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| 12-18-21 10:20PM |
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FleuryFan
Harvey Hacksmasher
Registered: Dec 2018
Location:
Posts: 53 |
GSOC Meridian Open
https://thegrandslamofcurling.com/
I think GSOC unofficially officially announced who will be at the slam in January. If you go on their website under the Women's Teams and Men's Teams tabs there is sixteen teams listed under both, and the Open will feature sixteen men's and women's teams. Also, Team Retornaz is listed under the men's teams despite never playing in a previous slam, so I believe that these will be the teams in Camrose.
Women's: Chelsea Carey, Hollie Duncan, Kerri Einarson, Tracy Fleury, Satsuki Fujisawa, Gim Un-chi, Anna Hasselborg, Rachel Homan, Jennifer Jones, Kim Eun-jung, Alina Kovaleva, Eve Muirhead, Tabitha Peterson, Kelsey Rocque, Silvana Tirinzoni, Isabella Wrana.
Men's: Brendan Bottcher, Peter de Cruz, Matt Dunstone, Niklas Edin, John Epping, Colton Flasch, Jason Gunnlaugson, Brad Gushue, Glenn Howard, Brad Jacobs, Kevin Koe, Mike McEwen, Bruce Mouat, Joel Retornaz, Yannick Schwaller, Ross Whyte.
Huge for Carey and Duncan to qualify on the women's side, as if Homan doesn't win Ontario they could pass her in the rankings.
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| 12-19-21 08:42AM |
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oliviertoisel
Drawmaster
Registered: Feb 2021
Location:
Posts: 587 |
We will see if it happens. How many Olympic teams will even be willing to go and risk an exposure that would knock them out of the games?
Last edited by oliviertoisel on 12-19-21 at 08:45AM
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| 12-19-21 03:13PM |
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DrB
Harvey Hacksmasher
Registered: Jun 2015
Location:
Posts: 30 |
All of those teams accepted their invitations and have committed to playing the slam.
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| 12-19-21 03:45PM |
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oliviertoisel
Drawmaster
Registered: Feb 2021
Location:
Posts: 587 |
quote:
Originally posted by DrB
All of those teams accepted their invitations and have committed to playing the slam.
But if massive breakouts continue, etc. some may not want to take the risk. Hopefully not but accepting the invitation doesn't mean Pinty's is sending the gestapo to your house to force you to attend.
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| 12-19-21 04:31PM |
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decade
Super Rockchucker
Registered: Jan 2011
Location:
Posts: 1962 |
quote:
Originally posted by oliviertoisel
But if massive breakouts continue, etc. some may not want to take the risk. Hopefully not but accepting the invitation doesn't mean Pinty's is sending the gestapo to your house to force you to attend.
Comparing any sanctions Pinty's may use to the gestapo is simply not acceptable and could bring back bad memories to those whose relatives did experience gestapo tactics.
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| 12-19-21 06:09PM |
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oliviertoisel
Drawmaster
Registered: Feb 2021
Location:
Posts: 587 |
Whatever term you want to use Pinty's isn't forcing anyone to attend if they don't feel safe.
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| 12-19-21 06:29PM |
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DrB
Harvey Hacksmasher
Registered: Jun 2015
Location:
Posts: 30 |
quote:
Originally posted by oliviertoisel
Whatever term you want to use Pinty's isn't forcing anyone to attend if they don't feel safe.
Correct… Pinty’s isn’t forcing anyone to play in a GSOC event… as of now all of those teams have confirmed their entries.
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| 12-24-21 10:08AM |
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Observer
Swing Artist
Registered: Apr 2016
Location: River Falls, WI, USA
Posts: 445 |
Eve Muirhead’s weekly column for The Courier has posted today, and in it she outlines their plans pre-Olympics. They’re going to have Christmas at home and then go into a “holding camp” in a bubble in lodges outside of Stirling until it’s time to get on the chartered flight for Beijing. So it seems the Scottish teams will not be playing in this Slam.
Also, yesterday USA Curling cancelled the US Nationals that were to have taken place in early January in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Iowa’s government doesn’t do restrictions, so this must have been USA Curling’s decision, and I would think that will also rule out any possible US participation in this Slam.
I think there’s not going to be much curling going on anywhere in January. The promising news about Omicron though is how much faster it’s wave moves. Cases are already plummeting in the area of South Africa where it first got spotted, and by the time the Olympics are over, events of all sorts will likely be safe to resume. Whether health officials will bring themselves to believe that or not even if this really comes to pass is another story.
