// TALES FROM SHEET NINE


Curling great, and his last book, remembered


By David Garber, U.S. Curling News columnist, dj.garber@tds.net


“character” as a strong-minded person who is especially fun to be around in social or work set- tings because of their unique nature, usually out- spoken, rarely unkind. Characters such as these are self-confident and inherently good people. Tey like to win and achieve their goals but they are also known to help some of the people they meet. Doug Maxwell was one such man—a Cana-


C


dian curler, writer, entrepreneur, raconteur and broadcasting great who became executive direc- tor of the Men’s World Curling Championship for more than 20 years. He was credited by many with pioneering the skins game and time clocks, among other innovations. Doug was executive director of the Air Cana-


da Silver Broom (1968-85) and from 1986-88, a member of the Hexagon group, which sponsored the World Men’s Championship aſter Air Canada withdrew its support. A week ago I was asked by the host of a curl-


ing event to recount my recollection of curling’s “ascension” to medal status. It was short notice— so I worked from memory, neglecting to think of the best account of the politics of the process of attaining Olympic medal status – Doug’s book, Tales of a Curling Hack (2006, Whitecap Books, Canada, 320pp). Maxwell and men like Kay Sug- ahara, Ray Turnbull, Jack Lynch, and Chuck Hay were, along with Gunther Hummelt and Franz Tanner, were key players in the ascension of curl- ing to Olympic medal status in 1992. For more than 50 years (he started curling in


1949), Doug was an insider extraordinaire. Any- one wishing to learn about the history of curling should start with two books: Tales of a Curling Hack, and David B. Smith’s Curling, An Illus- trated History. When I met Doug at the 1986 Toronto World


Men’s Championship, I was a neophyte in inter- national curling, the newly hired part-time ex-


urlers love their characters, and folks in my generation seemed to have more than their share of them. I define a


ecutive director for the U.S. Curling Association (USCA), armed with credentials for the media bench, saving the USCA from buying me tickets, but more importantly, ensuring I would meet many international curling celebrities. Doug could be quite sharp-tongued when he


felt like it, but he made me feel welcome early on. His initial support was offered, I’m sure, because he was wise enough to know that success for curling in the USA would be good for world and Canadian curling. It was in his interest to help. During the next 20 years (Doug died in 2007), his support never wavered, whether directly or on one occasion, indirectly, when he felt ill. Sev- eral examples come to mind: When I first took over as editor of the Curling


News, in 1991, one of the first people I called was Doug Maxwell, then owner/editor of the Cana- dian Curling News. Doug was forthcoming with valuable information and tips. I was quite sur- prised to hear that his subscription list was about the same size as ours, about 10,000 households. Canada had perhaps half a million active curlers, we had a little over 13,000. But in its wisdom, the USCA had included a Curling News subscription with the dues, so most curlers had access, which remains the case to this day (and don’t tell me you don’t appreciate having your photo in the Bonspiel Results section!) I was able to be in a bit of curling history when,


in Milwaukee for the 1989 Worlds, Maxwell fa- mously, at an eight a.m. weekday draw, intro- duced the spectators to the players, instead of the other way ‘round. Yes, the crowd was sparse, but I, dutifully, was there at eight a.m. sharp, and in retrospect, glad I was. In the late fall of 1992, Swiss Air sponsored a


“familiarization trip” for journalists to visit Ge- neva, site of the 1993 Worlds. Tis meant free air fare and free hotel. Doug was asked by Swiss air to provide names of those who should be invited from North America. He included my name, as editor of the U.S. Curling News, when he could have chosen some big city sportswriter who may not have otherwise planned to attend Worlds that winter. Tat trip was fun, sure, not to men- tion the most inexpensive trip ever to Switzer-


USA Curling (( 31


land, but it also allowed me to spend time with Doug and other international curling journalists. What of feeling ill and “indirect” help? One


highlight of my career as a curling administra- tor was acting as emcee at the World Champion- ship banquet in Lowell in 2006. Tose who have attended a banquet at Worlds know that usually well over 500 people are in the audience, from around the world. At Lowell, Doug was slated to emcee, as was


usual. I was seated at a large table in the audience with about 10 others, including my spouse, ex- pecting to enjoy the formalities, to start shortly, when someone from the organizing committee asked if I could fill in for Doug, whom, I was ad- vised, had just taken ill (I think Doug may have recommended me, but I cannot recall). One of the duties of the emcee is to introduce the play- ers, who, of course, sport Swedish names, Japa- nese names, various European language names, you get the picture. I had about 20 minutes to review the names and determine what else to include in my remarks. On the positive side, the evening went OK (my wife assured me) and I re- tired that July, so I would never know if I would ever be asked to do that again. I was honored sometime later in 2006 to re-


ceive a copy of Doug Maxwell’s book, signed and with a note to me that read, in part, “good curler, good friend and a great companion in many of my curling trips.” Q


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38