Team Gushue
Biographical information
Brad Gushue, Jamie Korab, Russ Howard, Mark Nichols, Mike Adam and coach Toby McDonald
For excellence achieved on the highest sports stage in the world, members of the Olympic gold medal curling team were awarded honorary doctor of laws degrees during the 3 p.m. session of spring convocation on May 26. Brad Gushue, Jamie Korab, Russ Howard, Mark Nichols, Mike Adam and coach Toby McDonald reached the pinnacle of their sport with their Olympic victory in February.
Mr. Gushue was born in St. John's, NL, and attended Memorial University where he received a BBA. Mr. Gushue won the 2001 World Junior Championship as skip for Canada. Mr. Korab was born in Harbour Grace, NL, and graduated from St. Francis High School in Harbour Grace. He attended Academy Canada and graduated in 2001 with Microcomputer Applications Program. He now works at Aliant. Mr. Howard was born in Midland, Ont., and currently lives in Moncton, N.B. He has skipped in a record 13 Briers, winning two. He won the World Curling Championships in both 1987 and 1993. Mr. Nichols was born in Labrador City, NL. He played third for skip Brad Gushue in the 2001 World Junior Championship and won the 2005 Canadian Mixed Championship as skip for Newfoundland and Labrador along with his sister Shelley. He has a kinesiology degree from Memorial University. Mr. Adam was born in Labrador City, NL, and won the World Junior Championship as lead for Gushue in 2001. Mr. Adam is currently a mechanical engineering technology student at the College of the North Atlantic. Mr. McDonald was born in St. John's, NL, and attended St. Bonaventure's College and Brother Rice High School before obtaining a BA from Memorial University in 1972 and an LLB from the University of New Brunswick in 1975. In 1976 he was on the Jack MacDuff Team which won the MacDonald Brier and represented Canada at the World Championships.
Oration honouring Team Gushue, given by Dr. Annette Staveley, Deputy public orator
Never in the field of Olympic conflict were so many gathered around so many television screens to watch so few achieve so much. Wherever two or three Newfoundlanders and Labradorians were gathered together in airports and arcades, shopping malls and stadiums, board rooms and bars, in every Canadian province, in every Canadian embassy and consulate around the world, they watched this "few, this happy few," this "band of brothers" make history by winning gold medals in the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.
Because of their spectacular success in men's curling, we shall always remember where we were on Feb. 24, 2006, when Team Gushue- Michael Adam, Bradley Gushue, Russell Howard, Jamie Korab, Tobias McDonald and Mark Nichols, these names now as "familiar as household words"- swept to victory. Like the alchemists of old, they transformed granite rocks into gold and changed, forever, how we think about ourselves.
These athletes have told the world that the sources of their winning attitude and achievement are to be found in the love of their families, in the pride of their communities, and in the support of the professionals at this university. So we all share in their golden, winning moment and are inspired by it. They are role models for us all, and for the next generation of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
These men are a new brand of sports hero: tough and competitive, yet willing to subsume the self for the good of the team; rigorously disciplined, yet flexible enough to risk new strategies; tightly focused and self-controlled, yet unabashed about showing emotion. Never servants of technology, instead they mastered it to share that moment of triumph in Torino. Who will ever forget, in the midst of that media frenzy, Brad looking into the CBC camera in Italy and telling his mother in Newfoundland to pick up the phone and talk to him?
They have given us a new spin on an epic narrative. Like the Arthurian knights of old, for five long years they journeyed on their grail quest for gold. And, along the way, they withstood the temptations of settling for lesser achievements, they confronted the despair of disappointment, they deflected the derision of skeptics and naysayers. Their collective faith, their cerebral and physical strength protected them against the insidious forces of sickness and anxiety. Through it all, they held faith with their mission to be the best sports team in Canada, to become the best in the world, and to do it from this place. And, Mr. Vice-Chancellor, they played for high stakes in the arena of world competition. There was drama, there was suspense and there was the thrill of the final chase down the ice of that killer stone in the sixth end. Yet their narrative is no mythic tale, no Mission Impossible III. There are no secret codes to lead these grail-seekers through mysteries to meaning. They are our own genuine heroes for the working day. For all the allure of this sextet witness the Gushuemania that swept through St. John's airport when they returned- these men are not spurious, screen idols. In fact, you could argue they are much better looking than Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks.
They are, as all the graduates at this convocation are, young people who have achieved excellence through fortitude, self-sacrifice and teamwork and through the love of their families and the support of this community. They are part of a new generation of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians equipped through reason, hard work, imagination and courage to turn the intractable materials of rocks and ice into the eternal gold of national and international recognition.
As Skip Meisen of Team Memorial who regularly "calls the shots" let's see if you can replicate that amazing shot in the winning game and score six in the sixth end, by giving these six heralds of a golden age, not the Olympian garland of laurels which wither and die, but the doctoral hood of Memorial University which confers lasting honour. I ask you to hurry, hurry hard, Mr. Vice-Chancellor, and confer on Michael Bruce Adam the degree of doctor of laws, honoris causa, Bradley Raymond Gushue the degree of doctor of laws, honoris causa, Russell Winston Howard, in absentia, the degree of doctor of laws, honoris causa, Jamie Arthur Korab the degree of doctor of laws, honoris causa, Tobias Francis McDonald Jr. the degree of doctor of laws, honoris causa, and Mark Bradley Nichols the degree of doctor of laws, honoris causa.
