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bonspiel update
I hopped in the car after class on Friday and drove up for the Inaugural Bonspiel. Curling yay!
Got a speeding ticket on the way there: boo, hiss. But in good news, although the state trooper clocked me at 85 in a 55 -- automatic Reckless Driving charge, six points (12 points in 1 year or 18 points in 2 years = driving school; 18 points in 1 year or 24 points in 2 years = 90-day suspension and driving school to get the license back; none of this is worrying, though, because i'm just not an unsafe driver, so this is a fluke, and plus you get "safe driver points" in virginia for each year you don't fuck up, and these can offset your "demerit points"), mandatory court appearance -- he wrote me a ticket for 74 in a 55 -- still four points, and $150 I'm never going to see again, but how I love not having to go to court 90 miles away.
I'd entered as an individual, so I was playing with three people I'd never met before. But they were cool. Our play was ... inconsistent. I was throwing about 30%; seemed like if I hit the broom, the weight was all wrong, and if I got the right weight, the line was for shit. The skip must have found this incredibly frustrating -- but, on something of an up side, the other guys were a little wobbly too.
Still, against all probability, we won our first game. (We shouldn't have won. The other team was better -- but their skip missed some important shots. Luck of the draw.) And then we won our second game. (We were the better team that time, but that didn't matter, because both teams were playing lousy and the ice sucked.) And then we won our third game, which was frankly just embarrassing -- we were down by six after four ends, and somehow we managed to get it back, but we didn't deserve it.
The way the tournament is set up, everyone begins in the First Event. Teams that lose in the first round are bumped down to the Second Event, where play continues toward semifinals and whatnot; teams that win in the first round remain in the First Event. Teams in the First Event that lose in the second round drop to the Third Event, where play continues, etc; teams in the First Event that win in the second round remain in the First. And so on. The number of rounds is governed by how many teams you've got; you have rounds until there are four teams left in an event, and then you call it semifinals.
This bonspiel had three basic rounds. In other words, my team, which wasn't really all that good (as a team; the skip was excellent, and the rest of us each had our strengths -- mine happened not to be throwing guards, is all), was in the semifinals of the first event. Unfortunately, that was the moment fate decided to remind us we were out of our league. :-) We lost that game, and lost it decisively (moment of grr: one member of the opposing team said -- I don't know to whom, and I don't know with what tone in her voice, but it doesn't matter -- that it was obvious she was playing against a B-level team ... which, you know, may have been true, but eew? the tacky), and thus, after winning and winning and winning, dropped to what this bonspiel's organizers decided to call the Fifth Event.
The losers of the other semifinal match were really good -- four good players, and they work well together. They're all members of my club; I know those guys. I was sorry to see them lose in the semis, but the team that beat them was frightening. Anyway, we got our asses handed to us.
In fact, the team that beat them in the semis was a playdown team, four guys who play together on genuine competitive circuits, and a lot of people thought their coming as a team to this bonspiel wasn't quite sporting. They may have been right. But I didn't care, because that meant the team that knocked us out in the semis was going down. And sure enough -- the score was (hold on to your hats) twelve to zero after four ends, and the bad guys conceded. Felt good.
All in all, I had a great time. Fun weekend! Lots of practice. It's genuinely true, for me, that it's not about winning. Winning is good, but dude, if winning mattered a whole bunch, I'd be playing some other game. :-)
Now if I could see my way clear to buying the Men With Brooms DVD when it comes out tomorrow ...
Got a speeding ticket on the way there: boo, hiss. But in good news, although the state trooper clocked me at 85 in a 55 -- automatic Reckless Driving charge, six points (12 points in 1 year or 18 points in 2 years = driving school; 18 points in 1 year or 24 points in 2 years = 90-day suspension and driving school to get the license back; none of this is worrying, though, because i'm just not an unsafe driver, so this is a fluke, and plus you get "safe driver points" in virginia for each year you don't fuck up, and these can offset your "demerit points"), mandatory court appearance -- he wrote me a ticket for 74 in a 55 -- still four points, and $150 I'm never going to see again, but how I love not having to go to court 90 miles away.
I'd entered as an individual, so I was playing with three people I'd never met before. But they were cool. Our play was ... inconsistent. I was throwing about 30%; seemed like if I hit the broom, the weight was all wrong, and if I got the right weight, the line was for shit. The skip must have found this incredibly frustrating -- but, on something of an up side, the other guys were a little wobbly too.
Still, against all probability, we won our first game. (We shouldn't have won. The other team was better -- but their skip missed some important shots. Luck of the draw.) And then we won our second game. (We were the better team that time, but that didn't matter, because both teams were playing lousy and the ice sucked.) And then we won our third game, which was frankly just embarrassing -- we were down by six after four ends, and somehow we managed to get it back, but we didn't deserve it.
The way the tournament is set up, everyone begins in the First Event. Teams that lose in the first round are bumped down to the Second Event, where play continues toward semifinals and whatnot; teams that win in the first round remain in the First Event. Teams in the First Event that lose in the second round drop to the Third Event, where play continues, etc; teams in the First Event that win in the second round remain in the First. And so on. The number of rounds is governed by how many teams you've got; you have rounds until there are four teams left in an event, and then you call it semifinals.
This bonspiel had three basic rounds. In other words, my team, which wasn't really all that good (as a team; the skip was excellent, and the rest of us each had our strengths -- mine happened not to be throwing guards, is all), was in the semifinals of the first event. Unfortunately, that was the moment fate decided to remind us we were out of our league. :-) We lost that game, and lost it decisively (moment of grr: one member of the opposing team said -- I don't know to whom, and I don't know with what tone in her voice, but it doesn't matter -- that it was obvious she was playing against a B-level team ... which, you know, may have been true, but eew? the tacky), and thus, after winning and winning and winning, dropped to what this bonspiel's organizers decided to call the Fifth Event.
The losers of the other semifinal match were really good -- four good players, and they work well together. They're all members of my club; I know those guys. I was sorry to see them lose in the semis, but the team that beat them was frightening. Anyway, we got our asses handed to us.
In fact, the team that beat them in the semis was a playdown team, four guys who play together on genuine competitive circuits, and a lot of people thought their coming as a team to this bonspiel wasn't quite sporting. They may have been right. But I didn't care, because that meant the team that knocked us out in the semis was going down. And sure enough -- the score was (hold on to your hats) twelve to zero after four ends, and the bad guys conceded. Felt good.
All in all, I had a great time. Fun weekend! Lots of practice. It's genuinely true, for me, that it's not about winning. Winning is good, but dude, if winning mattered a whole bunch, I'd be playing some other game. :-)
Now if I could see my way clear to buying the Men With Brooms DVD when it comes out tomorrow ...
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Bad Guy - You are all amateurs (or something like that)
C. Cutter - Of course we're amateurs; look at how we're dressed.
Say that to nasty B-woman next time!
And SSSSSSSSSSWWWWWWWWWWWweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppppppp
(no subject)
(Anonymous) - 2002-10-28 18:42 (UTC) - Expand