Curling

[Super Duper Negatron]

I thought this was kind of fun. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2023/12/01/vikings-sackmaster-tossing-rocks-and-polishing-the-pebble-at-dekalb-superspiel

[Noeller]

couple of big spiels on this weekend... the Dekalb in Morris, and then some kinda mixed doubles (fart noises) thing in the city.... a bunch of top curlers (the ones not out in Penticton for a big men's WCT event) are all hanging out at the Fort Rouge...

[FrostyWinnipeg]

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/curling/curling-scene-challenges-attendance-cornens-wrap-2023-1.7068976

[SpeedFlex27]

3 hours ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/curling/curling-scene-challenges-attendance-cornens-wrap-2023-1.7068976

I dunno. I used to be a real curling fan & played the game a lot when I was younger, I"m no expert nor am I a great fan anymore but I believe that the tall foreheads of the sport have screwed up the Brier something bad. The residency rules where a skip from Ontario can skip a team from Alberta was a mistake. Yeah, I get it's because of Olympic qualifications but having two wildcard teams thrown in just makes it confusing for fans. I think they need to get away from rules like that. If you curl for a province then you need to live there. Then get rid of the wildcard teams. This is the Canadian championship so only the provinces or territories should be represented. Do the wildcard teams represent the provinces or are they independent? Casual fans like me don't seem to know. Like I said, I'm no expert but I think you have to fix the Brier first. Get the interest back to the Canadian championship & everything else filters down. That is Job 1 in my books. 

Edited December 24, 2023 by SpeedFlex27

[Noeller]

13 hours ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/curling/curling-scene-challenges-attendance-cornens-wrap-2023-1.7068976

It's a tough situation now for sure. The best point raised in this article was in a Homan quote where she said it's difficult to get enough funding for as many teams as Canada has. That's the key point. Other countries have one team... Maybe two. So all the funding goes to them and this is their full time job, paid by the government. We have a number of teams and all with limited funds. Some still work full time jobs and just practice around that. It's a lot tougher to be at the same level as the EurAsian teams that eat, sleep and breathe curling with their same team 24/7/365.

[iHeart]

Jennifer Jones done

[JCon]

Scottie's Starts tonight. 

 

What's the story here? 

Team Canada lead Harris ineligible to compete at Scotties Tournament of Hearts

Calgary – Curling Canada announced on Friday that Briane Harris, lead for Canada’s Team Kerri Einarson, is ineligible to compete at this year’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary.

“Curling Canada has been made aware that Briane Harris of Team Canada is ineligible to compete in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. No further information is available at this time. There will be no further comment on this situation from Curling Canada or members of Team Canada,” the governing body said in a release.

The 31-year-old Harris has played with Team Einarson since the 2018-19 season and has been integral in helping them capture the last four Canadian women’s curling championships.

A win by Team Einarson in Calgary this week would pass Team Colleen Jones for the most consecutive Scotties titles of all-time.

 

 

[Noeller]

Pretty crazy... the press release screams doping or some kind of behaviour thing (unlikely).... but who knows. It's possible that she got busted for some kind of PED, but I'm not sure we'll ever find out the actual truth...

[SpeedFlex27]

2 hours ago, Noeller said:

Pretty crazy... the press release screams doping or some kind of behaviour thing (unlikely).... but who knows. It's possible that she got busted for some kind of PED, but I'm not sure we'll ever find out the actual truth...

Thanks to Curling Canada for no information leaving it up to the media & fans to speculate what happened which is probably worse than making the announcement explaining why.

[JCon]

4 of 6 teams in the playoffs are from Manitoba. Whoa. 

Although, I don't expect Lawes or Cameron to make much of a splash. 

 

I had Einarson vs Homan in the final before the week and I'm still expecting this as a final. Homan has been the best team this week, IMO. 

Can Jones get to one more final? 

[Noeller]

Einar hasn't been particularly good this week. I think the drama from last week is weighing on them. Jones has been the better team, of the two, IMO. It's still Homan's bonspiel to lose, and the absolute WORST case Ontario, is Homan vs Sturman in the final. Blech. As Jeff says, Lawes and Cameron are just happy to be in the final 6. They won't make much noise going forward. It's all up to Jones and Einar to try and save the day. 

