#CMDCC2021 Parting Rocks

 #BetweenTheSheets: Canadian Mixed Doubles Parting Rocks

We say goodbye to another Canadian championship event

Photo Credit: Curling Canada

The Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championships spun its final "X" marked rock on Thursday night with the crowning of a new champion.

Kerri Einarson and Brad Gushue defeated Kadriana Sahaidak and Colton Lott in the final to claim the title.

Einarson/Gushue will now head to Scotland in May to compete as #TeamCanada at the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship. They will try to win Canada's second world mixed doubles championship and, perhaps more importantly, punch Canada's ticket into the mixed doubles field at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games.

No pressure, of course.

But before we get too excited in looking ahead, lets look back and the high's and low's (yes, there were some low's) of the past week of curling action.

Time to shine up those parting rocks.

#PartingRocks

🥌 #IceQueen - All hail the Ice Queen: Kerri Einarson. This is her *bubble* world and we are just living in it. Einarson has competed in two events within the #IceBubble. She has left with two gold medals and two Canadian championships. Impressive!

But it was not just her win with Brad Gushue to become the next MD #TeamCanada that impressed, it was the way in which she did it. We saw a bit more of a fun and relaxed Einarson on the ice this past week. She enjoyed the experience. She learned from Gushue and honed her game. She made jokes. She laughed. And, in the end, she once again cried tears of joy.

It was great to see this side of her as an athlete. Yes, be serious and play to win. But, have fun and enjoy the moment. Einarson seemed to find that balance in the MD bubble and results paid off.

Should we expect the same at the women's worlds? Probably not. We will probably see more of the serious side again. And that is ok. There is a lot more pressure on her shoulders there. She is trying to solidify a spot for Canada at the upcoming Winter Olympics. And reclaim a world title for the home nation.

But, for one week near the end of March, we also saw the Ice Queen smile and have fun. And we were all living for it. Congrats Kerri Einarson. Enjoy your reign as much as we enjoy seeing you wear the crown.

🥌 #TheSpecialists - For all the TSN feature game coverage and discussion around "traditional" curling champions competing at the MD championship, #TheSpecialists duo of Kadriana Sahaidak and Colton Lott proved the sport needs to open its definition of "elite" athletes.

Sahaidak/Lott were overlooked a bit heading into the event. Everyone was talking about those "elite" power duos being formed and how they should "run" over the competition and reach the playoff bracket. Not so fast folks.

The Manitoba duo, who qualified based on their MD ranking, not only reached the final but knocked off some very strong teams along the way. They defeated Peterman/Gallant, Einarson/Gushue, Schmiemann/Morris. They only lost two games all week. They were defeated in the RR by Peterman/Gallant and then in the championship final to Einarson/Gushue. Note they also defeated both of those teams as well.

Three Canadian championship appearances. Three medals: 2 silver, 1 bronze. Quite the accomplishment.

Maybe we shouldn't spend so much time focusing on "throwing together" teams because they are on "elite" 4-person teams. Maybe we should focus more on growing the discipline itself with increasing the MD tour season. Increase the MD events. Increase the MD prize money. Why are there no #GSOC events for MD?

Maybe if we spent time growing the discipline, we can continue to #growthesport. We can have 4-team specialists. We can have MD specialists. We already know, based on the Olympic schedule, one player cannot play both disciplines. So why are we focusing on that? Just to give those "elite" players another opportunity to make the Olympics?

We have some strong MD specialists in this country who are quite capable of representing Canada on the international ice. Sahaidak/Lott. Danielle Schmiemann/Jason Ginter. Nancy Martin. The Tuck's. And many, many others. Lets help them also grow, in conjunction with our traditional team growth not as a back-up option for them.

Thank you Sahaidak/Lott for reminding all of us #TheSpecialists in this discipline can compete and can win. 

🥌 #Equity - Oh that championship final took an ugly turn near the end of the game. Not on the ice but in the broadcast booth. When commentator Cathy Gauthier made the comment about how "upset" she is over Canada having to "qualify" for the Winter Olympics in the discipline, many Canadian curling fans cringed. And as her comments continued to flow, the cringe turned to disappointment and disgust.

Look Gauthier and broadcast partner Bryan Mudryk did a great job covering the event all week. Normally I actually enjoy them in the booth calling games. But their non-stop "disappointment" comments over the Olympic qualification process came across as ethnocentric and egotistical.

Should Canada, the defending Olympic MD champions, have to qualify for the next Winter Olympics? Heck yes! D'uh. Why would anyone say otherwise?

We didn't even win the most recent MD world championship. We won silver behind Sweden. But, even that, is here nor there. It doesn't matter. Every nation, in EVERY Olympic sport, has to qualify. Nobody gets a "free pass" because they won gold four years ago.

Is Gauthier going to say the same thing at the upcoming world men's championship? By her rationale, Team USA should get an auto spot in the Olympics due to Team Shuster being the defending Olympic champ.

What about Sweden and Team Hasselborg? If anyone in the sport of curling has a "right" to fight for an autoberth in the field, it is Team Hasselborg. They have dominated the ice since their Olympic win.

But alas, I did not hear her chime in for support of those two nations. The ideology of Canada just being "handed" a berth because we are "so strong" in the sport is ridiculous. It was poor journalism. And it made our great nation look petty and ignorant. On an international broadcast nonetheless. 

How do you think the rest of the world took that comment? Check out the "Likes" and comments from a simple #TwineTime tweet when it happened to get a good example.

