Fans, and friends of Colleen Jones are reflecting on her legacy.
The legendary Nova Scotian curler and broadcaster passed away Tuesday at age 65 after a three-year cancer battle.
She won six national titles for Nova Scotia and two world championships for Canada, her first title came at age 22 in 1982.
Bruce Rainnie is the President and CEO of the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame, where Jones was a recent inductee.
He says she made sports cliches become true.
“If you’re a sports fan, you know the cliches, ‘take it one day at a time,’ ‘work hard,’ ‘find a passion.’ She took all of those, mixed them into a bowl, and became one of the greatest, if not the greatest female curler of all time,” said Rainnie.
Working beside Jones at 2018 Olympics:
One of Rainnie’s favourite memories was calling Olympic curling at the 2018 games with Jones.
“I was lucky enough to be calling the games for CBC, and she was the rinkside reporter. One night, my two analysts had been working long hours, and I asked if Colleen could come up to the booth. Me, from North Dartmouth and her from Halifax, and we’re broadcasting the Olympics together. That was a special memory for me.”
“She put curling on the map here in Atlantic Canada, proving you can be from Canada’s second-smallest province and if you have a passion and a dream and work hard, you keep fighting,” added Rainnie.
Jones was named second greatest N.S. athlete in 2017
In 2017, the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame named her their second greatest athlete, behind Cole Harbour’s Sidney Crosby.
“And Sidney Crosby was a comfortable winner, but he wasn’t a runaway winner, that’s because of a curler named Colleen Jones.”
Rainnie adds he received a text message from the Pittsburgh Penguins captain on Tuesday, ending with ‘Colleen was awesome.’
“And Sid is a smart guy, so that was a smart thing to say. She was awesome in every way.”
Above all her accomplishments as a curler and reporter, Rainnie knows she put being a mother above everything else.
“She was the best mom to her children, that was most important to her. But she was also a remarkable broadcaster and curler. How many of us can say through all this hard work, you can knock out of the park all of your goals. She put more into 65 years than most of us would in 150.”
Click play below to hear Kevin Northup’s full interview with Bruce Rainnie.
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