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Spirits are high, but attendance isn‘t _ Heartfest organizers confidentnumbers will pick up during the next four days The televised coverage of Heartfest has been outstanding, especially by TSN. Howâ€" ey.msmuwnwmmm-.-mqmmmqm "That‘s been our No. 1 problem and the only downfall," said Michelle Tetreault, manâ€" wdmrhfin.mdbua’n-mdflfih_m "I talked to them and I think they now have it straight." Heartfest chair Audrey Cook admits she would like to see the Mutual Arena filled to the rafters, but so far, during the first four days, it just hasn‘t happened. 4 "I think the City of Waterloo has a great facility and this is a great event, but I‘d like to see a few more people here," said Cook. P She predicts the crowds will come once the leaders get established and start to pick their games. A last minute change has seen the curling rocks from Westmount Curling Club replaced by those from Toronto‘s Tam Heather Curling Club. According to Cook, the rocks were running too slow for this calibre of women‘s curling. With the complex less than half full, there‘s still a parking problem. According to Cook, people are walking a little further than expected and she‘s concerned about the distance some elderly are walking. Reports say that some cars are parking near Erb Street, almost 7/10ths of a kilometre away from the Complex. Let‘s say ‘Waterloo‘ The result saw the Peterson I f rink win the match finishing woum the day with aâ€"perfect 5â€"0 record. The P.E.1. rink suffered its second loss in a row in an exciting match that wasn‘t decided until the final end. Unfortunately, the game was played before sparse crowds. Soft attendance has affected the dynamics of the event, but organizers have predicted that as the week unfolds and the games become more important, the crowds will come. Officials also realized that for the first two days, Heartfest was competing against the Olympics. Now, with the Olympics over, they‘re hoping that this major event will be a sell out every day. The following are comments by Heartfest fans and officials: Cook on crowds, rocks and parkin n d Ne lp e U s nge j E, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 1994 Staying in the background, but lending his support is Walter Cook, the husband of chair Audrey Cook. £ "She went into this with her eyes open and saw this as a real challenge," said Cook. . "She just loves a challenge." 9 As for Waiter, he‘s proud to be the Chairman‘s husband. He even hands out business. cards with ‘Mr. Audrey‘ written on them. T No 8unda¥fic“|'1ymng she Ticket Chairman Haase was taken back when he saw that the official proâ€" _ gram had the championship game being played Sunday, instead of Saturday. f t . 'Ihadsm&nflayfinlflnt&hflaforthe&hfld&yfindmdfifilylm& are still available," said Haase. 3 $ a e Now that the Olympics are over, Haase said that the phone has been ringing off the â€" hook and the crowds are lining up at the doors for tickets. w lg . "We were a bit concerned at first and thought that we‘d have bigger crowds, but . fimamflmflyplchngup.lfflnmfl:ermgoodmthhneiufl.hu,figw; "33'.1‘."'-’"“‘"‘% Heartf will be selling up to m {4 , seating is sold out, fest committee i to 1,000 standingâ€" Cross, who is a cousin of Team Canada second Joan McCusker, is one of nearly two dozen family members who made the 36â€"hour trip by bus to Waterloo for this event. Call me ‘Mr. Audrey‘ Maanbudhmfl;dhau,shouldersmdflnmdmflmm'mhfi@ ing in the corridors of the Waterloo Recreation Complex. They‘re rats and there are plenty of them. Fans call them ‘Saskatchewan Road Kill and they have brought good luck to Team Canada‘s skip Peterson for the past three years. c "Now, this is an ugly rat," said Linda Cross of Saltcoats, Sask., pointing to the one perched on top of her Oktoberfest hat. According to Cross, the 10â€"inch Rat, replaced the team‘s former mascot the Teddy Bear a couple of years ago. About those Rats m repo in aisvuisa ces Ein COP" against Alberta . As of Tuesday momâ€" ing, Peterson‘s rink has an unblemâ€" ished record of 5â€"0. Maintoba, Prince Edward island and Newfoundland all sport a 4â€"2 record followed by British Columbia and Saskatchewan with 3â€"2 records. The Yukon, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick rinks have 2â€"4 records while Alberta sported a 1â€"5 record. Team Canada skip Sandra Peterson (centre) and third Jan Betker (left) and Letting the good times roll