Curling

[SpeedFlex27]

Everybody says the Coe team isn't that good. They played pretty damned well tonite after falling behind 5-2 early. They'll beat Gushue.

[Taynted_Fayth]

3 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Everybody says the Coe team isn't that good. They played pretty damned well tonite after falling behind 5-2 early. They'll beat Gushue.

I don't think Koe's team is bad, hell their 3rd Kennedy curled a 100% tonight against MB, but imho Gushue has the crowd and momentum and Koe's team had a loooong day today.  I think if nothing else,  that will be the biggest factor tomorrow.  I still expect a good game tomorrow,  but I think there will be a new team canada by monday

[SpeedFlex27]

1 minute ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

I don't think Koe's team is bad, hell their 3rd Kennedy curled a 100% tonight against MB, but imho Gushue has the crowd and momentum and Koe's team had a loooong day today.  I think if nothing else,  that will be the biggest factor tomorrow.  I still expect a good game tomorrow,  but I think there will be a new team canada by monday

Maybe but these guys curl like this every week of the season. The players are in tremendous condition. I think Koe will still pull it out.

[Taynted_Fayth]

7 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Maybe but these guys curl like this every week of the season. The players are in tremendous condition. I think Koe will still pull it out.

absolutely they are,  but a long first match with NO earlier today and what appeared to be crazy amount of sweeping vs MB (Hebert especially looked like his face was turning purple at one point) does have its wear and tear,  especially this far along in a tourney like the Brier.  Koe very well could pull it off,  I mean he's not team Canada atm for nothing, but I still think it's Gushue's to lose at this point.  

However if Gushue loses,  then both he and Englot will have lost the finals after winning the 1-2 game this year, which would have me wondering if the day off does more harm then good

[FrostyWinnipeg]

Koe didnt win IMHO, MB lost.

[17to85]

Mcewen has always been a choker. Think the dude is just mentally weak. That's one thing Koe does have going for him, he's got that winners mentality. 

[Wideleft]

Swap Gushue with McEwen.  If Gushue had to curl out of Manitoba since they met in the Canadian Junior finals, there is no way he would be a 16 time Provincial Champ.  If McEwen were curling out of Nfld ever since then, he may not have 16 provincial crowns, but I'd bet he's have 3 Briers by now.  There's a difference between being a choker and having to face elite curlers just to get out of your province.  Since McEwen graduated to men's curling,  he's had to compete against Vic Peters, Kerry Burtnyk, Jeff Stoughton.  That's at least 10 years of no chance of making it to Nationals.

 

 

[17to85]

31 minutes ago, Wideleft said:

Swap Gushue with McEwen.  If Gushue had to curl out of Manitoba since they met in the Canadian Junior finals, there is no way he would be a 16 time Provincial Champ.  If McEwen were curling out of Nfld ever since then, he may not have 16 provincial crowns, but I'd bet he's have 3 Briers by now.  There's a difference between being a choker and having to face elite curlers just to get out of your province.  Since McEwen graduated to men's curling,  he's had to compete against Vic Peters, Kerry Burtnyk, Jeff Stoughton.  That's at least 10 years of no chance of making it to Nationals.

 

 

Oh please, the guy has been one of the top teams on tour for years and he managed to piss away provincial championships to guys who weren't Stoughton you know. He lost to Rob Fowler, he lost to Carruthers and yes lots of losses to Stoughton, including years when the McEwen rink was a stronger team on the tour. Never mind that Peters and Burtnyk were hardly competition when McEwen had his own team in provincials were they even still doing anything beyond token appearances by that point? Seriously Stoughton is the only name that he had to face and for the past probably 6 or 7 years McEwens team has been the top team in Manitoba. 

Yes Gushue gets free passes to the Brier every year, but the fact that McEwen never seems to win the big events whether it's provincials or Briers or Olympic Trials is a black mark against him. Guy folds when the pressure mounts. Brad Gushue is a good shooter but he's kind of dumb, that's likely why he only won his first Brier this year, but McEwen has had all kinds of success at grand slams, but he always seems to find ways to fall before becoming a championship when all the eyes are on him. You want my opinion? There's no other explanation for why a guy who can be one of the very best teams in the world has so few Brier appearances and hasn't won squat once there despite being one of the top teams there through the week. Until such time as he wins something other than grand slam events that no one watches he's a choker. 

[FrostyWinnipeg]

McEwen lost because he gambled when he did not have to. You gamble when you need to.

[Wideleft]

It takes a big man to kick an amateur athlete when they're down.  Two-time defending provincial champ and leader in WCT earnings.  Don't know if you curl (or at what level) but the competition he faces does not guarantee Championships for him ever.  Doesn't make you a choker just because you've lost to this and last year's Brier winners either.

[17to85]

Actually it does. That's the whole point, WCT earnings leader, and has been many times yet only 2 provincial championships and failure in the Brier playoffs? What else do we call it? We called the Stamps chokers for being the best team in the league and not winning the Grey Cup, We call the San Jose Sharks perennial chokers because they're had great regular seasons and failed in the playoffs, it's no different for the McEwen rink. They choke when the pressure amps up I don't care if they're amateurs or not that's the reality of it and that's going to be their reputation until the win something that the public cares about because not a lot of people really give two shits about the grand slams. 

