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again with the almost-winning
Jan. 20th, 2003 08:41 pmspent the weekend at a bonspiel at another club. friend and i had given a heads-up to our club's mailing list that we were looking for two more to round out a team -- we'd take anyone, but everyone would probably be happier if we were the front end and we were joined by a skip and a vice, because we're just rank rookies. so we got a good skip and an excellent vice, and we were ("actually", as the club yenta who arranged the rink said) a good solid team.
first game was at 3:00 friday afternoon, against a team that shouldn't have been allowed to happen. the skip was this very nice but often sort of irritating woman who's seventy if she's a day, and the rest of the team had something like a combined two months of curling experience. our skip was late, so we played the first three ends with a sub at lead, and after about five we weren't even trying, and we beat them i think twelve to nothing. they seemed cheerful and un-discouraged, but we felt terrible.
second game was at 8:00 saturday morning, which itself shouldn't be allowed. we were facing a team skipped by the guy who won the whole shooting match last year (or possibly the year before), and we were much more evenly matched. they took the first three ends, but in the fourth we found our legs and started doing better. at the end of the seventh, we were down two; at the end of the eighth, we were counting two and only had to draw to the four-foot to get a third. so, naturally, we over-swept the rock and it went almost all the way through the house. we only got two, and had to play an extra end. fortunately, we took four in the ninth -- making up for playing sloppy all morning, i guess.
the third game, the first event semi-final, was at 5:00 saturday afternoon. the opponent was a team from our club that's very good. (had they lost their previous match, the opponent would have been the team including the woman who told her lead it was obvious mine was a B-level team at the spiel in october; it would have been very satisfying to beat her, but not particularly to lose to her again, so on balance i'm glad the folks from our club won.) we won the first two ends, but then they won the next five, including three in the seventh, so we conceded rather than finish. it was the right thing to do -- we couldn't have won, and playing another end would have just worn us out and wasted our time -- but i really wanted that game, because the winner went to the first event final and i've never played in one of those. (recall that the game with the B-level comment in october was also a first event semi-final. i don't want to, like, make a habit of getting that close and then tanking.) instead we dropped down to the fourth-event final, which name i think ought to be changed.
the game was at 9:00 sunday morning, and we were in mostly bad shape. the skip had gone home rather than stay at a hotel in the area, and he was late again and we played the first end with the same spare from friday evening. the vice and i were both hungover (she more than i, let me assure you). my friend, the second, had been the designated driver, so he was fine except for being tired. the other team was similarly afflicted. plus, everyone was exhausted from curling all weekend. the game wasn't very exciting -- and we lost in the eighth. (the team that beat us in the semis lost in the final to another, slightly stronger, team also from our club.) the first through third events got shiny pins, both the winners and the runners-up. the fourth event got beer and wine. grr. (at the inaugural, the first through fourth events got shiny pins, and the fifth got coasters and mouse pads. considering that the lowest-numbered event is played by the teams that stayed alive in the first event the longest except for the finalists, i think that stinks. who's with me? [g])
on sunday evening, like an idiot, i spared for a team in the pizza league. i threw second and did okay, but the other team played better and we lost. no biggie. five games in 50 hours, man -- way tiring. i had to stop twice on the way home and just rest, when i was in danger of driving off the road. but i'm feeling much better now. :-)
first game was at 3:00 friday afternoon, against a team that shouldn't have been allowed to happen. the skip was this very nice but often sort of irritating woman who's seventy if she's a day, and the rest of the team had something like a combined two months of curling experience. our skip was late, so we played the first three ends with a sub at lead, and after about five we weren't even trying, and we beat them i think twelve to nothing. they seemed cheerful and un-discouraged, but we felt terrible.
second game was at 8:00 saturday morning, which itself shouldn't be allowed. we were facing a team skipped by the guy who won the whole shooting match last year (or possibly the year before), and we were much more evenly matched. they took the first three ends, but in the fourth we found our legs and started doing better. at the end of the seventh, we were down two; at the end of the eighth, we were counting two and only had to draw to the four-foot to get a third. so, naturally, we over-swept the rock and it went almost all the way through the house. we only got two, and had to play an extra end. fortunately, we took four in the ninth -- making up for playing sloppy all morning, i guess.
the third game, the first event semi-final, was at 5:00 saturday afternoon. the opponent was a team from our club that's very good. (had they lost their previous match, the opponent would have been the team including the woman who told her lead it was obvious mine was a B-level team at the spiel in october; it would have been very satisfying to beat her, but not particularly to lose to her again, so on balance i'm glad the folks from our club won.) we won the first two ends, but then they won the next five, including three in the seventh, so we conceded rather than finish. it was the right thing to do -- we couldn't have won, and playing another end would have just worn us out and wasted our time -- but i really wanted that game, because the winner went to the first event final and i've never played in one of those. (recall that the game with the B-level comment in october was also a first event semi-final. i don't want to, like, make a habit of getting that close and then tanking.) instead we dropped down to the fourth-event final, which name i think ought to be changed.
the game was at 9:00 sunday morning, and we were in mostly bad shape. the skip had gone home rather than stay at a hotel in the area, and he was late again and we played the first end with the same spare from friday evening. the vice and i were both hungover (she more than i, let me assure you). my friend, the second, had been the designated driver, so he was fine except for being tired. the other team was similarly afflicted. plus, everyone was exhausted from curling all weekend. the game wasn't very exciting -- and we lost in the eighth. (the team that beat us in the semis lost in the final to another, slightly stronger, team also from our club.) the first through third events got shiny pins, both the winners and the runners-up. the fourth event got beer and wine. grr. (at the inaugural, the first through fourth events got shiny pins, and the fifth got coasters and mouse pads. considering that the lowest-numbered event is played by the teams that stayed alive in the first event the longest except for the finalists, i think that stinks. who's with me? [g])
on sunday evening, like an idiot, i spared for a team in the pizza league. i threw second and did okay, but the other team played better and we lost. no biggie. five games in 50 hours, man -- way tiring. i had to stop twice on the way home and just rest, when i was in danger of driving off the road. but i'm feeling much better now. :-)
