Brier bronze game 'dumbest' in curling, says Brad Gushue
Olympic gold medallist Brad Gushue is standing behind comments he made this weekend, when he called the Tim Hortons Brier's bronze-medal competition the "dumbest game in curling."
Gushue made the comments to the Calgary Herald before and after the bronze-medal game against Saskatchewan's Steve Laycock — which he later lost 7-5.
"To be honest, I didn’t have much interest in playing,’’ Gushue told the Herald following Sunday's game. "As I said before, I think it’s the dumbest game in curling."
“You wouldn’t expect the conference runners-up in the Stanley Cup playoffs to play in a bronze-medal series. It’s ludicrous. We had a real hard time getting motivated this morning."
Speaking with CBC News in St. John's on Tuesday, Gushue said he doesn't regret what he said, and added it's something he has been advocating against for the past several years.
"It [has] been my comments for four years and whether we won that game or lost that game it's still how I feel," Gushue said in an interview to be broadcast on Here & Now.
"I don't mind people criticizing me for being outspoken. I think I have a pretty good stature in the game now that sometimes when I say stuff, people listen, and whether it's good or bad, or whether my opinions are right or wrong, they are my opinions."
Gushue's comments on the bronze-medal game won't hurt St. John's chances at hosting the Brier in 2017, according to Danny Breen, who is lobbying for the sporting event to be held in this province.
"I can understand where his comments came from," said Breen, a St. John's councillor. "We're over 11,000 passes now — commitments — and our bid is very strong."
Disappointing loss
As for the outcome of this year's Brier, Gushue said the losses were an upset.
"It's still pretty fresh, it was just a couple days ago and we worked hard this year and I thought we had a good chance to win, and to lose two close games — to get knocked out — is pretty disappointing."
While it's still early, Gushue told CBC News that he expects the team, comprised of Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker, will continue to play together.
"My guess is that it will be the same group of guys doing the same thing, and hopefully pulling it off this time," said Gushue.
"I love playing with the guys, we have a lot of fun and we had a lot of success thing year."
Gushue said Curling Canada did say it would take a look at the third-place match.