Curling season three months away

I realize it's hard to think about the coming curling season when we're teetering on the brink of summer, but that's the sad reality when you are looking to pick up with a competitive team.

Because I've been swamped running the internet media company, I've had no time to seek out a team to play with next season.

Certainly, if you're on a competitive team and you are looking for a committed player looking to practise daily during the season, you should send me an email.

It's been a while

I've been workin 12-16 hour days setting up my internet media company, and have been neglecting this blog during the height of the provincial competitive season.

I apologize... but it was a necessary withdrawal.

In the meantime, I need to test various upload methods through YouTube, so here's one of my few decent shots against Murray Woodward in the Zone 3 game last month.

DeFoort almost pulls it off

Team DeFoort was down one without coming home in 10 against Stoughton and were unable to tie. Still, it's a great run and a valiant effort against one of the top teams in the province. Kudos.

Update of City Zone play

Here's the first major shocker of the City Zones... Kerry Burtnyk losing the B-side semi-final in Zone 15 to Eugene Desjarlais! While Kerry still has a leg in the final by winning the A-side, it's still a stunner. And their final score was something else... 12-11!

My former Team Gromnisky mates are currently playing Jeff Stoughton in the Zone 16 B-Side semi... Go Team DeFoort!

My other former team, Bob Sigurdson, has a berth in the A-B final, and is playing in the B-side semi as we speak.

I'll update as results come in.

Cheers!

Woody had our number

After going 4-0 against Murray Woodward since 2001, we ran up against a brick wall this weekend.

He clobbered us 9-4 in our first game of the Zone 2 Play Downs in Ste. Anne Friday night, and then finished us off this morning 6-0 in eight ends after we couldn't get rid of the hammer. (We blanked 1, 5, 6 and 7, and couldn't set up a big score all game.)

We managed to win our second game Friday night against Gary Barkman, 8-2, with a strong showing. We just couldn't recapture that grasp of the ice this morning. After giving up a steal of three in the second end, we killed ourselves again in the third end, and it was over... We were killed by a thousand cuts after that, playing eight excruciating ends to no avail. It was one of the most frustrating games in my curling career.

The ice in Ste. Anne was fantastic as promised by organizers, so that was no excuse.

I played in a mixed game at West Kildonan after getting home from Ste. Anne, and the ice was VERY good! (Hard to believe, given the conditions in recent years). Joe's got it dialed up for the MCA Bonspiel which starts Thursday night.

We play at West St. Paul Thursday at 9 p.m. and then at Charleswood at noon Friday.

Following the City Zones

Having a look at the results from the City Zones, and we see some interesting story lines developing.

Zone 15
Kerry Burtnyk advances by downing Carl German/Doug Harrison 8-4. They should walk through this Zone, given their level of play of late.

Zone 16
My buddies from Team Gromnisky, now playing with Jay DeFoort, ran into a hot Mike Mahon squad last night and find themselves waiting for the winner of Dave Smith and Joel Newbury in the B-side to see who will play Jeff Stoughton in the crossover game. It's Mahon and Stoughton in the marquee game of the A-side at sheet 1 of West St. Paul tonight at 9:15 p.m. Jeff's played the end sheet at Elmwood, the end sheet at West St. Paul, and he gets another end sheet tonight. It doesn't seem to be bothering him, though, as he's dominated so far. The big story of last night was Team Stoughton scoring a big seven ender in the seventh end against Troy Hamilton. I wonder how close they got to an eight-ender?

Zone 17
After a squeaker of a win in their first game against Arnold Asham, Randy Dutiaume's squad is on a roll. They blanked a talented Craig Strand team 8-0 last night to advance. They have to be the favourites here.

Zone 18
This one's wide open, with Vic Peters dropping out because of injury, it's anyone's Zone to win. And there are several game contenders. The other seed, David Bohn, is certainly capable, as are Rob Cosens and Jim Kirkness. I'd like to see Cosens make a run here.

