Thursday 15 February 2018

Olympic Pool RESULTS

#BetweenTheRings: Winter Olympic Pool RESULTS
Who will win the #TwineTime pool GOLD medal?


FINAL PODIUM STANDINGS: February 25

The 2018 Winter Olympics men's and women's team events are underway in PyeongChang....well actually Gangneung.  We have already seen a few upsets and surprising results.  But the bigger question perhaps is how these results are affecting the outcome of the #TwineTime Winter Olympics 50/50 Pool?

As you may be aware, for this Olympic team competition I opened up the idea of running a 50/50 pool where 50% of the entry fees would be donated to the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association.  The remaining 50% would be divided up at the end of the competition to claim our Gold, Silver and Bronze pool podium finishers.

This pool is structured where your entry was divided into three parts: Round Robin, Final Standings, The Playoffs.  To participate you needed to pick the winners of all 90 men's and women's RR games for Section A.  You would then predict the final RR standings for Section B and, finally, the playoff brackets for Section C.

It may seem like a lot but, with this format, you can afford a few RR misses along the way and still have a shot at the overall gold if you could nail the standings and podium finishes.  It won't be easy but someone is going to survive the competition on the ice and take home a pretty sweet winner's cheque.

Thank you to all those who entered the pool.  While I may have come up short in my overall donation goal, the end result is always a positive.  We are helping support the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association!!  Providing a donation, of any monetary value, can still go a long way in helping continue the athletic dreams of Canadian children living with cerebral palsy and their families.  For more information on CCPSA and more background into why this is important to me, please visit the blog post announcing the pool HERE.

At the end of the day 21 people registered to participate, equaling $420 from entry fees.  Split down the line this would come out to donation of $210 for CCPSA.  However, through a few generous donations (two from participants and one from someone who just wanted to support the cause) we were able to bump up the donation to $300!!!  Sure it is not in the $1000-range or maybe not sound super impressive but this was the first time I have attempted to run a pool and am very happy with the support received and feeling of accomplishment in raising funds for a great cause close to my heart.  Of course, if you would like to see that donation amount increase, please contact me and we can add more to the pot anytime!!  #JustSayin

Also, for those interested in seizing up the #PyeongChang2018 men's and women's fields, check out the #TwineTime blog Men's Preview and Women's Preview for a Tale of the Tape on each of the 20 teams comprising this year's Olympic field.

For our participants, the podium payouts will be as follows:

GOLD - $105
SILVER - $63
BRONZE - $42

This blog post is going to be LIVE....as in it will be updated regularly with UPDATED POOL STANDINGS!  If you are entered in the pool or just curious to see how people are doing, come back often!  Time to stop sitting in the hack and time to slide out with the results.....

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 25

What an end to an exciting two weeks of Olympic action! Sweden's Team Hasselborg erased the monkey off their back of closing out big championship games in dominating Korea's Team Kim to claim the gold medal.  Congrats to Team Hasselborg!

Their win however created a TIE in our final pool standings.  Who would have thought that heading into this event?  But does it ever add an extra level of excitement and intrigue.  In the end a TB procedure came into effect and our FINAL PODIUM STANDINGS look like this:


GOLD - Shona Barbour
SILVER - #TwineTime
BRONZE - 2 Girls and a Game


Congrats once again to #PolarPower Shona Barbour on winning the 1st #TwineTime Olympic 50/50 Pool!  Extra special prop to her as well for announcing on twitter yesterday she will be donating the funds to the Sandra Schmirler Foundation, a foundation many of us (myself included) donate to and support on an annual basis.  Thank you for continuing the theme of giving back Shona!

After the last rock came to a rest and as Team Sweden celebrated Olympic gold, the two curling blog/podcast teams survived the play to find themselves on the podium.  The #TwineTime blog and 2 Girls and a Game podcast wound up tied for second but, after the TB process went into effect, #TwineTime would finish ahead by 1 point!  Go figure even in a TB it would THAT close folks!!

