The Hizzle of T-Fizzle

Here’s how it went down:

Thursday, Mike and Mary picked us up and we set out for the Schenectady Curling Club to participate in their Centenniel bonspiel.  Traffic was not bad at all and we got to the hotel around 7PM and had a couple of hours before our first match at 10:15PM.  Due to the number of teams and the Centennial Gala Saturday night, they had to schedule some late games.  I think there were even some midnight matches.  We grabbed some dinner, suited up and drove out to the club.

We have never been in another curling club, so it was quite interesting to see all of the differences.  I have heard that Philadelphia has a pretty large warm room.  If that’s the case, Schenectady’s warm room…their whole facility really…is huge.  Although I’ve heard it’s still small compared to some of the Canadian clubs.  They’ve got a cavernous ice shed with 4 sheets, and I think the enormity of the room is accentuated by the high ceiling.  There are support columns running between the middle sheets with cool floating benches on them.  The walls are adorned with crests from other clubs, which look really neat.  The warm room itself has lots of space and seating and they have a large and well-stocked bar.  The locker rooms are decent and have bathrooms built-in.  The long history of the club is evident with lots of pictures and pins and trophies displayed all around the warm room.  It’s really neat to look around at old pictures of guys playing on a frozen Mohawk River.

We picked up a folder with some general information, schedule, etc and we were quickly tracked down by the club president who spent the entire weekend going non-stop.  She really did a great job.  She handed us nametags and souvenir centennial pins and then asked us if we had met our opponents yet.  When we said no, she said she would introduce us.  She followed “They’re really nice people” with the 5 words we never want to hear: “They just arrived from Montreal.”  Ugh.

But we found them to be a great group of people.  Sonny and Randy and Andrea were very talkative and loved to laugh.  Sonny’s SO had not arrived yet, so they had a sub from the club who took them in stride, but he was more serious.  This was probably the most “fun” game of curling I’ve played.  I always have fun curling, but there is usually limited banter at the front end and very little banter at the back end due to everyone being too busy playing.  Sonny finds time to banter.  Sonny can call shots, communicate with the sweepers and carry on a conversation all at once.  As the score became more and more lopsided, he would be standing behind me as our stones came in going “Sweep!  Troy!  Tell them to sweep!  SWEEP!”  He offered a lot of great strategic advice, even at the cost of a few points.  We pulled the plug after 6 ends since it was close to midnight.  I usually ask the other skip if they mind playing the last ends and finish up even though there is no hope of winning, but we felt it was time to hit the bar.  We spent longer than we should have chatting, but eventually went back and got some sleep for our match at 10AM the next day.  The final score was something like 10 - 3.

Our second match was against, I believe, a hybrid team with 2 players from Dalewood and 2 from either Schenectady or Albany.  You may remember a post on “How Does The Skip Signal An Out Turn?” in which I mentioned not being sure if the signal was universal.  It is not - while it seems like most clubs do it the same way it’s taught at Philly, the clubs in the Albany region do it backwards.  One theory I heard was that there are a lot of GE engineers in the area who probably said “Why do we point to thrower’s left when we want the stone to go to the thrower’s right?”  The skip would occasionally say “Oops!  Wrong handle…” and switch arms.  He seemed like a well-seasoned skip so I thought it was odd that he would make this mistake until I realized that he was trying to accommodate his teammates that are used to the backwards signals!

We played better this game, scoring more, scoring sooner, and letting up less points.  In fact I don’t think we let up more than 2 or 3 in any one end.  They had a far more conservative strategy that matches mine - get one or two good shot rocks and then guard them, which contributed at least in part to less “big” ends.  Sonny was throwing on the adjacent sheet and would occasionally throw me a grin or a wisecrack.  At one point I heard him yelling “Sweep!  Sweep!” and actually looked over to see if he was talking to me or his own team :-)  We played all 8 ends, and our opponents “threw through” on the last end.  I have mixed emotions about this tactic.  On the one hand, they are “wasting” their stones becuase they are so far ahead that it doesn’t matter.  On the other hand, they are driving the final nails in the coffin, because they intend to take out every stone you leave in the house meaning you won’t close the sizable gap.  More on this later.  In the end, we squeezed out 2 extra points due to a missed takeout on our opponents’ part and some good shots after that.  Final score was 9 - 4 or something.

After the match, we spent some time with the other team, as is the custom, and the skip Doug offered to sit down with us for a few minutes to offer some pointers.  Naturally, we accepted his offer, and he gave us some new tips and reiterated some we’d heard from our mentors back home.  One of the most notable for me was that I give too much ice.  That is to say I overestimate how far the stone will curl.  I resolved myself to watch the ice more closely in the next game.

