Calgary Herald from Calgary, Alberta, Canada • 16

Ron Northcott Displays Curling Powers; Wins Brier In Clutch I vs. jl By LARRY WOOD Herald Staff Writer OSHAWA A few more notches in the curling record book have been carved by Ron Northcott in the name of Alberta. When it comes to the crucial shot, Northcott is as sure as death and taxes. And he proved it again Friday in winning his third national title in the past four years. Northcott was sitting on the griddle all day Friday but when the rock had to be there, it was, and in no uncertain terms.

Mind you, a vote of thanks was in order for London's benevolent Ken Buchan. Without Ken, who knows what might have transpired? The Alberta rink came from off the pace in a stunner to jolt Ontario 11-9 in the 10th round of the Brier, then roared into an early lead and hung on to ease past Saskatchewan's Bob Pickering 9-8 in the final round. But it might well have been an altogether different story had Buchan been able to put his shots together for a full game. The Ontario skip was immense for 10 ends in the morning but ran out of shots after he assumed a 9-6 lead. Northcott took advantage of that to score five points in the last two ends.

Finished With Perfect Record So it was a 10-0 finish for the 33-year-old Ron and his joyous cohorts Dave Gerlach, 28, Bernie Sparkes, 28, and Fred Storey, 37. That's the first perfect Brier effort since 1957 when Matt Baldwin, also of Alberta, went 10 straight at Kingston. And Baldwin's impeccable string was the first such ever for Alberta. The third title moves Northcott, Storey and Sparkes into elite company among Canadian curlers. Only three other skips have won three times Ernie Richardson, who has won four.

Ken Watson and Baldwin. And there are only eight other individual curlers who have shared in three Brier title, namely the four Richardsons, Howard Wood, Ken and Grant Watson and Baldwin. For Alberta, it was the province's 11th national title. That's second only to Manitoba, a curling power in earlier years, which has 16 championships. Northcott's over-ail Brier record now stands at 48-13.

As a skip in five of the last six Briers he's 40-11. Is such a victory getting to be old hat with "Each one seems to have some new kind of excitement," he said amidst a throng of well-wishers Friday. "There was more thrills here because it went right down to the last rock and we were pressed all the way. Last year, at Kelowna, we were in control most of the way and had the last match wrapped up a little earlier." Typical Northcott Pressure Shot Northcott's last rock against Pickering was another of those shots you've seen from him before. Pee Wee tried to hide his last one on fairly straight in-turn ice, behind a guard covering a corner of the four-foot.

He succeeded in getting it perhaps half covered but not enough to faze Northcott. The Calgary skip wheeled down to the hack, delivered a quiet in-turn which cleared the guard by plenty, pushed the Saskatchewan rock out of the rings and remained for the point that won the tankard. Gerlach, the rink's rookie, came up biggest on the final day with two 86 per cent performances. His freeze in the last end against Ontario was the key to that victory and he was a confidence booster for Northcott in the 11th round with his monotonously steady shooting. The final victory was a disappointment to British Columbia's Kevin Smale, above all.

The Prince George accountant was hoping for a Northcott defeat which would have forced a sudden death final Friday night. "I guess it just wasn't to be," he said later with a smile. "Usually 9-1 is good enough to win this thing but it's not this year. We had our shot at them (Alberta) Thursday and it wasn't our night. They're certainly the worthy winners.

Anybody who goes through this thing 10 straight proves that." Pickering finished in a tie for third place with P.E.I. 's Allan Smith who won a couple of squeakers Friday. Both were 7-3 and it's the second straight year Smith has managed that best-ever record for an Island entry. BRIER WINNER. Alberta's Ron Northcott threw, his last rock in the 12th end of a draw against Saskat-i chewan Friday and the Brier curling championship hung in the balance.

