Guess who was at the Tim Hortons Brier in Ottawa today?
Some of Canada’s best curlers.
Check.
Curling fans from across the country.
Excellent.
The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
Say whaaaat?
A group of fans from Calgary and Edmonton sat in the stands at T.D. Place dressed up as the TV superheroes. They call themselves The Sociables, and they’ve been spicing up Briers for the past six years.
“We dress up in a new costume every single day. We come out and cheer on curling and have a great time," says head Sociable, Nathan Woynarski. “We’ve been jailbirds. We’ve been Super Troopers, Minions. We’ve been Where’s Waldo.” “We wear our kilts as well. We do that all the time,” he adds.
Welcome to the weird world of Brier fashion where, unlike the play on the ice, the rules are fast and loose.
Amanda Duff came from Yorkton to cheer on Team Saskatchewan. She was sporting a headpiece best described as runaway hair with flashing lights woven into it. It was, of course, Saskatchewan green. “Lots of people have mistaken it for being St. Patrick’s Day, but it’s not,” she laughs.
Dotted throughout the crowd were fans wearing curling rocks on their heads, curling rock hats, hand-knitted curling rock toques or, in Dan McGlinchey’s case, a foam facsimile of an actual curling rock. “And it was an umbrella yesterday in the rain,” he adds.
A group of ladies from Southern Ontario came dressed as the “Brier Belles” with matching purple tiaras and sashes. A look they can only pull off at the Brier. “You have to have the right crowd to sport the Brier Belle look,” says Kim Ross.
Another group from Gander, Newfoundland, dressed to support their provincial champion, Brad Gushue. They wore matching t-shirts with big bold letters that collectively read G-U-S-H-U-E on the front and R-O-C-K-S on the back.
It’s perhaps not what you would expect from fans of the game. But it certainly adds a colourful spark. “We’re trying to get everyone to have a better time here, you know, while they’re watching curling,” says Woynarski.
Purists might frown upon it but, then again, who can argue with a Mighty Morphin Power Ranger?
