#BetweenTheSheets: The 2019 Golden Granite Awards
Returning categories. New categories. More nominees. More winners.
With the Arctic Cup competition coming to a completion this past weekend, the 2018/19 curling season has come to an end. O-FFIC-IAL-LY!!!
When we add it all up the season will be one for the history books. But how will it be remembered? The first post-Olympic season is always a wild card year. The Olympic cycle does not start. New teams are formed. Old teams have one last season to figure out if they still like each other enough to make a run at the next Winter Olympics. And change can prove successful or halted before sliding too far into the game.
Who were the big winners of the season? Who waved the ultimate #TeamUpset flag? What nations stood out? And who underperformed? What were the hot topics and cold misses of the year? There is only one way to answer all these questions.
Welcome to the #TwineTime Annual Golden Granite Awards!
Off the ice the #TwineTime blog also took centre ice to discuss a few hot topics throughout the season. A new proposed ranking system was developed and used to populate the weekly #PowerRankings. A system being considered as a template for the upcoming Junior Slam Series. How exciting is that? Sometimes the little blog that could can actually make a difference and get people talking. Hello #growthesport!
But the blog also tackled key issues. The You Can Play movement for social inclusion in sport is a major topic right now and the blog posed the question on whether curling is doing enough and questioned where the needle points on the sport's social consciousness. Other key topics included but not limited to:
Analyzing WCF General Assembly decisions and can change hinder growth?
The Not-So Continental Cup omitting #PACC representation
Wheelchair Curling: Is this discipline getting equal representation?
Residency Rules in Canada: Whhaaaaa?
Time for a fair #GSOC Regional Rotation?
To blog or not to blog?
It has been quite the season. Some of the topics above are the reason this blog exists. Ask the questions. Have the discussion. Encourage fans and athletes alike to come together with the ultimate goal of evolving a sport we all have equal investment, passion and pride for. Disagree? Agree? Either way, communication is key on important topics. Change is inevitable. But what change is needed and when is open for discussion.
Before sliding out of the hack celebrating the year that was, the #TwineTime blog would like to thank every fan, team and athlete who has supported this blog over the past season (and beyond). Every like, comment, RT of a post truly makes the work and effort put into this blog worth it. And taking the time to read a post or listen to a player profile is appreciated and recognized.
This season was the 5 Year Anniversary for the blog covering the sport of curling. When the blog began back in October 2014 I would never imagine it would grow to what it is now. No sponsors. No money made. All run through dedication and passion for sport. By a fan for the fans. The only thing left to say is: THANK YOU!
Alright before this pre-show turns all E! Entertainment and runs for two hours, lets head into the arena and get ready to celebrate the past season. Our attendees are in their seats. The seat filler volunteers are on call. The spotlights are on. The red carpet covers the centre sheet. Curling award season is set to begin.
Welcome to the 4th Annual Golden Granite Awards
What a season we have had. New #gsoc champions. Repeat world champs. Developing countries made their debut. Some new teams found success while others struggled.
A new Curling World Cup concept was introduced with mixed results from fans...but what a show they put on. Lazers. Music. Light show. Electronic club meets curling ice. The theatrics of it all was something to see.
And we said goodbye to one legendary Olympic team (we will miss you Team Ulsrud) while giving the pat on the back to the end of an era for another (small tear for Team Jacobs).
Who would have imagined the Golden Granite Awards would still be going strong when they debuted in 2015? It was a quirky idea. Sports seem to have end of season award shows *ahem ESPY's* but curling is not usually a topic of discussion. So if the big boys don't want to hit the ice with us we will stand on our own and host a curling-only end of season extravaganza!
This year the number of awards has increased. The blog will be handing out 15 different awards across 5 main themes, including Teams of the Year, #TeamUpset of the Year and the dreaded Underachiever of the Year. It cannot always be big wins and celebrations folks. We take the good rocks with the bad rocks every game.
To kick off our show we introduce a NEW award: Social Team of the Year! This award is voted 100% by the people. The rock heads submitted the nominees. And when the Elite 8 were determined, we went full #MarchMadness style in a single-elimination bracket challenge to determine our winner.
Here. We. Go.
CATEGORY IS.....SOCIAL TEAM OF THE YEAR
2017/18 Winner: New Cateogry
The nominees are: Team Bottcher, Team Senneker, Team Hasselborg, Team Ulsrud, Team Carruthers, Team Edin, Team Kleiter, Team Silvernagle
And the #GoldenGranite goes to: Team Bottcher
There was no stopping the Bottcher Express on this fan voted award. From the call for nominations through to the final, the support for Team Bottcher was overwhelming. They dominated the competition throughout the bracket, picking up HUGE wins against Team Carruthers, Team Ulsrud and finally Team Senneker in the final (worth noting over 500 votes were cast across twitter and facebook for the finale alone!).
But this win is not just a popularity contest nor undeserving folks. Have you checked out the Team Bottcher twitter account? They developed a hashtag for the season, #StillRollin, and even added a train emoji with it. They were engaging with fans this season but also had some fun back and fourth tweets with their competitors. They RT fan comments. They like fan tweets. They respond to fan comments. This is how teams use social media to bridge the gap between athlete and fan and the exact definition of what this new award was meant.
Special props to Team Senneker though. The use of the #yeastit hashtag throughout the season was clever and calling the #twitterspiel to activate not only votes throughout the bracket but throughout the season for engagement was pure genius and worked to perfection. Toss this fresh team a follow as well rock heads.
Congrats to Team Bottcher on winning the first-ever Golden Granite Award for Best Social Team. The bar has now been set. Take notice other teams. This is what we expect moving forward. Who will step up their social media game next season?
#StayTuned
Coming up next: Underachiever Team of the Year - Female
For the FULL LIST of awards, nominees and winners visit the winner blog HERE.
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