A Pane in the Glass Podcast

In the previous episode of " A Pane In The Glass Podcast " I described one of my favourite off ice activities (" Win As Much As You Can "). In this episode I go onto the ice for my favourite cold side of the glass activity. It's called " The Cash Bonspiel "! Go to my blog site ( truenorthbill.blogspot.com ) to see this activity in print form. As you will hear, it...

In this episode of " A Pane In The Glass Podcast " I share an activity I have used for many years. It's called " Win As Much As You Can "! It was taught to me by a history teacher who used this activity/game to illustrate how important it is for the members of a group to work together with the object being group success. Sounds simple enough but in some cultures, that&apos...

In this episode of " A Pane In The Glass Podcast " I touch upon a few topics which I hope you find relevant and interesting. Following on the heels of the article from Macleans magazine on the addiction of gaming, I read another article aimed at young people, this time on critical thinking. The article is entitled " Teach Kids About Misinformation ". I reach into the email bag,...

In this episode of " A Pane In The Glass Podcast " I have an opportunity to chat with Curling Canada's CE0 Katherine Henderson . We take a look back at the years for which she expertly guided the good ship Curling Canada through some tough seas. I pose a number of questions you will hear about in the episode's introduction so sit back and enjoy what Katherine has to say, not ju...

In this episode of " A Pane In The Glass Podcast ", you're going to hear the audio version of an article published by Maclean's magazine (Aug. 2023) penned by Luc Rinaldi . The title is " They Lost Their Kids To Fortnite "! A group of Canadian parents say their kids are so addicted to the video game Fortnite that they've stopped eating, sleeping and showering. No...

In this episode of " A Pane In The Glass Podcast ", I answer a question posed to me by a U18 coach in Saskatchewan ( Gaylene Simpson ).  The question revolved around what I feel is the most important skill in curling (recognizing that there are no unimportant skills). After listening to my answer, what might yours be? If you'd like, send me your view on that most important skill to...

In this episode of " A Pane In The Glass Podcast " we hear once again from Fiona Grace Simpson of Portugal by way of Scotland & Italy (S1E34). Fiona, along with Jennifer Dodds of Scotland, has been selected to participate in an exciting programme to encourage more females to aspire to coaching (curling in their case) at the highest levels. Fiona will describe the programme and as I s...

In this episode of " A Pane In The Glass Podcast ", once again, I have gathered some thoughts on a few topics and have enlisted the aid of a sound clip for one and some contributions of others. The audio clip is the segment of an interview with one of Herb Brooks' players, Mark Johnson (1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team). The player's comments might surprise you. I also weigh in on...

The usual script for an episode of " A Pane In The Glass Podcast " gets flipped. You're going to hear familiar voices but those voices will not be in their usual roles. Who belongs to those voices and why are they flipped? You'll just have to click on the play button to find out!  It’s your turn! Send me your thoughts by texting here!

This episode of " A Pane In The Glass Podcast " will answer that question that I know keeps you up at night plus a lot more about the only piece of curling equipment that "counts". The episode ends with a sound bite from the post game #5 press conference in the Stanley Cup Final. The interviewee is the losing coach, Paul Maurice , of the Florida Panthers. You will want to hear...

This episode of "A Pane In The Glass Podcast" with Curling Canada's "Manager of Club Development" ( Bobby Ray ) completes the open ended title to the episode. As I will encourage in my closing, forward this episode of the podcast to any and all in your curling facility who are searching for ways to get more people involved in the greatest game on ice. Many of the answers t...

The title of this episode of " A Pane In The Glass Podcast " says it all. Emily Riley , fresh from an amazing season representing her home province of Quebec at The Scotties, Mixed Doubles and Mixed, explains the feelings she dealt with (including a huge distraction at the Scotties) as an elite athlete. In the second portion of my interview with Emily, she puts on her Mental Performance...

