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10-21-14 04:02AM |
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peteski
Drawmaster
Registered: Feb 2007
Location:
Posts: 631 |
skins game field
So, the field for this year's skins game was announced last week. In case people missed it, they chose Jones, Homan, Sweeting and Carey on the women's side and Jacobs, Morris, Koe and Howard on the men's. I think there are a few interesting things about the announcement.
First, they did away with the fan voting and went back to just picking the teams. I think this is probably a good choice, although I didn't mind the experiment. It was somewhat interesting to see players playing with brand new teammates and the draft was kind of fun too. I just think as a fan it was harder to have as much of a rooting interest.
As for the women's picks, Jones and Homan are really juggernauts of Canadian women's curling at the moment. They're super easy no brainers. While Sweeting and Carey have interesting up and coming teams, neither team has really won anything significant yet. But, what were the alternatives? Sherry Middaugh has been consistently in the mix on tour but has never really gotten over the hump. Stefanie Lawton has won significant non-Scotties events (Canada Cup, Players Championship), but she's not playing right now. Heather Nedohin maybe has the best case among Canadian teams as she did win the Scotties fairly recently. However, if I was to guess the two teams most likely to challenge Jones and Homan to be Canada's 2018 Olympic team I would go with Sweeting and Carey.
The more interesting case would be to pick international teams. They have had international teams in the skins game before and if this was about picking the four best women's teams in the world, I think many people would agree on Jones, Homan, Muirhead and Sigfridsson. However, at the end of the day this is a TV show and they want to pick the teams that are the biggest draws. What I wonder is whether Muirhead is actually a bigger draw than Sweeting or Carey.
As for the men, obviously Jacobs is a no brainer. The Brier winner is a no brainer and this year that extends to two teams. Plus, from a TV perspective, a Koe-Morris matchup seems like a pretty good idea. That leaves Howard. Pretty hard to question this team's credentials, but lets look at the alternatives. There is a much weaker case for any international teams here. As the world champ, Ulsrud would probably have the best case, but if they're not going to have a women's international team, it's pretty hard to make the case for a men's team. Stoughton, like Howard, is an icon of curling, but if you have to pick between the two, the rest of the lineups make Howard an easy choice. You could make a decent argument for Gushue but he hasn't won anything really significant in a while. That leaves Mike McEwen. Is McEwen one of the most likely contenders for the 2018 Olympic team? I think so. Is McEwen one of the four best men's teams in the world? I think so. As everyone knows, including McEwen, this all comes down to the Brier. Every player in the men's skins game has won the Brier, so it's tough to break into the club unless you win one. It's just got to burn them to be as good as they are and still be shut out of events like this.
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10-23-14 12:01AM |
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JB42
Drawmaster
Registered: Nov 2012
Location: Toronto
Posts: 621 |
Team McEwen is the obvious odd man out of this equation.
The fact of the matter is though that this is a made for TV event and if you ain't been in the Brier or the Olympics then most Canadians have never seen you or heard of you. Which will unfortunately still be true if Team McEwen doesn't get to the Brier again this year. Even if they follow up their great start with a couple of Grand Slams and handful more spiel wins. Even though this would arguably be one of the best years against the best competition ever. It's not a fair world. When it comes to the fans and most sponsors the Brier and the Olympics are the only thing that matters. Why I draw a definite distinction between what most fans think, and what the players think.
And while we are on the subject of Team McEwen. Gerry: What are the best streaks ever on the WCT? I know at one point team Middaugh was something like 25-1 back in the 90's. No doubt Martin and Howard must have had a similar run at some point. Though even in their case this kind of run was very rare. Making Team McEwen's 20-1 run all the more impressive.
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10-23-14 08:27AM |
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misty1
Supreme Champion!
Registered: Sep 2011
Location:
Posts: 6002 |
well as said Mcewen is just not as popular as the teams picked, its that simple.
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10-23-14 08:27AM |
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misty1
Supreme Champion!
Registered: Sep 2011
Location:
Posts: 6002 |
well as said Mcewen is just not as popular as the teams picked, its that simple.
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10-23-14 10:31AM |
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ngm
Swing Artist
Registered: Feb 2011
Location:
Posts: 272 |
The answer to every question about the Skins Game is:
"Because the Skins Game is a television show."
There are plenty of teams good enough to play. They pick the ones that are most likely to attract Canadian television viewers.
The teams are all either people that are easy to look at and/or people you'd like to have a beer with, more so than those left on the outside.
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10-23-14 10:31AM |
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ngm
Swing Artist
Registered: Feb 2011
Location:
Posts: 272 |
The answer to every question about the Skins Game is:
"Because the Skins Game is a television show."
There are plenty of teams good enough to play. They pick the ones that are most likely to attract Canadian television viewers.
The teams are all either people that are easy to look at and/or people you'd like to have a beer with, more so than those left on the outside.
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10-23-14 10:31AM |
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ngm
Swing Artist
Registered: Feb 2011
Location:
Posts: 272 |
The answer to every question about the Skins Game is:
"Because the Skins Game is a television show."