Last edited by Observer on 12-24-21 at 10:14AM
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| 12-24-21 10:43AM |
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oliviertoisel
Drawmaster
Registered: Feb 2021
Location:
Posts: 587 |
Inevitable with these case counts. I doubt it even happens now. Likewise seems probable Gushue won't need to play in provincials to get a Brier slot as we're days away from the entire January slate being killed. Fleury must be annoyed Manitoba moved theirs up or she would've gotten an auto-berth.
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| 12-24-21 11:53AM |
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hogged again
Drawmaster
Registered: Mar 2019
Location:
Posts: 659 |
quote:
Originally posted by oliviertoisel
Inevitable with these case counts. I doubt it even happens now. Likewise seems probable Gushue won't need to play in provincials to get a Brier slot as we're days away from the entire January slate being killed. Fleury must be annoyed Manitoba moved theirs up or she would've gotten an auto-berth.
If January playdowns do get cancelled across the country CC may do like they did last year and expand the Scotties/Brier fields with no wild card play in games and Fleury would be first in line.
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| 12-24-21 06:53PM |
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johnnysmoke
Drawmaster
Registered: Nov 2002
Location:
Posts: 612 |
quote:
Originally posted by Observer
I think there’s not going to be much curling going on anywhere in January. The promising news about Omicron though is how much faster it’s wave moves. Cases are already plummeting in the area of South Africa where it first got spotted, and by the time the Olympics are over, events of all sorts will likely be safe to resume. Whether health officials will bring themselves to believe that or not even if this really comes to pass is another story.
I think these cancellations are a bit premature. Omicron variant is showing symptoms akin to a cold or mild flu. Mike Harris played an Olympic Gold medal game in Nagano with likely worse symptoms than are being reported with this latest Covid-19 strain. He didn't win...but still..c'mon, curlers are not known for being 'soft'.
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| 12-25-21 01:12AM |
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shirleyc
Harvey Hacksmasher
Registered: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 51 |
Yes Mike Harris did play sick. He scored 25% and of course they lost. He should have excused himself and put in their fifth player. I've never got over that and to this day hold him responsible for losing the game and the gold medal.
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| 12-25-21 08:59AM |
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johnnysmoke
Drawmaster
Registered: Nov 2002
Location:
Posts: 612 |
Point being, they didn't cancel the game or the event.
And Shirley, at this time of year, can you not find it in your heart to finally forgive Mike and team, and maybe Kevin, and Kelley, and Shannon, and Cheryl, and to a lesser degree Rachel and other Kevin for not winning the Olympic Gold?
With all of the sorry, sorry, sorry going around, we Canadians are a penitent bunch but are also by nature a forgiving nation as well no?
Merry Christmas everyone!
Last edited by johnnysmoke on 12-25-21 at 09:19AM
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| 12-25-21 09:33AM |
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shirleyc
Harvey Hacksmasher
Registered: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 51 |
Okay Johnny I hear you and take heed of your words. I will really try and forgive Mike. I had no problem with all the others, they did their best. Mike's case was different.
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| 12-25-21 12:24PM |
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Maggie
Hitting Paint
Registered: Feb 2020
Location:
Posts: 156 |
quote:
Originally posted by shirleyc
Yes Mike Harris did play sick. He scored 25% and of course they lost. He should have excused himself and put in their fifth player. I've never got over that and to this day hold him responsible for losing the game and the gold medal.
The third and second didn’t curl well either in that game. Paul Savage was the fifth player. He was in worse shape than Harris.
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| 12-25-21 07:02PM |
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decade
Super Rockchucker
Registered: Jan 2011
Location:
Posts: 1962 |
quote:
Originally posted by shirleyc
Yes Mike Harris did play sick. He scored 25% and of course they lost. He should have excused himself and put in their fifth player. I've never got over that and to this day hold him responsible for losing the game and the gold medal.
Or a nasty hang over?
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| 12-25-21 09:50PM |
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Observer
Swing Artist
Registered: Apr 2016
Location: River Falls, WI, USA
Posts: 445 |
quote:
Originally posted by johnnysmoke
I think these cancellations are a bit premature. Omicron variant is showing symptoms akin to a cold or mild flu. Mike Harris played an Olympic Gold medal game in Nagano with likely worse symptoms than are being reported with this latest Covid-19 strain. He didn't win...but still..c'mon, curlers are not known for being 'soft'.
Can confirm on the symptoms as I’ve got it myself. Or rather I did…I’m almost back to normal now, just tired.
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| 12-26-21 09:49AM |
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oliviertoisel
Drawmaster
Registered: Feb 2021
Location:
Posts: 587 |
They aren't cancelling because they're specific worried curlers will have symptoms but because it's a pandemic and they can't run events that spread it.
It's also wildly irresponsible to say "Omicron is just minor symptoms!" I know people who had a sore throat or just lost their sense of smell with prior variants. I also know people who died. Hopefully Omicron WILL be very minor, but we certainly don't know that yet.