A brief trip back to the hotel for a nap, and we returned to the club for what we hoped would NOT be our final game.  Because of the gala and the number of teams losting 3 in a row would also result in us being eliminated from the tournament by Friday, crappy because A)we were staying there until Sunday and B)we chose Schenectady in part because then Mary’s father could come watch, but would likely not be able to make a game on Friday.

We got to work curling.  This team was probably the least friendly we had met.  Not that they were mean or anything, but they had their “game faces” on and hardly said a word that was not directly related to the game.  This was probably our best curling of the weekend and we kept things pretty close until some miscues allowed them to score a multi-point end and get ahead of us on the scoreboard.  One of the highlights of this match was attempting a couple of “hit and rolls.”  It’s an advanced shot that has been available to us at various points, but never seemed worth the risk.  During one end the opposition was gearing up for 4 or 5 points.  The center approach was fairly crowded, but there were 2 counters on either side around the inside of the 12′ circle.  In a hit and roll, you try to strike the inside of the target rock which moves the target rock and causes the thrown rock to “roll” towards the center, ideally staying in play, behind cover.

Since we stood to lose a lot and there didn’t seem any good way to do a straight draw, tap or takeout, Mike and I decided to give the hit and roll a shot.  It was really a crapshoot - since I’ve never tried it, had no idea what weight to use and as a result could only guess what kind of ice to take.  So we fudged the broom placement and I gave it a toss.  I threw it heavy because I felt that removing the opponent’s rock was more important than the possibility of leaving one of mine in.

Well, it kinda worked!  Which was cool, because I fully expected it to miss completely.  But the line was pretty good for the weight that I chose, and my stone struck at the correct angle and drove the target stone right out.  I think my shooter even stayed in play after jamming on another rock.  Tried it again on the other side for the next stone, with pretty much the same result - removed their stone but mine flew out, too.  Less weight needed on the hit and roll, I see.  It was really cool to try those shots and not have them completely miss.  We cut them down from 4 or 5 to only 2 or 3.

After the 6th end, things were getting ugly.  We did manage to pick up a couple in the 6th, but were still down by 6 going into the 7th.  We discussed quitting, but since it was pretty clear we weren’t playing any more after this, I decided we might as well throw the last 2 ends just so we can get our money’s worth.  The 7th end was uneventful.  They increased their lead to 9.  The 8th end was awful. 

Here’s where I go back to throwing through: we were mathematically incapable of wining the game (you can’t score more than 8 in a single end).  Normally we would quit, but since we had decided to “get our money’s worth,” we still played.  Most teams would throw through.  These guys played it straight.  On the one hand they were letting us play a normal end instead of forcing us to just play draws while they played takeouts.  It even gave us a chance to narrow the final margin.  On the other hand, it gives them an opportunity to clobber us even further since they could get more points as well.

And more points they got.  A missed takeout on our part allowed them to start stacking stones up in the house, and it was becoming harder and harder to come up with a way to minimize the damage.  5 stones stacked up in a bunch, right over the button.  On multiple occasions we discussed just winging a stone at full force into the bunch, but this never seemed like the best option; there was always something that - if it worked - would be more useful.  The onslaught slackened when they underthrew a stone and left it short of the house, but somehow an errant draw on our part tapped their stone into the rings.  They were gearing up for an 8-ender.

And 8-ender is often likened to a hole-in-one in golf.  It’s really hard to achieve, and it doesn’t happen very often.  It’s pretty hard to not have even ONE of your opponent’s stones counting but still have all of your stones in the house.  A crowd was gathering.  People were really rooting for the other team to pull this off.  I considered shaking hands and walking away.  It seemed completely disingenuous for the other team, going into basically an “exhibition end,” to attempt to bring this to fruition even if they didn’t set out to get 8 when the end began.  It seemed even more disingenuous to try it against a team of utter noobs.  The Spirit Of Curling says “Curlers play to win but never to humble their opponents.”  I’d have to say that winning by a margin of 17 AND achieving an 8-ender against noobs would definitely fall under the “humble their opponents” heading.

But I felt that it was equally disingenuous for me, after Ahab-esquely deciding to keep playing despite it not being possible to win, to allow the other team to get within realistic reach of an 8-ender and then just quit and walk away with 4 stones left.  As a “good sport,” I simply could not allow myself to not let them try to complete the task even if I felt that them attempting to do so was poor sportsmanship in itself.  My first shot was a blur.  The second shot, though, gracefully slid into the side of the pack, just off the edge of the 4-foot circle.  The 8-ender was cut to 3.  The crisis was averted.  All was right with the world.  Actually, even if I had blown the shot they may not have had 8 - we had one stone in the rings that may have been close enough to keep them to 7, but the lovely parting shot made it a certainty and also reduced the embarassment.

So you see, if they had thrown through, we would not have even gotten into that kind of situation.  They gave us an opportunity to close the gap, but in doing so managed  to almost really kill us.  So I’m still a bit on the fence about throwing through.

