-DLC- Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 My parents curled back in the day and it was a popular sport ... I used to find it absolutely ANNOYING to listen to as background noise on the TV. Someone yelling at someone else to sweep harder? HURRY HARD? Sounded like a nightmare. But recently I've taken an interest in watching it and it's not as simple as just that....there's a lot of strategizing involved. Just as I thought Nascar was just going around in circles mindlessly, I've learned there's much more to it. With that, what a great Worlds our Canadian women just had...they went undefeated to take the Gold medal (vs Russia). Rachel Homan and her team had nerves of steel, great communication and were as solid as those curling rocks. A big congratulations in running the table ladies...well done!https://www.thestar.com/sports/curling/2017/03/26/canadas-rachel-homan-wins-womens-world-curling-gold.html By The Canadian Press Sun., March 26, 2017 BEIJING—Canada’s Rachel Homan knew there would be pressure heading into the final of the 2017 world women’s curling championship. Not only was Homan trying to erase past personal disappointments in her third appearance at the championship, but her Ottawa rink was being counted on to erase Canada’s lengthy title drought. The fact that Homan advanced to the final without dropping a match only heightened expectations. Homan and her teammates — vice-skip Emma Miskew, second Joanne Courtney and lead Lisa Weagle — responded with a textbook 8-3 win over Russia’s Anna Sidorova in Sunday’s final, giving Canada its first women’s world championship in nine years and adding more steam to Homan’s momentum heading into this year’s Olympic trials. Scotland’s Eve Muirhead captured the bronze medal, beating Sweden 6-4 earlier Sunday. After an open first end, Canada put the pressure on Russia with two points in the second end and a steal of one in the third before cruising to a comfortable victory. “We made sure to keep together and obviously there’s a lot more pressure in that final,” Homan said. “We’ve lost that one and its tough, and we wanted to make sure we were doing exactly what we were going all week, because we knew that would lead us to the win. “Some tough breaks by their team cost them a few points but other than that we had a strong game. I’m really proud of my team.” Homan’s undefeated run in Beijing — Canada won all 13 of its matches — came on the heels of her 12-2 run to the Canadian women’s title last month in St. Catharines, Ont“We’ve had an incredible second half of the season, and to top it off this way feels amazing,” Weagle said. “It feels amazing for Canada. We haven’t won it in quite a while so we’re very proud of ourselves and we’re so grateful for the support we’ve received. “For sure there were butterflies but we get excited when we get nerves like that.” Canada’s last championship came in 2008, when Jennifer Jones was victorious in Vernon, B.C. Homan had two previous attempts to break Canada’s drought but settled for bronze in 2013 in Riga, Latvia, and silver the next year in Saint John, N.B. “We’ve come up short and it never feels good to come up short when you’re representing Canada,” Homan said. “We really wanted to bring back gold for Canada this time. It’s been a bit of a drought and we wanted to make a statement going into the Olympic year.” Sidorova has now lead Russia to four straight medals, though this was the country’s first appearance in the final. Russia finished third in the previous three tournaments. “It’s always tough when you lose, especially when it’s the final but you know what, it’s history for my country,” Sidorova said. “It’s a pity we didn’t play well today ... but it was a great experience for us, especially heading into the Olympic Games.” Russia had trouble playing catch-up on Sunday and didn’t get a point until laying a single in the fifth end. Canada responded with a knockout punch in the sixth. A short raise takeout from Courtney put the Russians in chase mode, and when Sidorova’s last-gasp attempt to bury a stone at the back of the four-foot ring rubbed off a Canadian stone, Homan made the delicate tap to score three. “The ice changed a bit during the game and we really couldn’t manage the difference,” Sidorova said. “It’s easier for Canada when they’re two up because they have to hit more, and we have to manage the ice more because we need to play more draws. “We didn’t do it this time, it doesn’t mean we won’t do it next time.” With two major titles under its belt, Homan’s team can now turn its attention to the 2018 Olympics in South Korea. Homan will have home ice advantage at the Roar of the Rings Olympic qualifying tournament, Dec. 2-10 in Ottawa, where she will battle the country’s top skips to earn the right to represent Canada in Pyeongchang. “No matter who represents us trials are going to be tough,” Homan said. “We’re hoping to be there and be that team at the end of the podium at the end of trails but if not we want to make sure that Team Canada is best represented.