HALIFAX — They always seem to be yipping and yapping and snapping at each other.
Biting and barking.
And they look so sullen and surly.
It’s been 11 years since the people wearing Alberta outfits at the Brier have been somebody other than teams skipped by Kevin Martin and Randy Ferbey. And apparently the television audience is having trouble adapting to Kevin Koe’s Grumpy Young Men.
“People just don’t understand the dynamics of our team,” said Koe of his Edmonton Saville Centre squad, which had a not-quite-as-grouchy as usual two-win day here Wednesday.
Roller-coaster
Koe admits it’s been getting back to them that TV viewers are finding them less likable or something compared to Ferbey and Martin because of their negative interactions with each other on the roller-coaster ride they’ve had to get to the final day of the round-robin sitting at 7-2.
“Anybody who knows us off the ice knows we’re not exactly happy-go-lucky guys,” said Koe.
“It’s our demeanor. It’s the way we are.
“Whether we’re seen as being grumpy and not happy on the ice is not a problem with us. We’re big boys. A lot of the teams and the people watching don’t know us. We’ve had some games where we’ve been struggling and those times get to you a little bit.
“But that’s the way our team is at a bonspiel in Lloydminster or wherever. It’s the way it works when we’re together. It’s certainly not a case that we don’t like each other or don’t get along,” he said as he watched third Blake MacDonald and Carter Rycroft playing with their kids outside the dressing room after scoring a 7-6 win over Quebec and a 6-3 win over New Brunswick.
Lead Nolan Thiessen said it’s nothing new just because they’re finally at the Brier.
“It’s the way we always have been. There’s no hard feelings,” he said.
“You can say anything any time. Our guys all have thick skin,” said Rycroft, who played for Martin in two Briers and won an Olympic silver medal with the guy they call The Old Bear in 2002.
“We’re here to win not to finish second,” he said.
With Martin back next year, it may be the only chance they have. And then there’s the idea that the team will be breaking up after the season.
“I’d be very surprised if this team stays together after this year, but it’s not because we don’t like each other,” said Koe Wednesday.
The rumors have MacDonald, who played for Alberta in that last Brier not involving Ferbey or Martin on the team skipped by Ken Hunka back in 1999, calling it quits.
“More than likely Blake,” Koe admitted of the third who used to throw last rocks for the team, three years ago missing a draw to the eight foot on both the 10th and 11th ends which would have sent the team to the Brier instead of Martin.
After the Brier
MacDonald says he won’t make a decision until after the Brier.
In the meantime, the viewers are hearing the yapping and snapping which Koe’s crew insists is their way of whistling while they work.
Koe’s brother Jamie, who skips the Territories team they’ll play Thursday morning featuring brothers behind the t-line for only the third time in Brier history, says indeed people don’t understand the way it is with his brother’s team.
“They are all fiery guys. They are totally different off the ice. But on the ice they’re competitive. Some people say they get uptight. But they need the intensity. I think a lot of it comes from Blake. You need one guy to really bring the intensity and I think he’s the guy who brings a lot of it,” said Jamie.
“We’re really honest with each other. We’re not stroking each other’s egos,” said MacDonald. “We’re not worried about hurting each other’s feelings. It’s the way we are. We don’t take any of it off the ice with us.”
No, but in this sport where the athletes are all wearing microphones and you sit in on almost every conversation, they do bring it into your living room.
terry.jones@sunmedia.ca
