Ladies Night

 I got a win with the team I subbed on last night. It was fun, and I really appreciate playing with and against people I hardly see. Playing with women only is different from anything else I've played. I played decent. My guard weight was okay and I had 2 really good draws when for an end our Skip had to step out to take an important phone call and I got to throw three rocks. I was feeling pretty comfortable with my draw weight. I even managed a takeout or two. I also was a sweeping machine! I wore myself and my broom out. haha. I'm on the sub list for the next two weeks, and I hope to play again. Next week they are doing a potluck afterwards, so that should be fun. :)

 My regular Monday night team got a win without me. I'm happy they won. The team they played against was a good team. And my skip had some really good shots in the clutch again. I like playing with her, and she really helps the team stay in it.

 And it turns out we won the Monday night draw!! We beat the next team overall by 2 points. So, now Monday nights are over. Whew. Now we just have to focus on the next couple of Thursdays to keep the win streak going. It's not going to be easy, but I'm excited about the challenge.

 By the way, theres still room in the Rochester International Bonspiel on April 9th & 10th. Make a team, and sign up!!

All American Event

Tonight, I am changing things up a bit. Instead of playing in my regular Monday night league, I am subbing for someone in the Ladies All American Event at the club. Each year the US Women’s Curling Association offers event winner pins to each club hosting an internal women’s bonspiel. It consists of at least three games and must be played separately from the regular league play. All players enter individually as lead, second, vice or skip. The teams are then randomly picked so that every team is evenly matched. It will be held this year on the following Monday’s at 6pm. March 28th, April 4th and April 11th.

(If my Monday night drawmaster is reading this - fear not, Bob has a sub for our team tonight.)

 This will be my first time playing in a ladies only event, and I just wanted to try something different. I think my Monday night team can survive without me. hehe. Now, I know in reality I *could* have played in both games tonight, but...haha. I'm not that interested in winning a pin, I just wanted to try something different, and play with and against women I don't regularly see. It should be fun.

Thursdays are nice on the ice

My Thursday night team is awesome. We won last Thursday, 10-2 in 5 ends. Sweet. Our first end, we scored 5!! Kind of fun. haha. Aside from some of our shots taking CRAZY hard turns on the ice, it was a good game. Once again, our skip kept track of our shots:

	3/10/2011	3/17/2011	3/24/2011
Lead(Me)	50.00%	79.70%	70.00%
2nd	31.20%	56.20%	47.50%
Vice	66.70%	62.50%	67.50%
Skip	75.00%	76.60%	75.00%

 If I continue to stay in the 70s or a little higher, I'll be happy. I'm feeling more comfortable with adjusting my delivery to accommodate the different weights I need. This is something I've been trying to improve ever since our Toronto team got together. It's tough to be consistent right now, but I hope to be much better at it next year. I like my Thursday night team, each time we play together I learn a little more from my teammates, which helps me a lot. The four of us signed up for the RIB together, so I'm really looking forward to that bonspiel.

 Next weekend the Yinzers come to town for the Pittsburgh friendly. The husband and I signed up, and we both are looking forward to it. Judging by this pic they put on their website, they seem excited too:

 If anyone from the 'Burgh is reading this, bring up some Primanti Bros sandwiches! Oh, and some of those angry face brownies from Kings, and the black and gold smiley face cookies from Eat & Park. haha, you can tell the husband and I enjoy our trips to Pittsburgh.

Ugh

 Don't really have much to say. Last night was Monday night open league with the Toronto team. We lost, 5-3 in 8 ends. Everyone pretty much sucked in one way or another. Since the husband and I were coming off the long weekend in Toronto, and spent a lot of time over-indulging in food and drink, it was rough. And at some point, I just stopped caring. I know that sounds bad, but I was totally beat from the weekend. If we go again next year, we'll have to do something different.

                                       How I feel this morning -->  

East York Spring Thaw Bonspiel

A heavy guard with the 7 rock accidentally promoted Tim Fitzpatrick's squad into a tie game, necessitating a Last Shot Draw to determine the winner.  Team captain Lauren Bond stepped into the hack needing only to touch the 8 foot for the win.  Not only did she come through, but her draw touched the large button, propelling Team Bond to their second straight victory and a 2-1 record on the day.

It was quite a day of curling at the old East York Sports Centre.  24 teams from clubs such as Leaside, Dixie, Oshawa, Royals, and of course East York battled it out in an incredibly friendly event.  Our day began and ended on the Bloor-Danforth subway line, over 12 hours apart, broom bags in hand.  Here are some of the notables and highlights from a long day of curling, eating, and making new Canadian friends.

