Canadian curler who hacked a dart in ’72 says he quit after seeing himself on TV
Curling has been a staple of Canadian winters for decades, but there are some things that have changed over the years — like a skip sliding down the ice with a cigarette in his mouth.
Orest (The Big O) Meleschuk knows a little about smoking on the international stage, because he is the skip in a video that As It Happens recently dug up from the CBC Archives.
In it, a younger Meleschuk can be seen throwing an extremely important rock for Team Canada at the 1972 Silver Broom world championship in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria — complete with a lit dart in his mouth.
Well you know, if it sits in an ashtray it’s going to burn out and I was quite frugal in those days,” Meleschuk told As It Happens host Carol Off from his home in Selkirk, Man.
“I didn’t want to waste it.”
That throw by Meleschuk began one of the most contentious plays in curling history — known as the “Great Kicked Rock Caper”.
The Canadian team needed two points to force another end against Team U.S.A., or the game was over and Canada would not hold their title for the fifth consecutive year.
As Meleschuk explains, he knocked the U.S. rock out but the Canadian’s tying rock rolled farther than he had anticipated. Thinking they had won, the U.S. skip Bob LaBonte ran onto the ice, slipped and kicked the Canadian rock in premature celebration
