or some way to have get the fans more involved and uh try out different things so and
It was something that I have done in the past with family specifically just like private family pools and stuff like that and every year they my family is always really really enjoyed it and they’re always asking me like when are we going to do it again and so I always felt like
There’s a bit of a demand for it so I figured why not try and create something open it up to the public a bit more like try and get some more excitement around the Brier and Scotties and uh try and do it in a way that helps
You know you can try and it gets you more involved gets you more excited about certain games and yeah just gets you more invested in it and I think yeah just trying to bring more attention to curling in whatever ways I can and this is what I’m yeah
More of an expert in I guess so yeah okay so Brad I mean I just had to take while you were talking and filling in our viewers I had to pull open my curling draft and uh my team so I’m first of all I’d like everybody to know
That I’m really good at this I’m not going to say I’m the best at this but I’m like pretty good at it and I’m sitting on the leader at 24th but Brad like walk us through uh what we got to do to get going so we get logged in we
Got to sign up and then how is it going to look for our viewers and how can they participate uh yeah well it’s pretty simple it’s curling draft.com and you can go in you sign up and you uh it it’s actually pretty simple you register for a tournament so this point
The Brier the deadline’s passed but there’s still worlds coming up for women women’s worlds men’s worlds coming up so if you’re interested in signing up for those go ahead and then from there you basically you get to pick teams and the better teams will get you less points
Per win but the the worst teams or like teams that are lower ranked will get you more points per win so there’s a bit of a balance there you try and figure out should I pick a worse team and maybe hope that they overperform or pick a top
Team and hope that they kind of do as well as they expect and that way it kind of balances it out and not everyone just picks all the top teams so yeah it’s a interesting format you say you say worse team but these are statistically teams that would have um
Like lower odds or would it be like is this your own interpretation or is this data that you’ve collected uh I base it off mostly their ranking on the world curling tour so I try and make it more objective I try and keep my opinions a
Bit more out of it and I’ll try and base it of what their world curling Tour rankings are sometimes that doesn’t always work like you’ll get a team like Christen mccarville come in where they have a super low rank but they’re really they actually should be a lot higher so
I’ll try and modify it a bit based on that but in general yeah I try and just base it off the uh the ranking and then that’s how I’ll decide like how many points per win they get so now Brad I I check mine after every draw like I’ll be
Middle of what do you call it like recess break lunch break at school and I’m just checking to see if it updated and if I got points like it’s addicting isn’t it yeah yeah know it’s uh it’s fun to see where you’re at and how you’re
Doing so far I’ve been pretty bad uh both the Scotties and the Brier so well that’s what I was going to ask you if you actually play it yourself like that’s a little insider trading slash a little like that’s probably a little taboo yeah turns out there’s no
Advantage to having insider trading here probably just makes me worse I don’t know like I’ve been I was almost dead last in the Brier here for the last few days so well it’s because you’re not playing it that’s why now Brad I think the nice thing is it’s noninvasive right
So it’s there’s uh no money upfront it’s not like points beted it’s not like any of our betting apps it’s just you picking teams based upon the odds so it’s all fun in games you don’t have to invest anything you don’t have to lose it all it’s just uh just pure enjoy M
And pure uh curling in the home or at least curling to go I guess really yeah it’s all just for yeah all just for bragging whes and for fun and I’ve had messages from people saying their whole fames doing it and every day they update
And uh yeah chirp each other a bit and to see who’s doing well and whatnot so it’s yeah it’s been cool for sure been well I know it’s more popular than I thought it would be so that’s been good well yeah there’s like hundreds of people playing broad that’s fantastic so
Good for you and you know what Brad too as well I know it’s keeping you connected to these major championships because I I I can read between the lines and as much as you say you’ve been enjoying it on the other side of the screen I know your curling heart and I
Know that you also would love to be out there too but at a different capacity and so let’s talk Brier because I know you’ve been waiting to talk Brier like all night oh yeah so let’s do it okay for sure so we’re for every everybody is
I’m not going to say it’s four draws in we four games in for the most part most teams are at about four games maybe working on their fifth one depending at on when they’ve played and when they’ve had buys and so so we’ve had about four four games going in our pools are