Here are the final standings:

PositionName Section A  Section B  Section C  Total 
1Shona Barbour 118  -  56  -  81  255 
2TwineTime 124  -  40  -  77  241 
22 Girls & A Game 116  -  46  -  79  241 
4Heather Jensen 110  -  41  -  80  231 
5Zander Elmes 110  -  53  -  66  229 
6Matthew Hall 118  -  48  -  59  225 
7Christine Bennett 110  -  42  -  70  222 
8Aaron Shutra 118  -  42  -  59  219 
8Brad Thiessen 108  -  44  -  67  219 
8Marilyn Healey 104  -  56  -  59  219 
11Matthew Blandford 96  54  -  66  216 
12Phil Darin (NerdCurl) 108  -  53  -  51  212 
13Deb Lozinski 98  -  44  -  69  211 
14Reid Carruthers 112  -  40  -  57  209 
15Courtney Bice 114  -  35  -  55  204 
16Susan Runge-McKeen 94  -  36  -  66  196 
17Val Geiss 94  -  49  -  52  195 
18Matt Dixon 112  -  34  -  47  193 
19Kerry Koe 98  -  47  -  44  189 
20CurlingGeek 100  -  32  -  52  184 
21Steph LeDrew 100  -  35  -  35  170 

Special props as well to Heather Jensen.  Jensen sat in 14th place after Section A and 12th place after Section B but had a killer Section C, finishing with the second most total points (80, behind our winner with 81) and moved up eight spots to finish in 4th place!  Further proof folks, never count yourself out of a pool!!

THANK YOU once again to each and every one of those names above for entering this pool and helping give back to a great organization helping Canadian children and families.  This pool, these results and the total funds raised would not be possible without all of your support.  Perhaps we can do this again sometime?!

In closing, I am happy and excited to end up with a silver medal (one Edin win away from gold!).  As was always the plan heading into this pool, should #TwineTime emerge on the podium the winnings would in turn be donated back to our main fundraising organization, Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association!

TOTAL DONATION TO CCPSA: $363!!  😊

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 24

It has happened folks.  We have crowned our Gold Medal champion!!  With USA's historic #TeamUpset victory over Sweden coupled with Japan's amazing #StealPants bronze medal win over Greaet Britain one entry has officially pulled in front and cannot be caught.

Congrats Shona Barbour!!  #PolarPower rules the pool!  Barbour has, without question, been the most consistent player this entire pool having been in first place numerous times or hovering around the top of the podium the rest of the times.  It is quite interesting how this very blog uses a key theme in the weekly #PowerRankings and this same theme proved to be the deciding factor in winning this pool: Consistency!!  We know Shona is in Korea still cheering on all of #TeamCanada....but maybe she wants to stop by and buy some drinks for both Team Shuster and Team Fujisawa for helping her clinch this victory. :)

PositionName Section A  Section B  Section C  Total 
1Shona Barbour 118  -  56  -  81  255 
2TwineTime 124  -  40  -  77  241 
3Zander Elmes 110  -  53  -  66  229 
42 Girls & A Game 116  -  46  -  64  226 
5Matthew Hall 118  -  48  -  59  225 
6Christine Bennett 110  -  42  -  70  222 
7Aaron Shutra 118  -  42  -  59  219 
7Brad Thiessen 108  -  44  -  67  219 
7Marilyn Healey 104  -  56  -  59  219 
10Heather Jensen 110  -  41  -  65  216 
10Matthew Blandford 96  54  -  66  216 
12Phil Darin (NerdCurl) 108  -  53  -  51  212 
13Deb Lozinski 98  -  44  -  69  211 
14Reid Carruthers 112  -  40  -  57  209 
15Courtney Bice 114  -  35  -  55  204 
16Susan Runge-McKeen 94  -  36  -  66  196 
17Val Geiss 94  -  49  -  52  195 
18Matt Dixon 112  -  34  -  47  193 
19Kerry Koe 98  -  47  -  44  189 
20CurlingGeek 100  -  32  -  52  184 
21Steph LeDrew 100  -  35  -  35  170 

BUT the final two spots on the podium are still up for grabs and the result will come down to the final game in PyeongChang....exactly what we hoped would happen right?  Our current 4th place team picked Sweden to win the women's gold.  If Team Hasselborg does win tonight vs. Korea, our 4th place finisher will jump into a TIE for silver!  Yup you read that correct....we would have a TIE!  Here is what could happen:

  • Sweden Wins Women's Gold - 2 Girls & A Game would move into a TIE for 2nd place with #TwineTime.
  • Korea Wins Women's Gold - #TwineTime would win Silver and Zander Elmes would have his own #TeamUpset moment in claiming bronze.

You may also be wondering what changed from yesterday's update to today in regards to a Top 4 NOT a Top 3.  My bad on this one folks.  I completely forget we had bonus points available for predicting bronze and gold medal winners AND correct scores.  As luck would have it, two entries correctly predicted the Swiss men winning bronze by a score of 7-5.  One of those entries, Zander Elmes, used those bonus 5 points to move into 3rd place now which could be the difference.