Zone 19
The key match-up tonight is James Kirkness vs. William Kuran. Can Kuran finally shake the monkey off of his back and win a Select spot? With the way the draw was made, this could still be a preview of the final. It would be great to see.

Zone 20
It's a similar situation in this zone, with Mike McEwen and Dean Dunstone facing off tonight in a possible final preview. Hard to know how it will go, but I'm picking Dunstone to edge out a victory.

Zone 21
With Chris Galbraith getting bumped into the B-side last night by Jamie Hay, it's wide open for my pal from the Granite, Bob Sigurdson. Don't count Galbraith out just yet, though, as he's been known to find another gear in the B-side rush.

Good curling, everyone!

It's Zone 2 Eve

Here we are, hours before our first game in Zone 2 as we will face Murray Woodward in our quest to ride the underdog title all the way to Dauphin.

It's been two years since I've played in a Zone play down. My last game was the A-B Final with Team Gromnisky vs. Bob Sigurdson. We got our lunches handed to us on a hospital cafeteria tray after we didn't respond well to the ice breaking down quicker than.... uhm... Vanilla Ice's career. (It's the only other ice reference I could think of.)

After two consecutive years of daily practice and several delivery analysis sessions with High Performance Centre coaches, I feel a calmness going into our first day of war at Ste. Anne. In a strange bit of scheduling, all eight teams vying for the Zone spot will have to play back-to-back games Friday night... two 10-end tilts in a row. Whoever actually wins this thing will have earned it, that's certain.

I remember this time in 2005 like it was a few weeks ago. I was uptight going into the final game and over thinking the situation. Tonight, I'm thinking about showing up to the rink in Ste. Anne, stretching, and letting it all happen on the ice. Either way, I'm going to have a blast because I love to compete, and because I know I've worked hard to maximize our opportunities as a team.

For our competitors, I hope for excellent ice conditions and a pick-free match.

For Team Ryall, I wish for potential realized and hundreds of laughs.

Cheers!

Last ditch attempt for an angle raise just misses

Lorne's last-rock heroics are not to be as our angle raise attempt over curls and Ken Ans wins the Whitemouth Bonspiel 5-4. It was a great tune-up event.

Lorne covers the pin but we're wide open

Lorne brings beauty draw weight to his final shot in the sixth end against Ken Ans in the Whitemouth Bonspiel final, but it sits in the open allowing Ans to bump it out for two with his last rock.

First draw in eight crashes like a two-year-old on Red Bull

I have perfect draw weight but it catches the swoop and my first shot in the eighth end of the Whitemouth Final crashes and burns.

Steiner makes a great runback

Paul Steiner makes an excellent runback in the eighth end of the Whitemouth Final, giving us a chance for a steal.

My raise double in eight is a little light

I didn't bring enough mustard with this pivotal raise double attempt in the eighth end of the Whitemouth Final on Jan. 7, 2007.

Settling for the peel

I attempt a tight bumper-weight hit in the seventh end of the A Final in Whitemouth, and settle for a guard peel out front.

Whitemouth tune-up a success

We were unable to get into the La Salle spiel over the weekend, so we headed northeast to take part in the Whitemouth event.

The ice at this out-of-the-way three- sheeter was soft and flat for our first game Friday night, but was much better Saturday and very good Sunday.

We lost a tight one to Ken Ans in the A Final Sunday afternoon, 5-4 in eight ends, and learned a few things as we worked to prepare for the Zone 2 play downs this coming weekend in Ste. Anne.

Lorne and I got picked up by Paul Steiner, who we've played with in the past, and his pal Jerry, also from Whitemouth. We gelled quickly and put up respectable numbers.

I struggled a bit with the older-style flat hacks, as I've become spoiled by the Marco hacks that provide more of a starter's block feel. Nonetheless, we acquired valuable game experience together and we have our work defined for us as we practise this week.

Here's the first of several clips shot by my wife of action from Whitemouth. It's the TSN Turning Point, if you will: our attempt at a hit through a port for four in the seventh end that would have sealed the game. It over curls and we settle for one.

