The Tim Horton's Brier; Canada's Event

2010 Brier Champions - Team Alberta

The Brier is being played in London, Ontario this week, without a doubt the biggest event in the world of curling. Over the next week, fans will see the best teams and the best players in the world competing for the sport’s biggest prize; a championship that eclipses both the World Championship and the Olympics in terms of prestige and quality of field.


Attending the Brier in person is a lot of fun, as fans from across the country fill the arena, wave their province’s flay, yell chants, drink beer and generally have a great time. Perhaps the best part of the Brier is the Brier Patch; the beer garden synonymous with curling and the event. When in Calgary, the Brier Patch is located in the Big Four building, allowing for me and five thousand of my closest friends to partake in the age old tradition of drinking beer. It is a lot of fun, and if you haven’t been, you’re missing out.

But if you can’t attend in person, the TV package that TSN has put together is great, as viewers see everything happening with all the great camera angles. Players also wear microphones, allowing audiences to hear the strategies and discussions both teams have; you just really get into the game.

But the best part of the Brier is how uniquely Canadian the event is. Yes, hockey is far more popular in Canada than most places in the world, but curling is only popular in Canada. Nobody anywhere else watches it on TV and nobody anywhere else attends live events. But here in Canada, the Brier fills NHL arenas and draws well over a million viewers on TV; roughly the same as an average Hockey Night in Canada game. Like sumo wrestling might be to Japan or bull fighting to Spain, curling is something uniquely Canadian that we can all embrace and be proud of.

The Brier is on pretty much all day on TSN this week, so check it out for some great entertainment, or if for no other reason, watch it to feel just a little more Canadian.


-TheRev


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