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.

Game 4 Recap

This time we're playing a team on the competitive list and our first A level team of the season.  My team got a handicap of 1 point.  Their team had only two losses last year, so I think the 1 point is justified.

For the first two ends, my play was really terrible.  I hogged my first three rocks and my fourth rock was way off line.  Fortunately, the opposing skip also was having an off night and after two ends, my team was up 4-0. 

Then, they took control for the next two ends.  Here's a diagram for one of the shots they made. 

The skip would tell me later this was  luck, but at the time, I was thinking, "That's why they're A level".  I would happen to make a nice (lucky) shot to turn what could have been a score of 4 for them to a score of 2 so that was a relief.

So after the fourth end, my team is up 4-3.  In the fifth end, their team completely broke down.  By the opposing skip's second shot, my team is sitting 4 and they have just one rock in play up front.  And surprisingly, the opposing skip hogged his shot.  Wow.  Like everyone else, Vice and I will point out where we would like the rock to end up before setting the broom.  This time however, Vice pointed to the entire house and said anywhere.  I had just enough on the shot and we scored 5. 

In the next end, Lead made a couple really nice biters.  The opposing skip went for the takeout both times, except that left their rocks in front of the house.  Was that the right strategy?  I'm not sure.   Would it have been better just to try to draw behind them?  The takeout was the much more reliable shot, but I think you want as many rocks in play in an effort to score at least 3.

Anyway, everyone made their takeouts and they only scored one for that end.  That was the game after 6 ends.  This brings the record to 3-1 with a 1-1 record vs. "competitive" teams.

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.

Novice Bonspiel Recap

I had to get my post on the greatest shot of my life out before I forgot, but now I'm ready to write a general recap of my experience at the Novice Bonspiel at the St. Paul Curling Club.
First off, congratulations to the Rohde rink for winning the third event.  I finally got to meet him in person on Saturday and hopefully, my team will get to play his at some other bonspiel in the future.

Since Friday was April Fool's Day, we thought it'd be funny to show up in hockey jerseys and Vice and Lead wore hockey helmets.  I also wore a hockey glove when I wasn't throwing.  Also, before the game, we kinda messed around hitting a puck on the ice with our brooms.  And my signal for takeouts was changed to the cross checking motion.

Anyway, we won our first game 12-6.  I feel like the main difference my opponents and my team was that their lead continually threw rocks through the house and Lead kept his in play.  Also, Vice had a double takeout, which is always nice for making up for some other misses earlier in that end.  Our opposing skip brought root beer schnapps and we all did a root beer barrel after the game.  Cool team to hang out with after the game.

Because our first game was at 5PM on Friday, we also get to play at 8:30AM the following Saturday.  (We stayed for a while after our first game, but didn't close the place down or anything afterward.)  Our opposing skip is a guy that's subbed for my team before so that was cool to play his team.  I don't remember the final score, but I believe it would have been something like 9-8.  In the last end, they were down four, but only had the ability to score three.  I didn't really call a particularly great game, but I think we all played well and both Vice and Second had double takeouts.  And even though it was still morning after our game, we stayed a while with the other team hanging out.  (Then, nap time, at least for me.)

So now, we're in the first event.  I've done this bonspiel three times before (my team couldn't make it my first year).  My first two times, my team was in the fourth event, but played (and lost) the first game on Sunday.  Last year, we were in the third event, but didn't make it to Sunday.  Kind of a nice jump up I think.  And I think we're playing pretty well, and I felt like we had a good shot at things.

First, an old teammate was unexpectedly in town and it was awesome to hang out with him.  And Second brought his fiancee and baby (dressed in the same curling onesie shown here.)  And my wife and Vice's girlfriend were able to watch our game.  (Lead's wife had other obligations.) 

Our opponents for our first event game are one of many matching outfit teams.  (They have matching outfits throughout the season, not just for the bonspiel.)  They also have the game to match.  (Surprisingly, none of them had curling shoes; they still used sliders.)  I tried to play takeouts with them for a couple ends and my team was the one that missed them.  We scored four in the second end, but that was really kind of a fluke in retrospect where they missed a couple shots.  And the seventh end ended with my greatest curling shot to tie the game. 