The score was 8-8 when the CaU gary skip delivered against Bob Pickering and made it good. Northcott, left, Fred Storey and Bernie Sparkes watch as Alberta's Dave Gerlach, front, and Pickering, right, sweep. WORLD OF SPORT (CP Wirephoto) SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 1969 PAGE 16 Blow Early 4-0 Lead Brier Notes If f2f 1 Larry WOOD Herald Staff Writer BRIEF NOTES Fred Storey was most excited about the Scottish trip later this month. "We've been trying for that one a long time," he grinned. "I feel pretty good It appeared that the Northcotts might make a mockery of their match with Pickering as they ran up a 4-0 lead in three ends.

Pee Wee goofed a couple of last-rock draws in the second and third to yield three of the points. The Avonlea skipper executed a fine raise in the fourth which set up a deuce, though, and after yielding a fifth-end single, drew the pot for one in the sixth and sealed away a shot rock in the four-foot which stood up for a steal in -the seventh. Pickering didn't miss a thing after the fifth. But Northcott made a blank eight pay off when he executed a spectacular 10-foot raise takeout at a slight angle to erase a Saskatchewan rock hidden in the four-foot and count a crushing three. "We should have been out of the woods with that 8-4 lead," Ron stated afterward.

"But oh no, we had to give that three right back and make it tough on ourselves." A corner freeze by Pickering on his first set up the 10th end. Ron threw his last rock a touch wide and bumped Pickering's rock onto his own, rolling vulnerable in the open. Pee Wee then hit for the three. Northcott fanned on the amateur side, attempting to blank the 11th by peeling off a Pickering rock biting the 12-foot in front. That left matters tied and the drama dripping.

about it." The rookie Gerlach was literally shaking with happiness. Did this beat winning a national police title? "You bet your boots," he said. "Boy was there a bunch of pressure out there today. Am I glad it's over. It was pretty scary when the ice started getting a little swingy and we got a little excited and started throwing a few around," Pickering said he felt his game against Northcott was his best of the Brier "I'd like to have beat them, if only to give Kevin (Smale) another chance," said the Wilcox, farmer.

"Those B.C. boys curled pretty well for a first Brier." Smale said he couldn't feel too bad about placing second in a Canadian championship. "We'll try to get back in here again," he added Popular Newfoundland skip Bill Piercey, the winner of the Harstone Memorial Award as the most sportsmanlike curler on hand, said he was happy to win it but that "I don't think there's a bai curler in the world, is there?" Here are Friday's shooting We Hope You Never Have a CAR ACCIDENT BUT IF YOU DO Call BILL KRIEN Calgary's Collision Expert 255-8111 FREE ESTIMATES percentages: 111 BILL KRIEN Ontario: Ken Buchan 68, Garry Weisz 68, Mitch Czaja 65, Ross Guest 66: Alberta: Ron Northcott 58, Dave Gerlach 86, Bernie Sparkes 78, Fred Storey 67. la II I (1 I i Saskatchewan: Bob Pickering 80, Garnet Campbell 69, Jim Thomas 68, Gary Ford 81; Alberta: Ron Northcott 64, Dave Gerlach 86, Bernie Sparks 67, Fred Storey 77. Also Ask About CHINOOK'S CAR PAINT SPECIAL You mix and blend color and then watch while your Car is being painted.

WHY NOT DRIVE AWAY WITH A NEW LOOK FROM CHINOOK OSHAWA Ronald Charles Northcott, you're enough to give a guy a coronary. You weren't consistently sharp Friday as you set out to grapple with that unbeaten Brier record. You were scrambling from behind and you were scrambling when ahead and you had your supporters in press row groaning with their ulcer pains. Maybe you didn't know it but it was bad enough shaking from the cold up there on the plywood pedestal. With all that CBC equipment parked behind the rink and all those television cables strung through the open rear door those frigid blasts of air on our backs had us all ready for the chiropractic table.

