Time to purchase that Lotto ticket! Lewis rink scores 8-ender
By The Nelson Daily Sports
There’s probably more of a chance for a golfer to knock in a hole-in-one at Granite Pointe Golf Club than an eight-ender to be counted at the Nelson Curling Club.
But seeing how there’s four feet of snow at the Rosemont-based golf course, it was time for the curling club to take over the limelight.
Murrey Lewis of Nelson scored the amazing once-in-a-lifetime feat Saturday during the Mixed Valentine’s Bonspiel at the Heritage City club.
It’s a feat so rare the odds of scoring one are nearly impossible to know.
“No I didn’t realize it was a possibility until I was getting ready to throw my first rock (seventh stone),” Lewis told The Nelson Daily when asked about his accomplishment.
“I still thought the opposition would take at least one rock out,” Lewis added.
“He (the opposing skip) tried with his last rock, but it over curled and he just nudged it over. His rock rolled out of the house leaving me a draw for our eight.”
The Curl BC website said a team from the Peace Arch Club was the 100th team in October 2013 to feature in the 8-ender gallery. But it took years for those 100 8-enders to be counted.
The Peace Arch rink scored the 8-ender on October 11, 2013.
The high-scoring feat is so rare, Ford of Canada used to run the “Eight-Ender Program” and register each one and then reward Canadian rinks who scored eight points in one end.
The Lewis rink, including third Lori Lewis, second Bob Fortin and lead Marianne Lefley, scored the eight points in the fifth end of a 14-3 victory in the B event.
The rink didn’t win the bonspiel, finishing fourth in the B event.
But that didn’t seem to matter to the rink after realizing the accomplishment.
“This was the first time scoring and eight-ender for my teammates and myself,” Lewis said.
“Really it was after the game that it all hit home, and, yes, exciting to say the least after 25 years of curling.”
An eight-ender ranks with some other improbabilities in sports and life.
- Hole in one — Golf Digest estimates that an average handicap player has a 12,000-to-1 odds.
- No-hitter — Baseball Reference reported that through 2008 there was a no-hitter pitched every 1,505.5 Major League Baseball games.
- Struck by lightning — According to the U.S. National Weather Service, the odds of being struck by lightning in your lifetime are 1 in 5,000
- Lotto 6/49 — According to the Lottery Corporation the odds of matching all six numbers and winning the Lotto 6/49 are 1 in 13,983,816