Looking a little bit um nontraditional to some of the pools that we’ve seen in the past now after these four Games Brad who are you liking who are you surprised by like really give us your honest Lowdown on this because your opinion right now is the only opinion that matters
Yeah it’s been uh it’s actually been pretty surprising this Brier for sure some of the games some of the I’d say there’s to me at least it feels like there’s been more upsets than normal I don’t know if You’ agree with that but um some of the top teams have been
Upended by lower seeds and I don’t know if you typically would see that at most Briar especially the number of them but still early in the week so I think that’ll uh even out but uh so far you played a lot there like you’ve played seven times at that Brier and so you
Said you know some of these teams and you’ve had relationships with them and and you know the environment you know what it’s like to be on that platform so with the standings right now and what you’ve seen from TV and what you’ve been able to grasp onto who’s looking really comfortable at this
Event well my pick’s going into this my pick for the win at the start of the week was uh Brendan uh Brandon botcher I just the way he’s been playing all year they’ve had really good slams really good events they’ve been consistent qualifying in almost every event they’re
In if maybe they even did qualify every event They’re all playing really well that was my pick for pick for the win I still think they’re playing pretty well even though they did end up losing in a bit of an upset to Northern Ontario right but I still think even
After that loss they’re going to be okay and they’re going to keep playing well and come out firing so I think right now they’re still the team to beat right um who’s surprising you yeah uh Kevin koi surprising me for sure I think I was surprised at the slow
Start that they’ve had looks seems like they’ve been struggling a bit more than I would expect I thought they would have actually yeah I thought they would have kind of came out a bit more came out firing and I kind of had them being at
The top of their pool in my mind but uh we’ll see it’s still early I guess they could still turn it around I think but yeah that was Sur the but like but like you’re not on that team anymore so maybe yeah for sure yeah that’s for sure
Yeah that’s the issue yeah yeah that’s it there they’d be undefeated yeah yeah 100% they would be and uh Brad like that’s kind of like a surprise for Kevin but one thing I guess on the flip side is the other kooy brother at three and one now we’ve seen it before from Jamie
And I mean I had the opportunity this year to play Jamie in an event uh and their team seems to be throwing really well and I guess it’s just maybe circumstantial or maybe it’s just what’s in the water or maybe everything’s clicking like but three I think it’s a
Three in one start right three and one yeah that’s impressive uh yeah I was looking up their stats for curing for last year just to try and get some more idea of how many wins they got they had one win last year they were one and seven and now they’re already three and
One they already have three times more wins than they did last year so they’re obviously on a roll and they’ve obviously they’ve changed something and they’re playing pretty well in a yeah like the game against uh goo this afternoon I think or was it this morning
I think it was this morning they were yeah I saw a bit of it here and there and yeah they’re making shots that’s for sure and they’re giv they’re not making it easy on the other teams they’re not you can’t just walk over them and I think some teams are a bit
Surprised by that they’re not there maybe they’re coming out they’re expecting more of an easy game and then these teams are coming out and giving them an aame and playing really well and sometimes that can be tough when you’re not expecting it and I know there’s times that I’ve played and
Anyone you know when you’re playing a team that you expect to beat you kind of loosen up a bit you maybe don’t play as well as you should and and if one of these teams plays really well like they can beat anyone and that’s what we’re seeing I think
With Jamie Koy and with like say Trevor B Bono they’re both uh playing quite well and just uh catching teams off guard and it’s been it’s been fun to watch I’m excited it’s good to see these other teams uh get some wins and get to
The top of the stand and this is the place to do it right like I mean it’s the Brier so other than that there for some of these teams there’s nothing after this right because unless they have enough points to get them into say the PLAYERS Championship or if they’ve
Won something like the Champions Cup for most of these teams that are not in the top seven or eight in in Canada or in the world they’re they’re done after this event so it’s kind of like leave it all out there right yeah for sure yeah this is
Their this is their big event is their Brier their Brier I was going to say but they’re at the Brier yeah well and I think too what’s emphasized Brad is the fact that um in previous years we’ve seen a different format of play or a format of
