Neil Harrison (curler)
| Neil Harrison | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Curler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
Neil Gordon Harrison January 23, 1949 Peterborough, Ontario |
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| Died | February 24, 2014 (aged 65) Newmarket, Ontario |
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| Career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Brier appearances | 7 (1981, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1997) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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World Championship appearances |
2 (1983, 1990) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Neil Gordon "Harry" Harrison (January 23, 1949 – February 24, 2014) was a Canadian curler from Newmarket, Ontario. He was a six-time provincial champion, and two-time Canadian and World champion. He is considered to be one of the best leads of all time. He is recognized as having revolutionized the position with the use of the corner guard.
Harrison was born in Peterborough, Ontario on January 23, 1949 and began curling at age 12. Harrison's father Burritt was also a curler, having played lead for Ontario at the 1952 Macdonald Brier. Harrison also grew up in Peterborough.
Harrison was the long time lead for the Ed Werenich rink, but he played second for Werenich when they won their first provincial championship in 1981. The team, which also consisted of Bob Widdis at third and Jim McGrath at lead would represent Ontario at the 1981 Labatt Brier, where they finished 4th, following a tie breaker loss to Saskatchewan's Bob Ellert. The rink went 7–4 after the round robin. The following season however, the rink lost to Bruce Munro in the Ontario final. Following the loss, the Werenich rink brought on Ed's former skip Paul Savage to play third, and top junior John Kawaja to play second. Harrison would throw lead rocks. The new team would be nicknamed the "Dream Team" as the four were all skips. They were also known for their "insufferable ... beyond cocky [and] downright nasty" attitudes. However, the rink was very good, and they would end up not only winning the provincial championship, but also the 1983 Labatt Brier. They lost just one round robin game en route to winning the championship, defeating Alberta's Ed Lukowich in the final. The team represented Canada at the 1983 Air Canada Silver Broom, the world championship at the time. Again, the team lost just one match en route to winning the gold medal, defeating Germany's Keith Wendorf in the final. At the Worlds, Harrison became the first curler to play a perfect game. The team won their second straight provincial championship in 1984, and represented Ontario once again at the 1984 Labatt Brier. The team made it all the way to the Brier final, where they lost to Michael Riley of Manitoba in the final.
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