#Top8 of '18

#BetweenTheSheets: Top 8 of '18

Which #TwineTime blog posts were the most read this year?

Well that 2018 curling rock sure went sailing through the house fast didn't it? Is it just me or does every year seem to go by quicker and quicker? Or maybe that is just my age catching up to me? Hmmm, either way here we are on the final day of 2018 already looking back on the year that was and anticipating the year that will be.

In fine New Year's Eve tradition, we cannot ring in the new year without a countdown right? You have been hearing Top 100 music countdowns this week. Top 10 movies of the year. Top 10 artists of the year. Top 10 sports stories of the year. World Curling Federation released their top curling story of the year this morning (hint: Mira"curl" on Ice).

The #TwineTime blog is no exception. The tradition started in 2016 with the Top 6 and continued last year with the Top 7 of '17. Now we bring on the Top 8 of '18.

Wait, does this mean I have to do the Top 20 of '20 in two years?


While we continue to watch the #growthesport momentum carry into 2019, it is worth noting the #TwineTime blog is making forward slides over the years. This past year 7 of the blog posts listed in the countdown below are also included in the Top 10 all-time blog posts! It is exciting to know readership continues to grow for the "little blog that could" and THANK YOU to each of you for coming back to see where the little rock slides next.

This is going to be a live blog countdown throughout the day. The first 3 blog posts in the countdown will be revealed first. Each successive post on the countdown will be revealed at the next hour....you know like an actual countdown. This will be a new way to reveal the Top 8 so lets see how it works. And if you want to look back at any of the posts on the countdown, just click the title and take a quick trip down memory lane.

Without further adieu, the New Year's ball is preparing to drop so lets begin our countdown of the Top 8 of '18:


8. 2018 Winter Olympics 50/50 Pool

I must admit, I was a bit surprised to see this blog post crack the Top 8 but boy am I happy it did. This blog post had little to do with discussing the actual sport and all about this blog trying to bring together the curling community to raise funds for a great cause: The Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association (CCPSA). As most of you know my younger brother was born with CP so there is a special place in my heart for the outstanding work the CCPSA does to encourage Canadians living with CP to "access quality sport and recreation activities." With the 2018 Winter Olympics garnering HUGE attention for the sport of curling, add in the growing interest in fantasy sports options for curling, why not bring it all together and host a 50/50 pool to add an extra level of excitement to the action on the ice in PyeongChang while raising awareness and funds for a great cause? This post discussed the pool, explained what CP is and increased #CPAwareness. This was a special post!


7. 2018 #GoldenGranite Awards

What started in 2016 has now become an annual traditional. The Golden Granite Awards tie a nice bow around the curling season by having some fun looking back at the high's (and low's) of the past year. When this blog first did the awards blog post I wasn't too sure people would be interested in the idea. Two years later and the awards blog post for last season ends up on the Top 8 countdown. You like it, you really like it! The big category awards include: Underachiever of the Year, Surprise Team of the Year and (most important) Team of the Year. Congrats to last year's big winners Team Edin and Team Hasselborg for taking home top honours and completing a #SwedishSweep.


6. #FreeAgentFrenzy

"If you go then I'll be blue 'cause breaking up is hard to do." With the 2018 Winter Olympics over, athletes around the globe started taking a closer look at their teammates and personal goals and needed to make some tough decisions. Stay with my current team? Break apart and join a new team? Step away from the game all together? The big goal is the Olympics and now began the shift to look into the (not so) distant future. The hot topic in March, even with the current season still underway, was #FreeAgentFrenzy. Who would jump ship to a rival team? Which teams would stick together? Which teams would disband? The rumors were flying during the Brier in Regina and continued right through the end of the season. This blog post broke down a few of those rumors, added some additional speculations and tried to encourage teams/players to seize the PR opportunity more. Athletes in other sports use free agency to make news and increase their value add, why couldn't curling do the same?


5. #SeasonPreview

This is one of my favourite blog post traditions, the Season Preview! A chance to just throw caution to the win and make some predictions for the upcoming season. This post had a lot to discuss heading into the post-Olympic season. We had the #FreeAgentFrenzy excitement (or fallout?). We ask questions on whether teams who excelled the previous season could do so once again (looking at you #SwedishVikings). We discuss possible #TeamUpset contenders and do our best to predict which teams/nations emerge on top of the podium at the big events. It is great to see this post receive such high page views. It is one of the most labour intensive posts to write with more research and pre-meditated thought going into the subject but also one I always look forward to publishing and, hopefully, you all continue to look forward to reading.