Our good fortune began at the Woodbine Subway/Bus terminal where we were immediately on a northbound 91 bus after ascending from the depths.  A short walk down Cosburn Avenue past charming bungalows (that run for $300K and up!) and the ballfields of Stan Wadlow Park was the final leg of a journey that started at the corner of Mt. Hope and Elmwood Avenues a day earlier.

The interior of the municipally owned club was quite the place.  Angled glass looks out over six sheets of curling paradise as an all-wood cathedral ceiling looms over the proceedings.  The lounge is quite inviting, featuring bar and kitchen areas at opposite sides of the room, a fireplace above which hangs a 52" flatscreen, and a piano for the musically inclined.  The basement of the split level mid-60's edifice houses additional lounges and locker rooms (with lockers the shape of Idaho such that one can store brooms) as well as the ice shed entry.

De facto Team USA in this event (Pete Fenson and Erika Brown couldn't make it) consisted of Tia at Lead and John Iuranich at Second.  Due to the restrictions on mixed team stone order, Lauren Bond threw third while I was privileged to wield the hammer.  We took to sheet 4 at 10:40 for our second draw matchup against the exceptional Carol Wheeler team.  After dodging a bullet in the first end in which Wheeler had the hammer and an opportunity to score three-to-four points, our team fell into a pattern of near-misses that saw us fall behind 4-0 after 4 ends.  A fourth steal, this time of three, put the nail in our coffin, but we regrouped for what was at the time our 'winning the Super Bowl' moment.  An outside narrowly guarded hit and stay for one allowed us to avoid the ignominy of a shutout and provided a boost of spirit heading into the lunch break.

Our early afternoon showdown pitted us against Elana Sone's East York rink.  The sequence of shots largely eludes me in this battle until we fast-forward to the 6th end.  Tasked with defending a 5-3 lead in the final end without the last rock, we annihilated the house from start to finish.  Tia did a tremendous job of setting a table that saw rocks four abreast at top four foot depth at one point.  After a 7 rock takeout, the math was in our favor, and victory was assured. 

 

The high drama at the end of Game 3 was made possible by a stunning chain of events.  Salty snacks, booze, and fatigue conspired to send Team Bond sleepwalking into their final matchup with Fitzpatrick's legion.  Before we knew it, we had surrendered a steal of five.  A double takeout and stay for one in the 2nd seemed like little consolation as it ensured a 6-1 deficit after three ends.  A clutch draw into the eight-foot without backing for three in the fourth made it a contest, and the ability to get up a pair of guards forced the opposition into a pair of mistakes, setting the stage for a very sloppy final end and the pressure-packed finale.

In all, we had a tremendous time and a very unique experience in this installment of our seemingly bi-annual Toronto mini-vacations.  Bela Szabo, event coordinator, did an excellent job ensuring that the event ran smoothly.  We are likely to go back to East York every year and hopefully we can persuade some other Rochester teams to make the trip.

Two out of three ain't bad

 So Team Bond from Rochester played well at the East York Curling Club Spring Thaw bonspiel. We started off a little shaky, but were able to regroup and win 2 games!!

 But since I am too sore, tired, and a little hungover right now, I have asked the husband to step in and be a guest blogger tonight.

 I will say this though, the people from East York Curling are awesome. And really genuinely nice. We had a ton of fun, and met some really great people. They really know how to throw a party here, and I'm looking forward to next years Spring Thaw!!

Take it away, Bob. :)

Time to shut down and pack for Toronto

 We board the train this afternoon for the True North. We have internet access at the hotel, so I'll be able to post about our time at the East York Curling Club. Should be a fun weekend!!!

Another good win for my Thursday night team last night!

 We won 9-5 in 8 ends. The funny thing is we all rushed to get the 8th end in, and we ended up blanking the 8th!!! Oh well. It was a really good game. When we had the hammer we scored a 3 point end, and a 4 point end. And we were able to steal 1 point twice in ends we did not have the hammer. As a team, we all did really well:

	3/10/2011	3/17/2011
Lead(Me)	50.0%	79.7%
2nd	31.2%	56.2%
Vice	66.7%	62.5%
Skip	75.0%	76.6%

 As you can see, I dramatically improved!! 80% is VERY good for me. I was feeling really comfortable with all my shots.There were only a couple that I flubbed a bit. And I'm happy to report that I found my guard weight again. I'm just hoping I can hold onto that muscle memory from now on. My skip reports that my in-turn and my out-turn accuracy was about the same this week. I'm not really sure what I was doing any different in respect to that, but I'll take it!! There was also some real good sweeping last night, on everyones part. I like sweeping-dominant games, makes me feel like I got a good workout in. haha.

New T-shirt Design

Thanks to some free online clipart and MSPaint, I made the following design for t-shirts. I had one made for me and the husband.

