Unlikely scenario: Part 1

There I was, heading to the East St. Paul Curling Club Wednesday night, thinking about my debut as a skip in Manitoba Curling Tour play.

We were getting ready to face one of the best teams in the province in Peter Nicholls/Dean Dunstone, with two new players and little recent practice time.

I was a wee nervous... managed to take my warm up slides with no incident, despite that fact that I was dreading the first throw of the game. (I fought a migraine the previous night with little success, and twin Tylenol 3s only took the edge off.)

But, we actually fared pretty well... if we didn't have a brain cramp in the third end and give up four, we would have been right in the thick of things.

I actually enjoyed throwing last brick in tight situations - all of that practice brought up the confidence level. I was able to sit in the hack and focus solely on execution.

We move to the B-side of the draw, and play a ridiculous daytime game tomorrow... not sure who drew up the grid but that's nuts... a non-berth game with a weekday morning draw? Heard lots of grumbling in the locker room.

Still, I'm very much looking forward to hitting the ice again tomorrow, as we try to rebound against either Hamblin or Ewasko, depending on who lost Wednesday night. They're both very strong teams so either way will be a fight.


QUICK BITES: Weird site Part 1: At practice on Tuesday at the Granite, I look over to see some guy in snazzy chords, Hush PuppiesTM, a natty vest and sweater, and a throwing stick, heaving rocks on a sheet. That, alone, was kind of off, but the fact that, on either side of him, were Jeff Stoughton and Kerry Burtnyk... and you have a beauty "one of these things is not like the others" dealio... Guys I'd like to see do well: Bob Sigurdson (practices a lot and loves the game), Travis Bale (practices more than Bob), Don Spriggs (great comeback story considering last year's tragedy). Guys who have worn out their 15 minutes? You won't get that list unless you buy me a beer in the bar... Weird site part 2: Manitoba legend Ray Turnbull putting Stroughton and Co. through the paces at practice today. It's unusual to see one of the best throwers ever getting words of wisdom. But, everyone needs to tweak, just look at Tiger... I'm learning much about how weather affects ice conditions as we move from high humidity to cold and dry conditions... Jim Bender had a nice update on the sad story surrounding Heather Mowat's battle. Everyone should say a prayer for her, and follow a friends directions by emailing a goofy photo to cheer her up when she awakens.

Cheers, all, and thanks for reading. See you on the ice!