加拿大的冰壶球迷很好--直到你输掉比赛
Canada's curling fans are great — until you lose
20190320 Social Sharing
‘The pressure from fans is an amazing thing, except when things go south,’ says Canadian great Colleen Jones
Devin Heroux
· CBC Sports · Posted: Mar 20, 2019 4:41 PM EDT | Last Updated: March 21, 2019
阿尔伯塔省跳绳运动员Chelsea Carey在女子冰壶世锦赛上以4胜4负的战绩获得了球迷的强烈反响。(Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press) 长大后在国际赛事中披上枫叶，是每个加拿大冰壶运动员的梦想。毕竟，这通常意味着登上领奖台。 对加拿大冰壶运动员的期望是巨大的，有时几乎令人窒息。只要问问这个国家任何曾经从鹅卵石的冰面上上升到花岗岩明星的冰壶运动员就知道了。 加拿大的冰壶球迷是热情的。他们会支持他们的球队，直到最后一块石头被抛出。多年来，他们也被宠坏了。加拿大在历史上一直主导着这场咆哮的比赛。像冰球一样，当涉及到加拿大冰壶运动员在国际赛事中的心态是金牌或失败。 但随着这两项运动的发展，国际竞争的水平也在不断提高。 那么，当不按计划进行时会发生什么呢？在丹麦举行的女子世锦赛上，跳远运动员切尔西-凯里正在为进入季后赛而努力，而在去年的平昌奥运会上，男女运动员都没有赢得奖牌。(加拿大的混合双打队，在该项目首次出现在奥运会上，确实赢得了金牌）。 "枫叶的压力和来自球迷的压力是一件了不起的事情，除了当事情发生变化时，"六届苏格兰杯冠军科琳-琼斯说。"然后，重量是如此之大，它响彻你的耳朵，你感觉它遍布你的身体。这都是[代表加拿大]的特权，但有时也很难。" 即使是伟大的科琳-琼斯在没有获胜时也受到了严厉的批评。(Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press) 琼斯说，作为有史以来最优秀的冰壶运动员之一，她不得不在职业生涯的早期了解到对冰壶运动员的高度期望。 琼斯说："我输掉的第一个惨痛教训是1982年在日内瓦举行的世界比赛，"。 琼斯刚刚在22岁时与她的姐妹们一起赢得了她的第一个苏格兰杯（仍然是有史以来最年轻的）。当她出发去参加世界锦标赛时，似乎她所有的冰壶梦想都要实现了。 然后他们就没有了。那一年没有。 冰面情况很糟糕。场馆里到处都是窗户，明亮的阳光照射进来，将冰层融化了一些地方。冰面是倾斜的。这与琼斯的任何冰壶不同。她没能获得季后赛资格，在决胜局中输给了挪威队。 "琼斯说："这很令人沮丧，因为我太年轻了，不知道我还不知道什么，没有充分认识到这个游戏有办法打败你，让你保持谦逊。 切尔西-凯里在第九局打出三分，加拿大队（4-4）在丹麦丝绸堡举行的世界女子冰壶锦标赛上以8-7击败中国队。 琼斯随后在17年后参加了世界冠军的争夺。在加拿大，也不例外。但琼斯以4-5的成绩错过了季后赛，这是加拿大最后一次在女子冰壶世锦赛上未能进入季后赛。 "琼斯说："背着枫叶的艰巨性使我陷入了思想和情绪的漩涡，在消极和恐惧的圈子里不停地打转。 然后就有了仇恨邮件。那时候还没有社交媒体，粉丝们只需点击几下就能迅速喷出他们的毒舌。琼斯收到了来自加拿大各地的手写信件，寄到她的家里和冰壶俱乐部。 "她说："他们说我是加拿大的耻辱，不应该再玩冰壶。"这是非常个人化的，因为他们花时间来寄这些信。甚至花钱买了邮票。但他们总是匿名的"。 对切尔西-凯里的同情 琼斯说，压力、恐惧和消极情绪是切尔西-凯里必须与之抗争的东西。加拿大队在今年的世界锦标赛上的跳板，在八场比赛后以4-4的成绩排名。周二在丹麦的比赛中出现了一个低潮，凯里的团队放弃了10个不连贯的分数，以13-6输给了美国队。 不满的球迷在那场比赛后在社交媒体上发言。 "这很伤人。我们在冰壶运动中最艰难的日子之一。我们对我们的结果和我们的球迷一样感到难过，"推特上的帖子从球队的账户上读到。 球迷们也在社交媒体上发表了言论。一场负面情绪的风暴在推特上熊熊燃烧--表达了多年前针对琼斯的类似情绪--说该队是加拿大的耻辱，不应该出现在那里。 琼斯清楚地知道球队现在的感受。 "看着切尔西和那帮人，我的胃变成了疙瘩，我的右肩疼得厉害，骨子里还有一种伤痛。琼斯说："就像发生在切尔西身上的事情是我的损失的重演。"我穿着她的鞋子走了一百英里，也许更多。" 琼斯最终将为加拿大赢得一个世界冰壶锦标赛--她将以两个冠军结束她的职业生涯。她认为这将是她生命中一个了不起的时刻。 "他们并不像我想象的那样喜悦，只是简单地对我们没有输掉比赛而大松一口气。这有多奇怪呢？"她问道。 卡梅伦说，在某些时候，人们的期望必须与这个时代竞争性冰壶运动的现实相协调--更不用说一些大局观的思考。 "加拿大已经以不败的记录赢得了过去两届世界女子锦标赛。期望我们派去参加世界锦标赛的每一支队伍都能做到这一点，这公平吗？当然不是。" 至于那些在失望时选择匿名抨击加拿大冰壶运动员的人，卡梅伦对他们没有太多的时间。 "我不认为这些人中的大多数会在公开场合说这种话，甚至对他们的亲密朋友说。但不知何故，他们认为当没有人知道他们是谁时，这样做是可以的，"他说。 "当我看到人们对我们的运动员表现出这种缺乏同情心和尊重的态度时，这很难。然后再加上我真的喜欢我们的运动员和教练员。这些都是我完全尊重和钦佩的朋友，看到他们受到这样的对待，我的内心很受打击。 ———————————————————— Alberta skip Chelsea Carey has gotten quite the backlash from fans as her rink sits with a 4-4 record at the women’s world curling championships. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press) It's every Canadian curler's dream to grow up and put on the Maple Leaf at an international event. After all, it usually means a podium finish. The expectations placed upon Canada's curlers are immense, nearly suffocating at times. Just ask any curler who's ever risen from the pebbled ice to granite stardom in this country. Canada's curling fans are passionate. They'll support their teams until the last rock is thrown. They've been spoiled over the years, too. Canada has historically dominated the roaring game. Like hockey, the mindset when it comes to Canadian curlers at an international event is gold or bust. But as both sports have grown, so has the level of international competition. So what happens when it doesn't go according to plan? Skip Chelsea Carey is struggling to make the playoffs at the women's world championships in Denmark, and neither the men nor women won a medal at last year's Olympics in Pyeongchang. (Canada's mixed doubles team, in the event's first appearance at an Olympics, did win gold.) "The pressure of the Maple Leaf and from fans is an amazing thing, except when things go south," says six-time Scotties winner Colleen Jones. "Then the weight is so big it rings through your ears and you feel it all over your body. It was all a privilege [to represent Canada], but sometimes hard."
Even the great Colleen Jones received harsh criticism when she didn’t win. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press) One of the best-ever to play the game, Jones says she had to learn the hard way early in her career of the high expectations placed on curlers. "My first harsh lesson of losing was the worlds in Geneva in 1982," Jones said.. Jones had just won her first Scotties alongside her sisters at age 22 (still the youngest ever to do so). As she departed for the world championships it seemed all her curling dreams were coming true. And then they didn't. Not that year. The ice conditions were atrocious. The arena was filled with windows and a bright sun beamed in, melting the ice in spots. The surface was sloped. It was unlike anything Jones had curled on. She failed to qualify for the playoffs, losing a tiebreaker to Norway. "It was crushing because I was so young and didn't know what I didn't know yet and didn't fully appreciate that the game has a way of beating you and keeping you humble," Jones says.
