Margo's pre-Trials picks

[She's baaaaaack! Margo Weber, guest blogger during last February's STOH (controversially) and also the Tim Hortons Brier in Calgary (archive here) has been watching the Road to the Roar in Prince George, courtesy of TSN. What's on her mind?]

by Margo Weber

CALGARY – So, I entered a curling pool.

And this morning I had a looksee at the draw for the men’s side of the Road to the Roar, and I realized three of my qualifying picks fall to each other in the C-side.

On the women’s side, it’s not looking much better.  I did not have Crystal Webster qualifying, although I must say I’m thrilled all these Alberta teams are doing so well. I, for the record, with many others... had Kelly Scott (cue downer music).

It seems I will not win this pool. But overall, I’ve had a pretty good history of predicting who is going to do well at these things – in other sports, mind you – with a few minor blips.

However, just being in a pool raises some questions. There are curling pools? Who knew? I think it’s the first one I’ve been involved in. Maybe I’ve seen a Brier pool once or twice. The person who organized the pool itself is a well-known competitor who has already made it to the Roar of the Rings in Edmonton. Whom did she pick? Did anyone actually curling in this event enter the pool? Is that okay... or is that really, really bad?

It was only $25.00 but... let’s say someone bet on themselves, or bet against themselves... let’s say someone bet against his wife? Or his/her sister? Teams have a long history of buying themselves in calcuttas at cashspiels, so I suppose it’s all been done before.

Sigh. I believe I’m just bitter because, at best, only five of my eight picks have an opportunity to qualify. Not that any of my picks are out... they just fall to each other in the draw.

Can I get on another tangent here? Speaking of the draw...

Since when is it okay that teams which lose their first two games all get bundled up to play each other in the C-side? These teams arguably are the bottom four of twelve... yet because of the draw, one of these teams will make it to a C-final just by beating each other out. Horrible.

The only saving grace is that the loser of the B-side qualifier drops into that spot. Perhaps this is to make is easier for that team. Except it’s not easier if they are coming off a loss, and the C-side team just rattled off two wins.

So... will  I enter a Roar of the Rings pool? Of course. I’m assuming my friend – the competitor – will not have time to organize that one. Nor would she want to know who would or wouldn’t bet on her!

Maybe I will organize the pool myself. But I will inevitably struggle between whom I want to win... whom I think should win... and who I actually picked in the pool.

Maybe if I bet on who I don’t want to win... I’ll be happy either way.

Oh, and for the curious? Here were my picks:

Men:
A – Wayne Middaugh
B – Bob Ursel (CCA photo by Michael Burns)
C – Jeff Stoughton
C – Brad Gushue

Women:
A – Kelly Scott
B – Cathy King
C – Marie-France Larouche
C – Krista McCarville

Happy curling couple

BROCKVILLE – Here’s a happy curling couple that, who knows, might have actually met years ago at the very tournament they’re both competing in this weekend.

Quebec’s Dale “Whale” Ness, at left, and Allison “A.R.” Ross are both skipping teams at the Shorty Jenkins Classic in Brockville. Ness, the prototypical lead for Guy Hemmings back in their back-to-back Brier heydays, is 1-2 in a tough pool featuring Glenn Howard and Brad Jacobs (both 2-1) as well as Winnipeg’s Jason Gunnlaugsson (3-0).

Ross is also 1-2, in a women’s pool heavy on Quebec squads – Eve Belisle and Marie-France Larouche are both 2-1.

Ness is back curling “a little bit” while Ross first returned to the sport last year, following the birth of their two daughters.

Welcome back!

A $25,000 Curling Refresh

TSN’s Kraft Celebration Tour will give no less than 10 lucky Canadian communities a $25,000 grant, aka “community refresh”, plus an onsite hosting of TSN’s live SportsCentre broadcast.

This is all in celebration of TSN’s 25th anniversary.

Nominations come from the public via this special website, and nominations close at 5:00pm eastern time this coming Friday, June 12.

We’ve noticed that one community has made an all-curling application.

The East Hants Curling Association in Lantz, Nova Scotia has been looking to build a four-sheet curling facility since 1988 (!) and geez, for pure stubborness alone, we think Lantz should make it into the top 10!

Don’t you?

Brier competitor (with Team Shawn Adams) and EHCA Director Kelly Mittelstadt is heavily involved in the drive for a curling club.

“We’ve secured government funding sufficient to allow conceptual drawings to be completed,” Mittelstadt told The Curling News.

“Once these drawings are finalized our next, and largest, hurdle will be getting funding from all three levels of government to build this facility.”

Here’s the EHCA nomination under which TCN readers are invited to comment – positively, of course!


What else for a Tuesday?

• There’s not much to say about the the appearance of curling on last night’s TV episode of The Bachelorette. The skill level was, of course, abysmal. One of the bachelors – who had clearly never stepped on ice before – declared the sport “terrifying.”

And to some surprise, the Canadian Curling Association sent out an email urging people to tune in to watch, prompting this blogger to wonder how the organization got her email address ...

• Marie-France Larouche: skip et professeure?

• Yeah, yeah, yeah... everyone knows about the spoof story re. an IBM Supercomputer competing at the 2010 Worlds... but here’s the link in case you missed it ...

• And finally, Eric Deckers is the latest newbie to utter the obvious: Curling is Harder Than It Looks ...

Bring it on, baby

One game left. Bring it on, baby. That’s what we’re here for. If it’s meant to be, we’re going to make it happen.

– Marla Mallett

We love it. We love playing in these big games. We’re not scared of them, we love them. And we just love being out there together and enjoying the moment together.
– Jennifer Jones

by Elaine Dagg-Jackson

VICTORIA – The thing about being a competitor at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts is that once you’ve been there, nothing else will do.

For nine glorious days, real life melts away and you experience a fantasy state of life – living in a beautiful hotel, having three gourmet meals a day prepared for you, a team driver at your beck and call, and enthused curling fans cheering for your shots.

As rookie Scottie participant Kari MacLean – who roomed at the Empress Hotel this week with veteran Lorraine Lang – described it, “Lorraine tried to tell me what it would be like, but now that I’ve been here I get it, and all I want to do is get back!”

Surely that determination is related to some of the amazing matches we have witnessed here in Victoria, where it seemed that no game was in the bank until the last rock was thrown. I witnessed more upsets and comebacks than I have ever seen before, and I thought this year’s field was possibly the most equal of all time.

Team Alberta found a way to get back on the Scotties ice even after being eliminated on Thursday at the end of round-robin play. An enthusiastic but humbled Cheryl Bernard team participated in a wheelchair curling demonstration game against a very capable local team. This took place immediately following the three-four game.

While I am sure Cheryl and company were happy to get back on that Scotties ice one more time, I think they left the ice with a new degree of respect for the skill of those who throw curling shots from a chair!

On that note, congratulations to Vancouver’s Jim Armstrong and his Canadian wheelchair curling team, crowned world champions yesterday afternoon on hometown Olympic (and Paralympic) ice.

Will another Vancouver team become STOH champions tonight?

A number of teams won the hearts of the fans here in Victoria, and Saskatchewan was certainly on of them. In the three-four game on Saturday, crowd-pleasing Stefanie Lawton and co. put up a valiant fight against veteran Jennifer Jones and Team Canada. Every time Canada pulled ahead in the score, a driven Lawton found a way to stay alive.

Team Saskatchewan earned the respect and support of the crowd early in the Tournament and captivated them all week. Enormously disappointed after being eliminated, Lawton and company remained on the field of play long after the game... soaking up every last moment of their 2009 Scotties experience. I know parents/coaches Linda and Bob Miller must have been bursting with pride, watching from back home in Saskatchewan.

The evening game saw more of the same indelible spirit as Marie-France Larouche’s Team Quebec fought back from a 0-5 deficit in the semifinal. Both teams entertained with crowd-pleasing shots all game. In the end the experience of the Jones squad proved insurmountable but Team Quebec won the hearts of everyone here – once again – at the Scotties.

When you’re on the ice competing at an event like this, normal life fades away and for one amazing week, you feel like anything is possible. Tonight the Tournament draws to a close and the 60 athletes of the 2009 Scotties will leave Victoria with memories of competition, friendship and determination to find a way to get back to this amazing event.

Tonight there are only two teams left alive and ten more who are plotting their return. Tonight one team will be crowned 2009 Scotties Canadian Champions – will it be the veteran Team Canada, which has pulled wins out of the clutches of defeat, or the rookie Marla Mallett team from British Columbia, which have revelled in the ice conditions all week here in Victoria?

Not cheering for BC: Weber

Say hello to yet another TCN blogger, folks.

Margo Weber is a competitive curler from Calgary and an avid observer... most recently from her couch, as she is taking time away from the ice lanes to raise a family. In her first effort, she says she knows whom she is NOT cheering for in Victoria...


by Margo Weber

It’s probably no surprise to Marla Mallett that her team from BC has made the 1-2 playoff game at the 2009 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. But I bet it’s a surprise to everyone else.

In a field that included Team Canada’s Jennifer Jones, Saskatoon’s Stephanie Lawton and Calgary’s Cheryl Bernard, the play of Team BC has been no less than remarkable.

So can BC hold up their first place status and win one of two chances to make the final? This team made the 1-2 game by virtue of their eighth win on Wednesday night, however has subsequently lost their last two round robin games. If they can’t get things back on track, it’s going to be a long summer of what-ifs for Mallett and her squad from the Vancouver Curling Club.

Mallett (Kruger Products Ltd. photo above by Andrew Klaver) has certainly not let the extra pressure of being the home team diminish their chances. They don’t even seem to care what the crowd thinks.

They chose not to participate in the Ford Hot Shots at the beginning of the week because they feared it would be a distraction from the real goal – winning the Scotties.

Mallett also plays a less-than-crowd-pleasing style of game that is unbelievably boring and pretty lame for the fans. So they are less concerned about the event sponsors and the crowd, and more concerned with their own play. Fair enough.

But Mallett herself got distracted enough in last night’s round robin game against Team Canada that she actually stopped herself in the hack, got up and refocused. Apparently bothered by some opposition team movement at the other end of the sheet, she was later shown jawing to Cathy Overton-Clapham about holding still.

Was Cathy O doing the hokey pokey? How could someone of this curling calibre be so easily distracted over something so minute?

For those that watched the TSN telecast, you heard Linda Moore comment how Mallett had to refocus quite a few times in the BC provincials due to minor distractions. Shouldn't something as trivial as a little movement in the background not bother her at this point?

Yeesh, this is the home team, and the crowd is cheering “British Columbia” every five seconds. Yet she feels the need to talk to Cathy O about her movements. Weird.

Okay, so let’s pretend BC does win tonight – or in the semi – and then faces one of three really good teams in the final. And let’s pretend she even wins that and goes on to represent Canada at the Worlds in Korea. How will she fare?

As a fan of Canadian curling, my support will certainly be behind her in hopes that she captures the world title. But I would be a little nervous about their chances.

First, this is a very defensive team, and the Victoria ice seems to lend to this style of play. But the ice in Korea is sure to be completely different than ice at home – isn’t it? – and the question is: would they be able to adjust?

Second, if Mallett is easily distracted by other teams, the World Championship will not be the place for her. International teams are very different from Canadian teams. If you want to see a bunch of ladies jumping up and down, and high fiving just for making a hit and roll – watch a few games at the Worlds.

I’m going to have to throw my hopes behind a team that isn’t afraid to mix it up. Best of luck to Team BC in their quest, but I want a Canadian gold in Korea, and I’m going to have to cheer for someone else. How about someone like Quebec’s Marie-France Larouche who puts the broom on the edge of the eight foot, goes down to the other end of the sheet and draws to the can without blinking an eye. Typical Mallett strategy would be to scan the house for any cross-house double so that she doesn’t have to draw.

Or how about Saskatchewan, which has the major distraction of an illness in the family of the skip and third, yet has still rallied to a third-place round robin finish despite losing their first three games?

Or Team Canada, an absolute powerhouse in women’s curling which has the major distraction of being Team Canada? Even when these girls are struggling they just plain refuse to roll over and die themselves, as we saw in last year’s STOH and just a few minutes ago, in the 2009 tiebreaker against poor PEI.

There are so many great teams in the Scotties this year that I just don’t have it in me this time to cheer for the home province. Sorry, BC.

Will anyone step up to the plate?

by Elaine Dagg-Jackson

VICTORIA – Who is going to win this Scotties Tournament of Hearts?

That’s the question everyone is asking here in Victoria as the final days of this 2009 championship unfold.While BC’s Marla Mallett clearly dominated the leaderboard all week, she lost her last two games and, well, we all know that when it comes to the playoffs, anything can happen.

This was clearly illustrated just last year when Jennifer Jones upset the rock-steady Shannon Kleibrink in a stunning last-rock final. With every game on the final day of round-robin play crucial to the standings, there remains five teams – B.C., Quebec (Kruger Products Ltd. photo of Marie-France Larouche by Andrew Klaver), Saskatchewan, P.E.I and Canada – in contention become the 2009 Canadian champs.

For now, a few teams are able to grab some much needed rest. I chatted with one of the athletes who qualified for the three-four playoff last night and while she was clearly elated with a strong finish, she declared “I’m just so exhausted!”

My friend Luann Krawetz, who happens to be a University of Victoria basketball hall-of-famer, watched the game with me last night and her grasp of curling performance always amazes me.

She says curling is the only sport that places such demands on athletes where they need to excel physically, mentally and spiritually over such a long period of time. Where basketball athletes will play one game every other day in a four- or five-game series, curling athletes play two three-hou games per day in a 12-team round robin.

“It’s incredible!” says Lu.

It is much more fun watching the game with Luann, ever since I taught her not to yell “miss!” like they do for a free throw in basketball!

I’ve been more than a little surprised that the field here remains wide open. No one has stepped up to the plate to serve notice that they are really challenging for the title, and the trip to the Worlds in Korea.

From my perspective, B.C. has been the steadiest team this week, demonstrating patience, a calm and focused demeanor, and a full grasp of how to successfully play the conditions.

Saskatchewan has been gathering momentum and P.E.I, Canada and Quebec are all certainly playing well now – particularly the Islanders, who are up 4-2 on Team Canada at the fifth-end break of the tiebreaker!

It sounds obvious, but I feel the team that really embraces the ice conditions and the environment in the final games will come out on top.

It was fabulous to see so many of the teams letting off some steam in the Heart Stop Lounge last night. The music was great, the atmosphere fun and my daughter Steph was kept busy answering those all important questions from the sidelined Scotties participants of what to see and do in Victoria... and where the best shopping was, now that they finally have time to enjoy it!

Ordinary curling champions

by Elaine Dagg-Jackson

VICTORIA - We’re seeing some inspiring performances from some amazing athletes at this 2009 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Along with the champions of the day like Team Jennifer Jones are the stars of tomorrow, like Quebec’s Marie-France Larouche, Saskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton, Ontario’s Krista McCarville and others who are wearing their provincial colours here in Victoria.

Grace McInnes, a Scotties rookie who plays third for BC’s Marla Mallett, has shown poise and focus all week. And of course Yukon/NWT’s stunning defeat over Team Canada last night was a bright moment in the career of Kerry Galusha (and she won again this morning, too).

My eyes were focused behind the sheet last night, watching the young curlers from the Victoria Curling Club who were experiencing their very first live Scotties. It reminded me of the year 2000, when I took my then-12-year-old daughter Steph to her first STOH in Prince George. Steph got the chance to watch BC’s Kelley Law win five sudden-death games to become the Canadian champions.

What was unique about this is that in that same season, Steph and I played with Law third Julie Skinner in the good ol’ Tuesday night ladies league at the Victoria Curling Club. And at that moment, Steph realized that ordinary people can become champions.

Now 22, Steph has participated at six national championships (five Juniors and one Mixed) and even travelled with Law to the 2007 Scotties in Lethbridge as the team Alternate.

Time will tell how this 2009 Scotties imagery will inspire my young friends from the VCC.

Back to the games. Although the crowd has not been quite as big as organizers hoped early this week, that is sure to change as we approach the weekend. Meanwhile, those who are here at the Save on Foods Memorial Arena are showing their true colours.

BC, Canada and Manitoba have large contingents supporting their teams, but one of the most colourful is the Alberta family members who are their supporting Tam Bernard each game, and showing us just how far ordinary guys will go to support their gals.

On the ice things are getting exciting with team BC pulling into sole possession of first place yesterday (they’re 7-1 now) and some crucial games for those with two or three losses coming up.

The teams that find a way to get a little better each day are the ones who will find themselves in the playoffs later in the week. Building confidence and momentum is critical to winning a championship, and a number of the women are demonstrating tremendous poise under the pressure of this tournament.

As my friend Jay Tuson (BC third, 2001 Brier) commented last night in the Heartstop Lounge: “when the jackets come off you know things are heating up out there!”