The 1979 Macdonald Brier, the Canadian men's curling championship was held from March 4 to 10, 1979 at the Ottawa Civic Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. For the second straight year, the total attendance for the week set a then-record where 89,081 attended the event. This was the last Brier where the round robin would determine the champion without a playoff.
Team Manitoba, who was skipped by Barry Fry captured the Brier tankard as they finished round robin play with a 10–1 record as they clinched the title with after the Friday night draw. This was Manitoba's twentieth title and the only Brier won by Fry. The Fry rink would go onto represent Canada at the 1979 Air Canada Silver Broom, the men's world curling championship in Bern, Switzerland where they lost in the semifinal to eventual champion Norway.
It would be the last Brier under the sponsorship of Macdonald Tobacco. This marked an end of an era, as Macdonald Tobacco had sponsored the event since the first Brier in 1927. Following the final draw, the head of Macdonald Tobacco, David Macdonald Stewart declared "[f]or half a century, Macdonald Tobacco has followed an idea ... a dream to ... bring together Canadians, from all parts of the country and all walks of life, in a national sporting event. Curling was the ideal sport. It's been a wonderful experience. We've now seen the final chapter in 50 years of Canadian history". To commemorate the end of the Macdonald era, every living Brier champion skip at the time were invited to attend the Brier, and had their picture taken together. The lone surviving curler from the 1927 Brier, Emmet Smith (Northern Ontario) was also invited.Weeks, pg 153 The group of skips gathered before the final draw of the event for a special ceremony.
The event was marred with slow ice conditions and bad rocks,Ottawa Citizen, March 6, 1979, pg 19 which were borrowed from a local curling club. The rocks were mismatched and pitted which "reduced shotmaking to a guessing game.""The Brier", Bob Weeks, pg 158 Part way through the week, organizers asked for the teams to vote on changing the rocks. The teams that favoured hitting, including the leading Manitoba rink opposed changing the rocks, as the mismatched rocks made draw shots more difficult than hit shots.Weeks
Teams The teams were listed as follows: British ColumbiaManitobaCrestwood CC, Edmonton Skip: Paul Devlin Third: John Hunter Second: Pat Ryan Lead: Derek DevlinVancouver CC, Vancouver Skip: Glen Pierce Third: Wayne Matthewson Second: Bruce Davey Lead: Fuji MikiDeer Lodge CC, Winnipeg Skip: Barry Fry Third: Bill Carey Second: Gordon Sparkes Lead: Bryan WoodNew BrunswickNewfoundlandNorthern OntarioThistle St. Andrews CC, Saint John Skip: Richard Belyea Third: Charlie Sullivan Second:Don Pennell Lead: Brian McLeodSt. John's CC, St. John's Skip: Jeff Thomas Third: Toby McDonald Second: Peter Hollett Lead: Ken ThomasThunder Bay WC, Thunder Bay Skip: Larry Pineau Third: Scott Hamilton Second: George Campbell Lead: Cliff CampbellNova ScotiaOntarioPrince Edward IslandDartmouth CC, Dartmouth Skip: Alan Darragh Third: Peter MacPhee Second: Mike Currie Lead: Dave DurrantAnnandale CC, Pickering Skip: Bob Fedosa Third: Bob Turcotte Second: Craig Garratt Lead: Doug MorrisonCharlottetown CC, Charlottetown Skip: Wayne Matheson Third: Ken MacDonald Second: Al Legerwood Lead: John ScalesQuebecSaskatchewanNorthwest Territories/YukonSt. Laurent CC, Mount Royal Skip: Jim Ursel Third: Don Aitken Second: Warren Wallace Lead: Malcolm TurnerNutana CC, Saskatoon Skip: Rick Folk Third: Bob Thompson Second: Tom Wilson Lead: Jim WilsonYellowknife CC, Yellowknife Skip: Don Strang Third: Klaus Schoenne Second: Rick Borden Lead: Clay Cedarholm
Map of teams
Round Robin standings Final Round Robin standings KeyBrier champion ProvinceSkipWLPFPA Barry Fry 10 1 67 40 Rick Folk 8 3 74 59 Larry Pineau 8 3 63 54 Bob Fedosa 6 5 56 58 Wayne Matheson 6 5 67 49 Paul Devlin 6 5 62 62 Jim Ursel 5 6 61 62 Glen Pierce 5 6 61 69 Alan Darragh 4 7 59 71 Richard Belyea 3 8 44 69 Jeff Thomas 3 8 63 71 Don Strang 2 9 54 67
Round Robin results All draw times are listed in Eastern Standard Time (UTC−05:00)
Draw 1 Sunday, March 4, 2:00 pm
Draw 2 Sunday, March 4, 7:30 pm
Draw 3 Monday, March 5, 9:30 am
Draw 4 Monday, March 5, 2:00 pm
Draw 5 Monday, March 5, 7:30 pm
Draw 6 Tuesday, March 6, 9:00 am
Draw 7 Tuesday, March 6, 2:00 pm
Draw 8 Wednesday, March 7, 2:00 pm
Draw 9 Wednesday, March 7, 7:30 pm
Draw 10 Thursday, March 8, 2:00 pm
Draw 11 Thursday, March 8, 7:30 pm
Draw 12 Friday, March 9, 2:00 pm
Draw 13 Friday, March 9, 7:30 pm
Draw 14 Saturday, March 10, 1:30 pm
Awards All-Star Team The media selected the following curlers as All-Stars.
Position Name Team Skip Barry Fry Third Bill Carey Second George Campbell Lead Bryan Wood
Ross G.L. Harstone Award The Ross Harstone Award was presented to the player chosen by their fellow peers as the curler who best represented Harstone's high ideals of good sportsmanship, observance of the rules, exemplary conduct and curling ability.
As of , this is the only Brier in which two players won the Harstone Award.
Name Team Position Wayne Matheson Skip Dave Durrant Lead
References
Line scores - Ottawa Citizen, pg 22 March 12, 1979 Rosters - Soudog Curling