#STOH2019/#WJCC2019 Midterms

#BetweenTheSheets: Midterm Report Card

Who is making the grade at #STOH2019 AND #WJCC2019?

Is it reading week for some of our future leaders, curlers and Olympians right now? The time where they can put down the textbooks, the highlighters and the notepad and go live life and have fun? Well yes rock heads it is reading week. And what perfect timing. Those young minds can hit up their closest arena and curling club, get some exercise and enjoy the fundamental game we love: curling!

But alas it is not a holiday week for everyone. We also have some pretty major curling competitions going on right now on Bluenose Island. Nova Scotia is hosting the 2019 Scotties Tournament of Hearts and 2019 World Junior Curling Championships. For those young minds who cannot (or will not) venture outside, at least they can chill on the couch and watch some great curling right?

For some of us media types (ha like how I just self-appoint myself a curling media member there?!) the work picks up more steam than ever trying to jostle coverage of two major events at the same time. It is why, for this special blog post, both events will be facing Big Red.

It has been awhile since Big Red came out of the drawer and found the crisp clean sheet of white paper to interact with. This is one of my favourite #TwineTime blog traditions too. It needed to be resurrected from the blog of bones history pile and brought back into your house.

Welcome to the Midterm Report Card!

Now, as mentioned, this is going to be a very special edition of the #MidtermReport. With two major events to keep my eyes on, and to ensure fair and equal grading to both, Big Red needed to work some overtime this weekend. It was a good thing this was a long weekend.

Big red has come out of retirement and is ready to make some waves. The midterm report card has been released:

A+

B Scores An A - Well, well, well...what do we have here? Heading into this event everyone believed Pool A to be the #PoolOfDeath and for Pool B to be Team Canada's Jennifer Jones for the taking. Quick, raise your hand if you predicted PEI's Suzanne Birt to be sitting atop the standings. *crickets* Ok, raise your hand if you thought NWT's Kerry Galusha would be 3-2 heading into the final day of RR play? Maybe a few hands there, mine being one. Point being, as was projected in the #STOH2019 Preview, this pool has become the #PoolOfOpportunity and the teams are soaking it in and seizing the day. #TheIslanders have looked amazing through the first 4 days of this competition, including knocking off Jones. Plus they set a Scotties record for highest combined score when they defeated NB's Andrea Crawford 13-12 (extra end) in draw 10 Tuesday afternoon. Galusha has also looked sharp, with a new sense of confidence on the ice and sitting in the best position we have seen out of the #PolarPower ever. She is, possibly, one win away from the Championship Pool. And, speaking about Crawford, she is only a game back and accomplished her own personal milestone when she knocked off Jones for the first time in her career. Oh, and notice #TeamGreen rookie skip Robyn Silvernagle out of Saskatchewan? Sitting right in the bunch and also in position for a Championship Pool berth. What about Team Wildcard's Casey Scheidegger? She was here last year and finished atop her RR pool before succumbing to pressures in the Championship Pool. One year later, and taking the harder road through the Friday WC game, here she is in the same position and looking ready to take the next step into the playoffs. For all the talk of how "strong" Pool A would be heading into this event, Pool B seems to be capturing the attention of curling fans and leaving us salivating for more Pool B RR games. But yes, lets continue to talk about how we need to change the format and give our "best" and "elite" teams a better shot at winning the right to represent Canada at a world championship. The "elite" are the best in the world and prove it time and time again right? Well maybe this is the perfect response to those wanting more change. Hey I am all for change when it makes sense. But does this really make sense? Galusha has proven numerous times she can knock off a defending champion. Birt and Crawford did so this year. All three have had strong #wct seasons too, just not #gsoc-level seasons. But you can't play a #gsoc-level season when you cannot gain entry into a #gsoc event now can you?! That is another story and one this blog has talked about over and over again. Back to this event. Now how the 4 surviving teams do against their cross-over rivals from Pool A...#StayTuned!