4. #BetweenTheSheets with Team Hasselborg

No surprise this post made the Top 8. One of this bloggers personal highlights of not only the season but in the history of this blog was the chance to sit down and talk to the 2018 Winter Olympic champions Team Hasselborg before they competed at the Champions Cup in Calgary at the end of the season. Not only were the #SwedishVikings the first Olympic champions to be added to the #TwineTimeFam but they are also the first (and still only) team to be added as well. We had A LOT to talk about of course. The discussion around the "A Goal to a Gold" mentality to funding pressures back home to growing the sport to curling with family....we slid down the sheet on many important topics. And of course we even covered some Game of Thrones (surprise, surprise right?!). This was also a special interview as Team Hasselborg were very welcoming and friendly to my brother Nick when they met him earlier on in the 2017/18 season at the Tour Challenge. To this day, Nick still talks about meeting "the Olympic champs" and how he "knows them". Also worth mentioning, Team Hasselborg donated a team-signed jersey for an online auction I ran during the summer to support Kids Up Front Calgary.


3. Olympic Pool Results

And in the bronze medal position we have a #TeamUpset contender. Honestly I would not have thought the Olympic Pool would garnish this much positive attention but boy am I glad it did. While the call-out for players post just squeezed into the Top 8 above the results page landed on the podium. Now ok I will admit we may have to apply a small asterisk here because this blog post was updated almost daily during the Winter Olympic curling competition so a steady drive to this post and increased page viewership is expected. People who signed up to play wanted to see the daily updates on the standings. Were they still in the running for the money? And those who perhaps did not play still showed keen interest in wondering how the results would play out. In the end, #PolarPower reigned supreme with Shona Barbour taking home the gold medal. The #TwineTime blog took home the silver and 2 Girls and a Game podcast brought home the bronze. In the end though the real winner was the CCPSA taking home a total donation of $363! THANK YOU to everyone who participated and donated towards a great cause. Hmmm, should we do this again?


2. #WMCC2018 Preview

Phew....a blog post dedicated solely to action on the ice made the Top 8. I was getting worried there for a second. All the other posts were focused more on off-ice topics of discussion....does anyone read the blog posts about actual on-ice action anymore? Well apparently the World Men's Curling Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada garnered some BIG attention from you loyal readers as the preview blog post comes in at the runner-spot for the year. This post focused on the intense developing rivalry between curling superpower nations Canada and Sweden. Could Canada's Brad Gushue #DefendTheIce and take home a second world championship? Could Sweden's Niklas Edin find redemption for the world final loss from 2017? And what about those dark horse contenders from Scotland (Bruce Mouat) and Korea (Chang-min Kim), who were also developing quite a rivalry last season? And which nations could produce the #TeamUpset results to try and sneak into a playoff position? #TwineTime broke it all down for you, including projected final standings and medal game predictions. Hint Hint: #TwineTime was perfect with the predictions this time folks!!


1. Top #TwineTime Blog Post of 2018 - #BetweenTheSheets with Bruce Mouat

For the second year in a row the addition of a young man to the #TwineTimeFam takes home the gold medal for most viewed blog post of the year. Scotland's Bruce Mouat had quite the accomplishing season last year with winning a #gsoc event and taking home a world bronze medal. When he arrived in Calgary for the season-ending Champions Cup we had a chance to sit down at a pub and talk about the memorable season he was experiencing. This was a fun interview as Bruce is very relaxed to talk to and we spent just as much time laughing, making jokes and having fun as we did talking about the big serious topics. Discussions around a breakout rookie campaign to "The Shot" in Vegas (with a nice apology to Mr. Gushue once again) to the songs we hear in the stands from his strong fan base to continuing his pursue of an education while curling full-time were just a few of the shots landing in the house during this interview. And of course we clear up the confusion on the most important question of all: How the heck do you pronounce "Mouat"? And similar to Team Hasselborg above, special mention to Bruce for donating a signed jersey helping raise funds for Kids Up Front Calgary this summer.


There you have it rock heads and stoners. Did your favourite blog post of the past year make the Top 8 list? If so, which one was your fav? If not, which one would you select as your top blog post?

SPECIAL THANK YOU to all the newest members of the #TwineTimeFam we added in 2018: Cathlia Ward, Team Hasselborg, Bruce Mouat and Laura Walker.

And of course THANK YOU to all of you for continuing down the slide path we call the #TwineTime blog. This blog will continue into 2019 and try to bring you comprehensive coverage of #wct events while tackling the big (and sometimes rarely discussed) topics of the sport.

Happy New Year! Bring on 2019!!