Hurry Hard!...but I don't get it.

I don't consider it coincidence that Don's new job in Edmonton starts the same week as the Tim Horton's Brier. I'm not as hardcore about curling as he is, but I do enjoy watching occasionally.

The Brier, like the Grey Cup and the Memorial Cup, is a national sporting treasure where people show up for the love of the game, not to be seen making an idiot of one's self (see: Indy, Molson), follow a media bandwagon (see: Vinsanity), or both (see: Red Mile).

What I don't get about The Brier is this: Why do they call it The Brier? the tournament was originally sponsored by MacDonald Tobacco in 1927, but since 1980 the title sponsorship has been in the hands of Labatt Breweries, Nokia Electronics, and now Tim Horton's. Some lucky rink could have walked off with "The Keg", "The Pager", or this year, "The Crueller".

Mind you, the trophy originally donated by Lord Stanley of Preston for the amateur hockey champions of Canada back in 1893 is now the property of American corporation with no intention of presenting it to anyone this year. Shows what I know.