It's now my first shot of the eighth end and I'm faced with this.

I think I have three choices.  We have the double raise (in red), which has the advantage of built in protection if I hit the shot.  There might be difficulty getting the right angle and weight on the shot, so we looked at the two draw options.  The draw to the left is probably the correct shot as a runback would be difficult, but I liked the draw to the right just based on what I feel more comfortable with and we saw other shots really curl in that direction so I thought it would be more likely to get behind the guards.  Of course I was wrong and my rock was open for a takeout, which they made.  Now, I have this:

I thought I really only had the option of the hit and roll.  I thought I hit the shot right where I wanted (doesn't always happen), but the rock just kept going until it was finally in the open.  My opponents don't miss takeouts and won the game 10-8.  Should I have done the raise with my first shot?  I guess I'll never know.

Still, it was a good run and my team played really well.  We had a good time afterward as did everyone else I think.  My wife and I each got a wingspan and we left with a pair of dish towels with curling stones sewn on (kind of cool).  Second won something else, but equally underwhelming.  We did not win the iPad or the wall of wine or the wall of beer. 

We had discussed a funny scenario (if we write a good curling movie) where I'm hoisting the trophy after winning the first event and then

It was my last novice bonspiel and I've definitely come a long way in the last five years.  I should have something more profound to say, but oh well.  My son will be born any day now (I'll thank him someday for letting me play this past weekend [already thanked my wife]) so I might not be blogging for a little while.  But I'll try to get in a post or two following my brother's games and I think I'm going to blog about curling patents through the years so keep an eye out for that.  In the meantime, feel free to send me a note and I could talk about someone else's curlng experience on 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 18 Recap

Last game of the season.  (We missed our playdown game, which was on St. Patrick's Day.)  I guess this time I'll hold off on telling you the results of the game until the end of the post.  This game is a rematch from Game 3, yet another close game that my team lost on the last shot.  Like the last game, this is an A level team so we got a one point handicap, but they were playing with a somewhat inexperienced sub.  I was happy to have everyone together on the team, which I realize now might have only happened half the time this past season.

I didn't really play particularly well and I think basically everyone, maybe more so on my team, had trouble with draw weight.  I had two opportunities early in the game to draw basically anywhere in the house to score and the first time, it went long and the second time it was short.  Geez.

This game also featured a blank end.  This has only happened one other time for me and Vice and this has never happened for Lead and Second.  That was kind of interesting.  My team didn't have hammer and we basically just played the takeout game and we made them all.  So it's my last shot of this end and I don't have hammer and I'm looking at this. 

I think you definitely want to have something in the house to force the opposing team to do something.  I was thinking that ideally, you have a rock that's biting.  This way, a takeout wouldn't be in the house.  Of course, I couldn't throw that weight and I was light.  I would've preferred to just have something in the house (maybe behind a guard), but oh well.  Faced with the decision of going for one or the blank, the opposing skip chose the blank.  However, they only scored one on the next end, so maybe Coach Bill is right about blanking ends. 

Anyway, in the situation below, we're now in the seventh end and we're down two.  We've already been buzzed so I know that this is my last shot.  My team is red and with his last shot, the opposing skip drew to the four foot.  He had wanted a guard or maybe a biter, but in the house isn't really a terrible result either.

So of course, I need a double takeout with this shot and my team would end up scoring at least two.  My wish was for the green arrow.  Unfortunately, the second yellow rock jammed on our own rock.  They scored one and that was the game (final score 9-6).  It was so close though and there was a lot of weight on my rock so if the second rock hadn't jammed squarely, it might've barely moved out of the house.

Oh well.  That brings our final season record to 10-7 (we never did a makeup game for game 9).  Not a bad season. 

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.

Analyzing a Bond Girls End

There was no curling this past week, so let's take a closer look at the final end of a Bond Girls match vs. New Jersey.  As of this posting, New Jersey has the best record in the Curling Club Nationals and will be vying for the championship later today.  Here's the video in case you want to watch. 



