Colleen Jones - Throwing Rocks at Houses: My Life in and Out of Curling

I still have a page that goes into the Scotties program every year and its simply called Colleen by the Numbers. Its virtually all the numbers and records that she established during her career. There are records she holds that will never be equaled, without question. The whole aspect of her longevity and her tenacity is remarkable. So for her to do what shes done for that period of time is amazing. I dont understand how she was able to do it, but its a different person who can stay in the thick of things for that period of time and do well.

Warren Hansen, director of event operations for the Canadian Curling Association

They had something that no other team had. They were magic and it worked. They were teammates and incredibly good friends as well. They did things in the off-season together. I really think it comes down to Colleen and her roleshe could make shotsand the karma and synergy that they had as individuals. You could see it. You couldnt deny it.

Robin Wilson, coordinator of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts

Colleen had a great ability to create a lot by her own self-confidence, being able to move from one area of expertise to another. She was also one of those who was willing to try just about anything in her career to see where it might take her and see what she might learn from it.

Chuck Bridges, former director of news and information programming at CJCH and C100

In 1988 she would have been one of the few [women sportscasters] working for us in Seoul, but she would have been one of the principal ones. Colleens enthusiasm was one of her strengths. She was a contributor to the network for a long time and her talent got her to where she was. I grew up in Nova Scotia and I can speak to what it meant to people there to have her represent them on the national stage. There was a Nova Scotia Tourism spot that aired everywhere across the country, extolling all the virtues of the provinceit ended with and the home of our Colleen. Watching it, I remember thinking, Wow, they love her, and as a Nova Scotian I knew why.

Scott Oake, CBC broadcaster

I could tell when Colleen got that feeling of winning versus not and therefore I just climbed on board. How could I tell? I spent every waking hour with her as her roommate. It was just the way she held herself. It was a level of calm. When she was comfortable, I was comfortable.

Kim Kelly, teammate

Colleen was not only hard on herself, but committed to being the best. She had the drive to be the best in the world, so sometimes that played out as being hard on herself. Other times it was her searching for a solution that may help her become a little bit better. In the curling world, I dont think they understood her because she was so driven. People took that as being arrogant, maybe non-friendly, but our relationship was always great. I know her fun side and other people wouldnt see that. Theyd see her in a competitive mode when it wasnt the time to socialize.

Ken Bagnell, team coach and mental trainer

She provided a new territory as far as curling goes in being very visible and not being afraid to show her own personality. Its part of television. The world has changed and with that the persona of athletes themselves. The Scotties Tournament of Hearts gave them far more visibility than theyd had before, and Colleen was the perfect example of how to positively take that opportunity and inject her personality and enthusiasm in a way that brought great credit to herself, the sport of curling, and to womens curling.

Bob Stewart, former chairman and CEO of Scott Paper Limited

Her way of playing the game was always dismissed. She stubbornly stuck with it because she understood strategy isnt always about being just aggressive, its about finding the best way to use the talent and the abilities you have amassed with your team to the best of your advantage. She understood how to do that in spite of all the rhetoric that was telling her you cant play this way. This isnt the way the modern game is played.

Scott Saunders, Colleens husband

As a curler, she seemed like a force to be reckoned with. She was intense, sometimes unrecognizably intense because she was very loving and compassionate as a mother.

Zach, Colleens son

When she was winning those Canadian championships she had brain fluid going into her lungs. She was winning Canadian championships on three hours of sleep, thinking she was sick and being short of breathits the untold story of how she won those championships.

Luke, Colleens son

THROWING ROCKS AT HOUSES

MY LIFE IN AND OUT OF CURLING

COLLEEN JONES

WITH PERRY LEFKO

To my boys: Scott, Zach & Luke; my best life teachers

Carpe Diem

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

I ts ironic that while I love telling other peoples stories as a reporter, it was only when I sat down to start writing this book that I realized I have a hard time telling my own story. For some reason, everything Ive done seems like nothing special.

Maybe its my upbringingstay humbleor maybe its the sport of curling, which makes you even more humble. I dont think any curler looks at himself or herself as a star. You can be on top one day and losing the next. Its just the nature of the sport.

What I do know is I have stumbled on a lot of good fortune. I have worked really hard, and Ive had to have a lot of discipline. But Ive always marvelled at a few things: the good luck Ive had along the way and the many people who gave me a helping hand and mentored me. Ive been blessed. Ive often felt Ive had plenty of divine intervention in my life. Do I have a guardian angel looking out for me? I have no idea.

But I do have a wonderful family, a second family of fabulous curling teammates, and a third family at the CBC. Everyones given me lots of chances and lots of help. Ive always felt that I divide my life into three compartments: mother, curler, and worker. These have been three totally different roles. When Im in mom mode, the nurturer and protector comes out. The person I am on the curling ice never shows up anywhere else. That is the intense part of my personalityvery driven, very detail oriented. And when Im working as a reporter, Im in curious mode. I dont tend to mix all three of these roles because it would confuse everyone, including me.

So, after a lifetime of telling other peoples stories, this is my storyabout curling, broadcasting, growing up in Halifax in a family of nine siblings, marrying, starting my own family, surviving a serious health scare, and learning the hard way to savour life each and every day.

My long-time teammate and friend Nancy Delahunt always said about our curling team that we really did just fall off the turnip truck. It seemed that every good thing that happened in our curling career just fell into place for us. Other teams were slicker and maybe even had more talent, but we had a chemistry and work ethic that pushed us to greater heights than we ever expected. I have six Canadian championships and two World titles. Not bad for a team that fell off the turnip truck.

CHAPTER 1

THE MEANING OF LIFE

I ts funny how life is. I was starting to feel like I was sleep-walking through life a bit. We all have a rhythm to our liveswe wake up, brush our teeth, walk the dog, drink coffee, and get ourselves to work. Within this rhythm I was forgetting to enjoy the little momentsthe proverbial stop and smell the roses part. I worried about silly things, like losing a curling game or being cut off in traffic. I was often lost in the past and busy planning the future.