So, we need a Tiebreaker Formula it would appear.  Hmmm I wonder if this is how Curling Canada felt during the Road to the Roar Olympic pre-trials when they realized a whole bunch of teams were now tied for playoff spots and they needed to come up with a solution last minute?

Here is the TB procedure I believe is fair to everyone:

  • Add up the TOTAL points predicted from ALL FOUR medal games (men's and women's gold and bronze medal) for each tied entry
  • Add up the TOTAL ACTUAL points scored from ALL FOUR medal games in PyeongChang
  • The entry with the TOTAL PREDICTED score closeest to the TOTAL ACTUAL score WITHOUT GOING OVER would win the TB.  If both entries predict over, the closest to the actual would win.

I think that process seems fair and balanced?!  As I have never hosted a pool of this format, please let me know your thoughts if you agree or disagree?  I did post this TB procedure on social media last night as well after the men's gold medal result when I noticed the tie potential heading into the women's medal games.  Crazy to see that after 98 total games played between the men's and women's draws it all comes down to one game.  Also worth noting had Sweden prevailed in the men's final (and staying with Japan winning women's bronze of course) our champion would have actually lost the gold medal by 1 point to our current second place entry (UGH!! So close).

I hope I have also mentioned this enough in the past but I want to do it again here.  THANK YOU to each and everyone one of our participants for taking the time to submit a entry and, more importantly, support the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association.  I wish I could thank each of you in person!

#StayTuned.....our FINAL podium positions are still TBD!!!  #Drama

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 23

We have reached that pivotal stage of the 1st #TwineTime Olympics 50/50 Pool folks.  The podium is now within reach for some and the Olympic pool gold medal dream has officially come to an end for many.  A few days ago it was noted the bronze medal games could be the deciding factor and it appears that was a VERY accurate statement.  The Top 3 look to be our podium finishers....but the medal hanging around their necks is still to be determined.

#ButFirst the women's SF game between Sweden and Great Britain ended up having the largest impact on the top of the standings.  A Great Britain win would have changed the standings.  Unfortunately for some (and fortunate for our current leaders) Sweden dominated the game and punched their spot into the gold medal game.  The result leaves those who have Great Britain winning bronze in the driver seat.

As well, Switzerland's men's bronze medal win added crucial points to a few entries and, in one instance, moved an entry into the Top 3 and stave off elimination.  Props to 3 entries though who have scored HIGH points for a very difficult to predict Section C:

  1. #TwineTime - 72 points
  2. Shona Barbour - 71 points
  3. Christine Bennett - 70 points

All three of these entries could add to to the already impressive Section C point totals depending on the women's medal games and the big men's gold medal game.

Here are the updated standings after the men's bronze medal game and the women's SF results:

PositionName Section A  Section B  Section C  Total 
1Shona Barbour 118  -  56  -  71  245 
2TwineTime 124  -  40  -  72  236 
32 Girls & A Game 116  -  46  -  64  226 
4Matthew Hall 118  -  48  -  59  225 
5Zander Elmes 110  -  53  -  61  224 
6Christine Bennett 110  -  42  -  70  222 
7Aaron Shutra 118  -  42  -  59  219 
7Brad Thiessen 108  -  44  -  67  219 
7Marilyn Healey 104  -  56  -  59  219 
10Heather Jensen 110  -  41  -  65  216 
10Matthew Blandford 96  54  -  66  216 
12Phil Darin (NerdCurl) 108  -  53  -  51  212 
13Reid Carruthers 112  -  40  -  57  209 
14Courtney Bice 114  -  35  -  55  204 
15Deb Lozinski 98  -  44  -  59  201 
16Susan Runge-McKeen 94  -  36  -  66  196 
17Val Geiss 94  -  49  -  52  195 
18Matt Dixon 112  -  34  -  47  193 
19Kerry Koe 98  -  47  -  44  189 
20CurlingGeek 100  -  32  -  52  184 
21Steph LeDrew 100  -  35  -  35  170 

Looking ahead, here are the results to impact the FINAL STANDINGS:

  • Sweden Wins Men's Gold - #TwineTime would pick up the 15 points and move into 1st place (for now!)
  • Women's Bronze Medal Game - This could be the decider.  #TwineTime and 2 Girls & A Game have Great Britain winning.  Shona Barbour has Japan winning.  This result could be the deciding factor (depending of course whether or not Sweden win's men's gold)
  • Sweden Wins Women's Gold - If the results fall in favour of 2 Girls & A Game way (USA wins men's gold, Great Britain wins women's bronze) a Sweden win over host Korea would hand the gold medal to the curling podcast team!

