by Jim Anderson
Contributor
Just because your knees get a little creaky and your back doesn’t bend too well doesn’t mean you have to quit curling.
You just switch to a stick delivery and rock on.
Cliff Christianson, a youthful 85 years old, is proof positive that even if there’s snow on the roof, there can still be fire in the furnace. He won the Abbotsford Masters Bonspiel held March 11-13, with his rink of Gary Snowden, Ron Ferguson, and Rudy Hanni.
They knocked off Bruce Lonsbury of Langley in the final game in a last-rock thriller. This (probably) marked the first time a host team has won this spiel, as Pacific Coast Masters Curling Association rules require the hosts to enter only club teams (randomly selected), while the visitors can hand pick their rinks.
Milt Sinclair’s local team of Derek Robinson, Jim Anderson, and Doug Carvey also had a pretty fair run in master’s play. They qualified for provincials in both the Curl BC and PCMCA zone playdowns and went on to win the Guy Philps trophy, emblematic of PCMCA supremacy.
This is the first time since 2003 that an Abbotsford team has won the historic championship, which has been contested since 1962.
Sinclair, ever humble, credited his strong sweeping front end with much of his success.
“I would be nothing without them,” he stated. “Seriously, these guys are studs. Hebert and Kennedy could take lessons from those guys.”
Be reminded that the semi-annual general meeting of the Abbotsford Curling Club takes place at the club April 6 at 7 p.m. If you don’t show up and let your opinion be heard, you can’t really complain about the results. Come on out and depose the president. (Please!)
