The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Denare Beach curling professional Jason Jacobson is on top of the world. He is the third on Brad Heidt's team, ranked #1 in the World Curling Tour. Skip Brad Heidt is a two-time Brier competitor (he was runner-up at the 1995 Brier to World Champion Kerry Burtnyk) and a previous World Curling Tour Championship winner. Jacobson is the third. The second is 2003 junior World Champion Mike Jantzen, and the lead is 2003 junior World Champion Steve Laycock. As of Monday, the team was sitting at the top of the World standings with $25,000 in winnings so far this season. Randy Ferbey, the reigning World Champion is in second place. Two weeks ago, Jacobson and his team won the Russell, MB World Curling Tour Bonspiel and $10,000, beating Pat Simmons 11-4 in the final. Monday, they won the SGI Charity Classic in Regina and $15,000, beating Wayne Middaugh 8-5 in the final, which also qualified them for the first 2003 Slam in Brandon, beginning November 6. The Slam is a $150,000 bonspiel. En route to the SGI final, the Heidt rink also downed well-known teams Mark Dacey, Kerry Burtnyk, and Bruce Korte. "This is an incredibly strong team," said Jacobson. "We are working very hard to achieve lofty goals that include a Brier appearance, a Canada-Cup appearance, and the chance to represent Canada at the next Olympics. Our team is curling virtually every day until we take a two-week Christmas break." The team is very committed to meeting those goals, and currently employ a coach (Barry Findell), a sports psychologist (Tom Graham), and a dietitian (Amanda Nahnybida). Jacobson's team has eight remaining World Curling Tour bonspiels before Christmas including this weekend's Medicine Hat Meyer's Norris Penny Classic. To follow the team's bonspiels, log on to www.saskcurl.com or www.worldcurlingtour.com.