Junior Men Jumble - Speaking of close RR standings, have you looked at the #WJCC2019 men's standings? At the mid-way marker of the RR draw, we have 7 teams with legit playoff aspirations. Outside Scotland's Ross Whyte sitting atop the table with a perfect 5-0 record, the next 6 teams have all looked great some games and average in others. This is a dog fight from the ringing of the bell folks. Whyte sitting on top is no surprise, he was a finalist last year and has a very strong team. But the rest of the field appears to have found curling parity. We know Canada's Tardi and USA's Stopera would be in the hunt at this point. Similar high expectations from Norway's Ramsfjell. They have all been here before and reached the playoffs. But what about Switzerland's Hosli? New Zealand's Neilson? Not many would have predicted both of these teams to be right in the playoff hunt at this stage of the draw. The fun part is going to happen over the next two days. These 6 teams, for the most part, still get to dismantle one another on the ice. Even Germany's Harsch, who sits a game back at 2-3, is still very much in the picture drawing Canada, Italy, Norway and Switzerland in their final games. The early advantage may belong with Ramsfjell, drawing Italy, Sweden and Germany (plus Scotland) to close out the RR. But really the final three playoff spots are anyone's for the taking. Again, #StayTuned to see how these final few days of RR action play out folks. We could be looking at a few TBs. Also remember the world junior playoff format is not a page playoff but rather the old school 1vs4 and 2vs3 SF. As it stands now, every team will want to avoid Scotland in the SF if possible....but making the playoffs and drawing Scotland beats going home early too right?


A

Rookies Rolling - As for those contending Kiwi's, who thought they would be sitting 3-2 and in the playoff hunt at this stage of the week? The #PACC nation is making their world junior debut but obviously someone forget to give them the script outlining rookies can't win. This team has knocked off Germany, Italy and Sweden while falling to experienced Scotland and Norway. Not many expected these young lads to be as highly competitive as they have been but this is a perfect example of #growthesport. The #PACC has been dominated by Asian nations Japan, China and South Korea for many years. It is great to see an Oceania team emerge once again as a threat in the region and perform at a high level internationally. I will admit, I believed in this team when calling them my #TeamUpset pick in the #WJCC2019 Preview. Did I expect them to be sitting 3-2 at this point? No. But, honestly, I thought they could be 2-3 and did predict them to win 4 or 5 games this week. I still stand by this prediction. They have tough upcoming games against Canada, USA, Switzerland and China. If they can, worse case, split these final four games and finish the RR with a 5-4 record they could manage to squeeze into a TB depending on other results. The bunching of the teams is an advantage for New Zealand right now. Some of the favourites might start getting nervous with their playoff backs against the wall. New Zealand came to the competition with modest expectations and exceeding many thus far. If they continue to stay loose, not get caught up in the standings and play with nothing to lose and everything to gain, the ultimate #TeamUpset result could happen and New Zealand may become playoff bound. I say, bring it on!


B

BC = Beautiful Curling - The excitement of Pool B in Sydney was mentioned above but what about the surprise highlight of Pool A? Welcome B.C. and Sarah Wark! B.C. may be British Columbia but over the first four days it also stands for Beautiful Curling. The rookie skip had a deer in headlights look in her opening game against host Nova Scotia but when she made the shot to score 4 in 10 and pick up the improbable comeback victory, the light switch went to the 'ON' position and they have looked strong. Lets be clear. This is not a razzle dazzle team. They may not produce a ton of "Shot of the Day" shots. In fact their ends won/ends lost ratio is dead even at 28. They give up points, they score points. They will have rocks in play though, which fans should love. They have only played one blank end to this point of the competition. The win against Manitoba's Tracy Fleury was near perfection for shot calling and execution. Against Alberta's Chelsea Carey, the only undefeated team in the competition, they battled back from a 4-6 deficit in 8 and went to an extra end before losing 9-8. The only reason this team is sitting with a B grade is (besides alliteration) the lose to Northern Ontario Tuesday morning. This was a game they were in full control of until the 9th end. They had leads of 5-2 and 6-3 before giving up 2 in 8 and the big #StealPants of 2 in 9 when the train jumped the track. The extra end loss perhaps showed a bit of the rookie nerves and experience in playing one bad end but that is how the Scotties works. The competition is fierce and, literally, one bad end can make or break your week. B.C. end the RR with a must-win game Wednesday afternoon vs Ontario's Team Homan. Yikes! A loss and they face a TB, where they may draw McCarville once again (or Fleury). If BC somehow misses out on the Championship Pool, the 9th end of the game vs. McCarville will be the reason why. Hence, a B grade...with potential for an A....or dropping to a C.


