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.

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.