WaterSpiel

I got my issue of the Curling News recently and saw an ad for something called the WaterSpiel, which would be the first bonspiel held on a cruise ship.  Seems kind of weird though.  There are going to be three sheets and they're only going to be 50 feet long, which is only a third of the normal 150 feet.  (Sadly, I just had to look that up.)  The sheets will also only be 10 feet wide. 

And basically, you're going to be curling while on the ship and then you might even have to play while the ship is in port too.  Imagine if the ship tips a little and all the rocks move.  With the short sheet, I feel like it'd be so easy to put way too much weight on a shot.  And to hog a shot probably would require the ship tipping towards you or something.  I might even fault a shot because the hogline's going to be closer than normal.

But still, it'd be kind of fun.  And really it's not that different from playing shuffleboard on a cruise ship.  I hope it works out for them and they continue to hold the event.  I can't make it, but maybe someday when I can work it into the budget.  Let me know though what you think at stpaulcurlers@gmail.com

Game 2 Recap

I wasn't there last sunday (Vegas Baby!), so my teammates had to play without their skip.  Unfortunately for my team, we lost 10-1.  Also, apparently, this team had a +1 handicap against my team so they might be a little better than that.  I'm sure that my presence would not have helped a blowout like that.

Also, the only time they scored, in that end, they actually had 6 rocks in scoring position, but I guess the other team found a way to only make it one.  Oh well. 

This reminds me of a time when my team had our first seven rocks in scoring position.  In my mind, I was thinking that I had a chance at an 8 ender.  Unfortunately, we didn't have hammer and the other team scored 1 in that end.  That might be the closest I'll ever get. 

I'm back tonight so we'll see how game 3 goes.

My Curling Gear - My Broom

As there's no game this week, I'll have some posts on equipment that I use.  I can pretty much say that I buy among the lowest priced of all the stuff out there.  (But if anyone would like me to try out their stuff for free, just let me know.)  Anyway, I use a Goldline Matrix, shown here.

Of course, Goldline doesn't make these any more, so I'm a little worried about replacing the brush head.  In Curl to Win, Russ Howard talks about replacing the brush head like every month.  And I plan on replacing the brush head this year (for the first time) when Goldline visits SPCC. 

But in general, I've been happy with the swivel head.  And I know that I'm supposed to care about how heavy the broom is, but I don't notice.  Of course, my teammates would say, "It's not like you sweep that much" (even though I sub from time to time.)  I guess I kinda wish it had that little ridge the newer brooms have which seems a little nicer for sliding, but it's not really important. 

To sum up, it's a nice broom, and I plan on keeping it as long as there are brush head replacements. 

10-17-10 Highlight of the Week

This is an absolutely insane shot by Glenn Howard from the 2009 Brier.  I can't even imagine coming up with this shot. 



No curling this week because of the St. Paul Cashspiel.  Vice (the last of my nicknames) and I were discussing if we'd ever enter the Cashspiel last year because they had a few extra spots at the time, but really, we've never played more than one game on a sunday during a bonspiel so really, we're not even close to that level.  Maybe someday.

Game 1 Recap

My team had its first game of the new season last night and I am happy to report that we won 10-4 after 7 ends.  And we also had a triple takeout by Second (this'll be his nickname here) who was actually playing third.  That was pretty cool.  Here's a picture of the shot. (Does anyone know of a good way to display curling shots?  I did this with Word and Snagit.) 

As Lead (another obvious nickname) put it, "The other two rocks were taken out by the breeze of the first."  Actually the rock on the bottom right was still in play after the triple takeout; it had only moved an inch or so back, but it was not longer biting.  Still, that was pretty cool and I don't even know if I'll ever have a triple so kudos to Second.  And kudos to the opposing team who had 3 double takeouts during the game. 

Good way to start the season.

10-10-10 Highlight of the Week

This was the first curling related video that shows up when you search youtube for runback.  Personally, I've never made a double runback, but the other team magically got one when they were going for a different shot.



My first match is in just a few hours.  Almost there...

First Practice

I met my third and my second last night at SPCC for a little practice.  It felt good to get out on the ice again.  It was also very cold.  I usually wear a hat and gloves during games and went out yesterday without them. 

I recently read Russ Howard's Curl to Win and he talked about how he doesn't recommend the tuck slide.  I happen to do a tuck when I slide and always felt like like it made me more accurate with my shots.  He talked about how you're a little less stable in the tuck and I definitely feel less stable when I'm going for a lot of weight (and sometimes when not going for a lot of weight).  I tried to think about not doing the tuck yesterday, but it just comes naturally to me.

There was a surprising number of people there.  Every sheet was in use last night pretty much the whole time I was there.  But this is one of the few times in the year where you can uninterrupted ice time, so it's understandable.

First game's on Sunday.  Can't wait.

Hurry Hard

Tomorrow's my first time on the ice in like 5 months.  Here's a video that's making the rounds which might serve as a little motivation.



We'll see how I do.

10-3-10 Highlight of the Week

I thought that one of the fun things I could do on this blog is highlight a cool shot.  This first one is one of John Morris' doubles from the gold medal game at the 2010 Olympics.



In my own experience, I've actually gotten a double once.  I'll also always remember getting my first runback.  It was either my first or second time skipping, which was actually during my first year of curling.  It was good to get a cool shot off and it got my confidence up.

Introduction

Hello.  I'm Skip and I'm a curler at the St. Paul Curling Club.  This will be my 5th year curling and I curl on Sundays.  I thought it'd be fun to talk about my experiences as a novice curler.  I'm the skip of my team, which for those of you who don't know, this is the person that tells the other players where to throw the rocks and is supposedly the best player on the team.  Some days though, the best player on the team is definitely not me.

As we go along, I plan on posting on my matches and maybe specific points of those matches.  This will also be good for keeping track of my record.  If you ask anyone on my team how we did last year, we'll tell you that we were around .500, but I'm not actually sure that was our record. 

I've recently read a number of curling books and I'll post on that and other curling related media.  I also plan on posting other people's videos of professional curlers just to inspire myself to make shots I have no business even trying to make.

Sound good?  Let me know what you think.  You can e-mail me at stpaulcurlers (at) gmail (dot) com.