So there you have it.  The Top 3 have pulled away from the pack BUT Gold, Silver and Bronze position is still anyone's game.  For our current leader, a USA men's gold win and Japan women's bronze would close out the title!

#StayTuned folks.....


THURSDAY FEBRUARY 22

WOW!  As the men's SF rocks stopped spinning in the house we were left with two very different story lines.  We have the pre-event co-favourite #SwedishVikings with Team Edin defeating Switzerland to advance to their first Olympic gold medal final after winning the bronze medal four years ago in Sochi.  We also have #TeamUpset flag bearer USA's Team Shuster, who knocked off (again!) Team Canada to continue their own Miracle of *Curling* Ice.

Tonight we have the toughest game in team sports when Switzerland battles Canada for bronze.  We also will see the women's SF games between #PACC rivals Korea vs. Japan and Euro rivals Sweden vs. Great Britain.

From our Olympic Pool perspective, the first part of Section C has been added to the on-going results.  These points were based solely on correctly slotting in each team into their actual spot in the men's and women's playoff bracket.  Our leader actually increased her lead and is closing in on the gold medal.  The Top 5 saw change though and the chasing group is very tight but still trailing by even more than yesterday.  But with two podium spots still on the line, who will emerge?  And can someone actually overtake our leader?  #StayTuned

PositionName Section A  Section B  Section C  Total 
1Shona Barbour 118  -  56  -  6  180 
2Matthew Hall 118  -  48  -  4  170 
3Zander Elmes 110  -  53  -  6  169 
4Phil Darin (NerdCurl) 108  -  53  -  6  167 
52 Girls & A Game 116  -  46  -  4  166 
5TwineTime 124  -  40  -  2  166 
7Aaron Shutra 118  -  42  -  4  164 
7Marilyn Healey 104  -  56  -  4  164 
9Matthew Blandford 96  54  -  6  156 
10Brad Thiessen 108  -  44  -  2  154 
10Reid Carruthers 112  -  40  -  2  154 
12Christine Bennett 110  -  42  -  -  152 
13Heather Jensen 110  -  41  -  -  151 
14Courtney Bice 114  -  35  -  -  149 
14Kerry Koe 98  -  47  -  4  149 
16Matt Dixon 112  -  34  -  2  148 
17Deb Lozinski 98  -  44  -  4  146 
18Val Geiss 94  -  49  -  2  145 
19Susan Runge-McKeen 94  -  36  -  6  136 
20Steph LeDrew 100  -  35  -  -  135 
21CurlingGeek 100  -  32  -  2  134 

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 21

My apologies for the Standings Update friends!  Long work day coupled with an epic women's hockey gold medal game equal delay of results.  First off, props to Team USA on the gold medal win and congrats to Team Canada on winning silver.  Speaking as a Canadian, we congratulate the US players and say see you at #Beijing2022!

Now back to curling.  Yesterday (or the day before yesterday?) the RR wrapped up thus ending Section A of our pool.  Overall it was a very successful day for the vast majority of pool participants.  It was a positive way to end the RR too considering the day before was a struggle.  Our leader held onto top spot at the end of Section A:

PositionName Section A 
1TwineTime 124 
2Aaron Shutra 118 
2Matthew Hall 118 
2Shona Barbour 118 
52 Girls & A Game 116 
6Courtney Bice 114 
7Matt Dixon 112 
7Reid Carruthers 112 
9Christine Bennett 110 
9Heather Jensen 110 
9Zander Elmes 110 
12Brad Thiessen 108 
12Phil Darin (NerdCurl) 108 
14Marilyn Healey 104 
15CurlingGeek 100 
15Steph LeDrew 100 
17Deb Lozinski 98 
17Kerry Koe 98 
19Matthew Blandford 96 
20Susan Runge-McKeen 94 
20Val Geiss 94 

But what have I been telling all of you since the beginning?  Section A will not win nor necessarily lose you this pool.  Section B could ultimately become the deciding factor.  Section B was the triple threat in point possibility with points not only awarded for predicting each playoff team but bonus points on the line for predicting the final placement of each team in the tournament (after RR of course) and correctly pinning down each nation's Win/Loss record (never an easy feat).

A few props need to be made here.  Here were the highest scoring entries for each of the three Section B point opportunities:

Win/Loss:  Marilyn Healey - 14 points (2 points/correct record)
Ranking:  Phil Darin and Zander Elmes - 18 points (3 points/each correct standing position)
Playoff Teams:  Shona Barbour - 35 points (5 points/playoff team)

Amazing results and all 4 of you should buy lottery tickets this week.  This was a TOUGH field on both men's and women's sides and being that accurate on each of these headings is no easy task.  Worth noting, Shona Barbour nailed 7 of 8 overall playoff participants folks!  THAT is incredible.

