Mike McEwen has been making a mockery of the men's world curling scene this season, but the 31-year-old Manitoban, whose trophy case is filled to overflowing, has yet to win Canada's most cherished curling prize: The Brier. In fact, the closest McEwen has even got to the Brier has been watching it on TV.
That might change this year. In back-to-back years, McEwen and his rink of third B.J. Neufeld, second Matt Wozniak and lead Denni Neufeld suffered heartbreak in the final of the Manitoba men's championship.
Favoured going into the final in 2010, they lost to veteran Jeff Stoughton. Favoured again in 2011, they lost again to Stoughton, who not only went on to win the Brier in Halifax but the world championship in Regina.
So while Stoughton continued to pile up the silverware and the memories, McEwen and Co. have been settling for cash - gobs of cash. The Winnipeg-based rink won three of the first five World Curling Tour titles to start the 2011-12 season, losing in the final in one and in the quarter-finals of another. They were runaway leaders in the money race, with more than $70,000, and moved to No. 1 in the world rankings. George Karrys, in the Toronto Sun, said rivals have begun referring to the foursome as "McWin."
But no matter how many thousands of dollars McEwen and mates bank this season on the cash circuit, the season will be a failure if McEwen again fails to reach the Brier. Since he's ranked No. 1 in the world, he'll undoubtedly be the No. 1 seed in the Manitoba championships in February. But that means little; he was the No. 1 seed last year until Stoughton's experience and a little bit of luck handed McEwen his only loss of the week - in the winner-take-all final.
Losing back-to-back finals to Stoughton hurt, and McEwen made a thoughtless comment in the immediate aftermath of his 2011 loss, saying "We still believe we're the best chance Manitoba has to win a Brier." Ouch! He quickly apologized to Stoughton and Co., telling Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun that "I shouldn't have said it, and I didn't really mean it. It was one of those things that came out.
"Hopefully, it will be our time in the future," he said.
Judging by the team's quick start to this season, the future is now. The Brier, with Stoughton likely in the way again, awaits.
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