Sault Ste. Marie’s Brad Jacobs is into the playoffs at the Tim Hortons Brier in Halifax.

On Thursday morning in draw 15, Jacobs ran his winning streak to seven games with a huge 8-4 win over a pre-tournament favourite in Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Jacobs twice stole single points and sealed the win over Gushue, a former Olympic gold medalist, with a hit-and-stick for three points in the sixth end.

Full story via SooToday.com: Jacobs takes down Gushue to secure playoff spot

Kevin Martin’s team has been touring the country as rock stars after winning their Curling Olympic Gold Medals. This weekend they are in Halifax, Nova Scotia and autograph seekers are waiting in long line-ups just for the chance to have something signed. There is one other event going on in Halifax this week: The Brier – The Canadian Men’s Curling Championship. An event that Martin’s team is not competing in.

Curling has never had as much exposure as it had at the Olympics with up to 6.9 million people in Canada watching a portion of the Gold Medal game from Vancouver during the Olympics. People who have never tried Curling across Canada and the United States are visiting Curling clubs to give the sport a try after becoming interested from watching the hours of coverage available during the Winter Games. The Brier could capitalize on the enthusiasm with thousands of new viewers tuning in looking to get their Curling fix only a short week after Canada’s Gold Medal victory. This new and less Curling savvy audience will likely be tuning in to see Kevin Martin and his team of John Morris, Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert compete against the best Men’s teams from Canada. The sad thing is that they won’t see his team there because of the Canadian Curling Association’s (CCA) choice to not give the defending champion a bye to the Brier like they do for the women at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Kevin Martin chose not to play in Alberta playdowns after winning the Canadian Olympic Trials in order to focus on winning Gold in Vancouver. In order to play in the Alberta Championship, his team would have had to play up until the day before departing for Vancouver which undoubtedly would have left them fatigued heading into the Olympics. Very few people could have questioned the choice to only focus on the Olympics. Martin’s team is the first Brier champion to win Olympic Trials in the same year. But, the CCA should have known this was inevitably going to happen. The year long marketing possibilities that are being missed by not having the returning champion participating are huge and the fact that you have an Olympic Gold Medalist signing autographs instead of playing is even greater.

Men’s Curling can learn something from Women’s Curling and Scott Paper. Having the defending champion return to the Canadian Championship has worked well for the women and can work just as well for the men. It’s time the CCA made the change, especially this year with the best and most recognizable team in the world not throwing a single stone.

Martin first read of the prophecies of Nostradamus 20 years ago, and has come not only to put some faith in them, but also make decisions based in part on them.

“He’s right a lot, in my opinion,” said Martin of the controversial 16th-century figure, whose prophecies have been interpreted for centuries as foretelling various historic events. “I’m not a real book reader, but I watch any documentary on Nostradamus. It’s very interesting to me.

Did any of Nostradamus’ prophecies mention a curling team from Alberta winning 26 straight games in two Briers with some of the strongest fields ever?

Full story – Calgary Herald

Here are Playdowns.com odds to win the Brier:

Ontario: 3-2
Alberta: 2-1
Newfoundland: 4-1
Manitoba: 6-1
Quebec: 10-1
BC: 12-1
Saskatchewan: 12-1
Nova Scotia: 14-1
New Brunswick: 20-1
Northern Ontario: 40-1
PEI: 80-1
Yukon/NWT: 100-1

The “Brier Song” was written and recorded by Pat Ryan for the Calgary Brier. You can listen to the song on Pat’s Myspace profile along with more of his music.

A news conference is planned for next Tuesday in Halifax to announce the 2010 Tim Horton’s Brier will be played at Halifax Metro Centre.

Officials from the Canadian Curling Association, including chief executive officer Greg Stremlaw and event operations and media relations manager Warren Hansen, along with local organizers and officials are scheduled to attend.

While the reason for the media event has not been formally announced, three sources close to the negotiations said a deal has been concluded. Those involved have been asked not to speak on the record.

Full Story | thechronicleherald.ca

The Canadian men’s curling championship final was billed as the equivalent of Phil Mickelson vs. Tiger Woods on the final day of the Masters golf tournament.

As it turns out, the heavyweight showdown between Alberta’s Kevin Martin and defending champion Glenn Howard of Ontario will be remembered for botched takeouts, heavy draws and petty sniping between the teams over the brutal ice conditions.

Martin rocks the Brier