And you had to go and break up a dull, colorless and thoroughly uninteresting Brier by making it so terrifyingly close in those two games. Harumph. Didn't someone tell you that Ken Buchan had won only one game all week? You were supposed to know, too, that Pee Wee Pickering wasn't going good enough to beat you. When you got behind 9-6 to Ontario in that 10th end I was on the phone to the druggist for some of those pep pills. After all, these affairs are tough enough on we of the write brigade without you threatening us with a playoff game.

We don't get overtime in this business, you know. YAH, AND WE WERE sure fortunate that guy Buchan had a mental lapse on the teehead in the 11th. Was I breathing a sigh of relief when you cracked that big four? You'd better believe I was. But at least it was a pleasure listening to our Ontario counterparts screaming and yelling about stupid skipping. The last time we were down here they were pretty insufferable about somebody named Alfie Phillips Jr.

"Our Alfie wouldn't do a stupid thing like that," one of their leading lights was saying. "Three up in the 11th and he's playing follow the leader around a guard. We'll have to change our system of deciding our Brier reps before next year." And, hey save an extra pat on the back for Dave Gerlach, will you? That freeze he made in the 12th was a thing of beauty. It bailed us out again. You knew that Gerlach was the only Alberta curler who didn't make the press all-star rink.

And that's ridiculous. For my money your rink WAS the dream rink at this Brier, even if you did scare us silly on Friday. They gave the vice-skip nod to Peter Sherba of Prince George. The vote was 26-20. Fred Storey was a unanimous choice for lead and Bernie Sparkes missed just one vote as second.

You missed only three votes as all-star skip. The second team consisted of Kevin Smale, Gerlach, Jim Thomas and Gary Ford, the Saskatchewan front-enders. I voted for Quebec's Al Sully and P.E.I. 's Wiggy Wigginton as the second-team front end. BUT GETTING TO THAT Pickering game.

Man, you had that one wrapped up early. And you got to feeling sorry for old Pee Wee. Sure, I know he's a great guy but on that ice you've got to be mean, man, mean. You made a great last rock, though, just about the time I was thinking they'd have to carry us out of the rink due to an overdose of fatigue. It's one thing to be all choked up yourself, but have you ever tried sitting still with a couple of nuts like Bishop and Fleming tearing their hair, and your's too? Oh well, a few more hours and I will be as good as new.

Might even be ready for a victory party by tonight That is if you're having another one. Save me just a lick of the champagne, will you? 'SWING OF THE ICE' Over-all percentages for our champions on the week's 10 rounds show Northcott at 71 per cent, Gerlach 74 and Sparkes and Storey an equal 76. Northcott's high game, an 80, was against Northern Ontario; His low game (58) against Ontario. Gerlach was best (92) against Quebec and his low (55) was against Northern Ontario. Sparkie's high was a 90 against Nova Scotia while Storey was tops (86) against Quebec.

The low game for Sparkes (67) was against Saskatchewan and for Storey (61) against Manitoba Kenora's Terry Johnson was one who had special praise for the Northcott rink. "They're great," he said, "heck, it was a thrill just to be able to make him throw his last rock." Northcott's over-all assessment of the Brier: "I wasn't happy at all with the way we started but we came along. We were feeling a bit of pressure today, especially against Ontario. If we had lost there we really would have been up to it, needing two straight wins against two tough teams. Once we got past them it was a little easier because we knew if we lost to Pee Wee we still could win it with just one more." Brier Results Alberta 10 0 British Columbia 9 1 Saskatchewan 7 3 P.

E. I. 7 3 Northern Ontario 5 5 Quebec 5 5 New Brunswick 3 7 Manitoba 3 7 Nova Scotia 2 8 Newfoundland 2 8 Ontario 2 8 11th ROUND Quebec 202 010 204 10214 Manitoba 010 101 003 020 8 P.E.I. 102 010 100 100 1 7 N. Ontario 010 201 010 001 0 Saskatchewan 000 201 100 310 8 The triumph in Oshawa qualifies Northcott for the world championships in Perth, Scotland, beginning, March 18.