Chelsea Carey scored a triple in the ninth end, as Canada (4-4) beat China 8-7 at the world women's curling championship in Silkeborg, Denmark.
Jones then competed for a world title 17 years later. In Canada, no less. But Jones missed the playoffs with a 4-5 record, the last time Canada has failed to reach the playoffs at the women's world curling championships. "The enormity of having the Maple Leaf on my back made me spiral into a swirling mess of thoughts and emotions that just kept going around in a circle of negativity and fear," Jones says. And then came the hate mail. This was before social media, when fans can quickly spew their venom in a few clicks. Jones received hand-written letters from across Canada, to her home and the curling club. "They said I was an embarrassment to Canada and should never curl again," she says. "It was so personal because they were taking the time to send these letters. Even paid for a stamp. But they were always anonymous." Compassion for Chelsea Carey
The pressure, fear and negativity are something Chelsea Carey must be battling, says Jones. Team Canada's skip at this year's world championship is sitting with a 4-4 record after eight games. A low point came Tuesday in Denmark when Carey's team gave up 10 unanswered points to lose to the Americans 13-6. Disgruntled fans took to social media after that game. "It hurts. One of our toughest days in curling. We feel as bad about our result as our fans," the post on Twitter read from the team's account. Fans also took to social media. A firestorm of negativity blazed across Twitter — expressing similar sentiments aimed at Jones all those years ago — saying the team was an embarrassment to Canada and shouldn't be there. Jones knows exactly what the team is feeling right now. "Watching Chelsea and the gang turns my stomach into knots and my right shoulder aches with a hurt that is still in my bones. It's like what is happening to Chelsea are my losses all over again," Jones says. "I've walked a hundred miles in her shoes, maybe more." Jones would finally win a world curling championship for Canada — she would finish her career with two. She thought it would be an awesome moment in her life. "They weren't as joyous as I thought, just simply a big relief that we didn't lose. How strange is that?" she asks. Olympic disappointment
Brent Laing also knows what Carey is experiencing . He was at the Olympics last year on Kevin Koe's team, which failed to reach the for Canada. It marked the first time both Canadian men's and women's curling teams had failed to win a medal at the Games in curling. Prior to that experience, Laing had won only gold at international events — in all three world championships he played. "I wish we could play the Olympics over again. It sucks when you don't perform for Canada," Laing says. "Last year was a totally different experience and it sucked." Both Koe's team and Rachel Homan's women's rink were on the receiving end of Canadian curling fans' wrath throughout the Olympics. Laing did his best to ignore it all. "What someone on Twitter says about me who I will probably never meet doesn't mean that much to me," he says. Jennifer Jones, Laing's wife, is also a six-time Scotties champion. She's won the world curling championship twice, including going undefeated last year. "There's obviously a lot of pressure, but all that pressure makes playing for Canada so special because there's so much pride," Jones says. Jones has been watching closely as Carey competes in Denmark. Jones' longtime second, Jill Officer, who retired from curling last season, is the alternate on Carey's team. "My heart breaks for them right now. They're trying their best. We always are. It's a dream come true to get there and you want to fulfil it in the most amazing way. But it's sport," Jones says. Criticism taken to a different level in curling
Al Cameron, a longtime sports journalist and Curling Canada's director of media relations, says what he's reading on social media right now regarding Canada's performance at this year's world championship isn't unique to curling, but he's shocked at the level of negativity. "I do believe curling fans take it to another level compared to other sports in Canada — again, a byproduct of Canada's status as a curling nation," Cameron says. Cameron is in Denmark with Carey's team. He's in those post-game scrums after their victories and defeats. He also sees them out of the bright lights of the interview circle. "The expectations — they're all very aware of them, and they also know that in this day and age, if they don't achieve those expectations, the conversation is certainly taking place around them and about them," he says.
