On August 16th, 1997 I registered the domain name inthehack.com for a curling site that I was running on my own. It took off and quickly became the most popular curling site on the Internet.

Move forward 11 years, and things in my life are really different right now. Back then I hadn't even met my wife, I wasn't married, and I certainly didn't have a 5 month old son. InTheHack was high on my priority list. Now, its nearly at the bottom.

So, its with some sadness that I've decided to close the site. My goal in starting the site was to learn about computers and the Internet and set myself up for a great career. In that regard, the site has done more than I ever imagined. I was fortunate enough to travel to major curling events like the 1997 Olympic Trials, Scott Tournament of Hearts and Nokia Brier, and I ended up with a job at one of the top computer companies in the world - Adobe.

I have some great memories... I was there when Guy Hemmings drew to the pin against Gerald Shimko. I was there when Sandra Schmirler made that incredible angle raise to virtually guarantee the Olympic Trials. Unlike Mike Harris, I saw the shot that won him the Olympic Trials, when Kevin Martin missed his last shot. I also met Mike at the Brier the next year, and got to hold his silver medal. That was so cool. This year, I also got my ass kicked by him on the ice. (Not so cool).

I was there at the Scott Tournament of Hearts final banquet when Vic Rauter read a letter from Sandra Schmirler. I received an email a few weeks later on my way to the Brier, in the airport, that she had passed away and blacked out the website in respect. I still think she had the greatest curling team ever assembled - men's or women's.

I had a ton of fun posting rumours (sometimes ones I completely made up) on the site. The curling pools early on were great - I took in entries by email and figured everything out in Excel. There were a hundred of us or so in the first one. Curling Survivor - won by the CCA official. Curling Idol - two great teams that have a great future. HackChat - lots of great discussions there.

There are so many people who I'd like to thank for helping make InTheHack successful. Dave Parkes, Warren Hansen, Warren Proctor, Neal Houston and Danny Lamoureux at the CCA, Jon Mead, Don Barcome, the guys at Sweep! Magazine, Bob Weeks, Les Harrison, JH Curl, AK267, Statman, SuperBacon. So many people actually. To everyone who posted on the site, including many of you who I've met in person over the years, thank you. Thanks for contributing to InTheHack and getting involved. The site was nothing without the great people posting.

If you want to keep talking and chatting about curling, I'd urge you to go to CurlingZone. Gerry and Dallas have done a great job over there, and that's where I'll be posting.

As for me, I'm going to keep playing and practicing (maybe I'll go more than 4 ends against Mike Harris next time). I'll post on CurlingZone every once in a while, but most importantly I'm going to spend more time with my wife, selling the rest of the curling mitts and gloves in my basement, and lots more time with my son, Noah.

Mike

P.S. If you're interested in what the site used to look like, and how far its come, you can check it out at the Internet archive: