The Curling Thread

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Tue Dec 03, 2013 12:57 am

I just tune Vic out most of the time. I really enjoy Linda and Russ though so the volume is on and at times Vic asks a really stupid question to make them look good.

The women have played 3 and the standings are pretty wild. Everyone is still in it.

Sweeting at 3-0, Jones and Carey at 2-1 and the other 5 teams (yes Shitballs won one) are at 1-2.

The men are a bit more separated but have only played 2. Martin, Morris and Jacobs are 2-0. Epping and Howard are 1-1, McEwan, Koe and Stoughton are 0-2.

HUGE game tomorrow morning. Jacobs vs Howard.

howard · Post by **howard** » Tue Dec 03, 2013 8:05 am

The only reason I read this thread is because there is an athlete you've dubbed 'Shitballs'.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Tue Dec 03, 2013 9:27 am

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Tue Dec 03, 2013 3:17 pm

I wish I were watching with Scottie, he must have just screamed at the tv watching Shitballs ridiculous decision in that 2nd end.

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Tue Dec 03, 2013 4:55 pm

Hey, I earnestly wish you were here, too.

Shitballs' husband (who plays now for Kevin Martin, for y'all following along via this thread) must go out of his mind when he sees things like that. So frustrating. She is quite prone to missing very obvious and textbook calls. It is partially because she wants to try more difficult or even flat-out bizarre shots, but mostly because she just really doesn't see the well-known positioning sometimes.

Imagine the opening movements in a chess game; they have names, are well known, and give you a very good idea how the game will play out. The start, the first few rocks, of an end in curling is not unlike that; game strategy can be compared to ten sequential chess matches. Shitballs doesn't think as far ahead as the rest of the women. Maybe a shot or two at the most. She often can't identify known stone arrays. The men envision how an entire end will unfold. A curler like Jennifer Jones can typically foresee the way the last 4-6 or even 8 rocks of an end will play out. Shitballs just can't do so. And some of her calls make ya' crazy to see. They're so fucked up sometimes it's like listening to some kook trying to explain how the moon landing was faked. You're left speechless not because it is compelling but because it is impossibly crazy.

Shitballs also calls a men's game. Or, rather, she tries to. That has some merit. She likes the raise double for three instead of a draw for two because it is more spectacular. And no wonder; she's seen her husband make a million of them. The problem with calling a men's game at the women's level, and it is a big problem that will never go away, is that the curlers playing in the lead, second and third positions simply cannot make the big weight, big angle, shots that the men make. And that is how Shitballs always gets herself into trouble. If she'd call more draws, more bumper weight and more control weight shots, more hack weight, more freezes, then she'd be deadly. But you'd swear she was born a man since she tries to make those huge highlight-reel big rock movement blasts that guys like Jeff Stoughton can play. She'll be serious business if she ever starts playing women's curling.

testuser2 · Post by **testuser2** » Tue Dec 03, 2013 5:08 pm

The crowd shots are great.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Wed Dec 04, 2013 11:11 am

more media scrums

the women's standings are really tight.

Jones and Sweeting 3-1, Sonnenberg and Middaugh are 1-3 and everyone else 2-2.

The men are seperating. Howard inexplicably lost to Martin while up 3. Just totally fucked up the end and you can hear it in his comments.

Jacobs is just dealing. His team is playing mad. "We are the Canadian champions and you made us qualify for this and then you guys are writing us off as just 'making up the numbers'? fuck you!"

Martin 4-0
Jacobs 4-0
Morris 3-1
McEwan 2-2
Howard 1-3
Stoughton 1-3
Epping 1-3
Koe 0-4

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Wed Dec 04, 2013 2:02 pm

Did you see the 9th end of Martin/Howard? Y'know, Howard played that game perfectly up until then; force the other guy to take one, score two yourself, force the other guy to take one, score two yourself, force the other guy to take one, score two yourself, force the other guy to take one, score one yourself. And the only shot he missed was really just a half-miss but, at that level, damn, it opened the door for Martin to take four. Did you hear Saville, before Howard threw that shot, saying "he's licking his chops here" meaning he knew that if Howard semi-screwed up it was ball game; even with that sort of lead. Wow. If Howard had thrown that rock off of the walls instead, thrown it away, he wins.

Speaking of which . . .

At the lonely end of the rink, throwing skip rocks last night in the mens "A" league. Note the intensity of focus and flawless delivery. Heh.

And this happened in the 6th end:

Throwing blue stones, you can see I have one on the button (around "8 o'clock") for shot rock and it is surrounded by opposition granite. The decision was to play some insane sort of shot to score more than one or just toss my last rock into the walls (throw it safely away from everything, waste it) and just take my one. I just took the one. And that gave me a two point lead with two ends to play. Three of those yellow stones are above the t-line and I didn't like any of the angles. Not at all. Trying to move those around? A number of things can happen and most of them are not good. Textbook says throw it away and take one.

Degen can confirm that I had no shot for two there!

Eta: just hitting me now how close we were to having the first seven of our eight blue stones on the house. That end was just plain wild. Oddly the next end was a wide open blank end; never more than one or two rocks in play and no points scored.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Wed Dec 04, 2013 6:13 pm

There is no shot for 2. MAYBE if the yellow stone in the 8 foot (11 oclock) was higher up in the 12 foot you might have an outturn draw to bite the button.

yeah throwing it away was best.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 8:24 pm

Shitballs got eliminated this afternoon.

Scottie, I wouldn't want to be in the front row in Winnipeg. Howard looks like he going to kill someone.

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 8:33 pm

Did you see that 3rd end of Jacobs/Martin? Yowsa! Martin was set up for five, at least three maybe four, in that end and Jacobs just kept making double after double. Martin ends up drawing for one against two yellows? Man, what a game.

Yes, Shitballs is out! Hooray. I've been cheering for Sweeting. And Holman. See Holman miss that easy open draw to blow it against Jones yesterday? Gak! She even had backing (edge four) and didn't use it.

Howard is seriously stressed, which is kinda rare. But, damn, Koe is too good to go winless through this tourney. "Amazing Koe" was bound to show up sooner or later. Long way to go yet.

I have to PVR the rest of this. Off to the curling club for the evening! On the ice at 7:00.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 8:36 pm

Yup that 3rd end was amazing. Nedohin made a huge mistake.

Sweeting was in tears when she lost and missed out on the 4way tie for 2nd.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 10:38 pm

I won't spoil it. Scottie let me know when you've watched it.

Gunpowder · Post by **Gunpowder** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 7:52 am

I forgot all about Shitballs!

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 2:28 pm

degenerasian wrote:I won't spoil it. Scottie let me know when you've watched it.

Whew! Can finally click on this thread.

- Nedohin's last rock had no handle. Terrible error.
- Fuck TSN. They cut to a split-screen in the middle of Jacobs' first stone of the 10th. Idjits. Could have replayed the (meaningless) Koe last rock later.
- Martin's last rock seemed to slide oddly on that exact same path as Nedohin's last rock.

My recording ran out EXACTLY before Jacobs' last stone. Seriously. Fuck. What happened???

ETA: The video is here: http://www.tsn.ca/curling/story/?id=438318" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Watch the "Roar Of The Rings Day Five" clip. That final shot is incredible.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 7:04 pm

If you had bet that wife Middaugh would make the playoffs and husband Middaugh wouldn't you'd make a lot of money.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 7:16 pm

The Sybian wrote:Come on, Martin!

Sorry Syb. Martin is out.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Sun Dec 08, 2013 11:15 pm

To tie up this thread, Jennifer Jones and Brad Jacobs win the trials and will represent Canada in Sochi.

Scottie: Have you seen anyone play better than the Jacobs team this week? Absolutely on fire. Morris tried to force Jacobs to 1 in the 9th end and Jacobs made an "impossible" double.

The final press scrums.

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 1:47 am

In a field of eight men's teams playing round-robin, each of the 32 games could have easily been a Brier final. Jacobs playing undefeated through that field may be the greatest accomplishment in any single week of Curling history.

I thought he was crazy as balls playing that double. He could have jammed the reds. The first contact red could have jammed the 12-foot yellow. There were more things that could have gone wrong than could have gone right. Yet, he nailed it. Brilliantly.

The women's final looked pretty much exactly like the games you see in my men's "A" league (not even my Super League, just the top level men's Tuesday/Thursday). Shot making-wise. I mean that. It's the same level. If you were to to look at a computer simulation of my men's "A" league and the Canadian women's nationals, just showing the call and the shots without the bodies or venue visible, you wouldn't notice a difference. That is how staggeringly better the national level men's curling is compared to the women. Well . . . you can't compare them. The men's is through the roof.

Very happy to see Jacobs win. Very. Those guys are athletes; the four of them are ripped.

By the way, Martin's team didn't skip the medal ceremony; they received their medals during the 5th-end break last night. Bloody hell, "social media" people have been bitching Martin up and down because he "wasn't there". Gak. People should have to pass a test to use the internet. A tough test.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 10:19 pm

US Olympic curling qualifiers on nbcsn right now!

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 10:21 pm

Wait a second. This isn't just US. I'm so confused.

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Thu Dec 19, 2013 10:30 pm

The US nationals were last month. USA (this year) doesn't go straight to Sochi. Because of previous performances, the USA winner goes to a qualifying event (in Germany). There are 8 teams in that one. And the top two go to the Olympics. I won't spoil the results for you. Insert smiley face.

ETA: Meant to say that the women's team goes straight to the Olympics, it is just the men's that have to go to the qualifier.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Fri Dec 20, 2013 9:48 pm

not a spoiler but I'm going to go forward in time.

The US men were in an 8 team qualifying event for 2 spots in Sochi

After the round robin 4 teams finished 5-2. Germans, Czechs, US and South Korea. Due to draws to the button throughout the week. Germany and Czech Rep. played in the 1-2 game in which the Germans won and qualified for Sochi. US and Korea played a tiebreaker in which the US won.

Got a few hours to spare? In the video below is the final qualifying game between USA and Czechs (FOR ALL THE MARBLES)

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 1:08 pm

Degen . . . leave your TV(s) on SportsNet all day!

Marathon (Wimmunz) coverage goes;
Alberta semi-final
Manitoba semi-final
Alberta final
Manitoba final
BC final

Shitballs is on the verge of being eliminated by Bernard. Cross your fingers.

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 1:34 pm

And DOWN GOES SHITBALLS!

Beautiful in-turn double in the 10th to seal it by Bernard. Val Sweeting -v- Cheryl Bernard in the Alberta final later today; that`ll be great.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 2:47 pm

excellent.

It's a sick day for me. In bed channel surfing all sports.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 8:33 pm

Scottie: Watching the BC final now. Looks like a great field for the Scotties this year. Homan, Sweating, Lawton, Carey etc...
Quebec (the hosts) to be decided next week.

And Galusha lost to some 20-year old hotshot in the Territories event.

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 10:13 pm

And Heather Smith from Nova Scotia is Mark Dacey's now ex-wife. Very recent split. Heather also a returning provincial champ. She's do well in the STOH.

Surprised that the Prince George rink has 8 sheets. Then again . . . what else is there to do in Prince George?

Interesting venue for that Manitoba final (which I'm glad Carey won - she has to be among the top two or three favorites for the STOH now), the Tundra Oil & Gas Place is not a dedicated curling rink. Provincial finals are almost always in actual clubs. Alberta's was over at Sylvan Lake Curling Club. Nova Scotia's was in the club where I first learned and played the game.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 10:30 pm

How did Dacey not hold on to her? He definitely married up.

She's hot.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 11:06 pm

wow, another youngster wins BC. Stole in the 10th against Scott!

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 11:35 pm

Kelly Scott is comfortable throwing draw weight, not so much throwing hits. She made a terrible call on her 7th rock in the last end; it cost her the game. She made another poor call on her final stone.

Van Osch's lead, the tall one, is a nice piece.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Mon Jan 13, 2014 2:29 pm

So sad, due to the flooding in Boulder a few months ago no curling club in Boulder county this year.

Post by **brian** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 12:27 pm

Continential Cup in Las Vegas this weekend expected to break attendance records.

Rams Fanny and I are meeting up tomorrow to take in the evening draw. Should be quite the scene.

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 12:40 pm

Tomorrow evening is:

Murdoch -v- Stoughton
Muirhead -v- Brown
Ulsrud -v- Jacobs

. . . so you picked a great draw to see. Jacobs -v- Ulsrud may well be the Olympic gold medal game.

Post by **brian** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 1:00 pm

AVN is in town this weekend also, so it's pretty much a dream weekend for curling fans who like porn.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 5:09 pm

isn't that everyone?

Post by **brian** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 5:48 pm

degenerasian wrote:isn't that everyone?

There's certainly a smaller subset of people who would shell out dough to go to actually go to the events to meet the porn stars. And a lot of them seem pretty weird.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 6:05 pm

brian wrote:
degenerasian wrote:isn't that everyone?
There's certainly a smaller subset of people who would shell out dough to go to actually go to the events to meet the porn stars. And a lot of them seem pretty weird.

I thought everyone went to Vegas for a different reason that just happened to be the same week as AVN.

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Fri Jan 17, 2014 3:15 pm

Before hockey and curling threads get tangled . . . the attendance in Vegas has been impressive. Good numbers this morning; that event is in front of empty seats in Canadian towns (like Abbotsford a couple of months ago).

A couple (or four) of those Japanese girls are damn fine.

Post by **brian** » Fri Jan 17, 2014 3:26 pm

Scottie wrote:Before hockey and curling threads get tangled . . . the attendance in Vegas has been impressive. Good numbers this morning; that event is in front of empty seats in Canadian towns (like Abbotsford a couple of months ago).

A couple (or four) of those Japanese girls are damn fine.

Seems to be a somewhat surprising amount of interest among the locals I've talked to. Most of the crowds are from AB and SK of course, but it helps that the tickets are reasonably priced for drawing in Las Vegans. (Also, we get a shittonne of Canadian snowbirds as well.)