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| 12-26-21 10:29AM |
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johnnysmoke
Drawmaster
Registered: Nov 2002
Location:
Posts: 612 |
quote:
Originally posted by oliviertoisel
They aren't cancelling because they're specific worried curlers will have symptoms but because it's a pandemic and they can't run events that spread it.
It's also wildly irresponsible to say "Omicron is just minor symptoms!" I know people who had a sore throat or just lost their sense of smell with prior variants. I also know people who died. Hopefully Omicron WILL be very minor, but we certainly don't know that yet.
Well you have a very short memory or even amnesia, because this pandemic was with us last year and there were many successfully run curling events, most of them here in Canada. Were they more difficult to pull off with the added requirements for health/security? Absolutely.
Second, I'm paraphrasing articles in the New York Times, the Toronto Star and the Guardian UK, that all point out that preliminary studies and trends show Omicron symptoms, especially amongst those fully vaccinated, to be 'minor'.
So no, not wildly irresponsible, just optimistic.
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| 12-26-21 12:36PM |
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oliviertoisel
Drawmaster
Registered: Feb 2021
Location:
Posts: 587 |
quote:
Originally posted by johnnysmoke
Well you have a very short memory or even amnesia, because this pandemic was with us last year and there were many successfully run curling events, most of them here in Canada. Were they more difficult to pull off with the added requirements for health/security? Absolutely.
Second, I'm paraphrasing articles in the New York Times, the Toronto Star and the Guardian UK, that all point out that preliminary studies and trends show Omicron symptoms, especially amongst those fully vaccinated, to be 'minor'.
So no, not wildly irresponsible, just optimistic.
The events last year were absolutely successful and conducted using precautions that are not in place for Wednesday as you acknowledge. If Curling Canada had set up a bubble environment this would be going ahead. But it's likely too late; just considering per-quarantine, all the setup for scanning, etc. Maybe it's doable but CC clearly decided it wasn't. Also you seem to have missed part of the announcement: more players from this actual tournament have been infected. We don't know who/how many but with just one person per team being all it takes to eliminate a team and just 16 teams total...how many are left? None of those infected teams can travel due to provincial and federal requirements and all will have to quarantine for the required days. Clearly CC is satisfied they neither have the infrastructure nor teams to make this work all in the environment of higher risk. And my guess is that's the deciding factor: they can't satisfy themselves the risk to players and staff can be reduced with just 4 days of planning.
As for the symptoms, the issue isn't whether Omicron is possible less harmful (I read the same news as you) but what a national sporting organization should do while the data is still extremely preliminary. As I said, their concern isn't players having symptoms but the spread of infection. And it is not a sports' organization's place to just decide this variant or that variant isn't a problem so let's just infect 32 curlers plus staff. If in a year we have the same situation but "COVID is now not deadly" is the government line then I expect they'd act different. But that's not this world, whatever Omicron is or isn't.
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| 12-29-21 02:19PM |
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IN-OFF-FOR-2
Super Rockchucker
Registered: Mar 2013
Location:
Posts: 1875 |
quote:
Originally posted by guido
Cancelled
For the best. Not sure how many Olympic bound teams would have taken the chance anyway
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| 01-01-22 02:17PM |
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jamcan
Super Rockchucker
Registered: Sep 2002
Location: vernon bc
Posts: 2340 |
quote:
Originally posted by johnnysmoke
Point being, they didn't cancel the game or the event.
And Shirley, at this time of year, can you not find it in your heart to finally forgive Mike and team, and maybe Kevin, and Kelley, and Shannon, and Cheryl, and to a lesser degree Rachel and other Kevin for not winning the Olympic Gold?
With all of the sorry, sorry, sorry going around, we Canadians are a penitent bunch but are also by nature a forgiving nation as well no?
Merry Christmas everyone!
Well said. There's one hell of a lot more important things in the world more deserving of attention and scrutiny then what stupid colour of medal we did, or did not, win at an athletic competition that lost its meaning decades ago to sheer corporate greed.
__________________
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
Hunter S. Thompson
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| 01-01-22 03:40PM |
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MeaghanEdwards
Drawmaster
Registered: Aug 2018
Location:
Posts: 699 |
quote:
Originally posted by jamcan
Well said. There's one hell of a lot more important things in the world more deserving of attention and scrutiny then what stupid colour of medal we did, or did not, win at an athletic competition that lost its meaning decades ago to sheer corporate greed.
Agreed. The IOC is also deeply corrupt; I much prefer the Brier/Scotties, etc. I feel more money and resources should be put into grassroots. Developing the sport in the North, building upgrades etc.
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