01/21/07 - Mark This Date!
After 7 grueling ends, CPK have eked out their first victory. We went 9 - 4. A 5-point margin probably sounds like more than an “eked” victory, but the devil is in the details.
Our odyssey began with a soul-crushing 16+ - 1 defeat in the Mixed League. 16+ because the scoreboard only goes up to 16. I think they actually got 18 or 19, but at that point everyone stopped counting. The weekend prior, there was a technique clinic at Nutmeg Curling Club run by one Ray Turnbull. X and I had considered going but then decided to skip it. But another club member went and sent along some notes, which I had begun to put into practice as a sub on Thursday. By Saturday, I felt like the new tips were really working well and greatly improved my play to the point that everyone there noticed. I also tweaked the way I hold the broom. I think I was overly concerned about feeling a “connection” between the broom and the ice. Not worrying about whether the broom was actually on the ice makes things work much better, especially when throwing heat. So I was playing fairly awesomely, and I thought everyone else was, too, but the other team was just all over us. Mike stood in at vice, the start of a 4-game in 3 days run.
On Sunday when we got to the club, we found the Mike and Mary had won their Mixed match. They had bumped into these people who sent the notes from the clinic and got a little demonstration and reported also really throwing well. Meanwhile, the opposing team’s captain called out at the last minute (captain because in Beginner’s League, the skips rotate), and there was no sub, so they were throwing 3-handed and without any voice of experience. Of course, we also lack a voice of experience, so at least we were evenly-matched in the “years of experience” field although we probably have more games under our belts.
In any case, we dug in hard stealing 2 in the first end. It was looking bad in the second end where a series of underthrows lead to the other team having a stone or two well-protected behind the guards. They raised the stakes by delicately threading a stone through a small hole to put two very close to the center. I answered with a similarly astounding shot that pushed one of theirs and left mine right on the button with stones holding up part of the back. We were going to steal another point. I’ve always felt that winning 2 ends in a row is a big psychological score. I often feel like we’re still in the game until the other team gets 2 ends on us and then suddenly it seem really hard. Maybe it’s just the way the scoreboard is laid out? Anyway, with our point all but certain the other team threw an even more amazing shot that again went through the eye of the needle, this time bumping out my blue stone and one of the red stones, leaving the shooter in play and another red stone - they picked up 2 to tie it up.
And thus it went for pretty much the whole night - one team would make an amazing play and the other team would somehow top it. Tied after 5 ends, we went into the 6th end and finally got a break. Some good playing and some missed takeouts left us sitting two with a potential to use the last stone to get 3 or 4. I decided to draw around the guards but had Mike give the ice narrow because I had a feeling that tapping one of my guards back might also work well. And that’s what happened, although I came in a little too hot and knocked one of ours out so we picked up 3 and finally had a real lead with only enough time for one end. I dialled in defense, throwing up lots of guards and with all of the traffic, we managed to squeeze out another pair to seal the deal.
Also the Pats had a loss befitting the Eagles. Mike and Mary are now officially Philadelphians.