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Moncton Plans Outdoor Game

Moncton, New Brunswick, is cooking up an interesting event for early in 2009. The city was selected to host the 2009 World Mens Curling Championship which will take place in April. But to build up hype for the championship and to promote curling to the non-curlers in Moncton, the planning committee is putting together an outdoor curling game.

This is one of two very unique and public games that have been planned for the 2008-09 season. The other being the Russian Masters, taking place in a shopping mall. Games open to the public, such as these, aim to grow the curling fan base and get people excited about a sport that they may not have ever watched before.

Lynn MacKenzie is the event coordinator and says that this event is designed to build momentum leading into the world championship.

Currently there has been no mention of which teams will be invited to play at this unique event. Some competitive teams complain about ice conditions at large events with world class indoor facilities, so there's no telling what their reaction may be if their rock suddenly picks on a dead leaf that blows in front of their rock. Obviously, this situation is on the minds of the organizers, and will carefully choose the site of the outdoor game. So far, no clues have been given as to where the game might take place.

Another element that is being kept on the down-low is the type of curling stones that will be used. Although organizers are telling the media that the rocks won't be "typical curling stones", they aren't letting out any specific information. It has been suggested that a vintage style rock will be used, contributing to the old-time feel of an outdoor game.

Similar to outdoor games used by the NHL to help build excitement about hockey in the United States, this outdoor event hopes to achieve similar success. Unlike the outdoor NHL game, however, this outdoor curling game will be free to the public.

The date for the event hasn't been decided yet, but is likely to be in early March, about six weeks before the world championship.

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