I feel like Eric Lindros

OK. When I say I feel like Eric Lindros, I'm referring to what he felt like after his face ran into Scott Stevens' shoulder a few years back.

Thanks to a wicked sinus flare up and the associative medication needed to quell the pain, I was not exactly "on" last night in our Asham Major League game against the Barb Spencer squad. While we managed a 6-6 draw, we were sloppier than Ozzy Osbourne at a song bird buffet. It was like I was hitting the ice for the first time, as I didn't find my frozen sea legs at all.

Speaking of the ice, it was straighter than the drive from Winnipeg to Brandon... negative ice for outside in draws on both sides! And, if you threw anything above control takeout weight, you were doomed to heck for all curling eternity (or at least until Zones).

Kristin Loder was dialed in, though, earning player of the game honours from our team. Barb Spencer was unable to make the contest because of poor road conditions which was a shame because she's been playing very well of late.

THIS AND THAT: I really miss my daily practice sessions, as the Granite is playing host to the Master's Men's Zone playdowns this week and the storied nine-sheeter was closed during the Christmas break... It appears Lorne has successfully rounded out our squad with two sharp-shooters, so we'll be entering the Rural Zone 2 playdowns which run Jan. 12 to 14 in Ste. Anne. It's going to be a very tough go this year with Reid Carruthers, Murray Woodward, Wilf Peters and Gary Barkman signed on so far... During an excellent practice session before the Christmas break, I made a cute half-rock raise double to score three against myself that caused me to perform a quick fist-pump. OK, that's mildly embarrassing but no one was there to see it and it was one of my better called shots of the year...Finally, watch this space for a piece I've been chewing on for some time: The 10 Commandments of Curling.

Thanks for participating!

Interview with Randy Neufeld posted

I finally figured out how to upload my podcasts to a third party server, so here's my first demo.

It's my short interview with Randy Neufeld after he downed Richard Muntain in the final of the Thistle Integrity Stakes played recently at the Asham Arena.

Podcast

Thanks for participating.

Seeking event sponsorship

If you or your company would be interested in sponsoring live blog coverage in Portage on the weekend, I'd like to hear from you. It’s not worth my while financially to provide full weekend coverage without a sponsor, so I’m trying to find someone to cover my expenses.

You would receive a full banner ad on the main page of the site, as well as a static graphic ad on every post.

Full banner sample:



Graphic ad sample:


There is no TV coverage planned for the event. The winner receives a berth into the provincial Safeway Selects.

It’s a focused demographic, and participants would see your ad every time I added a new update.

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.

Early December roundup

It's time to have a quick look around the news as we enter the crazy season - zones and berth events at full speed.

FAMILIAR NAMES RETURN: Terry McNamee is heading back to the Safeway Selects after capturing the berth spot out of the Brandon spiel. His team edged Mike McEwen in the key game. Kyle Foster and Dave Boehmer play tonight in the A-B final of Zone 3 in Riverton. That should be an interesting game. So far there are only 22 teams entered into the MCT Championships in Portage, which starts Friday. As Chris Galbraith said on Curling Zone, it's hard to believe they are having to put the call out for teams in an event with a Select Spot on the line. As predicted in my previous post, Randy Neufeld won the final MCT event of the season in Morris with a dominant performance in the final. Congrats, Randy and good luck in Dauphin.

PRACTICE NETS RESULTS: I practised with intensity last week, and the results are coming. My Thursday session included an hour of work with Connie Laliberte, who closely scrutinized my delivery, keying on my release. After taking a lower body position and altering the timing of my release, I threw a bunch of rocks with positive outcomes. It was the first time I'd thrown 64 rocks in one practice in some time.

APPLE ROCKS: I picked up a new MacBook late last week, and the multimedia functionality on this thing is astounding. It's fast, easy and looks cool, to boot. I'll be tweaking it up this week in anticipation of my coverage of the MCT Championships in Portage, which is still to be confirmed.