In the House: McNamee the man to beat

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/10/2011 (5292 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Defending champion Terry McNamee is gunning for two titles in a row in the Brandon Sun Westman Super League of Curling.

McNamee’s Brandon rink finished 9-2 last season and defeated Rob Van Kommer 7-2 in the league final.

Van Kommer, whose rink hails from Carberry, and the majority of the field is back for this season, which got underway last night at the Brandon Curling Club.

McNamee feels confident, as he has beaten every team in the league, but he knows his team must curl well to have any chance of repeating.

“It’s always tough,” said McNamee, who curls with Steve Irwin, Geordie Hargreaves, and Travis Suban. “If you don’t play well then you’re going to lose some games, but if my team plays the way we can, we’re going to win a lot of games. We just have to go out and take care of business and see where it falls from there.

“We won it last year, so we have a good shot to win it. I’m not saying we will, but if we play the way we can, we should be in the top four, I imagine, but we’re looking to win it for sure.”

McNamee opened the season on a winning note with a 14-5 triumph over Brandon’s Mark Anderson on Wednesday night.

Six-time champion Kelly Robertson and Jerry Chudley, both of Neepawa, have also returned to the league this season, as have Pilot Mound’s Curtis McCannell, Carberry’s Kelly Marnoch and Brandon’s Shawn Taylor.

Brandon-based teams skipped by Rob Fowler, Brendan Taylor and Lisa Blixhavn are not returning this season, nor is Hamiota’s Ken Lawn. Fowler left the league to focus on the World Curling Tour circuit.

However, the league still has 12 teams for this year as four new rinks have entered. Brandon’s Kelly Skinner, whose team reached the quarter-finals at the Manitoba Lotteries Men’s Curling Classic in Brandon last weekend, is joining the league along with the Brian Fowler and Jim Renwick foursomes from Brandon. Perry Fisher’s rink from Wawanesa is also a new addition.

Even though a third of the field has changed, McNamee isn’t willing to take any of the competition lightly.

“There’s lots of good teams and if you don’t play well, you’re probably going to lose,” he said.

“But if you play well, you’ll probably win a lot of games.”

Super league draws start every Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.

EXTRA ENDS: Sixteen teams will hit the ice this weekend in the Carberry King Spud Classic, a Manitoba Curling Tour event that offers up a berth in the provincial men’s championship for the winner. Among the local teams taking part are Fowler, McNamee, and former Brandonite William Lyburn, along with Marnoch, Skinner, Van Kommer, Chudley, Taylor, Fisher, Dauphin’s Roger Parker and former Carberry junior star Joey Witherspoon. The final is scheduled for Sunday at the Carberry Curling Club at 4 p.m. … Sixteen teams are slated to take part in the Neil Andrews Legends Classic 50-and-over bonspiel this weekend at the Brandon Curling Club … Former Brandonite Mike McEwen fell 5-2 to Kevin Martin in Monday’s final of the World Curling Tour’s Westcoast Curling Classic in New Westminster, B.C. … Winnipegger Vic Peters has moved to the top of the MCT men’s point rankings, ahead of Brandon’s Rob Fowler and former Brandonite William Lyburn. Brandon’s Liza Park is the top Westman team in the women’s rankings, currently sitting 10th… The 2011 Canadian masters women’s championship team of Joyce McDougall, Linda Van Daele, Cheryl Orr and Karen Dunbar will be honoured at the Brandon Curling Club on Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m.

» cjaster@brandonsun.com