Address to convocation
Mr. Vice-Chancellor, Madam Chair of the Board of Regents, members of the Board of Regents, members of the Senate and faculty, members of the graduating class, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
It is an honour for our team to be here today to receive an honorary doctorate of laws and also to be compared to Tom Cruise, that's kinda cool. Never, thought that would happen. If you had asked any of us 10 years ago if we would be in this position we would have definitely said no. To be included with all the wonderful men and women who have received this honour is very special for all of us. When we were younger we dreamed about winning an Olympic gold or the Brier, but we never dreamed of being honoured in the ways we have been on the last couple of months. These honours have made our journey more special knowing that all of you care about what we did so much.
We have been on an incredible ride. Our Olympic journey has given the opportunity to travel all over Canada and the world. Some of us have opened the Labrador Winter Games, presented at the Juno's, gone on office tours at Aliant, and been put on the back of fire trucks and honoured in our home towns. These opportunities and our gold medal did not come out of mid air; it took years of hard work, planning, and dedication.
Six years ago we began to develop the blueprint of were we would be today. We were fresh off loosing the Canadian Junior Championship and we had decided that weren't just going to settle for the Canadian Junior Championship; we wanted to become the best on the world and become Olympic champions.
As many of you know Newfoundland and Labrador is not well known for developing world-class curlers. However we did not let this stand in our way and we feel this reputation is changing. We knew that we would have to work harder than anyone. We wanted to be more prepared than any other team in the world. To do this we focused on four areas: technical, tactical, physical, and mental, and to become better in each area we looked for people who had expertise in these areas. For mental toughness we contacted Dr. Bass Kavanaugh who is a professor here at Memorial University. For physical fitness we originally contacted Mike Wahl and eventually Dr. David Baine who is also a professor here at Memorial. And for technical and tactical help we contacted Jeff Thomas and eventually Toby MacDonald.
We have spent hours each day working on developing these skills. We may not have been best in each area but it wasn't from the lack of trying. There is an old saying that you get out of it what you put in, this is definitely a motto that our team lives by, and fortunately for us we got out of it what we put in. What we were doing was very unordinary in the world of curling; we were going to train like any other Olympic athlete and trust me this did not come without ridicule in the curling community. It is funny that sometimes when you try to do something that is out of the ordinary how people get a little bit uncomfortable about it, but to do anything exceptional you have to be willing to do something that is out of the ordinary. It was essential that any member of our team was not only committed but more importantly believed in our abilities to win an Olympic gold. We have been very fortunate that all of the players have committed and also believed. Over the years we have seen players and coaches come and go. We believe it is important to recognize these players because without them we would not have won a gold medal, and they are: Eugene Tricket, Paul Harvey, Mark Ward, Jeff Thomas, Bass Kavanaugh and Keith Ryan. We have learned from each of these individuals and have become better curlers and better people because of them. Our team was not only the four members that most of you seen on the ice. It was a team that included family, friends, alternates and coaches. We would like to thank our families for the support over the last number of years. Several of us have put our lives on hold to chase this dream and without our family support this would not have been possible. We have also had friends that have sacrificed their time to help us along the way. We would also like to thank our coaches, their time, effort and support has not gone unnoticed over the last couple of years. And finally I'd like to thank Mike Adam. He may not have played many games at the Olympics but he was just as much a part of this win as any one of us. Mike's attitude, unselfishness and support are something to be admired. It is important for any team success to have individuals like Mike on the team.
As new graduates you are embarking on one of the most important parts of your life. You are going to begin working, moving into new homes, and starting families. You will face some obstacles along the way but it's important that you don't put any more obstacles there yourself. You may feel prepared or unprepared for what you are about to face, but it's important that you believe in yourself and believe what you can do. If you are willing to put in the effort you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
If we had any bit of advice our team would suggest to all of you to surround yourself with good people, find people who are interested in seeing you do well, rely on them for advice and guidance. If you do not know something, never be afraid to find someone who does. If there was one thing that our team was good at, it was surrounding ourselves with experts in every area of the game and also in areas of life. We had just about every avenue covered. This not only helps in you decision making but allows you to build confidence knowing that all your decisions are going to be well thought out. Most of you are beginning from a clean slate, some of you have jobs lined up and some of do not. Either way start developing a plan and plan for success in what ever you do and stick to that plan, there's going to be times when you are going to have to adjust it but at least that's a guideline to where you want to go.
I would like to close by wishing all of you the best of luck and congratulation on achieving a university degree. Believe in yourself, work hard and don't sell yourself short. It doesn't cost a thing to have a dream and when you arm a dream with an education there are no limits to where you can go.
Thank you.