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    function parse_description($content='') {
        Configure::write('debug',2);
          require_once('libs/simple_html_dom.php');

$content	=	"<p>The 2025-26 curling season will mark the end of an era.</p>

<p><meta charset="utf-8" /></p>

<p dir="ltr">Brad Gushue announced today that he will be retiring from competitive curling at the end of what could be a storybook season for him and his rink.<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Special Announcement<br />
<br />
Please direct all media enquires to media@curling.ca <a href="https://t.co/zsNPAYo8jm">pic.twitter.com/zsNPAYo8jm</a></p>
&mdash; Team Gushue (@TeamGushue) <a href="https://twitter.com/TeamGushue/status/1968423923537588480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<p dir="ltr"><br />
The 45-year-old has enjoyed a legendary career that started with a dominant run of junior titles in his home province of Newfoundland in the late 1990s and early 2000s.</p>

<p dir="ltr">He has competed in every Brier since making his first appearance at the Canadian men&rsquo;s curling championship in 2003.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Gushue skipped Newfoundland and Labrador to podium finishes at the 2007, 2011 and 2016 Brier, but didn&rsquo;t truly break through until a memorable victory in front of the home crowd in St. John&rsquo;s in 2017.</p>

<p dir="ltr">He&rsquo;s been a force at the annual event since then and has lifted the Brier Tankard a record six times, including three times in a row between 2022-24.</p>

<p dir="ltr">While it took him 14 years to finally win his first Brier, that certainly doesn&rsquo;t mean he didn&rsquo;t see success early in his professional career.</p>

<p><img alt="&lt;who&gt;Photo Credit: Curling Canada&lt;/who&gt;Brad Gushue at the 2025 Montana's Brier in Kelowna." src="/files/files/images/gushue2(1).jpg" style="margin: 5px;" /></p>

<p dir="ltr">Gushue was the skip for Team Canada at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, winning the tournament and becoming the first Newfoundlander ever to win an Olympic gold medal.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Those monumental wins in 2006 and 2017 are part of the reason why the 2025-26 season could make for a storybook moment for him to leave the sport&rsquo;s competitive ranks.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Still considered one of the top teams in the men&rsquo;s curling world, Gushue&#39;s rink will have a chance to qualify for the 2026 Olympics in Italy and compete as Team Canada in the same country where he triumphed on the world stage two decades ago.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Regardless of whether he makes it to Italy or not, The 2026 Brier is scheduled to return to St. John&rsquo;s, NL, from Feb. 27 until March 8, 2026.</p>

<p dir="ltr">That means he&rsquo;ll compete in his final Brier in front of the same home province fans who watched him break through with an iconic victory nine years earlier.</p>
"

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