Competition and so it seems that every every couple of years this event has transformed into what it is now over the last I guess seven years that you’ve been playing but for sure a decade right where we went from a true round robin um and a page playoff process to uh this
Dual pool um top three teams so when we see something like a team at three losses or we see a team unexpectedly uh with more wins than they should uh I guess in the past have had or statistically have um it’s a little bit more elevated or heightened because of
The fact that you have to be the top three in your pool yeah you have to be top three in your pool so it’s every every game is huge especially when you’re playing especially now that there’s no tiebreakers as well that draw the button in those games because you can be tied with
Another team but if you ended up losing to them then that’s it you’re done and you’re out and so it’s uh interesting for sure and makes the games matter a lot more now that there’s no tiebreakers it’s exciting to watch which also Keeps
Us in the game too as well I I mean even just last week I was watching um like uh Grandy they went what five and three in in their pool so they had a winning record and they didn’t make any playoffs right so it really keeps not only the
Players on their toes but also the the people at home really invested because I mean there’s just so many different ways that the playoffs kind of shape up to as well isn’t there yeah no that was a great finish to that uh or round robin there with Grandy against Kate Cameron
Right yeah that’s right the winner got in the loser was out that was awesome yeah it’s good to seeu like that Brad there is lots of love in the comment bar for tons of people who are really missing you out on the ice and I
Guess I’m not going to wrap us up yet because we still have our fun little game to play but um you know you’ve taken some time away you’ve given us your reasons and rationale there’s you haven’t really had an opportunity to craft or to give your narrative other
Than uh you know across from the people who have met you uh out and about or at the clubs as you’ve been enjoying curling but um you’ve now seen a whole bunch of curling going on and you’re watching the Brier what are you noticing um when you were out there before as an
Athlete what are you noticing in the qualities of our teams and our athletes at separating them or being a big difference between our Elite teams and our what we would call developing teams or tier two or tier three teams what is kind of that key difference that you
Yourself as an athlete had over some of the teams in the field so you’re just talking about like what’s like what kind of differences there were between the top teams and sure everyone else yeah I mean I think a lot of that is what goes on behind the scenes you’re
Not going to see it at like you’re gonna see differences on the ice obviously but a lot of that a lot of that goes on behind the scenes all the practice all of the you know training and teams getting together mental aspect the physical aspect just on Ice the amount
Of just the amount of times the Reps and the intensity that they take into it just off the ice I think that’s where the top teams really get their advantage like you look at Brendan’s team I’m sure well I know for a fact they were for the last week or week and
A half before the Brier as you were even talking with him they’re all down in Calgary training every day uh so and I think yeah like that’s an opportunity that’s something that the top teams are all going to be doing uh training as much as they can and I think that’s to
Me I know that’s something that separated us and that’s something that really helped us reach the next level was uh getting in those training weekends just getting in those reps and right doing all that work behind the scenes where there when the camera’s not on when you’re just whether you’re by
Yourself or with one or two other guys or with the team but it’s all that work that’s done when no one’s watching that’s what I think separates the top teams from the rest of the pack you said that with a really big sigh as you were explaining it all like
Thank goodness I don’t have to do this anymore yes I think that’s the one thing when I ever think like oh I’d be i”d be cool to go back but then I always think wait I remember all that time I had to spend practicing and training and just nonstop
And yeah so that’s the one thing where I’m like oh I don’t know if I can go back to that life so it’s nice to just relax St home and watch it so yeah well Brad we got the best product out of you taking a step away from the game because
Not only do we have you back in our curling clubs here in our community but also you’ve contributed in a unique way that some of our viewers maybe didn’t even know existed or didn’t realize that there was potential to and that’s in curly draft.com which has the
Opportunity for our viewers to play uh really lowrisk risk-free uh with some fun curling draft fantasy curling and uh so we’re pretty proud of you for doing that we’re also very thankful that it gives us something to do alongside and to compete over rather than putting our
Money to the test now Brad I’m gonna put you to the test are you okay with playing uh my favorite game which I think is every guest most hated part of the show but my goes are woses you want to do that with me tonight yeah love it
