“And again, I had to pinch myself. Could this all really be happening? Was it possible that I was now a gold medal winner at fifty?“I had won many championships, world and Canadian championships, Ontario and New Brunswick championships. I had won hundreds of bonspiels and cashed scores of first-place cheques. I have a basement full of trophies and medals, but nothing could compare to the moment I was experiencing now; nothing could ever match the newest reward that was hanging from my neck.”
From Hurry Hard, Chapter 1
It was a long journey for Russ Howard from his childhood in small-town Ontario to the pinnacle of the Olympic podium in Turin at the 2006 Winter Games. Worlds apart, separated by thousands of kilometers and over four decades, but joined by one remarkable curling career.
A career that started on a quiet, lonely rink in Midland, Ontario. Howard, coached by his father, developed a solid, consistent delivery at an early age. He loved practicing, where other youngsters loathed it, and for hour after lonely hour he honed his skills by throwing rock after rock on the rink at the Midland Curling Club. A natural skip from a young age, Howard was always drawn in by the strategy of the game. He relished the responsibility of throwing the last rock. For him, it was always exciting and thrilling to control the final shot of the game, where others were fearful or nervous. And for over three decades, it has been exciting and thrilling to watch him.
With award-winning journalist Bob Weeks, Russ Howard takes us on his personal journey through forty years of playing the game he loves: championships won and lost, the characters in the game, ever-changing teams and teammates, personal triumph and heartbreak, and an inside view of the curling world from one of the greatest in the sport.
