John Morris (curler)

John Morris (born December 16, 1978 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a Canadian curler from Chestermere, Alberta. As of April 26, 2006 Morris currently plays third for Kevin Martin.Morris, the son of Earle Morris, inventor of the "stabilizer" curling broom, grew up in Ottawa and began curling at age 5.

After finishing second at the 1997 Canadian Junior Championships, Morris, who at the time curled out of the Ottawa Curling Club, went on to win the next two national championships in 1998 and 1999 setting records for most wins by a skip along the way. In both those same years, Morris would win world junior championships; in 1998 against Garry MacKay of Scotland and in 1999 against Christian Haller of Switzerland.

After living in Ottawa, Morris moved to Southwestern Ontario to attend university and curled out of the Stayner Granite Club in Stayner, Ontario. While in Stayner, Morris won the 2002 Ontario provincial championships qualifying him for the 2002 Nokia Brier. At the Brier, Morris would lose to Alberta's Randy Ferbey in the final. By 2004, Morris had moved to Calgary, where he would play out of the Calgary Winter Club. In 2006 he joined forces with Kevin Martin on a four year plan with the hope of winning a gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Morris was hit by a car on February 27, 2007 just four days before the 2007 Tim Hortons Brier. He was knocked unconscious, and according to reports has a 50-50 chance of attending the national championship.

At the 2007 Tim Hortons Brier, which he did attend, Alberta placed 4th after a loss to Jeff Stoughton in the 3-4 page playoff. The prior evening Alberta defeated Manitoba, yet at one point in the game, John was so frustrated from missing a shot that he snapped his broom over his knee, eliciting raucous chants from the Canadian crowd. John recovered by winning all-star third in the tournament.

John Morris and the Kevin Martin (Alberta) rink returned to the 2008 Brier in Winnipeg. Morris had broken his right hand while defending a fellow firefighter in a bar fight a few weeks earlier. [http://communities.canada.com/calgaryherald/blogs/curling/archive/2008/02/26/john-morris-out-with-broken-hand.aspx] He had to wear a special brace while sweeping. The team still went 11-0 in the round robin and won their 1-2 playoff game to make the finals. In a game marred by tricky ice and missed opportunities, Alberta won by a score of 5-4. Skip Kevin Martin made a draw to the button in the 10th end to seal the victory. John Morris was named MVP of the finals after curling 90 percent.

At the subsequent 2008 World Men's Curling Championship, Morris led all players with a round robin percentage of 90%, and helped team Canada to a World Championship crown, the first for any player on the team. Morris curled 95% in the final.

Morris is currently a Children's special needs educator for CSN Alberta as well as a firefighter for the Chestermere Fire Department.

Current team

(as of 2006)
*Kevin Martin (skip)
*John Morris (third)
*Marc Kennedy (second)
*Ben Hebert (lead)

Awards

*Canadian Junior Men First Team All-star skip: 1998
*Canadian Junior Men First Team All-star skip: 1999
*WJCC All-star skip: 1999
*Canadian Citizenship Award: 1999
*Canadian Men's Curling Championship First Team All-star Third: 2007
*Canadian Men's Curling Championship First Team All-star Third: 2008
*MVP-Canadian Men's Curling Championship Final