Yet another weird Monday

 We won last night, 6-3 in 8 ends. But again, it was a little weird. Our Toronto travel team was a man down and playing with only three people is a little disorienting. I was really hoping we would have one last good game all together before this weekend. But you gotta be flexible, right? So we shuffled things around, and the person who usually threw 2nd was now our skip. He was excited to do it. But it took a little while to get used to his strategy. Dude LOVES throwing takeouts. It felt like that was all we were throwing. And since I'm not that comfortable with takeouts, I mostly sucked. The takeout strategy ended up working I guess, since we won. But like I said, it was all a little disorienting.

 I noticed I wasn't really that tired or sweaty since you don't really sweep that hard with takeouts, you mostly are just trying to keep up and stay ahead of the rock. And even though I was the only sweeper for 40 rocks, I wasn't tired at all. Weird.

 The thing I hate about these weird games, is that it screws with my head. I'm not that experienced yet to be good with flexibility. I haven't played that long to feel comfortable in ANY situtation. Ah well, gotta shake it off. What's done is done. I'm looking forward to Thursday where we'll have four playing, and it will feel more like a traditional game. I need that before we leave for Toronto.

The Utica Friendly was fun

 My team won our first game, lost our second one. Not bad, for me. My very first rock was a seriously sick draw around their and our guards. (I threw 2nd.) The whole first game I was doing really well. I had a couple of good takeouts as well. Our vice played extremely well. The two of us created some good points for our team. And since our skip struggled to manage his weight (the ice was running real fast again), the vice and I really helped our team. I even managed to execute a good takeout while almost completely wiping out on my delivery (after I let go of the rock, I did eventually wipe out). I got some applause from people in the warm room for that. The second game, we were all a little off. This time the ice was VERY slow. Our skip improved a bit more, but me and the vice struggled. We only lost by one point, but we failed to capitalize on getting ahead by 2 or 3 points in 2 different ends, and settled for one point in those ends instead.

 As a club, we got slaughtered. I believe my teams win was one of only 2 or 3 wins the RCC had. It was fun curling, though. And the people from Utica seemed to really enjoy themselves. The food was really good too, haha. Overall it was worth it. And I look forward to curling in Utica next year.

 Up next is the Spring Thaw bonspiel in Toronto this weekend. I'm actually starting to get a little nervous!! I know I'm going to be restless on the train ride up this Friday. Overall though, I'm excited.

Utica Friendly

 Almost forgot to mention:  At the club tomorrow the husband and I are participating in a friendly with the Utica Curling Club. Should be fun. Supposedly they are taking a bus out here, and the indication is that they get their drink on pretty early. hehe. I just hope they don't come bearing gifts of that piss water Saranac Brewing puts out.

 I grew up in central New York, about 45 min. from Utica. So, tomorrow I will refrain from dropping any of the old Utica jokes I always heard growing up. :)

Thursdays are pretty cool...when you are undefeated! #%&$!!

 So, last night was one hell of a win. Pretty wild. We won 10-2 in 6 ends. We stole every end, except one.

 To start, we stole 4 points in the 1st end!! When you jump ahead that early, you kind of get a mental breather. And then when people like ME start going off the rails again, you don't worry so much. Yeah, I struggled a bit again last night. My guards weren't too bad, when I had the right weight. Some of them should have been a little deeper, but at least they stayed in play. After the 1st end, the ice got REALLY fast. And all of the sudden I'm throwing airport weight (for those of you that don't know, our club is down the road from the ROC airport and one end of the club faces the airport.) Me! throwing airport weight. WTF. Then I get rattled, and I start making adjustments. And either the adjustments don't work, or they make things worse. ugh. I just need to get out of my own way when I play.

 Fortunately, our Vice* and Skip were really on their game. The two of them came through with some killer shots and putting pressure on the other team to be spot on with their hard shots. Our Vice and Skip kept us afloat in some sticky situations.

 Our skip kept track of our shot percentage again:

	3/10/2011
Lead (Me)	50%
2nd	31.20%
Vice	66.70%
Skip	75%

 The numbers don't lie, the Vice* and Skip totally carried the rest of the team!! I know my numbers would be a bit better if I could have just figured out the ice a little sooner. As you can see, our 2nd struggled as well. I wonder if the weight and timing of some of my crappier shots were messing with his head a little.

 Our Skip commented on my out-turns vs. my in-turns. Again, this week I had quite a discrepancy between the two. He said my out-turns were pretty good. With my in-turns I tend to push right down the center line (!). After my first shot of one of the later ends, I think I became a little aware of this. I cannot tell you at all WHY I do it, but I am sort of aware of it. Maybe I need to be a little more consistent with my set up, and making sure I have my shoulders and upper body nice and square with the broom. And I have to stop looking down at the rock, damn it! haha. Bad habits are hard to break.