[bigg jay]

How are they considered amateurs when they play for money?  This also isn't the 1st time McEwen has been given the choker label... it's up to him to get  rid of it if he doesn't like it.

[Noeller]

In the sake of fairness, it needs to be posted that Dave has an irrational hatred of Mike McEwen because of an incident between them at the Brandon University curling playdowns, about 15 years ago.......everything he says about MM must be taken with a bit of a grain of salt...

[17to85]

you keep banging that drum but I keep telling you it's not the case. His dad was an arse but I got no beefs with Mike, you're just a huge fanboi are are incapable of seeing the flaws in him. I suspect it's a case of you liking the idea of someone the same age, went to the same university and all that, plus the Manitoba homerism. Guy can be good but his mental game prevents him from being as good as he could be. 

[Noeller]

In any case, there was an incident approx 1-bajillion years ago that blurs the lines and has ever since. Just last year you wanted to bash his head with a lead pipe.....

[SpeedFlex27]

Strategy lost that game for McEwen. Manitoba has the best curlers in the country but it never wins Briers anymore. Frustrating as hell.

[bearpants]

18 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Strategy lost that game for McEwen. Manitoba has the best curlers in the country but it never wins Briers anymore. Frustrating as hell.

I agree with you on that one.... I think we're all talking about the 8th end with MB up 5-3... if McEwen draws for 1 there he's up 6-3 with 2 to go.... even if they give up 2 in 9 they're still safe coming home... disappointing finish for MB, especially in a very winnable game... 

[17to85]

19 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Strategy lost that game for McEwen.

to me that's part of the mental game. Too impatient, doesn't know when to go for it and when to be smarter. 

[Wideleft]

22 hours ago, 17to85 said:

... His dad was an arse ...

Dad's can be such arses.  I remember narrowly losing to a nationally ranked Junior team in club curling and the skip's dad tore the whole team a new one after the game.  I said then to my teammates that those kids were having the love of the game taken from them.  That skip has not had much success at all in the last 10 years (not naming names).

[Wideleft]

On 3/14/2017 at 9:39 AM, bigg jay said:

How are they considered amateurs when they play for money?  This also isn't the 1st time McEwen has been given the choker label... it's up to him to get  rid of it if he doesn't like it.

Because they can't make a living solely off playing.  McEwen's team leads the WCT and has earned about $114 K. They have to split that 4 ways.  I imagine a lot of curlers have to take time off without pay to accomodate all the travel and weekly competitions.  It seems the most successful teams not so coincidentally have really accommodating employers who also sponsor the teams (Jennifer Jones comes to mind).  

[bigg jay]

The fact that their sport doesn't pay well enough to live off of doesn't mean they are amateur though.  CFL players have been known take on jobs in the off-season to get by.  Most UFC fighters need regular jobs to survive.  Minor league baseball players?  Yep side jobs for them too.   All professionals, just ones that need another source of income to keep letting them get paid to do what they love.

 

[SpeedFlex27]

2 hours ago, 17to85 said:

to me that's part of the mental game. Too impatient, doesn't know when to go for it and when to be smarter. 

They didn't play very smart being up 5-2. If that was Kevin Martin, Coe would have been shut down the rest of the way. Control the hammer, play conservatively, Go with the percentage shots.

[Noeller]

Is Mike actually top of the WCT this year? I know he's like 6th or something on the CTRS Order of Merit......I thought they were having a shitty tour season this year...? Hmmm....cause Carruthers has been the top Manitoba-based team all season.

[SpeedFlex27]

53 minutes ago, Wideleft said:

Dad's can be such arses.  I remember narrowly losing to a nationally ranked Junior team in club curling and the skip's dad tore the whole team a new one after the game.  I said then to my teammates that those kids were having the love of the game taken from them.  That skip has not had much success at all in the last 10 years (not naming names).

Parents are a problem in any sport. Thing is, where are the parents of the other kids to put this Dad in his place & to tell him to shut the hell up? Curling is a bit different from hockey & football that way. There are only 4 players with no true head coach unless they are a nationally ranked team. I used to be a head football coach & I never let parents act that way around me. I cut a kid once on the spot because the father was an *******. He gave me & one of my assistant grief over a number of practices making us know just how unhappy he was. I just said enough & cut the kid. He gave me no other  as he was becoming more disrespectful & beligerent. We don't get paid as coaches & don't need Daddy demanding more playing time as well as yelling & cursing us out. I never regretted doing it, either. He was shocked & went from being angry to begging me to change my mind which I didn't. Hopefully, he learned his lesson. I just remember the kid crying going to the car & his wife screaching at the guy just before she closed her car door, "WHAT DID YOU SAY???!!!!" Bet that was a great car ride home for that loser.

Edited March 15, 2017 by SpeedFlex27

[Taynted_Fayth]

should be interesting, wasn't Nedohin a decent curler a while back?