THE CANADIAN PRESS
GRAND FORKS, N.D. — At least no one can blame John Morris this time.
Kevin Martin and his Team Canada rink were 22 minutes late for their one-hour practice time Friday at the men’s world curling championship. Martin and his foursome of Morris at third, second Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert hustled into the opulent Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks long after the other rinks had started.
Team coach Jim Waite took the blame for getting the time wrong.
"It’s totally my fault," said a sheepish Waite.
Martin was unconcerned his team didn’t get a chance to practise on one of the outside sheets of ice.
"You always want to throw lots on the two middle sheets," he said. "That’s where all the playoffs are. The end ones don’t matter as much."
While organizers and several Canadian media tapped their feet waiting for Martin to appear, there was speculation that somehow Morris could be involved in the team being late. Trouble has a habit of following the baby-faced curler.
Before this year’s Tim Hortons Brier in Winnipeg, Morris broke his right pinky finger defending a friend in a bar fight. He still managed to be named the all-star third after shooting 89 per cent.
A week before the 2007 Brier, Morris was hit by a car. He bounced of the windshield and suffered a concussion.
An emotional player on the ice, Morris has also been known to snap brooms and once tore his shirt off in disgust after a loss.
He said those days are behind him.
"I think I’m a different player than when I was when I was younger," Morris said. "When I was younger, sometimes it was really difficult (to lose). Now, you know are going to lose a couple and it’s just not your day sometimes. But if you prepare your best and try your hardest, you’re going to have your fair share of wins. You can’t take those things to heart like I might have done in the past.
"Life is too short to get angry sometimes."
Controversy caught up with Morris again at the Brier.
Martin defeated Glenn Howard of Ontario 5-4 in the final. Afterwards, Howard complained that Morris had put his knees on the ice, creating soft spots that ruined some of the Ontario skip’s shots.
"I didn’t mean to do anything on purpose," said Morris. "I have nothing but respect for those guys. If they had an issue with myself or the way any of us were being on the ice, it should have been addressed after our first game with them. If it was a problem it would have been changed.
"It’s something that was very surprising it came up in the final. It makes you raise your eyebrow a little bit."
Martin defended his third after watching replays of the game.
"I wanted to know what was going on," said Martin. "I watched the video just to be sure.
"I’ve watched how much time he spent on the ice. It was no factor at all. Glenn might have thought that. If he goes back and watches the tape and does the same thing I did, then he’ll be OK."
Martin said Morris has been given a bad rap for touching the ice.
"Last year he did it a bit," he said. "It was a little overblown last year too. There was a couple of times where there was something, so we worked on it this year. He’s been excellent."
Morris, a 29-year-old firefighter, skipped Ontario at three Canadian junior championships. He won two Canadian titles and the world junior crown in 1998 and 1999. He represented Ontario at the 2002 Brier, finishing with a 9-5 record and lost the final to Alberta’s Randy Ferbey.
Two years ago he joined Martin’s rink as a third.
"It was a challenge," he said. "I had never played third in my life."
Morris quickly learned he enjoys the combination of sweeping and play calling afforded him as a third.
"I don’t know if I will ever go back to skipping," he said. "It’s way easier on my head to play third and I feel lot more in shape. I feel like I have a good impact on the game."
A victory this week would give Martin’s team a berth in the 2009 Canadian trials for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
This will be Martin’s third trip to the world championship but his first since 1997 when he finished fourth. He lost the 1991 final to Scotland’s David Smith.
The Edmonton skip has a history of struggling at international events. He was heavy on a last-shot draw in the final of the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics and had to settle for a silver medal. He finished fourth at the 1992 Albertville Olympics when curling was a demonstration sport.
Martin also was second at the 1986 world junior championships. His combined record in international round-robin play is 36-3 but he’s a dismal 3-7 in the playoffs.
That won’t prevent Martin’s rink from having a target on its back at this year’s world championship.
"I think Canada is always the favourite, " said Scottish skip David Murdoch, who won the 2006 world championship in Lowell, Mass., after defeating Canada’s Jean-Michel Menard in the final.
"They are the team to beat. That’s who everybody tries to beat. Hopefully sometimes you do."
Murdoch, a two-time European champion, lost the 2005 world championship to Ferbey in Victory.
Joining Murdoch as a serious contender in the 12-country field is Germany’s Andy Kapp. The skip from Fussen has finished second at the world championship twice and been third three teams.
"It’s a new week," Kapp shrugged. "We start at zero. We have a strong team and it’s a totally strong field. You have the best five teams out of Europe. It’s a wide field. Anybody can beat anybody."
Other rinks include Thomas Ulsrud of Norway, who finished third at the 2006 worlds; Australia’s Hugh Millikin, a North Vancouver native who is making his 11th appearance at the worlds; Craig Brown of the United States; Anders Kraupp of Sweden; Claudio Pescia of Switzerland; Johnny Frederiksen of Denmark; and Thomas Dufour of France.
China, skipped by Fengchun Wang, and the Czech Republic, skipped by Jiri Snitil, will make their world championship debut.
The Chinese women’s team skipped by Bingyu Wang lost the final of the world women’s championship to Canada’s Jennifer Jones last weekend in Vernon, B.C.
The teams will play a round-robin format with the top four advancing to the Page Playoffs.
Canadian rinks have won the world title 30 times since the championship was first played in 1959. Sweden has won the second most with five gold medals