Alberta 121 010 003 001 9 Chinook Chrysler Paint Auto Body Shop One Block off Macleod Trail on 61 Ave. Ph. 255-8111 ALL OVER NOW: Skip Ron Northcott, right, embraces tecmmates Dave Gerlach, Fred Storey and Bernie Sparkes Friday after winning the Canadian Curling Championship for the third time. N. 030 202 012 00111 N.

201 010 100 210 8 Nfld. 000 000 204 010 7 Ontario 322 112 010 102 IS (CP Wirephoto) Bye: British Columbia llllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII A NEW MUSTANG TO THE WATTS AMATEUR ATHLETES TO PLAY ROLE IN 'SHINNY BOWL' i fete toK xt sity of Calgary Wrestling Club will demonstrate another form of combat. I Headlining the gymnastic display will be Czechoslovafc-ian-born Lenka Svatekova, the 14-year-old touted as Canada's brightest hope in international gymnastic competition. Backing Miss Svatekova wil be the City Gymnasts' Team, trained and coached by Hap A. Elsholz.

The final demonstration will feature four members of the University of Calgary Fencing Club. The show will open to the swirl of the Scottish bagpipe, as the Calgary Highlander Pipe Band, will perform fron 7:30 to 8 p.m. i The Calgary Fire Department has played a traditional role in the Shinny Bowl nights of the past. Always surprising, and guaranteed humorous, the fire fighters script and produce several skits to be used during the evening each one designed to tickle the fancy of the youngest and oldest spectator. -A- Calgary's ayem radio disc jockeys have agreed to continue their long established Shinny Bowl rivalry.

Mode of travel for the race had not been set at press time, but CFAC's Lome Ball; Michael James Anthony O'Brien, CK-XL; Howard Langdale, CFCN; Pat Pierson, CHQR; and Bill Kehler of CHFM will be on hand to out-drive, out-run, outride, out-skate, out-snowshoe or out-walk each other. Tickets for the Shinny Bowl are on sale at the Corral, Hol-lings Music Store in the North Hill Shopping Centre, York Hotel (Stampeder Office) and the Celebrity Box office in The Bay. A highly-rated squad of amateur athletes from Calgary will be featured in a four-ring performance at the 7th annual Shinny Bowl Night at the Stampede Corral, Tuesday, March 18. The event, co-sponsored by the Children's Hospital Aid Society and the Calgary Press Radio Television Sports Club, rates as the highlight of the annual drive for funds for crippled children The Easter Seal Campaign. The amateur sports program, designed to kick-off the program at 8 p.m., features karate, fencing, wrestling and gymnastics.

The four performances will be staged simultaneously in the four corners of the Corral ice surface. Simon Karate Studios of Calgary will provide a team to display the crafty art of protect and destroy, while Geoff Lucas Univer Oilers Take 2-0 Margin Calgary Oilers upset Red Deer Chiefs 4-3 Friday to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five Calgary Junior Hockey League finals. One game was tied. Jim Berridge, Dave White, Glen Phelps and Greg Charlton scored for Oilers with Howard Painter getting two for Chiefs and Loren Boschman one. Stampeders dropped BA Braves 5-3 in the first game of the city juvenile AA final.

John Young, Bob Murray, Jim Chay-tors, Terry Donaleshen and Bob Goods scored for Stamps with Howie Colburne, Rick Penling-ton and Rene Desmarais notching the Braves' goals. L. S. "Barry" Drayton, third from left, the newly appointed Western Regional Manager for Ford of Canada, is seen presenting the keys of a new 1969 Mustang to Mr. and Mrs.

Russel S. Watts, of Scollard. Alberta. The Watts won their Mustang in a recent Ford contest. Looking on is Jim Kalvn, Vice President of Mid-West Motors Stettler.

Alberta, the dealership through which the new car was won. iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiijiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, I.