Registered: Jan 2006
Location: Peterborough
Posts: 1120

quote:

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Originally posted by Manitoba Legend




Once in awhile a curling province like BC or Alberta sends a dud to the event. Patty Knezevic obviously in over her head this year - Kristi Moore, Alberta also dropped a deuce a few years back.

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Registered: Mar 2012
Location: Canoe Cove, PEI
Posts: 411

quote:

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Originally posted by albetts


Why do you have to be so mean. These are people you are speaking of. Wives, daughters, girl friends, sisters and friends. C'mon ML, there's nothing funny about this comment.

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Registered: Jan 2014
Location: Sudbury, ON
Posts: 84

Northern Ontario coming back strong this morning after last night's game, up 5-1 on Nova Scotia after 5.

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Registered: Feb 2007
Location: Mid-Atlantic
Posts: 706

Looking at the standings after five ends cream really has risen to the top.

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Registered: Nov 2012
Location: Toronto
Posts: 621

MB - Kaitlin's looking really good as is Jill. That's got to be scary for the other teams since it has been the middle of the line-up that other teams have been able to take advantage of. Not often of course, but at least occasionally. During the Olympic run for example Dawn McEwen was as usual the best lead on the planet, and JJ was quite simply brilliant. And had to be because Jill and Kaitlin had some off games. So far it has been JJ that is looking a touch on the shaky side, but with the other three playing so well they're still very hard to beat. Given her history it seems unlike that Jen won't regain her form by the time the playoffs roll around but it has happened to all-time greats before for one national. I remember the year Kevin Martin couldn't stop the problems with his upweight out-turns and that sunk the team. So we shall see how it all pans out.

AB- I am really starting to fall in love with Val Sweeting's game. Without a doubt she is the most rock solid psychologically of all the top Canadian skips. What this adds is that she makes her teammates better. It also means that as a team they are better able to respond to adversity and so tougher to put away. As to her shot making her slide and mechanics aren't the flashiest. She doesn't throw it the hardest, but dammit she makes everything pretty much all the time. I've become a Valiever.

She finished second in the Scotties last year and without a doubt she is greatly improved this year. The belief that result generated helping no doubt. If her teammates don't get buried by their opposite numbers AB is going to be close to unbeatable. In my estimation it will be a question of breaks and who happened to have their A game on CF day.

TC - Rachel like Val is playing considerably better than JJ. Both are carrying their teams whereas JJ is being carried. The net result so far has been the same. 3-0. But skips in curling are like QB's in the NFL. I.e. You rarely win without the best one. So if this keeps up I see an AB v TC final.

It is generally acknowledged that Team Homan is the best hitting team in women's curling. What is also true is that there are no weak spots.

Weagle is the only lead in the women's game that can keep up with McEwen.

Courtney is the best sweeper in the game and used to throw vice rocks for Sweeting. As second for Homan she hasn't been at her best yet but I would be surprised if she wasn't at the top of the table in terms of stats at week's end.

Miskew throws the up weight as hard as Rachel and often shoots really high numbers. Last year the team shot 90% for the week. Only Weagle at 88% was under 90%. (the number of ticks she plays brings down her stats) Emma is however the streakiest shooter on the team and when she struggles it sometimes rubs off on Rachel.

I like the addition of Richard Hart as coach for this championship. He is Sweeting like in his composure and on top of that has a world class sense of humour. Something you can tell is already helping the team. During one time out you could hear Rachel bantering with him calling him 'Richy Rich' and when Rich started the conversation asking the team what they thought of the situation Rachel responded with, "Well, we're yellow." Which was quite funny in the moment. What happened next was quite revealing as well.

The rocks were set up so that a perfect up weight shot would remove all the reds and leave yellow lying three. When Rich asked what they thought of throwing weight at it however Rachel said - quite rightly - "It's too easy to go over the top of the one on the side." I.e. She was acknowledging the downside of the up weight if it wasn't perfect. What this means is that she was allowing herself to be guided by risk management as opposed to going with the idea that "If I make it perfect there is no downside." Something she may well have learned during last year's World Final when that up weight hit of hers disastrously backed up and out of the rings. This is a sign of maturity in game calling that arguably it took both Martin and Middaugh longer to come to.

In addition to this upgrade in her risk management she has also become much better at hitting the four foot on demand thanks in no small part to the sweeping of Courtney.

They are also playing a lot more hack to board weight hits to get the rolls when they need them. No one in the game being better at that than their coach who will help reinforce the utility of this tactic.