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c00kies Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 I hate overly repetitive sports like NASCAR and basketball, but I've always appreciated sports where points were hard-earned, which includes curling. If you want to see an intense shot, just look up Jennifer Jones in 2005 on YouTube and you'll see what I'm talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Vandelay Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 I watched curling (and played) since I was 5. Love the sport. So fun to play. That was the most dominant worlds gold medal I've ever seen. When Homan's team is playing well, they won't lose. Not sure there has been a better team than hers ever. BTW, women's curling is so much better to watch than the men's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhukini Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 15 minutes ago, c00kies said: I hate overly repetitive sports like NASCAR and basketball, but I've always appreciated sports where points were hard-earned, which includes curling. If you want to see an intense shot, just look up Jennifer Jones in 2005 on YouTube and you'll see what I'm talking about. I don't know much about curling, barely anything I'll admit, but Jennifer Jones is always the name that pops out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tearloch7 Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Curling get's in the blood .. a dominant win by Rachel and the Ladies .. as good a rink as Canada has ever iced IMO .. Go Canada Go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHL rocks Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Ice Bowling. Used to watch it many years ago. Was it the Scotties Tournament of Hearts? I think that's what it was. I'd get into it once a while. Been many years now since I've watched a tourney now or gotten interested in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silky mitts Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 curling has lots of attractive women . That's about all I enjoy about curling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Never played, but really enjoy the top teams play. Can Gushue do what the women just did? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tearloch7 Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 14 minutes ago, Alflives said: Never played, but really enjoy the top teams play. Can Gushue do what the women just did? Yes, if Mark Nichols is lights-out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48MPHSlapShot Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Dat Rachel Homan tho.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Vandelay Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 25 minutes ago, Alflives said: Never played, but really enjoy the top teams play. Can Gushue do what the women just did? The competition level isn't the same at the worlds for men as it is for women. That's why Homan's dominance was so amazing. Gushue is the favorite to win. And should. But undefeated and beat the 2nd best team 3 times? Very unlikely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckNORRIS4Cup Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 I remember watching curling back in the Olympics in 2010, enjoyed watching it to cheer on Canada, plus I enjoyed watching Cheryl Bernard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocksterh8 Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 I used to curl back in the day for three years in school. I played 2nd for the most part and yes there is a lot of strategy to the game, thats for sure. Great sport, loved it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-DLC- Posted April 19, 2017 Author Share Posted April 19, 2017 Love that the men were able to also go undefeated. Was some great curling, very competitive. Getting to like this sport more and more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUPERTKBD Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 16 hours ago, debluvscanucks said: Love that the men were able to also go undefeated. Was some great curling, very competitive. Getting to like this sport more and more. They showed a graphic at the end of the Men's tournament. It's never happened before. The best previous record had a combination that included a couple of losses. I think it really shows how dominant this country is. We might lose occasionally to the Swiss, Scots or Swedes, but we're generally losing to the same people. (Edin, Ulsrud. Muirhead) Then you look at the two teams that ran the table in the World's and realize that there's real debate about whether they are actually the best team in Canada. Homan probably is, but you could make a case for Jones or Carey and on the men's side, many would give the nod to Koe, Jacobs or McEwen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUPERTKBD Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 So, it's not really curling season yet, but there's not much on and I'm watching this match where men and women are thrown together to create completely new teams. The final is Epping vs Gushue and I'm sitting here imagining myself as the meat in a Kaitlin Lawes - Lisa Weagle sandwich. #killintimeuntilGoT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.