Here were the top point winners for JUST Section B:

PositionName Section B 
1Marilyn Healey 56 
1Shona Barbour 56 
3Matthew Blandford 54 
4Phil Darin (NerdCurl) 53 
4Zander Elmes 53 
6Val Geiss 49 
7Matthew Hall 48 
8Kerry Koe 47 
92 Girls & A Game 46 
10Brad Thiessen 44 
10Deb Lozinski 44 
12Aaron Shutra 42 
12Christine Bennett 42 
14Heather Jensen 41 
15Reid Carruthers 40 
15TwineTime 40 
17Susan Runge-McKeen 36 
18Courtney Bice 35 
18Steph LeDrew 35 
20Matt Dixon 34 
21CurlingGeek 32 

A giant happy spin of the rock to Marilyn Healey and Shona Barbour for their strong Section B results.  For Marilyn, she entered the day in 12th place and, after Section A results were tabulated, was sitting in 14th place.  Yet, look at that strong Section B result of 56 points!  And Shona Barbour....well this just seems like her pool to win perhaps?  She has been the most consistent since the beginning sitting at or near the top of the standings the entire time.  Amazing!  As for our Section A leader, well I struggled mightily here.....threw that rock right through the house when I could have had an open draw for a big lead.  Might just be my own demise though.

When we add up our Section A and Section B results, here is our new Leaderboard:

PositionName Section A  Section B  Total 
1Shona Barbour 118  -  56  -  174 
2Matthew Hall 118  -  48  -  166 
3TwineTime 124  -  40  -  164 
4Zander Elmes 110  -  53  -  163 
52 Girls & A Game 116  -  46  -  162 
6Phil Darin (NerdCurl) 108  -  53  -  161 
7Aaron Shutra 118  -  42  -  160 
7Marilyn Healey 104  -  56  -  160 
9Brad Thiessen 108  -  44  -  152 
9Christine Bennett 110  -  42  -  152 
9Reid Carruthers 112  -  40  -  152 
12Heather Jensen 110  -  41  -  151 
13Matthew Blandford 96  54  -  150 
14Courtney Bice 114  -  35  -  149 
15Matt Dixon 112  -  34  -  146 
16Kerry Koe 98  -  47  -  145 
17Val Geiss 94  -  49  -  143 
18Deb Lozinski 98  -  44  -  142 
19Steph LeDrew 100  -  35  -  135 
20CurlingGeek 100  -  32  -  132 
21Susan Runge-McKeen 94  -  36  -  130 

As expected based on Section B (and as I have been saying for a few days), we have a NEW leader heading into the final part of our pool.  Well not new to the top so maybe we have a familiar name regaining the lead I should say.  Shona Barbour has an 8 point lead and, with accurately predicting 7 of the 8 playoff teams, she also has the most points to gain in Section C.  Can anyone catch her?  While our Section A winner has dropped into the bronze medal position overall.

We have a very tight battle for our silver and bronze podium positions.  My assumption here is this pool may just come down to which teams take home the men's and women's bronze medals.  Weird to think Olympic bronze will decide the #TwineTime Olympic Pool gold?!

The playoff round gets underway tonight with the men.  We have Sweden (Team Edin) taking on Switzerland (Team de Cruz), fresh off their earlier TB win over Great Britain.  And we have another #BorderBattle between Canada (Team Koe) and USA (Team Shuster).

Who needs sleep right?

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 20

First off, my apologies for the delay in updating the standings.  Back to work today and could not get to the update until I got home.  And a pre-warning for tomorrow folks.....I have a 14 hour work day so the final Section A and Section B updated standings will be delaying until later in the evening.  BUT I promise to get the update done!!  Bare with me though please :)  I actually have back to back 14 hour work days coming up....ugh.....

Well collectively the PyeongChang results dominated our entry field with the top score being 6 out of 10 with the majority of entries going 50%.....we even had a few pocket only 2 or 3 out of 10.  It was a tough day for our poolers.  Poolers?  Poolsters?  What is the correct term here?

Anyways....we have 3 entries cracking the 100 point plateau and we have 1 outright leader heading into the final day of RR play.  This is FAR from over though folks.  The Section B results could actually prove to be the different maker between a podium position and a millennial participation ribbon.  Before revealing the updated standings, I thought it would be worth summarizing the Top 4 predictions collectively made by our entries.

