Curling wrap-up

So the good news for those of you who read the blog but don't care much for curling is that I think this is the last post on the subject for awhile. Most of the curlers began their trip home today and other than one post-mortem meeting that I imagine will be taking place sometime next week, this year's Canadian Mixed Curling championship is over and done with.

The final was a good game and was pretty even right until about the 7th end when Ontario's skip missed a shot, allowing Manitoba to steal a point. And that really seemed to take them out of their game.

But the real gem was Friday night between Ontario and Saksatchewan. That was a beaut and people were still talking about it on Saturday. Any game when the skip has to draw to essentially the pin (the hole in the centre of the ice) on his last rock to win the game, is a pretty good one. They were mixing it up all game, with one end having six rocks in the four foot. I was pretty happy because I was an on-ice observer for the game, so I was literally a few feet away from all the action.

When the losing term curls 88% and the winning team curls 89%, you know you've seen a good game.

And the awards last night were fun. The teams were enjoying themselves and Ontario didn't seem to be mourning their loss too hard, judging by the amount of alcohol on the table and the volume coming from that area. I think my favourite moment was when the top three teams were each given sealskin mittens as a present. The guys seem to think it was cool, but the women were really happy. I thought the two women from Saskatchewan were going to bust they looked that happy.

(And all I had going through my head was "made from genuine Saskatchewan sealskin bindings...from Air Farce, I believe)

Anyway, it was a good week. I'm occasionally amazed it got pulled off, but a lot of people worked hard and put in silly amounts of hours to make it successful.

Tomorrow, something non-curling related. I have no idea what, what with no curling and no politics really to talk about. But I'll figure something.

And finally, some pics from yesterday.


Ontario third Kim Tuck.


Manitoba skip Sean Grassie.


The closing ceremony with all the teams out on the ice.


The winning team.

Last Five
1. On the way home (live) - Neil Young
2. Highway girl - The Tragically Hip
3. You can call me Al - Paul Simon
4. Beautiful sorta - Ryan Adams
5. Tournament of Hearts - The Weakerthans (only played 100 times during the week, and I still love the song)*