Go or wo let’s go okay perfect so our viewers know the drill because they’ve been joining us week after week you’re episode number six but you’re new here you’ve probably seen it in our previous episode with Brendan but I’m going to give you three arbitrary things sum are
Curling related some are not you’re going to tell me if they’re your go and you like it you want it you want more of it you’d hit it you’d get more of it or your woe meaning man not my thing not my jam and I’m going to tell you why okay
You good with that yeah okay can’t wait let’s go okay you can’t wait okay perfect you can’t wait to go on the goes or wos okay maybe that should be the first one okay so again you tell us as much as you want you knock it this is
Your episode um just remember that of course it’s PG like 13ish so you know don’t get this video kicked off YouTube yeah pretty much don’t get me cancelled okay that’s happened here we go don’t get me canceled from all 300 viewers I have every episode all righty your first one
Brad Brad’s goes or wo oh let me get my little uh I need like a little um like a little announcement a little commercial a little theme song or something you need a theme song I think yeah theme song that’s it theme song okay here we
Go your first one now I Brad just go to town artificial intelligence AI we’re gonna ease our way into these go or wo uh go go all day love it I love AI Love chat jpt it’s been a massive uh what can you say like great addition to my workflow and it’s helped
Me a ton and it’s helping software developers around the world be 10 or 100 times more productive so uh yeah I love it well I think Sheldon and Lori and rnaps 3 and all of our viewers who have been posting in the chat I think they want artificial intelligence to take
Over your job so that you have more time to curl so we want that as a go-to as well for all of us on this side okay so a go okay I love that for you that was easy because that was right in your wheelhouse of things but let’s get a
Little uh let’s get a little more intense okay a little bit uh more informative here the digging slash knifing slash scooping slash whatever this these uh kids are doing these days with the sweeping now we all know you yeah well I don’t know whatever it is
Never heard of that before you know what technique that I’ve missed out on you know what Brad it’s all new to me as somebody who is a fake sweeper who makes it look like I’m sweeping but not really um like I think the one thing Sheldon’s saying it’s directional sweeping and we
See Sheldon’s wo in the chat but this uh these techniques you’re the expert that’s what you were known for with your big muscles so go to town go or wo go go again love it yeah keep trying new things whatever it is try it out see if it works if it does
That’s okay and if it does well you’ve just learned a new technique and you’re going to be better off for it yeah I love all the interesting to see all the new techniques and see what they’re all trying and um yeah I think it just makes the sport more exciting to see what
They’re doing and it’s not just your standard sweeping that we had been doing for a long time before all this uh directional stuff came out so it’s good to see well and I like how you said that like just keep trying it out keep figuring it out because eventually like
All other rules and curling it’s either going to be made to increase entertainment in the game and to increase engagement for our fans fans viewers and players at home and players in their local clubs or it’s going to be uh you know a put in place for Equity or
Fairness right so rules are in place for that too as well so I guess it’ll hit a point where if it needs to be banned then it’s bound yeah is scooping like that new slow sweep or I don’t know somebody at Men’s provincials was talking about and they called it
Scooping and I was like you know I’m gonna take your word for it because I have no idea because I you know what my broom head stays in One Direction and I just I just lean on it a little bit so I’ll take your advice though all right
Okay your last one Brad’s a go for it give it a try okay and finally now I’m gonna maybe this is a little controversial I’m going to tie in to your uh to your days where you played with some some really animated people but also to as well to highlight some of
The events that happened at the Brier to give you a little bit of flavor of being at the Brier at home Rowdy fans go for sure oh yeah we need more of that yeah just needs more of the Rowdy fans and the you know people you know
Like that’d be great to see like you know at basketball when they have all the heads on a stick behind the uh scoreboard as they’re or behind the net as they’re throwing the free throw like we need stuff like that like you mean like cardboard cutout yeah the cardboard
Cutouts of their faces I thought were talking like Lord of The Fly style like pig on a spear no like the not their actual head obviously like uh cardboard cutouts you like you’ve seen that in basketball like I’ve seen it cing too but i’ love to see that like the fans
Trying to distract the other team when they’re throwing like I think sure as a curler you got to just get used to that and um I think it just needs to be more accepted in the sport to try and just make things more exciting for the fans