MEN'S TEAM1st 2nd3rd4th
Canada1191
Denmark1
Great Britain12
Norway118
Korea11
Sweden10101
Switzerland1141
USA19

WOMEN'S TEAM1st2nd3rd4th
Canada1353
Great Britain2824
Japan14
OAR1
Korea12
Sweden4872
Switzerland267
USA11

The selections for finishing in first after the RR are overwhelming for the women: Canada!  While Great Britain and Sweden securing a tie for most votes in second.  Canada and Sweden are also the only women's teams to receive a Top 4 vote on every entry!  And look at Korea....only 3 people even have them reaching the playoffs and they are going to finish top of the standings.  #TeamUpset!!

As for the men, as expected Canada and Sweden basically split the votes between first and second and also show up as playoff teams in all received entries.  Apparently the vast majority of us thought the Swiss were a good bet to finish 3rd....what a crazy one-sided stat!  And Norway/USA were the top bets to round out the playoff bracket.  Sweden has already locked up first place so those 10 entries must be feeling really confident right now.  A Canada victory over Denmark tonight would solidify them in 2nd.  That one random 3rd place vote?  Yup that was me....I'll own it!  It matches the lone Swiss vote for second though LOL  I thought the Swiss would defeat Canada in the RR and, when they finished tied with identical records at the end of the RR, Swiss would own the TB to be awarded 2nd...almost happened!

Ok so what are the standings now you ask?  While I also added a bit of extra info into the standings.  Besides the current point totals, you will also find below the predictions for the Gold and Bronze medal winners per entry.  Combine that info with the info above, factor in your own predictions, and you can start to make some assumptions on how you are looking heading into the home stretch....and perhaps which teams you may want to be cheering for to help you land the Gold Medal of this pool.

PositionName Total  GOLD - MEN  GOLD - WOMEN  Bronze - Men  Bronze - Women 
1TwineTime 104  Sweden  Canada  Switzerland  Great Britain 
2Aaron Shutra 100  Canada  Canada  Norway  Great Britain 
2Shona Barbour 100  Canada  Canada  USA  Japan 
4Matthew Hall 98  Canada  Great Britain  Switzerland  Sweden 
52 Girls & A Game 96  Canada  Sweden  USA  Great Britain 
5Christine Bennett 96  Canada  Canada  Switzerland  Great Britain 
5Courtney Bice 96  Canada  Canada  Norway  Great Britain 
5Matt Dixon 96  Canada  Canada  Switzerland  Sweden 
5Reid Carruthers 96  Sweden  Canada  Korea  Great Britain 
10Zander Elmes 94  Canada  Canada  Switzerland  Sweden 
11Heather Jensen 92  Canada  Sweden  Switzerland  Switzerland 
12Brad Thiessen 90  Canada  Canada  Switzerland  Great Britain 
12Marilyn Healey 90  Sweden  Canada  Switzerland  Switzerland 
14Phil Darin (NerdCurl) 88  Sweden  Canada  USA  Switzerland 
15CurlingGeek 86  Canada  Canada  USA  Switzerland 
16Kerry Koe 84  Canada  Canada  USA  Great Britain 
16Matthew Blandford 84  Canada  Canada  USA  OAR 
16Steph LeDrew 84  Canada  Canada  Sweden  Switzerland 
19Deb Lozinski 82  Canada  Canada  Norway  Japan 
20Val Geiss 80  Canada  Canada  Norway  Sweden 
21Susan Runge-McKeen 78  Canada  Canada  Switzerland  Switzerland 

When we break it down, only 4 people selected Sweden's Niklas Edin to take home the gold....which could also play as a deciding factor in the final result.  Everyone selected Canada's Rachel Homan to take gold except Matthew Hall (Great Britain) and Heather Jensen (Sweden), which also could be a different maker.  Add in the factor both of them selected Canada's Kevin Koe to take gold.

The true wildcard may be the bronze medal though.  Switzerland, USA and Norway almost split the votes here but with Switzerland/USA still fighting for their playoff lives and Norway eliminated, who knows what will happen?  Similar for the women.  Switzerland and Great Britain seemed to be the overall top choice for the bronze medal; however the Swiss are already eliminated and Team GB is still fighting to make the playoffs.  Basically, anything can still happen here folks!

Can we give props to Matt Blandford for selecting OAR to take home the women's bronze Reid Carruthers for selecting Korea to take home the men's bronze?  See folks...these are two well-respected curlers on tour and even they can miss the mark sometimes!  :)

Enjoy the final day of RR action and Good Luck!!

