Art Lobel was born near Virden, Manitoba, then started curling
as a teenager in Winnipeg...except he wasn't very good. He
was actually more skilled at target shooting. Eventually Art
made his way to Quebec and his curling improved. Quite a bit in
fact. Art qualified for the Canadian Mixed, then appeared in
5 Briers for Quebec, first with Bill Kent (originally from Virden)
and later with Jim Ursel, who hailed from the same Winnipeg high
school Art had attended. Along with their front end of Don
Aitken and Brain Ross, they would win the Brier in 1977, held in
the Velodrome in Montreal. Soon after, Art made his way to
Ontario, where he would go on to appear in six Canadian Senior
Championships, winning three. He tacked on a couple of
Canadian Masters (60+) to boot, winning one of them. Art
shares some of the early days of sliding rules, tales of curling in
rural Quebec, the first push broom brought to a Brier, timing an
"iron" rock and the discovery of "drag".
You can read more about Curling Legend Art Lobel and the Ursel
rink of 1977 in "The Brier" by Bob Weeks. The 1972 Brier
where Art, playing third for Bill Kent, placed second, can be found
here: https://youtu.be/6x2B_1ShAZo?t=10m9s.