The Scrape 001 » The John Cullen Experience
The biggest podcast in Canada is about curling brooms. Nebraska is a curling hotspot. And the new look Grand Slam crew heads to Nashville.
The biggest podcast in Canada (beating Joe Rogan!) is now the CBC-produced, John Cullen-hosted, deep-diving podcast into the curling scandal of the century: Broomgate.
Which, if you need a comedic refresher on the incident, Stephen Colbert has got you covered.
"You are about to see graphic depictions of Canadian news."
The six-part series has interviews with some pretty heavy hitters. And now that PEBs — Performance Enhancing Brooms — are available at fine curling retailers everywhere, you’ll know the real history, too. Listen here:
1️⃣ Mooooving on Up in Nebraska
The clock has started for Aksarben Curling as the Omaha City Council approved a plan for a new five-sheet dedicated curling facility, the first in Nebraska.
The club now has two years to complete fundraising and construct the facility after the city upgrades and expands the chosen site.
“There’d be dirt, hay, (manure) and everything else, and we’d spray it all out and clean it up to lay down water after we’d paint the lines and rings on the floor.”
Curl Up With a Story of Curling's Historical Ties to UNO, Omaha »
CurlingJobs.com is a free job listing board for curling clubs.
Head Ice Technician @ Royal Kingston Curling Club 🇨🇦
2️⃣ California Dreaming
Is there hope for more California ice? Los Angeles kicked off a flurry of well-if-they-can-we-can bids for dedicated ice in 2020 with the opening of the Southern California Curling Center. That short-lived venue and San Francisco's protracted build may have dampened mood temporarily. A Bay Area project has again raised the prospect of more curling ice.
Luis Melecio-Zambrano
The site could also serve as a hub for adult and youth hockey tournaments and curling leagues…
3️⃣ Grand Slam Slams into the U.S.
You're not living unless you're creating content, and the team behind the acquisition of the Grand Slam of Curling has made quick work of teasing their intentions for the tour.
With a lineup that would dominate most flag football leagues, the new leadership brought Canadian curling royalty together with a few NFLers-turned-curlers, a few U.S. curlers-turned...-curlers, and several cameras for a day trip to Nashville's Tee Line.
A group of investors and prominent athletes have reached an agreement to buy the Grand Slam of Curling from Canadian media giant Sportsnet. The consortium, known as The Curling Group, is in the process of raising an eight-figure Series A to overhaul everything about the sport’s biggest annual events, including where they’re held, how they’re marketed and how they’re monetized.
The Curling Group is co-founded by former PointsBet Canada executive Nic Sulsky and Rumble Gaming founder Mike Cotton. It also includes former NFL defensive end Jared Allen and curling gold medalist John Morris. Former NFL quarterback Marc Bulger, who owns a curling bar in Nashville, is a strategic advisor.
Eben Novy-Williams
This surely portends a U.S. Grand Slam event. But will it allow me to bet on Thursday night league games in Grand Rapids? Only time will tell.