MONDAY FEBRUARY 19

Is the field getting the best of our pool participants?  It sure feels that way over the past few days.  But this should have been expected as well.  The men's and women's fields are very close and, regardless of overall record right now, don't we still have the impression any team can beat any other team every draw?  Nobody is really pulling away.  Canada's men and women are going in opposite directions still, with the men now on a 3 game losing streak and the women winning.  Sweden's men suffered their first loss while the women have now dropped two in a row.  And how many of us saw Korea's women sitting in first place?  Looking at the draw, they may not lose another game heading into the playoffs.  What a story!!  Did you pick them to make the playoffs?  I know some entries did!

Looking at our standings, we have a logjam at the top.  Yesterday's leader barely stayed on top but is joined by someone who held down the top of the mountain a few days ago.  In fact that entry has been at or near the top of the table every day proving to be the most consistent and accurate of all.  But will she hold on and claim the gold at the end of the competition?  Wait and see!

Our Top 5 is very similar to the day before with a few dropping back but a few rising up.  We are also seeing some separation between the Top 10 and the Bottom 10 now.  Can those ranked outside the Top 10 make a late push to get back into contention or will those at the top stay in the money hunt?  Lots of curling still to come....and remember start paying attention to your Section B predictions.  Those could move you from 18th place to 3rd VERY quickly!

1Shona Barbour 92 
1TwineTime 92 
32 Girls & A Game 90 
3Aaron Shutra 90 
3Matthew Hall 90 
6Matt Dixon 88 
6Zander Elmes 88 
8Christine Bennett 86 
8Courtney Bice 86 
8Reid Carruthers 86 
11Heather Jensen 82 
11Marilyn Healey 82 
13Brad Thiessen 80 
13Phil Darin (NerdCurl) 80 
15CurlingGeek 78 
15Deb Lozinski 78 
17Steph LeDrew 76 
18Kerry Koe 74 
18Matthew Blandford 74 
20Val Geiss 72 
21Susan Runge-McKeen 70 

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 18

Wow yesterday was a tough one for most of the pool participants.  The average score for the day was around 10, meaning most entries only correctly predicted 5 of the 10 matches played.  Yesterday's leader remains in the money position but a new leader emerged posting a perfect 10/10 yesterday.  Further proof, you only need one strong day to get you right back in this competition curling fans....just ask Team Homan!!

This is where things get interesting.  As the RR continues, upsets will occur.  Teams fighting for the Olympic playoff lives could rise up and wither under the pressure.  Can those nations at the top stay there or do they start feeling pressure as well?  And did our entrants accurately predict the upsets we know are coming in the next few days?

Take note as well, regardless of where you stand now pay more attention to your Section B Final Standings picks.  Even if you have an average result in Section A, if the results still pan out and the final standings and playoff teams you predicted end up correct there are LOTS of points on the board waiting for you.  Perhaps start cheering for your final standings over your RR W/L predictions?

1TwineTime 80 
2Shona Barbour 78 
3Matthew Hall 76 
42 Girls & A Game 74 
4Aaron Shutra 74 
4Christine Bennett 74 
4Phil Darin (NerdCurl) 74 
8Courtney Bice 72 
8Matt Dixon 72 
8Zander Elmes 72 
11Reid Carruthers 70 
12Deb Lozinski 68 
12Heather Jensen 68 
12Marilyn Healey 68 
15Brad Thiessen 66 
15CurlingGeek 66 
15Kerry Koe 66 
15Steph LeDrew 66 
19Susan Runge-McKeen 64 
20Matthew Blandford 62 
20Val Geiss 62 


SATURDAY FEBRUARY 17

We headed into the ice centre with a 5-way tie for first place yesterday and, when the final rock settled on three draws of play, one emerged with the overall lead.

Three entries also went 10 for 12 with their predictions, including our new overall leader and another entrant who moved into the Top 3.  We are starting to see some separation from the top to the bottom; however, one strong day can put you right back into money contention.  The other tie for the top entry?  Lets just say he isn't all about writing on the sport....he may know a thing or two as well ᷾😏

We saw Team Canada's women pick up their first win, which was pretty unanimous across the board.  China's women went 2-0 and caused a bit of a #TeamUpset result.  And, interestingly enough, most of the participants actually predicted a Swedish men's W over Canada!  Bit surprised there.

Always remember though #NoLeadIsSafe in this type of pool structure.  Could we see a new leader emerge once again after today's three draws or can our current leader fight off the pack?

