Registered: Sep 2002
Location: US - CT
Posts: 1431

Predictions, thoughts, odds? Anyone?

14 teams for 5 maybe 6 spots. The 6th spot might be awarded if the Junior team that wins JR Nats is the the HP JR team or not, it is complicated.

Rooting for Clark, Gemmell, Maxie (team Punk), Dunnam and Corbett (gotta support the Easties). Dark horses are Stolt, Pustovar and Eigner.

JH
I am sure Tuck will tell me I am wrong

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Registered: Dec 2005
Location: St. Thomas, North Dakota
Posts: 2613

I really don't want to be the guy doing this anymore.

Looks to my uneducated eye that the seeding did a particularly good job this time.

Brady Clark and The Brady Bunch get the deserved top seed. The Bunch hasn't won anything of note this year. In the early cash spiels, they would win a couple and then fade. Lots of weekends without the full team...particularly missing Persinger some times...he seems to be emerging as the heart of The Bunch.

Dean Gemmell and The Ducklings get the 2 seed. Past National champions deserve their props, but this team also haven't been doing much winning this year. Calvin Weber isn't with them anymore. Mark Lazur is at second.

Mark Haluptzok did very well in Duluth and followed it up. The Ancient On skips and shoots lead. The mercurial Josh Bahr shoots skip's stones. Ubertalented Aaron Wald throws third stones. Nice pairing of Junior National champions who we haven't heard much from since their decent performance at World Juniors a few years back.

Kudos to the seeders for getting Corbett seeded high. They won a spiel in Canada this year and cashed in another. Really good year going.

Pustovar gets the next spot and, as the most decorated curler in USA history, he deserves it. Nice young team in front of him.

Stolt seeded next. Not playing all that much and not winning much when they have played, but this team is talented and experienced. Getting it all going this weekend and carrying some momentum into Kalamazoo would surprise nobody.

Now leaving the seeding for the remaining teams:

Tucker Smith just lost Clubs and this is deeper water, but this is a better front three. All of them have Bismarck connections. Dr. Mielke will be a very competitive third. Erik Jensen hasn't played much lately, but he'll be alright.

Fred Maxie was a very, very good player when he lived in Canada. He'll have Sean "The Punk" Murray throwing last rocks. The Punkettes have hit the road some this year, but with middling results.

Mac Guy is a nice North Dakota boy living in Seattle and playing on "home ice". I put home ice in "" because home ice ain't home ice no more. We fly in National icemakers and National rocks and your home ice advantage shrinks a ton. Still, not a bad team and very likable and playing at home. Seeding was not kind to them, but they haven't played together much or at all.

Tyler Running is a very good player. He has some North Dakota teammates this year and they've played some. I watched some. Not impressive yet. In fact, they looked pretty bad. Still, good players with a legit shot.

A young East team with more coaches than players got seeded in the middle of the pack. Dunnam can play. He can draw. Nice Mixed Doubles result. If there was betting, they'd be an intriguing pick at decent odds.

Lilla picked up some North Dakota players just like Running. They looked to off to a decent start early in the year at Blaine with tight linescores, but they haven't built upon that at all.

Doremus comes out of Texas. Deep waters here. I think the lead is also the new third baseman for the Boston Red Sox.

Doc Eigner, best curler in Indiana, comes in with a good front end. I've consistently underrated Eigner for a couple of decades now.

Gimme chalk for the top four: The Bunch, The Ducklings, The Ancient One Haluptzok and Corbett. I'll take Tucker Smith as my longshot and fifth pick

For sixth place (the team that sits around and waits to see if the Junior winner wants to do Kalamazoo or not) I'm torn between Pusty and The Punk. I think I'll take The Punkettes because I like typing The Punkettes (plus I stole the moniker from JHcurl and he'll flinch just a little every time I steal it).

So here's the game: JHcurl's Belmont Pick Six You need to pick five teams and they need to finish in the top six.

Ben Tucker
Somebody else do the Women's Challenge Round

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Registered: Nov 2014
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The Doremus team are all originally from Michigan, but now all curl out of different clubs. They just won the Detroit men's spiel last weekend. They may surprise some teams.

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location: US - CT
Posts: 1431

Nice, I even trademarked Punkettes and you still use it.....jerk.

Anyway, my pick 6 - The Brady Bunch, the Ducklings, the Punkettes, the young Dunnam team with Uncle Bruce at lead, the Corbett clan and team Pustovar.

