Todd Malpass has a good/bad day

It's hard to organize a big sports event and play in it too. Just ask Todd Malpass.

Malpass is chairman of the local organizing committee that brought the world's best curlers to Sault Ste. Marie this week for the Grand Slam of Curling.

He also skips one of the 24 teams competing in the event.

Thursday afternoon, Malpass proved it's hard to do both, conceding defeat after the sixth end to Vic Peters' squad from Winnipeg, currently ranked 13th in the world.

By the time Malpass shook hands, the score against his team (vice Greg McLellan, second Al Belec, lead Ray Heycock) had mounted to 10-1.

If Malpass's performance on the ice was lacklustre, his reputation as an organizational wunderkind remains definitely intact.

"He's got a great committee," said Chad McMullan, executive director of the World Curling Tour.

"The other event they run, the Regent Capital Curling Classic, is one of the most successful events on the World Curling Tour," McMullan told SooToday.com.

McMullan was particularly effusive about the marketing savvy of Malpass's Sault organizers, pointing to the great turnouts at initial events.

Another Soo team posted two losses on Thursday.

Ed Premo's squad of vice Greg McLellan, second Al Belec and lead Ray Heycock lost first, 11-4 to Bruce Korte of Saskatoon, then 9-6 to Allan Lyburn of Brandon.

It was nonetheless a creditable performance for Premo's first-year team, which had never before played in a large venue like Memorial Gardens.

In fact, Premo held his own against Korte, ranked fourth in the world, until the fifth end.

"They're both good teams. They don't miss a lot of shots," Premo told SooToday.com.

End-to-end coverage of the Sault event is available on the World Curling Tour website, www.worldcurlingtour.com.

Part of this year's Bon Soo celebrations, the Grand Slam of Curling runs to Feb. 3.

The semi-finals will get national prime-time television coverage on Sportsnet from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday.

Sportsnet will also broadcast the finals live on Sunday from 3 to 6 p.m.

Tickets are available by calling 759-5251.

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