Michael R. Harris2017 Brier Media Guide: Previous Rosters (born June 9, 1967 in
Georgetown, Ontario
Georgetown is a large unincorporated community in the town of Halton Hills, Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Halton. The town includes several small villages or settlements such as Norval, Limehouse, Stewarttown and Glen William ...
) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
curler. Harris led his team to win the silver medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics.
Curling career
Relatively unknown due to the shadows cast out of Ontario in the form of superstars
Russ Howard
Russell W. "Russ" Howard, CM, ONL (born February 19, 1956 in Midland, Ontario) is a Canadian curler and Olympic champion, based in Regina, Saskatchewan, but originally from Midland, Ontario. He lived in Moncton, New Brunswick from 2000 to 20 ...
,
Ed Werenich
Edward Werenich (born June 23, 1947) is a Canadian curler from Holland Landing, Ontario. Nicknamed "The Wrench," Werenich has been known to be a colourful and outspoken character. Outside of curling, Werenich worked as a firefighter.
Career
We ...
and
Wayne Middaugh
Robert Wayne Middaugh (born September 20, 1967) is a Canadian curler. Born in Brampton, Ontario, Middaugh resides in Victoria Harbour, Ontario. He is the only player to have won the Canadian Men's Curling Championship (known as the Brier) at th ...
, and having not qualified to a Brier out of Ontario yet, Harris rose to stardom when he skipped his team of Richard Hart,
Collin Mitchell
Collin Mitchell (born September 23, 1969 in Freeport, Bahamas) is a Canadian curler and coach from Brooklin, Ontario. He is an Olympic silver medallist. He received a silver medal with the Mike Harris curling team at the 1998 Winter Olympics in ...
1998 Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...
. They would defeat the favoured Kevin Martin 6-5 in the trials final, after a 7-2 round robin record had the team sole 1st and a direct bye to the final.
At the Olympics, Harris' team dominated throughout, while other pre-Olympic favourites such as reigning World Champions Sweden (skipped by
Peja Lindholm
Peter "Peja" Rutger Lindholm (born 2 June 1970 in Östersund, Sweden) is a retired Swedish curler. Lindholm is currently a coach of the Chinese Curling Association.https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/curling/athlete-profi ...
) and reigning World silver medallist and European Champions Germany (skipped by
Andy Kapp
Andreas "Andy" Kapp (born 8 December 1967) is a German curler from Unterthingau. After a number of several tournaments at the Junior, Olympic and World Championship levels, Kapp surprised many by winning the 1992 European championship. The ...
) struggled and were never in playoff contention. Harris lost only one game in the round-robin (a meaningless final game to three-time World Champion and 1988 Olympic Gold medallist
Eigil Ramsfjell
Eigil Ramsfjell (born 17 March 1955 in Oslo) is a Norwegian curler, world champion and Olympic medalist. Many consider him one of the pioneers in modern curling. He received a bronze medal as skip at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.
, skipping Norway). They would win their semi final over the U.S team skipped by
Tim Somerville
Tim Somerville (born September 14, 1960) is an American curling, curler from Coon Rapids, Minnesota. He is a three-time Olympian, including winning the bronze medal at the 1992 Winter Games when curling was an exhibition event.
Curling career
A ...
7-1, in a game conceded after 8 ends, before losing in a major upset in the gold medal final against the surprise finalists, Team
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
skipped by
Patrick Hürlimann
Patrick Hürlimann (born 9 July 1963) is a Swiss curler, Olympic champion, and Vice-President of the World Curling Federation (WCF). He received a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.1986 Canadian Junior Men's Curling Championship and a 4-7 record at the 1989
Canadian Mixed Curling Championship
The Canadian Mixed Curling Championship is the national curling championship for mixed curling in Canada. The winners of the tournament will represent Canada at the World Mixed Curling Championship.
In mixed curling, the positions on a team must a ...
. After the 1998 Olympics, Harris skipped a team to the
2004 Nokia Brier
The 2004 Nokia Brier was held from March 6 to 14, 2004 at Saskatchewan Place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The Nova Scotia team skipped by Mark Dacey defeated the Alberta team of Randy Ferbey in dramatic fashion in the final game played on March 1 ...
where they finished 6-5.
Harris continued to curl competitively into the 2010s. He became curling commentator for the CBC and
Rogers Sportsnet
Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was r ...
and worked as a golf professional.
Harris currently coaches the
Tanner Horgan
Tanner Horgan (born February 12, 1998 in Sudbury, Ontario) is a Canadian curler. He currently skips his own team.
Career Juniors
As a bantam aged curler, Horgan won three Northern Ontario titles (2010, 2013 and 2015). In 2012, he won a provin ...
rink.
Personal life
Harris currently lives in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. He is married and has three children. He is employed as the executive director of the
Northern Ontario Curling Association
The Northern Ontario Curling Association is the regional governing body for the sport of curling in Northern Ontario.
History
The NOCA was founded in 2007 upon the amalgamation of the Northwestern Ontario Curling Association, Northern Ontari ...
, in addition to his commentary work on
Rogers Sportsnet
Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was r ...