I'm going to talk about the tenth end, which starts at roughly the 2:24 mark.  After scoring 6 points in the first 3 ends, the Bond Girls would give up 7 points over the next 6 ends.  Fortunately, the Bond Girls are only down one coming home and they have hammer.  That didn't work out for them in their earlier game against Wisconsin, but let's see what happens here.  (In case you didn't watch the movie, the Bond Girls are yellow.)  Also, I have no idea what the time situation was at that moment, but no one really seemed too rushed. 

New Jersey's first rock was in the house.  A good call to see if they can force a takeout game for the end. 

But Marissa called a freeze for Donna, which I consider the right call.  At least see what happens before doing a takeout.  Donna's throw was a little bit too heavy, but a good stone. 

After New Jersey missed their takeout completely to take out their own rock, Donna drew to the other side to split the house.  Good call and good throw.

New Jersey then missed freeze, which left a wide open takeout.  Jen made the shot. However, New Jersey, made a nice bump/freeze shot.  (There should be a better name for this.)

Marissa goes for the takeout, even if it takes out their own instead.  New Jersey's rock does jam against a yellow, but is open.  Still, a nice rock from Jen.  I would have called the same thing for Second and ask that he put lots of weight on it (and hope he hits the broom).

I'm not sure if New Jersey had shot rock after that.  However, they went for a draw, which ended up being more open than they would have liked.  I think if this were my game, I might have thrown a guard if I was shot rock, but the draw keeps the pressure on to make some takeouts.

Cindy missed the open takeout.  New Jersey then threw a guard (the right call in my opinion).  In the next shot, Marissa called for a runback on the left side to raise their rock inside the four foot.  However, Cindy's shot perfectly made it past the guard and the yellow rock to bump New Jersey's rock and take shot rock.  Wow.

New Jersey missed a takeout with their next rock and Marissa threw a well placed guard on the left side.

New Jersey has two choices here I think.  You have the draw on the right side.  Really, you have to be perfect on weight and line because you're either drawing to the button or hoping to bump the yellow stone.  Another, more interesting, option is the runback.  If the red rock is hit on the nose, it would go straight down the center.  Maybe it stays, but hopefully, it at least leaves you sitting one.  Of course, this is a dangerous shot and a number of things could go wrong.  New Jersey went for the draw.  (I probably would have too.)

They missed just a little long on weight.  This was good for the Bond Girls as it gave them an additional backstop if necessary.  Of course, Marissa didn't need it at all and drew perfectly to the button.

Whew.  That was a long post.  I guess that's what happens when you have video to remind you of every little thing.  But a very exciting finish and an awesome win for the Bond Girls.

Game 16 Recap

Finally, a win; the final score was 8-4.  We haven't had a win since Game 11 and that was roughly six weeks ago.  This brings our record to 8-6 with 2 incomplete games and I'm not sure yet if/when we'll get around to those incompletes. 

But before we get to my own game, I actually subbed in a game right before.  I warned my skip that I had a game in two hours so if they went long I might not make it.  Of course, as it turns out, in the last end, the opposing team scored three to tie up the game (my skip had some bad misses).  So we had to go to an extra end, but I really just had enough time to throw my own rock so I didn't sweep any rocks in that last end.  Fortunately, they were able to pull out the win. 

I want to spotlight one scenario from this game.  My team has hammer and is red.  If I recall, we were up by two or three.  It's the first shot for my team's third. 

Now, I tend to play a bit more of an offense game, but I thought the most logical shot was to take out one or more of the guards.  Really, I figured you would just throw the rock down the middle (shown in red) and you couldn't help but hit something.  My thinking is my team is up and this end is ripe for a steal if the other team can make a nice raise. Instead, my skip called the hit and roll off the rock in the house (shown in black).  For both of the third's rocks, we went for that shot and missed it on both sides.  Fortunately, the other team basically missed all of their shots (too bad after setting up a nice end).  Then, with his last shot, my skip was able to draw in a rock (shown in green) to score one, though I think that shot was more difficult than it needed to be.

On to my game.  I had hoped to have my whole team together for the first time in a little while, but alas, Lead was sick.  He had tried to call me, but I was subbing.  Oh well.  We just played with the three of us.  We started out pretty poorly.  In the first end, the opposing team was sitting four, but because we had hammer, I was able to cut that down to them just stealing one.  Fortunately, we settled down after that. 

I can't really remember any major strategy decisions, but here's a shot I should've made. I guess like most other skips (I assume), I remember shots I missed.

In this situation, my team is up two (I think), we're yellow, we have hammer, and it's my last shot.



The obvious goal is to take out the red stone and then we'd (hopefully) score four.  How to call it?  Well, we knew rocks tended to curl a little more to the outside on that side.  So I had Vice hold the broom on the edge of the four foot (as opposed to right next to the red rock) and then I threw takeout weight (the black arrow).  To our surprise, the rock curled all the way over to our own stone (the green arrow) so we only scored two.  Of course, in retrospect, I now wonder if I should've thrown an in turn (the red arrow) and thrown back line weight and used the red rock as a back stop.  I'm now thinking there would've been a greater chance to score three.  But I guess it didn't matter as we won by four.

Anyway, it was a good two games and it was good to get back on track.

Game 14 Recap

Sigh.  Another loss and the record's now 7-6.  Exactly like last week, the final score was 7-6 after an extra end.  Our opposing team was a D level team and got two points and they needed both of them.  I once subbed for a skip and this skip before the game said to the other skip, "[Harumph] You don't need that one point handicap" and so the other skip was kind of bullied into playing without the handicap.  And then the team I subbed for won by one point.  (Was that wrong?)  What sucks about this game is that I had two opportunities to win the game as my team had hammer in both the eighth end and in the extra end and I messed it up both times.  After the game, Second said, "Maybe we're not as good as we thought earlier this year."  Maybe not. 

Here's the key shot.  It's the eighth end, my team is up one, we have hammer, we're yellow, and it's my last shot.  Should've been a no brainer all takeouts end, right?  Well, there were some missed takeouts and I'm kind of left with this.  Again, there were definitely a few more rocks in play, but these are the basics.

So the shot I called was the takeout on the red stone in the center.  I had tried this shot earlier and I had a ton of weight on the shot and it just flew past it.  I put a little less on the shot this time around. Of course, I had too little weight and it curled too much.  It did raise our yellow rock, but it wasn't enough.  We went into an extra end, missed some more takeouts, and that was it. 

On a positive note, Second brought the baby and I got to hold the little guy for a little while before the game, so that was pretty cool. 

Curling Source Shot of the Week #2

No curling game this week, so we'll go elsewhere for a curling scenario.  Curling Source has another shot of the week.  Here's the situation: "It is the 5th end of an 8 end game, your are loosing [sic] 4-2. You have hammer and are shooting blue with just your last rock to come. Would you go for 2 or take the safe 1?"

1. Long cross house double for 2
2. Hack weight hit through port for 2
3. Draw for 1
4. Runback either blue onto yellow for 2

For the first option, which I assume means taking out both yellow rocks, there'd have to be a lot more guards up there to make that the only option I'd take.  I also feel the hack weight hit option has a higher degree of difficulty since it'd have to get by both guards and it requires a fairly specific weight. 

So now I'd have to decide between the draw or the runback.  Assuming I have made a draw or two already in the game, I guess I would just go for the draw.  As much as I'd love to go for two, I'd rather go for the easier point and take my chances later in the game.  I'd lean towards the runback if I had crappy draws earlier in the game. 

Game 13 Recap

Another heartbreaking loss brings the record down to 7-5.  Starting off the second half 1-2 is pretty bad for our second half championship chances.  The final score was 7-6 after an extra end.  The opposing team was also a B level team so no points for either team and it was nice to have the whole team back together again.  This was a fairly memorable game for me so we'll go through the last few ends.

In the shot below, it's the sixth end.  The score is tied at 4-4 and the opposing tam has hammer.  My team is yellow and it's my first stone.  I felt good that we had a lot of guards and I thought we'd have some good opportunities with that.  (In an earlier end, the opposing team had six guards in front of the house and there was basically nothing for my shots.)  At this point, we can see that their rock is just barely closer.  We figured that our rock only has to move up by an inch or two to be shot. 

As indicated by the arrows, there were two shots available.  Lead and I were thinking about going for the double raise (the arrows on the right) and Vice and Second were thinking about going for the takeout (arrow on the left).  The double raise was the more difficult shot but if made, it would take some sort of double takeout to remove it.  However, if I made the takeout and got the roll, that might put the team in position to steal two.  I thought that possibility was enticing, but I ended up going just a little too wide for the takeout.  As it turns out, their next shot was a guard on that takeout and then my next shot was the original double raise that I had first envisioned, which I also missed.  They scored one for the end; it's now 4-5.

So now we're in the seventh end and while my team has hammer, we're in a pretty tight spot for my first shot (I think it was my first shot).  They have shot rock and we figured we had two choices again. There's the double take out (arrows on the left) or the raise takeout (arrows on the right).  I felt like the angle on the double takeout was easier to hit, but there's also a good chance that you only get the front stone.  The angle for the runback was more difficult as it has to get by the guard and hit at a specific point, but I felt a little better about moving our rock instead of theirs. 

Unfortunately, I barely missed the runback.  They ended up stealing one so now the score is 4-6 and we're in the eighth end.  My team again has hammer and they did very well placing their guards again.  (I think we had some high guards in play, but I don't remember and they're not really relevant here.)  Just to let you know that I can occasionally make good shots, this was the setup for what could've been the last shot of the game.  I didn't feel good about trying to go through any of the ports so the runback was the shot, but I did make it to send it to an extra end.  

However, my team didn't have hammer and we would only be playing one stone each.  Lead and Second's rocks ended up being too light.  Vice made a takeout and then I made the shot in the four foot so below is what the opposing skip had to deal with.  Of course, in retrospect, I should've had less broom so that my rock would be behind the guards, but we were worried it might curl a little too much and then crash into the guards. 

But the opposing skip made his takeout for one and took the game.  Oh well.  

Game 12 Recap

This was a bad game for us.  First, Second couldn't be there (new babies need a lot of care) and there was a mixup with finding a sub (my fault) so it was just the three of us.  And I just couldn't get a handle on reading the ice at all during the game.  Also, I had a somewhat stubborn refusal to take out guards thinking that I could use them later.  But by the time my shots came around, I had to make a difficult raise and/or throw a rock through a port and I feel like I pretty much didn't make any of my shots for the game.  (Note to opposing skips: I'm likely to miss shots where the broom is placed on the 12 foot and beyond.  I seem to always go wide.)  But the final score was 6-1 after six ends and that brings our record to 7-4.  Afterward, I was thinking that if we played more of a takeout game, the score could've been closer, but I don't know if it would've been enough because they were making nearly everything.

Here is an example of how the match went.  This is my second shot from the first end and my team doesn't have hammer.  Because of all the guards, I have to make a tough runback and get my rock to stay in the house.  (There wasn't any other shot, right?)  While I did make the takeout to save one, my rock wasn't shot rock.  There were two other ends that ended in a similar fashion. 

Here is an example of how poorly I called the game.  This is the third end where my team is down two and it's the last shot for Vice; my team has hammer.  I wasn't sure which rock was closer, but I thought it was likely to be theirs.  So I decided to call a takeout on their rock (the dashed line).  I realized at the time that it was kind of a gamble, but I didn't realize that a. the rock would curl way more than I thought and b. there would be a perfect double raise to take out my own stone.  I thought the worst case was a takeout on that guard.  The opposing team would end up scoring two for that end.  I know I could've called draw weight instead, but that just wasn't happening for us during that game and during that end.

Anyway, after the game, Lead and I bought some raffle tickets to help out the Junior Women's Curling team, who are going to play in Fairbanks, Alaska for the upcoming Junior Nationals.  The prizes are a new broom (I could use one of those) and a curling stone.  I have no idea what I'd do with a curling stone, but apparently, rocks can be sold to others for a few hundred dollars so I might do that.  I'll let you know if I win.

Game 11 Recap

After a week off (no subbing), we were back on the ice.  Vice actually hadn't played since Game 7 back in early December.  I needed subs for Lead (vacation) and Second (congrats on the baby boy!), but our subs played well.  My team won the game 13-7 after 8 ends, though we could've called it after 7 ends (my team was up by six), but the opposing skip wanted to throw the rocks back down.  This brings our record to 7-3, which I think is pretty good, especially since games 3 and 7 were so close.

Interesting thing about the opposing team was that they were on a little bit of a losing streak.  They decided to switch things up by moving their lead all the way to skip and then everyone took a step down.  I would've expected her to not be so good at takeouts, but she had some hit and rolls and a nice runback.  A few years ago, my own team had some trouble and I'm not sure why, but for one game Vice and I decided that we'd play first and second and Second and FormerLead (who would leave Minnesota the following summer) played third and fourth.  Without going into detail, it was just a disaster and we lost by a lot.  But I think we all learned something though.  So if you're having some trouble with your team, I guess I would say don't be afraid to shake up your order, even if just for one game.

In the scenario below, it's SecondSub's first shot.  My team doesn't have hammer, we're yellow rocks, and we're up by three (in the sixth end I believe). 

I was conflicted as to what to call here.  I decided to call a shot in the top of the house (#1), one that was completely exposed, which we did make with a fair amount of sweeping help.  Of course, that shot was taken out and then I did it again.  The opposing team ended up taking one for that end.  I feel though that with a little bit more thought, this setup could've led to a steal for my team.
 
One reason for playing the rock in the house was that the opposing team's front end had been a little inconsistent with their takeouts so I thought I'd test that out.  I know though that against other teams, hoping for a missed takeout (on a wide open shot) usually doesn't work out for me.  One shot I strongly considered was playing a guard instead of in the house, just in front of where the shot ended up (#2).  That's probably the more sensible play as it forces the other team to either take out a guard or attempt a runback.  Another option would be to place a guard to block the raise (#3).  Then, if they play a rock in the house, I can try to take that out or draw to it. 

I didn't want to draw to the four foot in this situation; I felt it was a little more dangerous.  If the shot's off on line, it might raise their stone.  If it's too heavy, then there's a nice backstop to draw to.  So I thought the open shot was a decent play. 

Anyway, it was a good game.  The opposing team lead by three a couple times, but my team had two four point ends.  (Big sigh of relief after those two ends.)

Curling Source Shot of the Week #1

The Curling Source just posted their "Shot of the Week".  "It is a tie game in the 8th end of an 8 end game. You are shooting yellow and have last rock. It is your third's second rock of the end. What should you do?"
1. Hit and roll for shot
2. Draw top 4 for shot
3. Peel the guard
4. Run/Peel the gaurd into the top blue stone

Just thinking about my team, the easiest shot is a takeout for shot rock.  Now, to precisely get the correct roll is always kind of random for my team.  We're thinking about it, but we're never really sure whether or not it will happen.  And my first fear is always whether or not a shot will make it around a guard so I might call for a sweep a little too early just to make sure that I at least get the desired takeout.  And then once the rock gets past the guard, then I'll see about getting the roll. 
However, in this particular scenario, I'm more likely to call a freeze for Vice, though I'll ask for back line weight.  Ideally, the freeze makes would make our rock very difficult to takeout.  Depending on where it lands, it could be shot, or I could throw a rock that makes it shot.  If there's too much weight on that the shot and it ends up moving that stone back some (or out), that's not a terrible scenario either.  Our rock would most likely be open for a takeout, but as my team has hammer, I think I'm OK taking my chances with that, at least against the teams that I see on a weekly basis.  There's also the possibility that the shot ends up being a draw behind the guards for shot and I'll take that too.  I ask for more weight than is necessary mainly because I don't want the shot to be short and then act as a guard and then I'll have to do a more difficult runback.

Choice 4 would probably never occur to me.  To do a raise with that much distance needed is just too difficult for me to get that angle correct.  I think that's when someone knows that they're really good, when they can call and consistently make a raise from that far up.  But while peeling the guard isn't my first instinct, it's probably not a bad strategy if you have hammer.

Anyway, those are my thoughts.  Post your thoughts here or at The Curling Source.

Game 10 Recap

Not that you're keeping track, but you may have noticed that I jumped from Game 8 to Game 10 for my recaps.  Due to the holidays Game 9 has been postponed.  I'm guessing Game 9 doesn't really affect the league standings or else there might be some pressure to get the makeup game scheduled.

Anyway, my team played well and we posted an 8-2 win after 7 ends.  Supposedly, we're evenly matched as B level teams.  I would've guessed that their team would be much better as I've played against this skip before and their lead and second have been subs for me in the past. 

Vice was out at the last minute, but fortunately, I was able to find a sub an hour before the game.  My sub was in his first year, but while there was some trouble hitting the broom, I'm happy to say that his weight was pretty good the whole game. 

Here's a memorable shot, at least for me.  The situation is my team is up by 4 or 5 and we don't have hammer.  It's the second shot for Second (who's playing third).

I decided to call a guard to block the raise (rock #1).  My thinking was that I'd just make it very difficult to score.  As it turns out, due to a bad no sweep call by me, the rock didn't make it across the hog line.  The opposing team did make a raise, but was only able to score one for the end. 

The better call might have been to just take out that rock (#2), but I just wasn't positive that we could make that shot.  There was a danger to me that we'd have the wrong angle and all that happens is their rock gets raised into the house behind all the guards.  (There may have been other rocks that aren't pictured that may have made the takeout a little more difficult as well, but I don't remember.)  What I've also been thinking about is that by calling the guard, I was basically conceding the end with my best case scenario being a blanked end.  I was OK with that (my team's up), but if that takeout was made, the rock might have rolled into the house or might be set up for a raise with one of my shots.

I guess it didn't really matter as my team won, but it's always good to keep the more aggressive plays in mind.  I also thought it was interesting that in the previous end, all 16 rocks were in play at the end.  I think that's the first time that's ever happened in a game I've played in.

Game 8 Recap

We had a game a few weeks ago, but I've been out of town and didn't get a chance to do a recap.  This was a close game, but not nearly as exciting as the week before.  We gave up two points to our opponents again this week, but this seemed more deserved as they hadn't won a game yet all season and they have two first year curlers on their team.  Also, I had my entire team together for the game, which actually hasn't happened for a little while.

I'm thinking that the key shot of the game, at least for the opposing skip is shown below.  As you can see, my team is sitting shot, but my opponent is second shot, and then I have two more rocks bunched up in the center.  The situation is my opposing skip has hammer and it's his last shot.  My team is up by one I believe, but the score may have been tied. 

The opposing skip decided that his shot would be to play off his rock and then get a roll sideways into his own rock, which would take out shot rock.  He ended up hitting his rock square and didn't get a roll at all.  My team scored one.

Someone was watching this from upstairs and really believed that there was a way to get all three of my rocks out.  At least for me (and the opposing skip), predicting what would really end up being an explosion of rocks is pretty difficult.  I had also thought it would have been possible for the opposing skip to draw (or possibly throw a takeout) to his rock and then take out my shot rock.  While that's possible, there's also the danger that you take out your own rock and now I'm scoring two or more for the end.  I actually think the call was correct because while there was a high degree of difficulty for the shot, the risk that something worse could happen was fairly small compared to some of the other alternatives.

Game 7 Recap

This one was a heartbreaker.  My team had the game in hand, but we lost on the last shot of the game when the opposing skip made a beautiful draw that barely made it past multiple guards.  Final score was 9-7 and that takes our record down to 4-3.  Sigh.  I'll break down the final four shots of the game here.  It's the eighth end and I'm down 1.  With my first shot, I play a guard to block off any shots on the right side.  I actually threw it light, but my guys barely swept it across the hog line.

With his first shot of the end, the opposing skip went for a takeout on shot rock and his rock stayed.

With my shot, I also went for a takeout.  I thought the shot was perfect because my rock rolled behind a little bit of cover.

