The Nova Scotia squad will need the crowd behind them – will Halifax deliver?
HALIFAX – Forget the numbers because they are not good. Let's instead talk about home field advantage.
Why do Premier League soccer teams have a better record at home? Why do NBA basketball teams win at home?
Why do teams win at home?
It’s because the crowd is behind the home team. When a full arena cheer for an athlete or team, it feels good inside. It builds confidence.
To illustrate this, let's revisit the eighth end of the semifinal between Black and Kerri Einarson. This is the end right before Black nabs the game-winning three-ender.
On Val Sweeting’s last stone, the Einarson team has two rocks in the rings. Black is sitting third shot. Instead of throwing a guard, Einarson asks Val to nose third shot rock. Not a bad call, but a call that allows Brothers to play a very makeable nose-hit double. Brothers makes it, and the crowd erupts with joy.
Einerson hits and rolls to the wing, setting up a half-rock double for Black. The Halifax skip makes it, and an already rowdy crowd erupts and goes bonkers.
It feels really good to have thousands of people cheering for you. This tends to pump up athletes. Regardless of the sport, a home-field advantage is attributed to the fans.
Black has home ice advantage. The crowd wants the hometown team to win. So they cheered like mad. Giving, I think, momentum for the ninth end.
This momentum for the home team then helped Team Black in the ninth end, where they went for it and nabbed the three.
So can Black win?
On paper, the odds say no. But momentum and feelings are not something easily graphed on paper.
On paper, this looks like a simple task for the Homan Empire. In an arena, begging to cheer on Team Black, things could get different.
If Team Black can make some early shots in the game and get the crowd into it, then they can begin to believe. In curling, believing you can win is more than half the battle.