The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Saskatoon curler Jason Jacobson doesn't mind telling people he was the top shooter at the 2010 Tim Hortons Brier. He is quick to add that he was only actually called on to make two shots during that entire tournament, but made them both, as the little-used alternate for Darrell McKee's Saskatchewan rink. The Denare Beach-native made a lot more than two shots as the full-time skip for Team Canada at the Canadian Police Curling Championship in Saskatoon at the Nutana Curling Club this past week. After winning as the Saskatchewan representatives last year, the Jacobson rink successfully defended its title the Saturday before last, winning 5-4 in an extra end over the Dave Chalmers rink from Manitoba in this year's final. Jacobson, a Saskatoon police officer, teamed with Jeremy Tipper, formerly of the Saskatoon RCMP, now in Ottawa, Gerry Schneider of the Regina RCMP and Al Dmytryshyn of the Turtleford RCMP. 'We were up till 2 in the morning, and getting up again at 7 a.m. every day to drive teams around and do all these events,' Jacobson said. 'It's nice to do well at (curling), too. I don't think it's anything any of us expected to win at all last year and doing it again this year was amazing.' In addition to his 2010 Brier experience, Jacobson also regularly competes on the World Curling Tour and the Saskatchewan men's playdowns. The 35-year-old Jacobson has lost three times in the final game of the provincial tankard (2001, 2004 and 2008). This year, Jacobson skipped a rink to the Saskatchewan northern playdowns before bowing out in the semifinals. His fondest curling memories, however, are from 2008 when he won the Saskatchewan mixed curling championships, along with his wife, Amanda, and competed at nationals for the first time. They made it as far as the semifinals. Despite having curled at higher levels, Jacobson is impressed by the police competition. 'These guys are good curlers,' Jacobson said. 'If you compare it to the Saskatchewan Tour, or northerns or southerns in playdowns, I would say the teams here are just as good.' 'The Canadian Police Curling Championships are underrated,' Tipper added. 'We have some unbelievable curlers. This whole field was strong.' It's helpful for Jacobson that the police nationals start after the provincial playdowns are complete. The only conflict would happen if Jacobson's team won the Brier and went on to the worlds. 'Our goal in men's is to make the Brier,' Jacobson said. 'It's too hard to put in the time that (Brier champions) do full-time. 'I mean, I have a job. We might be able to beat them, but it's probably one out of five times, not half the time.' Jacobson and his entire rink plan to be on hand in 2014 to go after their third straight police national title. This article was reprinted with permission from Don Rice of The StarPhoenix in Saskatoon.