1Shona Barbour 68 
2Phil Darin (NerdCurl) 66 
32 Girls & A Game 64 
3Matthew Hall 64 
5Christine Bennett 62 
5Zander Elmes 62 
7Aaron Shutra 60 
7Matt Dixon 60 
7TwineTime 60 
10Courtney Bice 58 
10Heather Jensen 58 
10Marilyn Healey 58 
13Brad Thiessen 56 
13Deb Lozinski 56 
13Kerry Koe 56 
13Reid Carruthers 56 
13Steph LeDrew 56 
18CurlingGeek 52 
18Matthew Blandford 52 
18Susan Runge-McKeen 52 
21Val Geiss 50 


FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16

We have a shake-up on the leaderboard folks.  As mentioned yesterday, nobody should feel too comfortable with their position this early in the tournament.  Yesterday's leader took a tumble while a crop of contenders seized the opportunity and rose to the top.  In fact, we know have a 5-way tie for 1st place!!

Nothing was rotten in the state of Denmark yesterday!  Denmark can take some credit for the up's and down's of pool participants.  While nobody saw the Denmark women winning vs Canada, the men's victory over Italy was the real game changer of the day.  Those who predicted the Denmark win gained ground while those who predicted an Italy win took a small tumble.

Lots of games left folks.  As is the case with mixed doubles, I think we can assume the motto of this pool is going to be #NoLeadIsSafe!

1Christine Bennett 48 
1Matthew Hall 48 
1Phil Darin (NerdCurl) 48 
1Shona Barbour 48 
1Zander Elmes 48 
6Aaron Shutra 46 
6Steph LeDrew 46 
82 Girls & A Game 44 
8Courtney Bice 44 
8CurlingGeek 44 
8Heather Jensen 44 
8Kerry Koe 44 
13Brad Thiessen 42 
13Deb Lozinski 42 
13Marilyn Healey 42 
13Matt Dixon 42 
17Susan Runge-McKeen 40 
17TwineTime 40 
17Val Geiss 40 
20Reid Carruthers 38 
21Matthew Blandford 36 


THURSDAY FEBRUARY 15

The opening two days of competition are complete with both the men and women completing three draws apiece.  There were certainly a few upsets over the opening two days weren't there?  Who would have thought Team Canada's Rachel Homan would be 0-2?  None of our participants that's for sure!  What about Japan's women being 3-0?  Switzerland's men and women struggling out of the gate?  And how about Italy's men?  They are 2-1 right now....and only 1 of our entrants predicted them to defeat USA yesterday!

Now, as everyone knows, predicting each correct W along the RR gains you 2 points.  But this competition really will not be won or lost in Section A.  I have participated in this type of pool before and, after Section A, I was in the middle to bottom of the pack.  However, I was almost 100% correct on Section B and nailed most of Section C to come back and win the entire pool.  What I am saying is, don't let these early results and standings rattle you!  This is a long competition and this drive for the podium is far from over!!

Nobody is batting 1.000....and who could given Homan is 0-2, Italy is 2-1 and Japan is 3-0?!  We have a VERY close race after the opening 6 draws.  A familiar face is sitting at the top though.  #TwineTime fam member Kerry Galusha has the early lead....by a very slim 2 point margin (or 1 game) over a crowded 6-person tie for second.  On the flip side, the bottom of the standings have a few familiar names and might be surprising.  We have two upcoming #Brier2018 participants, a #TwineTime fam member....oh and the blog host himself #ugh

Here are the current standings:

Kerry Koe 34 
Aaron Shutra 32 
Courtney Bice 32 
Matthew Hall 32 
Shona Barbour 32 
Steph LeDrew 32 
Zander Elmes 32 
2 Girls & A Game 30 
Christine Bennett 30 
CurlingGeek 30 
Marilyn Healey 30 
Matt Dixon 30 
Phil Darin (NerdCurl) 30 
Deb Lozinski 28 
Heather Jensen 28 
Susan Runge-McKeen 28 
Val Geiss 28 
Matthew Blandford 26 
Reid Carruthers 26 
TwineTime 26 
Brad Thiessen 24 

Quite the logjam really and with only 24 of 90 RR games played, expect a lot of movement....unless you are Kerry Galusha perhaps?  She may just sit at the top of the table for the entire duration.  She did knock off #TwineTime in the Olympic Trials preview earlier this season remember.  Plus, she is in Korea cheering on brother Kevin and the #TeamCanada brigade.

Again thanks goes out to each of these people for taking the time to submit an entry and supporting a great cause.  I truly do wish you all the best of luck.....but still maybe one or two wins behind me (if I ever start getting these picks correct that is?!).

#StayTuned folks!!

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