So my bet is on a AB v TC final with Rachel finally winning a spiel this year. (She's 0-4 for finals so far)

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Registered: Feb 2005
Location: .
Posts: 1844

Did Cathy Gauthier just say that, Russ Howard throws front ends under the bus?

Too funny!

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Registered: Mar 2012
Location: Canoe Cove, PEI
Posts: 411

quote:

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Originally posted by Guest
Did Cathy Gauthier just say that, Russ Howard throws front ends under the bus?

Too funny!

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Last edited by sternwheeler on 02-16-15 at 01:37PM

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Registered: Feb 2008
Location: Aurora
Posts: 8

Nice win by Ontario, particularly impressed by how they bounced back after giving up the ugly steal of two.

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Registered: Dec 2014
Location: Alberta
Posts: 131

TSN has decided to torture viewers with NB vs NS this afternoon. It's too bad AB, MB and TC can't just play a quadruple round robin.

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Registered: Jan 2011
Location:
Posts: 1962

quote:

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Originally posted by Hack Weight
TSN has decided to torture viewers with NB vs NS this afternoon. It's too bad AB, MB and TC can't just play a quadruple round robin.

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Registered: Nov 2012
Location: Toronto
Posts: 621

All the provinces should be given at least one air date. There is no conceivable set of guidelines that would not include that stipulation.

And if NS or NB or NL were at the top of the heap, like they were when the Jones juggenaut was winning six titles, they too would be getting a lot more TV coverage.

The fact of the matter is though that NB is winless and NS is extremely unlikely to make the playoffs much less win.

MB and TC and AB get the coverage because they have earned it. Lawton is getting extra coverage being the hometown favorite which is perfectly sensible.

All in all I can't see any way to improve the formula they are using to determine which games to cover.

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Registered: Mar 2014
Location:
Posts: 51

We gotta see them all at some point. I'm gonna have NWT withdrawal at some point this week.

Actually leads to a good question ......... did they pack up and go home or are they staying ? Are they allowed to stay ?

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Registered: Nov 2012
Location: Toronto
Posts: 621

They were there at the telethon on Sandra Schmirler day.

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Registered: Jan 2015
Location: Ontario & Santa Monica
Posts: 268

The next evolution for TSN will be to cover all the sheets at once. Five channels, five games. Hell, even if they covered 3 games it would seem like a revolution. You don't even need play-by-play, that could be exclusive to the "feature game", which would be designed to showcase every team/province-territory. All you need is player audio and everything's set. There really is no reason in this day and age why someone shouldn't be able to follow their favorite(s) from start to finish.

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Last edited by Radio-Man on 02-16-15 at 06:35PM

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Registered: Dec 2013
Location: Halifax
Posts: 59

quote:

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Originally posted by Hack Weight
TSN has decided to torture viewers with NB vs NS this afternoon. It's too bad AB, MB and TC can't just play a quadruple round robin.

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Registered: Dec 2014
Location: Alberta
Posts: 131

quote:

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Originally posted by jzwanzig


Perhaps you aren't familiar with the format of the STOH, in which each province sends a representative, in addition to the previous year's winner. You might enjoy the Canada Cup of Curling or the slam events more, which don't use this format, rather, entry is based on cumulative points totals or other similar means.

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Registered: Nov 2012
Location: Toronto
Posts: 621

Rachel is going it alone,

Team Jones is kicking their ass at every position but skip.

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Registered: Nov 2012
Location: Toronto
Posts: 621

Val Sweeting is Richard Hart with better mechanics.

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Registered: Nov 2012
Location: Toronto
Posts: 621

Emma just ain't got it.

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Registered: Nov 2012
Location: Toronto
Posts: 621

Jones as ever misses her shot and blames the team for not making Plan B.

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Registered: Nov 2012
Location: Toronto
Posts: 621

Cause I'm watching it on the internet and watching the Ronnie O'sullivan Welsh Open snooker match from today at the same time:-)

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Registered: Nov 2012
Location: Toronto
Posts: 621

Game changer by Jones

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Registered: Nov 2012
Location: Toronto
Posts: 621

Nice game. Ebbs and flows.

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Registered: Nov 2012
Location: Toronto
Posts: 621

Rich Hart to the rescue. That shot was nowhere near as hard as she thought. She almost nosed it and made it. His understanding of the angles trumping her's this time.

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Registered: Jan 2015
Location:
Posts: 234

Really wanted to see her try the double for three, but that was obviously the right call.

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