2011 Golden Gate Bonspiel

I was not at the Golden Gate Bonspiel this past weekend, but my brother was, and I'll post some random thoughts on it.

• My brother did not get to play in the bonspiel, but has learned the lesson that it's a good idea to sign up for a bonspiel on the first day.  Incidentally, one of my brother's teammates got to play one game as a spare, but of course it was for the Saturday 7AM game.
• The bonspiel was held at the Sharks Ice at Fremont which is the official practice ice for the San Jose Sharks.  My brother hadn't been there before and noted that it was nice that they have a bar and restaurant there.  Apparently, the Oakland Ice Center is a public facility and therefore can't have the extras like that. 
• I was rooting for The Bond Girls: Bonus Edition, but it wasn't meant to be I guess.  It was good to see the Bourbon Cowboys make it to the B finals.  I wonder if I'll ever make it to the finals of any bonspiel.
• Probably due to the recent Norway/Loudmouth visit, my brother reported seeing lots of crazy pants.  Also, goldengatespiel posted this picture.  I don't know about you, but I can't imagine spending $325 for one of those jackets.

• My brother told me that he could say to people that he's the brother of StPaulCurler and there was instant recognition.  I thought that was kind of cool.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised as roughly a third of the hits to this blog have come from California, the most of any state/country.  I'll have to play at a bonspiel in California some day.  I would love to meet all of you in person.