For pure Canadiana, the Brier is hard to beat

National Post, 06 March 2020

Curling is very, very Canadian in the best sense — challenging, wintry, courteous. Every good shot, regardless of team, is cheered with admiration.

KINGSTON, ONT. — Sports do not infallibly bring out the best in the human condition. But sometimes they do, as in this week in Canada.

Major League Baseball is weeks away from opening a new season having discovered that the Houston Astros — best record in baseball last year, three consecutive 100-win seasons, World Series champions in 2017 — ran a prolonged scheme to massively cheat. Baseball is not greatly fussed about that. The players will not be punished, their titles and records will remain because, well, correcting it would be an enormous bother and, besides, wouldn’t it mean having to act when other cheaters were caught? Baseball has a very, very long history of cheating. It’s somewhat traditional behaviour in a pastime that loves its traditions. A genteel sport is plagued by ungentlemanly conduct.

The contrary appears to be true this week in Kingston, where the annual Brier, our national men’s curling championship, is taking place. Curling is very, very Canadian in the best sense — challenging, wintry, courteous. It’s a nice change from nearly everything else going on in the country at the moment.

Last week in these pages Sean Speer wrote about the Special Olympics taking place in Thunder Bay as a refreshing contrast to the rise of rancour across the land. The games — for those with intellectual or developmental disabilities or cognitive delay — use sports to bring out the best in the athletes and all those who assist them.

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https://nationalpost.com/opinion/raymond-de-souza-for-pure-canadiana-the-brier-is-hard-to-beat