There are plenty of teams good enough to play. They pick the ones that are most likely to attract Canadian television viewers.
The teams are all either people that are easy to look at and/or people you'd like to have a beer with, more so than those left on the outside.
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10-26-14 04:07PM |
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5thstone
Hitting Paint
Registered: Dec 2013
Location: Southern Manitoba
Posts: 154 |
quote: Originally posted by Manitoba Legend
This slight (if we can call it that) should provide inspiration to the McEwen team to finally emerge from the shadow of J. Stoughton.
I think Stoughton still harbours evil plans to hold Mike & His Mechanics back. . . . Stoughton has a brand new team, he's a world class curler and only Ken Watson & Donnie Duguid have won as many Briers as Stoughton (as Manitobans).
Stoughton accomplished his trio of Brier wins in the primary era of The Howards, Kevin Martin, Kevin Koe, Brad Jacobs, etc.
In the 30s and 40s Watson's competition didn't amount to as much. Given he was robbed of one Brier appearance (cancelled for war in 1942 after Ken won Manitoba). Ken told me directly when I interviewed him that it was harder to get out of Manitoba than win the Brier.
In the 50s, 60s and early 70s curling had come into its own, Donnie Duguid won 4 titles (1 as third, 2 as skip).... Duguid got to a fourth brier in '57 as a front-ender so essentially both he and Watson got 3 Briers in 3 trips to the well. Stoughton has had an unprecedented 11 trips to the well and he's produced an amazing 3 wins against the great competition.
So yeah, McEwen is held back. He's itching for that first Brier appearance. This year he'll be confronted by Stoughton, Reid Carruthers and whoever is running hot at the Manitoba championships. I think Garry Ross ended up losing 4 or 5 Manitoba finals (could be 6) but I will tell you this. From a pure shot-making ability - there is no comparison. McEwen usually punches in with games in the low 80s to mid 90s. Ross and his good group of guys were 65 to 85% curlers at best.
Personally speaking while I admire and respect Stoughton, he doesn't really have the firepower or stamina to confront the current group of monsters at the Brier. Especially at 52.
McEwen appears to.
Stoughton has the firepower. So far, it seems like he gets flat or finds a way to lose in the playoffs. Definitely a team that can hold its own. So far, Carruthers just hasn't been as hot as I thought he would be but still is doing fine. He has enough of an itch to give McEwen problems. Willy Lyburn has some firepower (not sure how he beat a flat Stoughton last weekend!) in him but just not consistent. As for Mike, his name is Mike.
We will discuss next year at another time especially with the wildcard will Al Lyburn come back and who with?
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10-26-14 04:13PM |
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misty1
Supreme Champion!
Registered: Sep 2011
Location:
Posts: 6002 |
quote: Originally posted by Manitoba Legend
This slight (if we can call it that) should provide inspiration to the McEwen team to finally emerge from the shadow of J. Stoughton.
I think Stoughton still harbours evil plans to hold Mike & His Mechanics back. . . . Stoughton has a brand new team, he's a world class curler and only Ken Watson & Donnie Duguid have won as many Briers as Stoughton (as Manitobans).
Stoughton accomplished his trio of Brier wins in the primary era of The Howards, Kevin Martin, Kevin Koe, Brad Jacobs, etc.
In the 30s and 40s Watson's competition didn't amount to as much. Given he was robbed of one Brier appearance (cancelled for war in 1942 after Ken won Manitoba). Ken told me directly when I interviewed him that it was harder to get out of Manitoba than win the Brier.
In the 50s, 60s and early 70s curling had come into its own, Donnie Duguid won 4 titles (1 as third, 2 as skip).... Duguid got to a fourth brier in '57 as a front-ender so essentially both he and Watson got 3 Briers in 3 trips to the well. Stoughton has had an unprecedented 11 trips to the well and he's produced an amazing 3 wins against the great competition.
So yeah, McEwen is held back. He's itching for that first Brier appearance. This year he'll be confronted by Stoughton, Reid Carruthers and whoever is running hot at the Manitoba championships. I think Garry Ross ended up losing 4 or 5 Manitoba finals (could be 6) but I will tell you this. From a pure shot-making ability - there is no comparison. McEwen usually punches in with games in the low 80s to mid 90s. Ross and his good group of guys were 65 to 85% curlers at best.
Personally speaking while I admire and respect Stoughton, he doesn't really have the firepower or stamina to confront the current group of monsters at the Brier. Especially at 52.
McEwen appears to.
jeff has the fire power for sure. i disagree with you heavily that he doesnt
mike will be a force come provincials as always but jeff is not to be under estimated. his record against mcewen overall isnt great but at provincials its a different story
carruthers, lyburn, grassie and irwin will provide the biggest challenges. if dunstone and calvert are there it would be interesting to see how they'd fair.They are the 2 of the 3 wild cards a long with daley peters
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10-31-14 11:26PM |
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radiowave
Hitting Paint
Registered: Feb 2013
Location: Ontario
Posts: 192 |
I wonder if Muirhead was asked but couldn't make it due to other commitments? Disappointed I won't see her in this format.
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