[FrostyWinnipeg]

4 hours ago, JCon said:

4 of 6 teams in the playoffs are from Manitoba. Whoa. 

Hey look! Northern Ontario is Canada's 11th province.

[JCon]

Jones is playing like the Jones of 10 years ago. Amazing. I hope she can keep it going. 

[Noeller]

My understanding is she was hot garbage last night on the 10th end and cost them the win. Really wanted a stress free Jones vs Cameron final..... Should be an interesting day.

[FrostyWinnipeg]

2 hours ago, Noeller said:

My understanding is she was hot garbage last night on the 10th end and cost them the win. Really wanted a stress free Jones vs Cameron final..... Should be an interesting day.

Was over after the first. Jones & Homan tonight!

[SpeedFlex27]

In curling, I don't get the age thing if you're a skip. If as a skip you practice a lot & play in competitive games. I don't know why someone can't play at a high level well into their 50's. Sure, it's a young person's game if you're a career lead or second but skips don't have to sweep except in the house. And don't need the stamina someone twenty years younger would have. Their game is more mental as they're calling the shots & need to stay sharp.

By the time they're in their mid 40's, skips may need to play brain games of some kind to keep that edge as part of their training regimen. Trust me, I know that. I started losing my memory of little things in my late 40's. I'd go to the store, get out of my car & think, "Why am I here?" A few times, in my 50's, I remember having a bus full of kids & teachers & on the route we were travelling, suddenly forgetting where I was going. Talk about panicking!! "Where the hell am I going??" Thankfully, that always lasted just a few seconds & my memory would come back. I remember 20 years ago being worried that I was getting Early Onset Dementia or Alzheimer's but other drivers told me it also happened to them. I don't worry about that anymore as I found out that it's just a part of the aging process.

So, an older competitive curler like Jennifer Jones would be wise to keep her brain active when training. I wish her the best of luck. Hopefully, she can go out on a high.

[JCon]

Glenn Howard is playing with his son in the Brier and he's old as dust. 

Jones has been able to play this long because she's smart and consistent. The physical side has definitely caught up to her. 

The game can grind you down and playing in bonspiels is grueling. 

I think about it a lot, of why we don't see older players, but I think it's more physical than you think. Also, eventually, you just can't play that much. To be a top team, you need to play a lot, or win everything you do play, which isn't feasible. 

Jones' career was stretched out by winning the Scotties so often, she didn't have to win Manitoba each year and then they expanded the size of the pool. 

[FrostyWinnipeg]

I would think the knees giving out would be reason #1.

[TrueBlue4ever]

Jones’ decision to walk was purely family related, according to her. Wants to be there for her daughters more. 

[SpeedFlex27]

1 hour ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

Jones’ decision to walk was purely family related, according to her. Wants to be there for her daughters more. 

Yeah, tough to be away from young kids every weekend. 

[JCon]

2 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Yeah, tough to be away from young kids every weekend. 

And, mornings or evenings. It's really like having a second fulltime job. She's done everything, won everything, is the GOAT. Time to enjoy her family. 

[bigg jay]

28 minutes ago, JCon said:

And, mornings or evenings. It's really like having a second fulltime job. She's done everything, won everything, is the GOAT. Time to enjoy her family. 

Yup, she's been doing this, at a high level for such a long time now.  It's been 30 years since I first heard about Jennifer Jones - the curler.  We went to the same high school (she's a few years older than me so we only overlapped for a year I think) and it was a pretty big deal when she won the junior nationals in 94.  Looking at what she's accomplished since then is amazing - definitely the GOAT in my books.

[Noeller]

Best ever and it isn't particularly close. The only person who dominated curling to this degree is Kevin Martin (I just threw up in my mouth...) 

As mentioned, this is about being with the girls more. She deserves a chance to slow down and just be mom for awhile. The game has changed... you need to be throwing hundreds of rocks every day, and they're playing in bonspiels constantly. It's not just weekends. With travel, it's a week long venture every time. At some point, it's just too much. She has nothing to prove to anyone. 

[FrostyWinnipeg]

Dunstone tonight vs Bottcher. Brain camp in the 9th!

[Noeller]

Dunstone has been **** all week. Not sure what's up with him/them but they're a way better team than what they've shown. Carruthers/Jacobs are over performing. It IS however lovely to see Koe shitting his pants. Need Douchue and Bottcher to follow suit...