A 46-year-old rookie is keeping pace with the heavy hitters at the Tim Hortons Brier.
Quebec’s Serge Reid posted a pair of wins yesterday at the Metro Centre, demolishing Saskatchewan’s Darrell McKee 10-2 in the morning and edging P.E.I.’s Rod MacDonald 8-7 in 11 ends in the afternoon to improve to 5-2 and sit in a four-way tie for third with Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton, Alberta’s Kevin Koe and Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs.
Glenn Howard of Ontario remains unbeaten atop the field at 7-0, while Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador is next with a 6-1 mark.
Nobody else is better than 2-5.
“We’re in the field now,” said Reid, who has curled for 30 years but is a relative unknown on the national scene. “If we go 50-50 in the last four games, we’re 7-4, and that’s very, very good for us at our first Brier … You never know, maybe (make the playoffs via a) tiebreaker.”
Reid, from the Kenogami Curling Club in Jonquiere, has established himself as one of the underdogs to watch along with Jacobs. He said getting a couple of early wins helped his group of first-timers find a “comfort zone.”
“Winning (early) was very important (to get) the pressure down,” he said.
“After that, the confidence comes.”
Gushue, meanwhile, said he is “still not real happy” with his rink’s play despite an outstanding record.
The 29-year-old 2006 Olympic gold-medallist has a big day today, facing Howard in the morning and Stoughton in the afternoon.
“It’s going to be a tough day,” Gushue said.
“I think (this) is when the positioning for playoff spots really starts … We just have to go out, play well, hopefully get a win, and see where we stand.”
