Russ Howard

Russ Howard
Born	(1956-02-19) February 19, 1956 Midland, Ontario
Career
Brier appearances	14 (1980, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009)
Top CCA ranking	12th (2004–05)
Grand Slam victories	0
Medal record Men's curling Competitor for  Canada Winter Olympics Gold 2006 Turin World Curling Championships Gold 1987 Vancouver Gold 1993 Geneva Competitor for  Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian Olympic Curling Trials Gold 2005 Halifax Competitor for  Ontario Labatt Brier Gold 1987 Edmonton Gold 1993 Ottawa Silver 1986 Kitchener Silver 1992 Regina Silver 1994 Red Deer Bronze 1989 Saskatoon Competitor for  New Brunswick Labatt/Nokia Brier Silver 2000 Saskatoon Bronze 2002 Calgary

Russell W. "Russ" Howard, ONL (born February 19, 1956 in Midland, Ontario) is a Canadian curler and Olympic champion, based in Moncton, New Brunswick, but originally from Midland, Ontario. His home club in Moncton is Curling Beausejour. Known for his gravelly voice, Howard has been to the Brier 14 times (8 as Ontario, 6 as New Brunswick), winning the title twice (both as Ontario). He is also a two-time world champion, winning in 1987 and 1993.^[1][2] He has also participated in two Canadian Mixed Curling Championships, and two Canadian Senior Curling Championships.

Career

In 2005, he called the shots for Brad Gushue's team at the Canadian Olympic Trials, while he played second. Howard, along with Gushue (who throws last rocks), lead Jamie Korab and third Mark Nichols went on to win the trials, giving them the right to represent Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics,^[3] where they won the gold medal, defeating Finland 10–4 in the final match.^[4] The gold medal was the first time that a Canadian team had won the gold medal for men's curling.^[2] Howard, who turned 50 during the Olympics, is also the oldest Canadian to win an Olympic gold medal.^[1][4] The oldest person ever to win a gold medal was Robin Welsh, aged 54, who won gold in curling at the 1924 Winter Olympics.

As a skip (captain), Howard has been in four previous trials, but never went on to the Olympics. Howard is also the innovator of the "Moncton Rule", which evolved into the "Free Guard Zone", part of international and Olympic rules.^[1] This makes his 2006 medal particularly significant, as it is likely that without the excitement this rule adds to the sport it would not have become an Olympic event in the 1990s.

In the 2009-10 curling season, although he played in bonspiels throughout the year, Howard did not curl in the New Brunswick Tankard due to his broadcasting commitments with TSN. Howard has been commentating curling events for TSN since 2001.

In 2006, he was inducted into the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame. In 2013, he was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.^[5]

Personal life

Howard and his wife Wendy work as Real Estate Agents for Royal LePage Atlantic. His brother, Glenn Howard, is also a well known curler.

Brier records

As of the end of the 2009 Brier, Russ had appeared in more Briers than any other player (14), and played more games at the Brier than any other player (174).^[6] The 2012 Brier saw his brother Glenn Howard tying his record for Brier appearances and breaking his record for most career games played at the Brier.^[7]

Personal details

His grand-aunt, Jean Thompson, was an Olympic runner. Besides curling, Howard worked as a real estate agent for Royal LePage Atlantic, a part-time commentator with The Sports Network (since 2001), and curling coach in Switzerland. In 2006 he was inducted to the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame.^[1]　Since 2012, he started H & K Dream Project with Hiroshi Kobayshi who is well known for Japanese Curling Commentator.

Publications

His autobiography is: Howard, Russ; Bob Weeks (2007). Hurry Hard: the Russ Howard Story. Toronto: Wiley. ISBN 978-0-470-83955-3.  Cite uses deprecated parameters (help)

References

External links

• Russ Howard on the World Curling Tour database