Yes – start the presses is an old expression from the newspaper industry – but it seems appropriate to launch this latest iteration of thecurler since we began in 1989 as a print publication. (We being myself and my friends Ben Laursen and Aeleen Sclater)

We were a magazine format for several years (Keystone Curler) – and then a newspaper (The Curler) . I loved publishing the newspaper but the costs of printing and mailing were huge so the paper evolved into Version 1.0 of this website (thecurler.com) – and now Version 2.0, more of a blogsite than the original website but the same name and web address (thecurler.com).

When I joined the Board of Governors of Curling Canada, there was no question I had to put the website into hiatus. Unabashedly I acknowledge I have always been a Manitoba curling promoter (and will continue to be!) and it was not appropriate for a member of that national board to be a single-province promoter.

After a season to de-compress from that experience, I was thinking seriously about a re-launch when covid shut our world down.

I began with an Instagram (thecurlerdotcom) and Facebook (thecurler) presence which I am continuing – check it out!!

The frustration for me with the social media opportunity is that I tend to ‘write long’ – and those platforms force a person to ‘write short’.

So you will be able to find me here – as complete coverage of Manitoba curling as I can manage and some opinions. The deal I’ll make with you is similar to the one I have made with my longtime friend and skip Norm Magnusson – we have agreed he’ll holler “sweep” as much as he wants – and I’ll actually sweep as much as I want.

Simple really here at thecurler – I’ll write as long as I want…you read as long as you want. I hope we’ll both be happy!