Game 8 Recap

I was worried about this game because I've practiced sliding with the opposing skip and vice before and I know that they're very consistent.  (They're also an A level team.)  Fortunately, their vice could not make it to the game so that was good.  I got to have my whole team together.

In the end, I had nothing to worry about as this was definitely one of our best games of the season.  We had a solid 9-4 win, which included an end where my team scored 5. 

I'm going to diagram my miracle shot.  The opposing team had a couple shots in this end where their plan B somehow ended up with rocks in the house behind the mess of guards. 

With all of the guards and the curl on the ice, I thought going off the corner was my best shot.  Surprisingly, I made the shot, though the roll was a little bit too far.  I was also surprised that the opposing skip missed the takeout twice.

In the fifth end, the opposing team put together a nice end to score two, which made the score 9-2.  For the 6th end, I realize that the strategy is to take everything out and keep the ice clean.  But I feel weird about doing that.  Instead, I just play rocks in the house.  If they want to freeze or take them out, that's fine.  By my first shot, I had an open takeout on their shot rock.  If I made the shot, my team would sit five (really, it just wasn't their night.)  I don't try to run up the score out of a sense of meanness; it's just not in my nature to not try to score.  Anyway, Vice made me throw a guard on their rock instead of the takeout.  They scored two for the end and Vice gets credit for being much more sportsmanlike than me.

This brings our record to 6-2 and the competitive record to 2-2. 

Game 7 Recap

This game came on the Sunday following the Fireball Bonspiel.  I remember telling my brother about the possibility that I might hoist the trophy (or whatever the prize is) for the bonspiel at 3PM and then curl just a few hours later for my league game.  As it turned out, I didn't play on Sunday at all.  As the father of a young baby, not playing on Sunday was nice as I really hadn't spent very much time with my wife and baby during a hectic thanksgiving weekend.  But competitor me is getting a little tired of not even getting to Sunday in my last three bonspiels.

Anyway, back to the game.  When I walked into the club, I looked up at the board and saw that I was up against another A team for this game.  (I've since checked the "competitive" list and they're on there.)  Vice couldn't make the game as he was still on the road coming back from his sister's wedding that weekend.  I couldn't find a sub so we were playing with three.  I was somewhat comforted by the fact that my opponents were also playing with just three.

It just wasn't our night though.  We couldn't make anything the whole night.  In the third end, my opponents were sitting two and I had an open draw to score 1.  I ended up being 10 feet short of the house. 

This brings us to the fourth end and my second shot.  My team is down 3-1 and I already knew that we were struggling with both weight and line.  My team is red and the circled (in green) rock was my first shot (again short of the house). 

I have one obvious shot: raise my previous stone into the house.  Of course, I feel weird about that shot based on my previous shot and the previous end.  So instead, I think, "Well, let's save 1 point and keep hammer and hopefully set up for a better end the next time around."  I go for the takeout on the left side.  I put a lot of weight on the rock, but it still curled back enough to hit the guard so the other team still scored two for the end.  Both a bad call and a bad shot.  Things didn't really improve from there.

This brings the record to 5-2 and the competitive record to 1-2.  For our next game, our opponents are on the competitive list, but I'll have my whole team back, which hasn't hapenned in a few weeks.