What happens in The Patch, stays in The Patch, says Lynn H. That's rule number one when attending any big time curling event. The Patch of course, is party central, usually conveniently located near the curling ice. At the upcoming 2011 Capital One Canada Cup of Curling in Cranbrook, The Patch will located at the Cranbrook Curling Club, right next door to the Rec Plex where the curling takes place.

While the semi-finals and finals will be televised on TSN, a group of curlers from Kimberley sat down and explained why watching live is so much better, and why they have already purchased their tickets for the action.

"First of all it's the party atmosphere," said Albert, who with his wife Lynn and friends Jim and Diane have attended five Briers and two Olympic Trial events. "When you're in the Brier Patch and there's 5,000 people there, it's really something."

"And even the atmosphere in the arena is different than on TV," Lynn says.

"On TV you have no choice on which team you watch. If your team is not on, you don't see them," said Diane.

"The people in the crowd really inter-relate at a curling game. People are very open," said Jim S, who with wife Hope has attended two Briers and some big events in Europe.

"If you're in the same seat all week, they become like your neighbours," Diane said.

"The sportsmanship on the ice is also in the stands," said Gord, who has attended a couple of Briers in Edmonton and Calgary. "I've even talked to people who said they feel perfectly comfortable leaving their purse on the seat while they go to the concession."

"We were in Saskatoon the weekend that Sandra Schmirler passed away," said Diane. "I'll never forget it when her three teammates walked down the ice. It gave you chills."

"Watching on TV is not the same atmosphere," Albert agreed. "You just jump right into the game. You don't see the piper, the warmups"

"The crowd is knowledgeable and knows the game. There's no razzing. And it's really neat to see the paper every morning with the roundup of what happened," Lynn said.

So where do you sit for optimum viewing?

The general consensus is the home end near the hogline, up high enough so you can see the whole ice surface.

"Sitting low is nice because the curlers will actually talk with you sometimes," Albert said. "But if you want to see the whole thing, sit higher."

"It is special, they really do talk to you," Jim S said.

However, they also all agree that it's a bit of an endurance test with all the games (three draws a day) and all the events taking place around the curling. But not one of them would miss it.

And seeing as the group are such curling fans, we couldn't let them go without predictions.

Jim S says Kevin Martin takes it on the men's side and Amber Holland on the women's. Wife Hope has no idea on the men and says Jennifer Jones on the women's.

Jim F - Stoughton and Holland

Diane F - Stoughton and Jennifer Jones.

Mike H - "I'm a Martin fan from way back" and he'll go for Shannon Kleibrink for the women.

Lynn - Martin and Holland

Albert - "I really like Stoughton, but I think Glen Howard. On the women's side, Stephanie Lawton.

Don agrees that Howard is curling really well and likes Holland as well.

Gord likes Glen Howard and Jennifer Jones.

Interestingly enough, husband and wife often root for different teams. But they all do agree that with this level of curling, live is the way to go.

Jenkins, who is working on promotions for the event says tickets are well over 50 per cent sold and definitely well ahead of where Medicine Hat was last year when the event was held there.

Ticket packages can be purchased by phone at 250-426-SEAT (7328) or 1-866-580-SEAT, in person at the Cranbrook Rec Plex Box Office or by visiting www.curling.ca/tickets.