Give them a reason to want to be there and watch and um yeah I love yeah I love Ry fans I mean sometimes as a player there’s been times where I have not liked it as a player but right I think that’s okay like I think as players we should be
Able to get used to that like all like most other sports they’ve got all sorts of fans booing them or cheering them on constantly like throughout the entire game so I think part of the game right yeah like I think you look at any yet most other sports like
Hockey like if you go to the opposing teams Arena you’re going to get booed when you come out on the ice and you’re G to get uh that would be such a shock for our fans to have to train our curling culture uh our curling Community
To start pooing people like I mean I I think it’d be exciting like I I like the idea but I know there’s curlers that would definitely not like that idea of being booed when they walk out onto the ice but I think that’d be kind of cool
So it it gives me a little bit of a picture of like what’s that movie men with brooms like the silver broom Championship or whatever that they had in that movie but also for a lot of our fans who are really interested in uh like curling all the time YouTube has
Tons of previous games from also previous eras and like to look in the crowds back in the day of some of those major championships and I’m not even talking about just like the final itself but just the regular draw like those crowds were packed and people were
Smoking in those crowds too like we want to talk about bringing people into full-on entertainment like they could do almost whatever they wanted I mean times were different but it really is a shock to see yeah I love it like I’m one of the one of the like Memories I have from
Curling where there was a really good crowd was back in 2013 in Edmonton at the Brier at Rexel there huge Stadium it was a Friday night it was full it was packed you’ve got uh was Glenn Howard against Martin in that’s right the last round robin game
And we knew the crowd was starting to realize like if Kevin wins this game they would have a chance to make the playoffs so yeah during that game the crowd just starts chanting Howard Howard and they start uh trying to um like you know like throw him off his
Game and yeah that’s just one thing as a fan at the time that I still remember this day and just made it so much more fun so I like I I think if we want to keep curling and exciting we got to try and encourage those types of things and
Um yeah like I I think it’s something we need to just try and encourage so well you know what Brad I really appreciate you of course joining us this evening and giving us some ideas into where you’d like to see the game go but also um now that you’re a committed member so
Far to uh life beyond curling and after curling um but definitely not stepping away but just taking a step back um you know I guess it’s cool that you’re going to be out there with myself and with the rest of our viewers talking about ways that the game can continue on in our
Homes but also can continue to be better um not only for the athletes but for the viewers too and I think um you know if we can make these small changes in our in our local clubs or at our local provincials um I guess I say local provincials but provincials within our
Borders then maybe eventually we can get a movement big enough that uh our national championships or some of our large scale championships start to see what uh what’s happening at uh at our member Association level so you’ve got some really neat ideas we’re loving where curling draft.com is going Brad I
Want to keep you in here as I send the viewer off home because they’ve spent uh 52 minutes with us and 52 minutes of me bambling on and not enough time with you of course but if you want to connect with Brad uh you can always follow Brad
On his social medias if you really want to see his family and his life beyond curling but also if you’d love to buy him a coffee there’s a nice little drop down at the very bottom of curling draft.com to thank him for all the work he’s done it’s a small gesture or token
Of appreciation for Brad and uh his uh interest in our curling Community Brad thank you so much for joining me this evening I’m G to keep you in our screen after I end the stream but I do want to take an opportunity to thank all of the
People at curling Alberta the board and the board of directors for allowing me to continue to have this platform and reach reaching out to members in our community giving me the Liberty to connect with who I want to and the direction I want to take this broadcast
With I want to thank Britney Raymond Tyler and Jill for giving me the creative license but also being the team behind it setting me up for success I appreciate you all and Brad of course thank you for spending some time with our viewers we reached uh new locations
We’ve reached new viewers because of you and of course the conversation of curling is continuing to happen tonight for those people who are joining in so viewers thank you so much for joining Brad and I please remember to keep curling at your home okay take care have
A good night thanks Evan have a good night