But then the skip made an absolutely gorgeous shot to win the game.  That rock barely made it past both guards.

It was really the most exciting game I've been a part of.  I made some pretty dumb mistakes early on.  For example, I had to make a takeout to score four, but then messed it up and the other team scored one.  At one point, my team was down six, but I made a beautiful (and very lucky) double takeout to score three.  The other team played really well though.  I was surprised that they're a D level team and got two points against us.  But I don't think I could've done any better on that last end.

Sub Game Recap

For the first time this season, I subbed and I'm happy to say that I helped the team get their second win of the season.

I actually played pretty poorly.  I had 3 rocks in a row that I overthrew.  In my defense, the ice was really fast.  By that third rock (a guard), I came out so slow that I thought I was going to hog it, but the rock stopped in the four foot.  I also had my first stumble in a while.  Basically the entire game, the skip called for me to slide to the right.  For some reason, the only time I was going left, I fell over.  I just felt my broom kind of slip and then I was down. 

So after six ends, my team was up 4.  My shots of the end were a guard and a rock in the house (which was also shot rock), but by my skip's turn, those rocks were long gone.  Takeouts were missed by the team's second and third and now the opposing team was sitting two.  Opposing team also has hammer.

My skip called and made the double takeout on rocks 1 and 2 and his rock was wide open for a takeout.  His next shot was a missed takeout and all of a sudden the opposing team scored four for the end and tied the game. 

I was thinking about this shot though and thought that maybe the best shot was to instead play the freeze to rock 1.  If you get the freeze perfectly, you've saved two and you have a shot at getting a takeout on the next shot.  If it's short, you have a chance to raise on your next shot.  If there's too much weight, you probably move rock 2, but your rock likely stays and is not as wide open for a takeout.  Now, I know that a hard takeout is the easier shot, but I hope that I at least think about this possibility in the future.

Back to the game though, they scored four, but we had hammer in the eighth end and fortunately we scored 1 to win it 7-6.

On playing lead, I sometimes forget how much my other guys work than me.  I usually wear gloves, a hat, and a long sleeve tee (pants too!) when I curl.  By the fourth end, gloves and hat were off and my sleeves were up.  Maybe I'm just not in good shape, but I don't think I'd want to wear a sweater the way some of these other teams do.  But when you play lead, it's kinda nice to not have to think as much.

Game 6 Recap

Before the game, I was surprised to see that my opponents got two points for their handicap.  I guess that means that my team is now a B level, so that's good for us.  To sum up, we won 8-5 in the 6th end (a couple rocks were left so we didn't technically finish the end) so another good win for my team.  My opponents had really only started curling in spring league from a few months ago so that's good for them.

One of the highlights include a double from my opponents first second.  To explain, their second was going to be late so they had one of their buddies play the first end.  This guy had never curled before, but on his second shot, they called a takeout.  As it so happens, the guy got a double.  I'm pretty sure that I didn't get a double my first year, let alone in my first end, so that was pretty cool for them.

Another interesting situation happened in the fourth end.  My team is down one and we don't have hammer.  As you can see below, my team is sitting four with some decent cover.

I thought a guard covering my team's rocks was the best shot.  As it turns out, I was a little heavy, but now my team is sitting five.  I actually can't remember the opposing skip's next shot, but I know nothing was affected by the shot.

Now, there's a decision.  The opposing skip has two shots, right?  One is a takeout on the right side and hopefully he gets two rocks, but probably has no shot at scoring.  The other is a draw on the left side.  There's a chance at getting shot rock but if it's in the house it might reduce the score a little.  The more logical shot is probably a guard against the draw on the right, but Vice and I quickly agreed to the guard on the right side.  The other team really hadn't made any draws during the entire game.  Their two scoring ends required some fairly difficult raises and runbacks (and a little luck).  Anyway, I got a good guard up front and the opposing skip wildly missed his draw (both on line and on weight). 

This was my team's first end this season where we scored four or more.  We were up 8-4 after that and that was pretty much it.  Record's now 4-2 with three more games to go in this half of the season.