Game 13 and 14 Recaps

Last week was another D level team and just like in weeks past, we (I) started out slow and they stole 3 in the first end.  (How do we keep letting this happen?)  But we chipped and didn't panic and when scored 4 a few ends later, we were feeling good.  And then we eventually won the game.

But this last game was our first game against an A level team since early December.  And then I learned that they only have one loss for the season so far.  (Wow).  After the game, I would learn that the opposing skip remembers what happened last season.  (My team beat theirs on the last shot of the game, as recapped here.) 

Kind of an auspicious start before the game.  I had lined up a sub, but then an hour before the game, he cancelled as he had basically been curling nonstop that Sunday (congrats on almost winning the Winter Carnival Bonspiel).  Right before our game, I spotted someone else we knew and convinced him to stay for one more game.

Ee pretty much kept the game close.  (If I had made a couple freezes, we might have scored more.)  By the seventh end, the opposing team (with hammer) was looking at something like this.  (There might have even been more guards up front.)  They have hammer and they're yellow.

If it was me (and the other skip incidentally), I would go for the point and do the raise.  Blanking the end hadn't even popped into my head as an option until I saw them throw the rock.  It was a choice of being up two without hammer vs being up one with hammer coming home (or being tied with hammer if you miss).  So in terms of risk, blanking the end was a good choice as the takeout was the easier shot.

So now we're in the eighth end.  With his first shot, the opposing skip made a great double takeout.  There goes my shot at stealing two.

And then I threw garbage for my last rock.  The raise might have given us a shot at going to an extra end, but oh well.

These two games brings the record to 8-5 and the competitive record to 2-3. 

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.

Updates from San Francisco

My brother has now played two games in his current five week league.  His team all has team t-shirts, which are very fun.  (Next year, you can see me play in the extra shirt he bought for me.)  They also all have Tournament Performance brooms.  Not sure if they all have shoes now, but two of them recently purchased the Olson Ole/Fly shoes, and I know they got some colors, but not sure which.  They're a very coordinated and prepared team. 

My brother skipped both of his past two games.  He won his first game, and even made a (lucky) double raise takeout that also required his rock to go through a pretty small port; they scored two for the end.  His team lost the second game pretty badly.  Apparently, the ice was also tough to deal with, but that's what happens with arena ice I guess.  A funny thing he said to me: "You're used to ice that you can see through."  I guess I am and I didn't even realize that one might play without that kind of ice.  Maybe at some point he'll remember a strategy decision or two and we'll discuss that here.

My Greatest Curling Shot

Below is a picture of what has to be my greatest/luckiest curling shot ever. 

My team is red and after getting the guard, our opponents drew to the back of the house behind the guard.  But then everybody just constantly made freezes.  By the way, my team is down four and we're in the seventh end.  We're feeling a little low because at one point we were up 4-1, so things hadn't been going our way for quite some time. 

Anyway, the opposing skip throws a perfect rock, basically right on the button and nearly frozen to everything else.  It's now my last rock (we have hammer).  There was some debate over going on the right side or the left side, but I felt more comfortable with the way it was curling on the right side and chose the shot shown by the blue arrow.  I threw that shot with way more weight than I ever throw.  Of course, that made me less accurate, but miracle of miracles, I hit the guard up front, which then went to the spot between our rock and theirs.  As if magically, their rock went to the side and my team scored four to tie the game.  Lead believes that the drag effect came into play here and I would agree because I don't really see how else this could've happened. 

We did lose the game in the next end (Why else would I be blogging right now instead of getting ready for my Sunday 8:30 game?) but this might be the greatest and luckiest shot I'll ever make.

Game 15 Recap

This was a makeup game from earlier in the season.  (Yet another advantage to the dedicated facility is the ability to do make up games.)  Anyway, another late game and another close game.  Fortunately, this one didn't go into an extra end, though it almost did.  Our opponents are definitely a good team and are consistently among the top teams for our league.  A couple things going for my team was a one point handicap and they had someone new playing lead for them that had only curled a couple times.  And during the game, I think they had a little trouble with weight and a little trouble working with the ice, which curled a lot more in one direction than the other.

In the seventh end, my team is actually up by four against these guys and we're feeling good.  And then they scored 2 in that end and now my team has hammer for the eighth end and we're up two.  A good position, but we'll find a way to make this interesting.

In the scenario below, it's the opposing skips second rock.  We're yellow.  As shown by the arrows, he made an unbelievable raise double takeout to sit two.  Can you believe that? 

So now, I'm left with this, but I was able to make a very slight tap to raise our own stone.  (Kudos to Lead and Second for sweeping that rock all the way.) 

They scored one for the eighth end, but we won the game.  Phew.  That handicap really helped out.  The record's 10-6 now and we have a couple wins against a few good teams.  If momentum mattered (probably doesn't), that'd be good heading into our last game and then the novice bonspiel.