Ford World Men's Curling Final: "A Game for the Ages"

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

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.

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • MikeInCanada MikeInCanada on Apr 13, 2009

    Anyone who gives sponsorship money to MILF's is OK in my book.

  • Mtypex Mtypex on Apr 13, 2009

    When it thaws out up there, they can all have official team Mustangs. Or maybe just stick with the F-150.

  • Gusplus Gusplus on Apr 13, 2009

    Ha Ha Ha!!! Ford so smart.

  • Landcrusher Landcrusher on Apr 14, 2009

    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.

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