Fortunately, Mary’s father and his wife made it out in time to see most of the match which was pretty awesome.  They chatted with us for awhile, then we sat down for a quick drink with our opponents, where we found them to be far more affable than they let on with their on-ice personas.  They are all business on the ice, but it ends there.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t stick around long because we had to get ready for dinner.

This is cool:  rather than a big chaotic dinner on Friday, groups of 3 or 4 teams were split up and assigned to club member’s home for dinner.  It was a really nice change of pace and it gave us an opportunity to get to know some more people in a quiet place instead of in the din of a crowded warm room.  We even met a guy who studied at Ursinus and even went to the Philadelphia CC open house before he moved to the Albany area for grad school!

After dinner we headed back to the hotel to shower and change.  Friday night’s activities included a live band, cheap club drinks and everyone dressing according to their “theme decade.”  We were the 1980s (which is, of course, the origin of the name Curling Patch Kids) and the girls went dressed up in their finest neon wrist warmers and crimped side pony tails.  Another girl named Shawna…or perhaps Shauna…we made friends with was also in her 80s finery.  X also observed that some curling-related water colors in the club vestibule were actually being sold, but all the cool ones had already been purchased.  They were an amazing price for original works.  We were, however, able to get a print for $10 which is not bad in itself.  We liked it because the picture is very obviously of the Schenectady club.  It’s even a sheet that we played on.  After 2 games that day, we weren’t too energetic.  Also, while the band was very good, they just weren’t a dancing band.  So we didn’t stay too late and headed back to the hotel.

Our elimination from the tournament bracket didn’t work out too badly, as it gave us some time to visit Mary’s family.  We went to her grandparents’ house where we were fortunate enough to run into 4 of Mary’s 5 uncles.  One of them looks remarkably like Edward James Olmos.  In true Italian Grandmother form, we were not allowed to leave without eating SOMETHING, so we had some snacks.  I also had some Vichy Water which is a carbonated mineral water that is unique to the Saratoga area.  There are other things called Vichy Water, but this is a regional thing.  I liked it, but I think it was flat;  I resolved to get a fresh bottle.

From the grandparents’ house we went to meet Mary’s dad/stepmother at Applebee’s where - wonder of wonders - we just happened to bump into the missing uncle from earlier!  It’s a rare occasion to catch all of the brothers in one weekend, but somehow we managed to pull it off.  Applebees has always been my preferred choice among the “chotchki” restaurants and they had a couple new burgers including some Italian deal with pesto sauce on Focaccia bread with garlic-parmesan fries that are a lot like The Beef’s continental fries.  It was really good.  And cheap.  Cheap is good.  After catching up and eating, we stopped by a Target so the girls could pick up some random items, then it was back to the hotel to relax awhile and then get ready for the gala.

For the glorious 100th anniversary, there was a gala at the nearby Edison Club of which it seems many of the curlers are also members.  The party was very nice.  They had a live band that played a vast range of music from big band standards to modern hits, and the food was very good.  Drinks were a little bit pricey, especially for a crowd that is used to prices back at the curling club.  I think that kept things a little bit in check.  We arrived a little bit late and almost had to sit at a table by ourselves.  Fortunately, a couple of Schenectady players took pity and joined us and we had a good time getting to know them. We also got to catch up with Sonny and his team and Shawna and see how things were going for them.  Sonny was headed to the championships.  At least when we lose, we lose to good teams!

During the gala we learned that by some tradition, the lead of the team is supposed to carry all the brooms for the rest of the team!  We now have a new running joke that the lead (currently Mary) has to do all of the grunt work no one else wants. 

The next day we packed up and checked out.  In the parking lot, Doug chided Mike for buying a car that was not curler-friendly (you can slide the brooms in alongside the seats).  There was breakfast at the club, followed by the championship rounds and of course, bagpipes and shots of Drambuie.  Mary picked up a cool pin by taking some shirts to deliver to Rich and Jo from Stephanie Torta of Little Fish Designs who did the marketing materials for this bonspiel (as well as lots of other curling-related things).  We stayed for about half of the championship rounds, and left around noon so we could get back home and have some time to unwind before “The Big Game,” (don’t want the NFL to come after me for using their name!).  I did get another bottle of Vichy Water, and it’s much better when it’s fresh and cold.  I’d probably keep it in if it was easy to get here.

If nothing else, me made a lot of new friends.  Our CPK pins were a big hit.  We talked about trying to make it to another bonspiel before the end of the season, but with our busy schedules, it does not look likely.  Hopefully we can make it to a summer bonspiel!

One last note: If you go to a ’spiel, please bring pins to trade!  I really like this tradition.  I’ve collected pins from places I’ve gone my entire life, so there is a special place in my heart for pins.  Even if you aren’t a collector, it’s really cool to have a sort of record of all of the many people you have played with from all over the place. 

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 10th, 2007 at 2:40 pm and is filed under Curling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.