All things Canadian.....

Sick toddler in the house and no sleep the night before meant I fell asleep on the couch watching the Brier final. I would have loved to see this in the ninth - as described by Colby Cosh:

Ferbey, left with an open draw for two points, instead instructed Dave Nedohin to peel Alberta's shot stone and blank. This pretty much left the broadcast crew acting like their brains had been melted with some kind of brain-melt-o-tron, and it made Dave Nedohin, who throws last rocks for the rink, a little jumpy himself. The other three guys had to practically hold him down, telling him "We'll keep the four[-foot ring] open for you [on the last rock in the 10th]."
Which is just what they proceeded to do. Asked in front of the Edmonton audience why he made that choice, the pudgy skip just shrugged and said "It worked, didn't it?" I suspect that peeling--even if it's peeling your own rock--just feels right for a veteran Alberta curler like Ferbey, who remembers the pre-Free Guard Zone era when Pat Ryan and Kevin Martin would sit on a one-rock lead for days, zapping everything in sight out of the house. (Ferbey was, after all, the third on the Ryan Express.)

I think the explanation is most easily explained by last year's loss - when Dacey scored a three with last rock in the 10th.

Why wouldn't you put the win or loss in your own hands instead of your opponents? See this year's Scott final for a similar example - Ontario's Hanna deciding on her last shot to give Manitoba a shot for the win.

UPDATE: Just read this great quote:

"I've never seen that before," said former Brier champ Ed Lukowich.
"Now junior curlers all over the world are going to be out there, taking out their own rocks for two on the ninth with the game tied."

It's true - with the four rock free guard zone and the quality of play - the game is really changing.