In this episode of " A Pane In The Glass  Podcast " I touch upon four topics, two directly related to curling and two that I hope you find interesting. First up is a recording of the thoughts of former NHL goal tender, Greg Millen . He talks about the difference between playing on a Canadian based NHL team and one that represents a city in the southern U.S. Next up is an email I received...

"Do you believe in miracles?". Those were the iconic words of NBC's Al Michaels at the conclusion of what has become the most unlikely outcome of a major sporting event in history. It was the semi-final hockey game at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics in 1980 when a band of American college players took to the ice against the venerable team from the Soviet Union.  The odds of a win by...

In this week's " A Pane In The Glass Podcast " episode, we hear from a listener who lives and curls in the great state of Wisconsin in the person of Karl Schmit . His message appeared in my email inbox several weeks ago. It contained a number of excellent questions, so much so that I decided to devote an entire episode based upon them. Then I decided to ask Karl if he'd join me...

In this episode of " A Pane In The Glass Podcast " I weigh in on a variety of topics very much as I did in versions 1.0 & 2.0. This time I talk about an often neglected aspect of the delivery of a curling stone in a section of the episode entitled " The Paint Can And The Screwdriver ". In a section entitled the " Mayonaise Jar And The Cup Of Coffee " I cite a less...

Today's episode of " A Pane In The Glass Podcast " is something of a special edition. It's an interview with a long time friend from New Zealand (by way of Canada) who has made a decision that the 2023 World Senior Curling Championships here in Gangneung Korea will be his last competitive event. My guest is Hans Frauenlob ! If you watch international curling events on live stre...

In this episode of " A Pane In The Glass Podcast " we pay a visit to Kamloops, BC and the home of  Al Cameron , Director, Communication & Media Relations for Curling Canada. As you'll learn, Al started his distinguished journalism career as a reporter with The Calgary Herald (thus the endearing term, ink stained wretch ). Paying his dues at that newspaper as a reporter in the sp...

This episode of "A Pane In The Glass Podcast" is based upon a document by a curler, who has been there, done that and has many accomplishments to his name, notably a world senior curling championship. That curler from Saskatchewan is Eugene Hritzuk . His document is entitled " The Science Behind Brushing " and is widely available from a variety of sources. It's not lengthy...

Today's episode of " A Pane In The Glass Podcast " is a chat with a family, two sons and their Mom & Dad. The family surname is Asselin and you saw the sons compete at the recent Tim Hortons Brier in London, ON for Team Quebec.  I have been friends with this family for a number of years as those sons worked their way through the U21 stage of their careers with Dad at the coachin...

This episode of " A Pane In The Glass Podcast " has nothing to do with curling although, as you'll learn, curling brought us together. My guest today is Terry O'Reilly ! He is a retired  "mad man" in the world of marketing and advertising. Starting from humble beginnings in his home town of Sudbury, ON, Terry and a partner established a very successful advertising age...

Today's episode in " A Pane In The Glass Podcast " is not about the National Football League but it is about two of that league's most notable franchises, the Green Bay Packers and the New England Patriots and your curling team.  What does your team have to do with two professional NFL teams? Well, more than you might think but you' ll need to listen to this episode to fou...

In this episode of "A Pane In The Glass Podcast " we hear the words of sports journalist, Steve Simmons , who in 1998 penned an article which is the title of this episode. At the time of writing, Mr. Simmons was a youth ice hockey coach and in a playoff game and at a critical juncture in the contest, one of his players tugged at his jacket and made a statement that changed the way he saw...

In this episode of "A Pane In The Glass Podcast" Level V Curling Official  Brenda Rogers takes us on a journey that explains; the role curling officials play, what life was like in the Calgary Bubble during those tense six weeks in 2021, the differences between Curling Canada rules and those of the World Curling Federation, the process to become a certified curling official and lastly ho...

It's that right of passage time in a curling season. Your team can see the end of the 2022-23 campaign on the horizon. With or without a formal discussion, unless you're very different from the vast majority of teams, you wonder if it's time to make a change in personnel going into the off season in preparation for the next. This episode of " A Pane In The Glass Podcast "...