C

Canuck Chaos - This is a collective grading for all 3 #TeamCanada teams competing this week. Jennifer Jones, Tyler Tardi and Selena Sturmay have the additional pressure of competing with the maple leaf on their back on home ice. For Jones and Tardi, they are playing as defending champions. And for all three, the competition has been a bit of a struggle in the early-goings. Yes all three sit with identical 3-2 records. Yes all three control their own fate and are still very much in the playoff hunt and championship contention. And yes all three have looked very vulnerable at times. Jones, for the second consecutive year, suffered a 0-2 Scotties day. This was unheard of last year when it happened. But to happen once again? With no disrespect to PEI's Birt and NBs Crawford, who both curled great against the reigning Canadian and World champion, we just are not used to seeing Jones look so....average?! Sure this might not be fair and everyone has bad games and bad days but when you have the resume of a Jennifer Jones, the back-to-back losses (and to non-#gsoc teams oh my?!) will raise some eyebrows and bring a cause of concern. On the flip, look what happened last year!

As for Tardi, suffering a loss or two at this event is not a surprise given the field. The losses to USA's Stopera and Scotland's Whyte certainly are nothing to hang your head about given the experience of those two skips and their own world junior results. What brings about the chaos factor is how Tardi lost the games. In the opening game vs. USA, Tardi was in full control of this game. He scored a big 3 in 4 for the early 4-1 lead, exchanged some deuces and went into end 8 with a 6-3 lead. The wheels came off and he let Stopera back in the game. Stopera scored 3 in 8 to tie and steals 1 in 9 to seize control of the game in just two ends. Tardi would lose in an extra end. Not the confidence you want as the defending champion opening game on home ice. When he went up against Whyte in the rematch of last year's championship final, it was the opposite story. Tardi came out flat early and Whyte pounced on him scoring 3 in 3, 2 in 5 and a steal in 6 for a nice 6-3 lead. Unlike the USA game, Tardi found his rhythm in the second half of the game, battling back to tie the game with a steal in 10 before losing in another extra end. It is the chaos of consistency for this team right now. Yes USA and Scotland are great teams, taking nothing against them for their wins. But Tardi also needs to hold on to leads against big teams while also not finding himself in a hole battling back late against similar good teams. 2 losses we expect. How they happened was a bit of a surprise.

And rookie skip Selena Sturmay and her Canadian champions from Alberta have had a similar chaos of consistency factor in their world junior experience. They have not been playing bad by any means. It is more they haven't seemed to find their own rhythm and really get going like we saw them do at the Canadian junior championships. A loss in their opener to Scotland followed two nice wins over USA and Japan before succumbing to an experienced Sweden squad. The turn around may have come Tuesday night however when they beat favoured South Korea 8-3, completely dominated the Curling World Cup leg three and #PACC champions. It will be interesting to see how they respond from the big win. Was it the wake up call they needed to make the end of the RR push for the playoffs? It won't get easier though as they still face Switzerland, China and Russia, all three of which are sitting at or near the top of the table.


D

Nunavut Improving - It happened. Nunavut collected their first Scotties victory on opening day in draw one when they defeated Quebec 4-3. Now, to be fair, Nunavut has won on Scotties ice before. They actually won their first-ever game against B.C. back in 2016. Unfortunately that game was in the universally hated pre-qualification tournament and, technically, does not count as an actual Scotties win. So the victory over Quebec this year was truly historic. Now yes it has been, and likely will be, their only win this week. And yes they have had some bad losses and turn your head away moments. BUT as a territory they are getting better folks. And isn't this what we were hoping for when the field was expanded to include individual entries from all three territories? The numbers don't lie either. Comparing last year's numbers to this year, the stats are improving. Yes I know these are two different teams but go with it. Don't rain on a slowly trending upward parade. Last year Team Nunavut scored 23 combined points in 7 games (3.3/game) while allowing 74 (10.6/game). This year, with one RR game to play mind you, Team Nunavut has scored 19 points (3.2/game) but has only allowed 56 (9.3/game). Now remember this is with a new 5-rock rule and they are one of two teams to not have a single blank end thus far (Northern Ontario is the other). They are playing with rocks in play. They are having closer games. They are slowly becoming more competitive. The shooting percentages are higher overall this year as well in comparison. But all stats aside, they have a win! They are slated to finish as the second best territory this year unless Yukon pulls the #TeamUpset in their final RR game vs. rival NWT. And, assuming as well Quebec fails to knock off undefeated Alberta, they will also finish tied for 13th overall. A slide in the right direction from 16th last year. A small slide...but a slide nonetheless.


