Brad Jacobs wants to change curling culture one fist pump at a time
Defending Olympic champ brings fitness and swagger to the ice
It was almost as if it happened overnight. Four young guys from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., burst onto the curling scene in 2013 and over that next year captured the Brier title and an Olympic gold medal.
Brad Jacobs, Ryan Fry and brothers E.J. and Ryan Harnden, were brash, built and really didn't care what people thought about them.
"We were younger, fit, brought a lot of energy," Jacobs said. "And that was more than people were used to."
The team competed for Northern Ontario at Briers from 2007 to 2012 without much success. But then in 2013 they had their breakthrough. Jacobs and his team became the first rink from Northern Ontario to win the Brier since Rick Lang in 1985.
They celebrate and fist-pump after big shots. They smack their brooms on the ice after misses. Jacobs and the rest of the team wear their emotions on their sleeves. And there were many in the traditional curling world who didn't like.
"I think early on you don't know how to handle the criticism because you're doing something people aren't used to," Jacobs said. "Early on it got to us a little bit but we said to heck with everyone, this is what we're going to do."
They took that swagger into the Olympic trials four years ago. They earned the last spot into the bonspiel by qualifying through the pre-trials event. As the last-place team nobody gave Jacobs and company a chance. But the four of them became fixated on proving people wrong.
Fresh off their Brier win, Jacobs rolled into Winnipeg for the 2013 Canadian Olympic curling trials. Despite winning the national championship, they were still considered underdogs going up against the likes of Kevin Martin, Jeff Stoughton and Glenn Howard.
But Jacobs wasn't going to be denied.
Steamrolled everyone
The team steamrolled everyone in the round robin, going undefeated. Then they beat John Morris in the final to earn the right to represent Canada at the Olympics.
If people didn't know the young guys from northern Ontario at that point, they would now. And throughout it all they stuck to who they are: emotional, dramatic and intense.
"We aren't the team that pats each other on the back and says way to go," Jacobs said. "There's no secret. We wear our emotions on our sleeves and say pretty much whatever we want to one another."
Jacobs points to a genuine ability to be brutally honest with and trust in each other to being the reason they were able to capture gold for Canada at the Olympic in Sochi, defeating Great Britain 9-3 in the championship game.
For as memorable as going to the Olympics and winning gold for Canada was for Jacobs, he says it was exhausting and pressure-packed.
"It's a proud moment but it was a total relief. That maple leaf is pretty heavy on your back," he said.
"Getting up on that podium we were finally able to take a deep breath. There was a lot of weight lifted off our shoulders and look at our flag and be proud."
Jacobs says that's the reality of being a curler or hockey player at the Olympics for Canada. When you go to the Games wearing the red and white, Canadians expect gold in these sports, he said.
Frustrating four years
Should Jacobs get back to the Olympics and capture gold — he's trying to earn a spot in Pyeongchang, South Korea as the Canadian trials open this week in Ottawa — he'd be the first men's skip to do it twice in a row.
But since winning Olympic gold the team hasn't been able to find that championship touch. At times, it's been overly frustrating for Jacobs. They lost the Brier championship in 2015 and have placed third and fourth at the last two.
"We've been through our ups and downs as a team. When we first formed our team we rose to the top really quickly," Jacobs said.
"As everyone knows it's hard to stay there. We have experience with that. We've had some really disappointing moments after we did rise to the top. We've been through it all"
They've cleared the slate heading into this season though. Jacobs refers to his team as a family. They've been blunt with one another about what they need to do to get back to the top. Now they're heading into another Olympic trials. And for right now, they're still the defending champs.
"I believe we can do this," Jacobs said. "We know it's never been done. We know how hard it is but why not?"
They won't be hard to miss in Ottawa at the trials. They'll be the foursome living and dying on every shot and making sure fans know when they make a good one.
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