Foster wins, MCT finals two days away

It's been a couple of days, and there have been several developments, so let's get at 'er!

FOSTER'S LAUDED: Kyle Foster, who almost hooked up with Team Bender at the start of the season, proved to be a gamer by downing Dave Boehmer Monday night in the Zone 3 final in Riverton. Very impressive result, Kyle! Having never been in the luxurious position of winning a zone and using the MCA Bonspiel as a tune up instead of a last-gasp attempt to grab a badge, I can only imagine the boost of confidence Kyle's team earned with the win.

NOT MUCH HOOPLA: The MCT Championships begin Friday at noon in Portage... were you aware of that? There have been few updates on the MCT website, no promotions of the event in Winnipeg, and little talk of coverage in the mainstream media. I realize that the MCT is working with a tight budget, but I'm thinking fans would want to know who is curling in Portage so they realize the level of play going on just down Hwy. 1. It would be fairly easy to grab a digital voice recorder, get a few quotes from the top-ranked teams, and post those on the website, as well as run a couple on OB as a promo. One of the big problems is moving this event into December - it gets lost among all of the other events this weekend. Having said that, I'm about to add the draw to the blog, so watch for that update this afternoon.



MEGA-PRACTICE AFTER POOR OUTING: I threw 64 rocks at practice today, partly as punishment for playing so poorly in last night's Asham Major League game against Doug Riach. Granted, I was fighting a migraine, and fought for my balance all night. However, that's no excuse for coming out with such nasty draw weight. A pick on Derek's last rock in the first end meant a five for Riach, and it was all but over right away. I see most of the same people at the Granite for noon-hour practice: Jeff Stoughton, Ryan Fry, Kerry Burtnyk, Dan Kammerlock, Cory Nahernie (occasionally), Winston Warren (he's there more than Tony, the ice maker), Doug Harrison, Bob Sigurdson, Karen Porritt and Janet Harvey, and that dude who looks like a professor with the throwing stick. Most people don't realize the amount of hours that the top teams are putting into their craft. All the public usually sees are these peeps arriving at the rink for the big game and kicking butt... And, this does not take into account the night practices that most of these teams add on to their noon regimen. I'm surely putting in the time and sweat, I'm just waiting for the rewards of team success.