*Full disclosure: Our Vice is my husband, so I might be a little biased. ;)

Rochester International Bonspiel -- April 9-10

 Our Thursday night team is going to sign up for the RIB. I'm excited to play that kind of format. It is not until April, so I have some time to get a little better. :) Get a team together and come out and play at the RCC on April 9-10.

 Only one week left before we leave for Toronto. I'm a little conflicted. Normally Toronto trips are fun and relaxing, but I'm a little worried about how the spiel is going to go. We have never curled at East York, so that'll be a little nerve racking. Maybe I should have drink before we start. Is 10 am too early to start drinking??

All season long, mondays have been weird

  Monday night open league last night. Played with our travel Toronto team. One word to describe the night: Odd.

  Let me start by saying the opposing skip and vice are two VERY good players. Probably THE best guys I have ever played against, and among the top at our club. The combination of the two together makes them even better. They communicate very well with each other, and compliment each others abilities really well. Their 2nd played well too. That being said, we TIED. 7-7 in 7 ends.

  As a team we struggled a bit. Everyone missed some key shots every once in a while. It opened with 1 point for them in the 1st end, 3 points for us in the 2nd end, then 5 points for them in the 3rd end. At this point I thought: oh boy, here we go. Let the ass-whooping begin. I shrugged it off, and decided even if the whooping was coming, I was going to have as much fun as possible. Well, after that 5 point end, we scratched and clawed for every point. We weren't giving up. We got 2 in the 4th end, then held them to one in the 5th end, and then we got 1 point in each of the 6th and 7th end. TIED. Which is better than I thought I would be at that point. Our vice (throwing the last rocks) had some SA-WEET draws to get our last few points. It was definitely a fun game. And I'm just glad that we didn't get slaughtered. At the end of the 7th end there was some debate about whether to continue on with the 8th end. It was getting a little late. And it appeared everyone was on board for another end, except for one person. We were setting up for the 8th, and that person backed out at the last second, so we shook and took the tie. When I say the night was odd, it is because of how it ended. I think everyone feels iffy about ties, and since there was just one end left to play, most people were like what the heck - lets do it. Trust me, I have no dillusions about how that last end would have went. There is a VERY strong possibility we would have lost. But to not even get the chance to see how it would turn out, thats the part of a tie no one really likes. Ah well, it's a learning experience I guess.

  Personally, I played sort of OK... The first two ends, I was on track to be throwing 90%. I had some killer shots. Then I slowly came off the rails, and got lazy with some of my shots. I've noticed I may have an issue with keeping my energy level up during the whole game. How do I remedy this? I'm not sure. My whole life I've never really been a fan of playing competitive sports, and I don't know how to get into that 'mode' a successful player of any sport gets into. What's funny to me, is I've never really thought I was a competitive person. Well, curling has cured me of that. I want to compete at a higher level each time.

  Also, I am happy to report that when I mentally prepared my shots and executed with the CurlTech method in mind, I was pretty good. And when I came off the rails, it was also when I wasn't thinking properly about my shots. I'm going to have to look into to being mentally tough along with being phyically tough as well. *sigh* Again, learning experience!

From The Curling School by CurlTech - All about the delivery

  Seems easy, right? Yeah. In the body drop section they say to delay the sliding foot a bit. Because the gravity of your body falling actually gives you more power coming out the hack. It's something I'm going to try to do. I also like the point of putting the rock square under your throwing shoulder. Makes sense.

  I feel like I have a very sloppy delivery. Mostly because I have no idea what I'm doing half the time. And of course everyone has their own opinions and suggestions. I know people mean well, but when you get something different from each person it gets a little funky. So, I'm going to follow the CurlTech guidelines. At least try to...

Winning is a habit...unfortunately, so is losing. - Vince Lombardi

  We won again on Thursday night. 10-5 in 8 ends. We all did well. I had a couple of really good draws, and some good guards too. Our skip was keeping track of our shots on his phone, and he said I shot 66%. Pretty awesome, for me! He also noted our accuracy with in-turn and out-turn shots. Of course, with me it was like a 2 to 1 difference. Ah well. We are on track to playing pretty good with each other, but I know fate is probably going to throw us a gnarly loss soon - just to prove a point.
  The husband and I are heading over to the club in a bit to practice for the Toronto spiel in a few weeks. I'm going to try to really get my aim down a little better.

Boy, do I suck

We won last night. 6-3 in 8 ends. Overall we played well together. But I totally blew! I was either too heavy, or too light. I suck-suck-suckity-suck-suck-suck. The only good thing is I stretched pretty good before the game, and today my hip flexors don't hurt. The glass is half full, I guess.