F

F For Fans - Hear me out friends. I love curling. I am a fan of the sport. So being critical of fandom is a bit hard and slightly ironic given the nature of this blog. Having said that, fandom is going down two avenues lately. We have the constant criticism down one path and the apathy down another. Sure we, as fans, can critique the sport and the results and, at times, the athletes. This is sport. If the athletes cannot handle it, well, welcome to sport! I mean look at this blog post. It is critiquing athletes competing at two huge events. So yes, irony I know thee. But we can also be critical without being careless and rude. Critique the results on the ice but leave the personal judgements about players to yourselves. Take the NL example over the weekend. Missing the open hit for a bundle and electing to draw (and overcurl as a result) was an oversight and yes one we don't expect to see from our athletes. But NL skipper Kelli Sharpe admitted the error in judgement right after when the camera/mics caught her being told after the fact. She even owned up in the media scrum, which must not have been easy considering coming off a loss and struggling this week. Leave it be. Don't attack Sharpe and the team for the oversight. We all make errors. Huge blunder, yes. Should we overlook it, no. Can we move on and let it go, certainly! We do not have to always harp on the negative. Again, back to the irony of this blog post. I would hope people see it is a mix of the good and the bad. The blog tries to praise success but also needs to call out failure to ensure credibility and accuracy. It is what it is! But it is with a conscious attempt to discuss the plays on the ice and not the person off of it. Disagree with a strategic move? Ok, sure. But name calling and personal digs at a player is never acceptable. At the very end of the day remember one thing people, this is ONLY sports! This is not saving lives. Sports, in general, are major #FirstWorldProbs when our team or our fav athlete doesn't win. Be critical from a sport mentality but also be respectful from a human being reality.

But the F grade does not end there. How about the fan apathy? The crowds are a bit scarce in Sydney. Ok maybe understandable for mid-week and cold weather but considering it was a long weekend, I was still hoping for more packed to the rafters attendance. And what about in Liverpool? Heck you can barely tell on social media a world championship is taking place. Given the size of the venue the crowds do not look as bad but geez the coverage of #WJCC2019 collectively has been poor. And this is not due to the World Curling Federation. They have live streaming coverage every draw. They brought in knowledgeable commentators (including #TwineTimeFam Laura Walker). But yet, you look on social media (which is the go-to for sport event coverage and discussion whether we like it or not) and you barely see a tweet or fb mention of the event. Why? Sure it is up against the Scotties, I get that. But can't curling fans be equally drawn to two big coinciding events? The #NextGen athletes competing in Liverpool are certainly deserving of equal interest and praise we are providing our top women's teams in Sydney. And it is a World Championship!!! Collectively my fellow curling fans, can we all agree in some way or another we have to #BeBetter?!


What say you rock heads? Agree with the midterm grades? Or would you like to schedule a parent/teacher conference to discuss? Share your thoughts via social media and remember to use the #STOH2019 and #WJCC2019 hashtags for your tweets and mentions.

ICYMI, don't forget to check out the blog event previews. Compare the actual #STOH2019 results in Sydney to the projections from Special Guest and newest member of the #TwineTimeFam Michelle Englot and myself. And how are those #WJCC2019 predictions looking at the half-way point?

#StayTuned

The Scotties and World Junior competitions wrap up this weekend as we crown Canada's next women's #TeamCanada and who will represent the maple leaf in Denmark at the World Women's Curling Championships next month. PLUS we will crown two world junior champions, who will both also earn spots in the season-ending #ChampionsCup grand slam event.

The blog will have a complete rundown summary of both events early next week and preparations already underway for the #Brier2019 preview. So much curling folks....enjoy!