In general, TTAC does not cover motorsports. But we’re on the ball when it comes to the business of automotive sponsorships for sports of all sorts. We recently reported that Ford—Detroit’s last man standing—is a major sponsor of curling. The wisdom of that choice has become clear, as the the Men’s Curling Final was one of the most exciting ever played. As The Canadian Press reports, “It was a game for the ages. The final game of the Ford World Men’s Curling Championships came down to the last rock in the 10th end to break a 6-6 tie between Canada’s Kevin Martin and David Murdoch of Scotland.” Nail-biting stuff and perhaps symbolic of Ford’s last ditch struggle to stay out of bankruptcy court.
Martin, the defending world champion, was apparently in control with hammer but elected to throw his second last stone away to avoid a mess of rocks in the house. He then missed a pivotal double take out that gave Murdoch a steal of two and an 8-6 victory.
“Hell of a game,” muttered Martin as he came off the ice.
“They had us in a little trouble there – a lot of rocks in the four foot and theirs was in the middle,” he added. “I had to hit my last one a little thicker. It was close. We actually moved shot rock. It was close.”
In curling, as in business, close doesn’t count.
Hehe. every time I hear about Moncton, all I can think of is Detroit Velvet Smooth and Trailer Park Boys in general. AFAIK, Ford isn’t doing too badly in Canada, and some Canadians do enjoy watching curling (I’m not one of them). So it might actually be helping Ford by sponsoring Curling.
In curling, as in business, close doesn’t count.
Actually, close counts. Closer just counts for more.
Kevin Martin’s team was 11-0 at the Canadian championships, and undefeated (2-0) in the playoffs for a total of 13-0.
At the worlds, his team was 10-0 until it played Scotland in the last game. It lost.
Curling uses a page playoff system. 1 plays 2, 3 plays 4. Winner of 1 and 2 advances directly to the final; loser plays the winner of 3 and 4. Winner of that game plays in the final.
Canada played Scotland in the page playoff and lost. No problem, beat Switzerland to get to the final game… and Canada did.
And then… Canada lost to Scotland in the final.
So… between the Brier (Canada’s championship) and the worlds, Canada played 27 games, and had a 24-3 record. All three losses were to David Murdoch’s rink from Lockerbie, Scotland.
Good game. Disappointing outcome, but Murdoch beat Martin three times, and nobody in Canada could beat him this year. Title earned.
Awwwww, Robert, you’re so mean!
…and as you can see there are people who take curling …well…. seriously. Think of cricket…or bocci…or golf
I don’t think he’s being mean, I think it’s a compliment to Ford.
Sports like these due to their gentle polite nature are a safe bet for sponsorship assuming the cost of the sport itself isn’t extravagant.
Ford has been synonymous with this tournament for many years so it should reflect positively on them from Canadians. My feeling is that even Canadians who aren’t into curling still appreciate the fact that it’s a big part of our culture and that we usually kick ass at it.
Anyone who gives sponsorship money to MILF’s is OK in my book.
When it thaws out up there, they can all have official team Mustangs.
Or maybe just stick with the F-150.
Ha Ha Ha!!! Ford so smart.
Let’s face it, there is comic value surrounding everything to do with Curling. Still, I bet the bang for the buck on this is way better than most other sports sponsorships.
If anyone could get an insider at Ford to give us the REAL skinny on the sponsorship it would be great. You can’t just ask, because publicly admitting it’s a great value is simply starting the next sponsorship negotiation at a disadvantage.