TESN will be streaming this event so make sure to watch.

JH

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Registered: Dec 2012
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link for the men's challenge round, including live stream:

http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Curling/.../Live-Webstream

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Registered: Jan 2012
Location: DeWitt, MI
Posts: 100

Here's my pick 5: Clark, Haluptzok, Corbett, Maxie, Eigner

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Registered: Feb 2013
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Clark is the class of this field

Others advancing
Corbett,Pusty,Lilla and Stolt

Awaiting for Tuck's pick for The Big Spiel

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Registered: Dec 2005
Location: St. Thomas, North Dakota
Posts: 2613

Willmert walks through the Big Spiel. ND boy at third and the resurrection of Nicky Bling Bling at second. Yeah, Face is playing third for a team...but this is the Willmert show. Bet it and bank it.

Not much love for The Ducklings in the early picks. I'm likin' their chances. Play the JH Pick 6: Pick FIVE teams and if they hit the top SIX, you get paid. Only FIVE teams now.

Ben Tucker
Has Face swept a stone since Turin?

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Registered: Sep 2011
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(Full Disclosure, CZ currently has the draw one results on my screen, I can't unsee that...)

5 to get in:

Brady Clark - Duh

Corbett - That HPP Money had better be paying off...

Maxie - Murray and experience will pull them through...through the B it appears this time, but I'm still taking them.

Dunnam - Odds play, pure and simple odds play..plus I've seen him work, he's professional, even at his age...this event won't phase him. The draw is favorable too, even having lost his first game

Stolt - I like his draw line (I liked it even before I saw that he won his first game). I expect him to make it through the 3rd event, but he will make it through in the 5th slot

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Sorry this is the day after the event started but CZ just would not let me log in yesterday without timing out and booting me when I tried to post. But, my picks remain the same regardless of the draw 1 outcomes.

I absolutely cannot let Tuck be the only one to pick Tucker Smith and be right. I also pick Brady, Gemmell, Corbett and Pusty.

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Registered: Jan 2012
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In no particular order: Clark, Haluptzok, Smith, Corbett, and Dunnam.


nom de broom

__________________
[Original Ray's] nom de broom

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Registered: Dec 2012
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FYI

USCA stones are reportedly in Bismarck for the women's CR, on the way to Junior Nat's in Devil's Lake. Men are throwing Seattle's club rocks.

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qualifiers ..no real surprises. dunnam went out pretty tamely. not sure why so many picked him.

Last edited by misty1 on 01-11-15 at 08:52PM

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Registered: Dec 2005
Location: St. Thomas, North Dakota
Posts: 2613

NOBODY hits the JH Pick 5! Will the betting money be carried over to the next event? Nope. Tuck takes all the money. I picked Willmert out of a huge field in The Big Spiel. I know a beast when I see one. (OK, beast might be a little too strong...they beat a Colorado team in the semis that have only had dedicated ice for a few month and then edged a Senior Women's team in the final...but I called it so I get all the money)

Some thoughts on the Men's Challenge Round:

The Brady Bunch was not impressive. Brady seems to be playing in pain.

Brad Caldwell (Stolt's third) was very impressive at times. I thought The Punk was pretty good most of the time.

Corbett didn't play enough tough games for me to get a good read on them in Seattle. With The Bunch not having their A game, I still don't know how good Team Corbett might be getting this year.

Outside of Gemmell, Haluptzok and maybe Corbett, I didn't find the field nor the curling all that good. I don't think that the prequalified teams are shaking in their boots.

Ben Tucker

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Registered: Dec 2005
Location: St. Thomas, North Dakota
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Utter nonsense. I was asked to pick and returned the winner in under 10 minutes. I'm fairly certain that you meant to post, "Tuck is a curling genius".

All of which is beside the main point: Nobody called the Challenge Round correctly so Tuck gets all the imaginary money. I will probably just blow it on imaginary hookers and imaginary cocaine, but I might donate some to an imaginary charity that spreads peace by convincing victims of organized violence that peace comes through forgiveness and understanding...not an everlasting circle of retaliation.

Good thing I resisted my initial thought of picking Big Daddy with Goodland. First time I've ever seen Art R. enter a spiel without a totally stacked team. Farbs and the Family Farbs sputtered. I picked it. I earned. I'm imagining spending it.

Ben Tucker

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Registered: Dec 2014
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meanwhile, in europe, USA A-team with another poor showing... one time is a fluke, multiple times is a trend; a bad trend.

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