Look who's back... it's TCN Blog Superstah Margo, fresh off a family vacation. Are you ready for some TV curling? She certainly is...
Jeff Stoughton battled rival KMart on Friday aftby Margo Weber
CALGARY – There’s curling on TSN tomorrow! Woot!
Yes. Instead of silly football, or that whole hockey nonsense that’s going on, it’s finally my turn to control the remote at my house. Booyah.
Let’s do a little update for those of you who haven’t been stalking the curling websites over the past few days.
The Capital One Canada Cup of Curling is well under way in Cranbrook, B.C. with some big name teams on the men’s side doing very well. Kevin Martin’s Edmonton squad (4-0) and Jeff Stoughton’s Winnipegers (4-0) are leading the pack and are battling head-to-head as I write these words. Mike McEwan’s team, also from Winnipeg, has to be disappointed with their (2-3) start. Ontario's Glenn Howard beat out Edmonton's Kevin Koe earlier today, so the guys in green are still hanging around.
On the women’s side, Manitoba’s Chelsea Carey (4-1) is alone at the top of the standings with Calgary’s Shannon Kleibrink (3-1) following close behind. Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones (2-2) is currently scuffling with Carey, and needs the win. Hanging tough is Edmonton’s Heather Nedohin and Ottawa’s Rachel Homan and bringing up the rear is Amber Holland’s Saskatchewan foursome at 1-3.
The women’s and men’s semis will be televised live on TSN on Saturday, with the finals playing out on Sunday.
The winner of the event, which has seven teams on both sides, will go directly into the 2013 Olympic Trials – the very first teams to qualify. Because there are only seven teams, you can bet there are quite a few players sitting at home this weekend, quite frustrated that they aren’t in Cranbrook competing for one of these spots. Make it a double-whammy that they aren’t even eligible for the points that would come with qualifying in this event. Needless to say, the foursomes competing this weekend have been training for it as one of the most important events of the year, with the Sochi 2014 Olympics being very much on everyone’s mind.
I think I’ll flip on the tube tomorrow and give the women’s semi a watch for sure. I’m feeling a little Vic Rauter withdrawal, to be honest. Then, if I can convince my hubby to watch the men’s semi with me, we’ll have a glass of wine and thoroughly disappoint the kids with a night of curling.
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with some of the tweets from the players:
BennyHeebz (Ben Hebert): 4-0 going into Friday... Huge battle vs #TeamGHow! Always a #barnburner... #Bearstillattacking #CanCup #SpiceRum Now!!
mcewencurling (Team Mike McEwen): 2-3 record, need to beat Kmart and @TeamStoughton to TKO Howard! #stayin’alive #CanCup #curling
TeamHoman: Tough one, good battle but extra end loss this morning. Last round robin game tonight vs Kleibrink. Need a win! #CanCup
TeamKevinKoe: Not sure we deserved the chance to win in 10 but we couldn’t quite pull out our deuce and lost. Need win and some help now! #cancup #curling
CraigSavill (of Team Howard): Three deer just outside the arena in Cranbrook, BC. Someone tell me again why I live in Ontario.
[Photo COPYRIGHT by CCA/Michael Burns: click on image to view larger]