No, rest of the curling world. Canadian curling fans do not support this idea. We want equality in the sport. We want to continue to #growthesport around the world. Other nations get better, we get better, we all get better. This is what sport truly is about.

Gauthier and Mudryk, your comments were out of line. Point. Blank. Period.

🥌 #TeamUpset - Hello Greg Smith! Curling fans were not only happy to see you stay in the bubble and compete in back-to-back events but, with partner Mackenzie Mitchell, #TheRock took some chips out of the ice. 

Smith and Mitchell were seeded #31 heading into the event, not expected to contend for a playoff spot. They did more than just contend. They reached the playoff bracket. As a #10 seed!

When they scored their opening W over Olympic champ John Morris and new partner Danielle Schmiemann, people started taking notice. When they continued to win, they silenced the doubters. The playoff result was a first for the province of Newfoundland, further adding to the discussion on "who belongs" at national championships.

Side rock credit to Team Quebec. Laurie St-Georges and Felix Asselin just missed the playoff bracket due to the LSD tiebreak. Again, another provincial champion making their debut with a low seed and not expected to contend. We saw them both shake up the house at the Scotties and Brier. They did so again in MD.

Lets hope we see both of these teams competing at future national MD championships. They certainly entertained....and they most definitely "belong".

🥌 #PowerPoses - Speaking of #Labelleprovince, props to them on going outside and making their own "TSN Power Pose". What kind of sham deal is this when you invite 35 teams to a national championship but only do traditional Power Poses with the Top 18 seeds? Come on....#BeBetter.

The excuse, I mean reasoning, is due to time constraints. Well then maybe don't invite 35 teams if you cannot treat each team the same. Hmmm, seems the #Equity argument is coming back into play.

Rather than be slighted or angered by this horrible decision, Team Quebec took advantage of a nice Calgary day and did their own Power Pose. They filmed it. They edited it. They posted it on social media. And people loved it.

If you don't have the time to do Power Poses for all TSN, maybe the teams should decide they don't have the time for you. More teams should make this call and just do their own Power Poses and post to social media.

Thank you #TeamBobébé. All for one or none for all!

🥌 #Added7 - Oh the Added 7. The preview blog post talked about these 7 additional teams placed into the field. I wasn't a fan then. I am still not a fan now.

Yes, one of those teams did go on to win the championship. And yes, they are going to be great representatives at the world championship. And yes, they are outstanding athletes who showed why they are two of the best curlers in the world.

But it goes to the principle of it all. Kerri Einarson had never stepped on MD competitive ice and is now a Canadian champion. Again, yes she is deserving. Yes, she won it fair and square based on the how the competition was set up. But should she have been "handed" a spot in the field to begin with?

Collectively the Added 7 had a modest finish. Einarson/Gushue won the title. Lisa Weagle/John Epping reached the Elite Eight. Emma Miskew/Ryan Fry and Val Sweeting/Marc Kennedy reached the Qualifying Round. 4 of the 12 playoff spots went to the Added 7.

Now, to be fair, we should adjust this to the Added 6 due to Darren Moulding's decision to withdraw from the event to rest his back for the upcoming men's world championship. We will never know how Moulding and Joanne Courtney would have finished. Before the withdraw, they were primed to win their pool and maybe earn one of those byes into the Elite Eight. But we will never know.

So 4 of 6 made the playoffs. The stats show it was a good call. But, was it? Was it really fair, regardless of how those teams did? Can we honestly say those teams who just missed the playoffs due to the LSD TB or those who lost along the playoff bracket way were not also great MD teams who could represent Canada well at the world championship?

As also stated in the preview post, this is not a comment on the athletes directly. This is commentary on an unjust and unfair system. The athletes themselves just played the game with the system they were provided.

On the flip side, it sure would be nice to see more "elite" athletes take a stand on this issue. I know not all of them were happy with this qualifying decision and lack of transparency. If you were the benefactor of it now, what happens when next time you aren't? You might be kicking yourself for not taking a stand for #Equality when the rock doesn't spin your way.

Handing out "freebie" spots in a field based on an uneven and imbalanced points system is still a sour note on the event. Strong and established MD teams missed out on a national championship experience. The opportunity to show MD as an equal curling family member went into the bumpers to allow those "elite" 4-person team specialists an extra national championship experience.

It was a gross decision when it was made. It remains a gross decision now.

🥌 #AllStars - Unlike the Scotties and Brier, there are no official All Star Awards handed out for mixed doubles. I suppose it is difficult to do so given the uneven comparison of which players are throwing which rocks at which positions. However, there were two athletes who did shine above their male and female counterparts over the course of the competition. 

The #TwineTime First Team All Stars:

Shannon Birchard - 85% (+6)

Colton Lott - 86% (+4)

The #TwineTime Second Team All Stars:

Jocelyn Peterman - 78% (+4)

Brad Gushue - 87% (+4)

The #TwineTime Overall Team All Star:

Team Jocelyn Peterman / Brett Gallant - 86% (+7)

Congratulations to the All Star winners for a tremendous week of curling.

🥌 #ThankYou - This will be a standing rock with the parting rocks blog posts, kind of like those rocks marked with an "X" in mixed doubles. But it bares mentioning and repeating with each event. Thank you to all the athletes who made the decision to enter the #IceBubble. Curling fans everywhere thank you for your decision to keep curling sliding forward and hope everyone remains safe and healthy upon their return home.

A continued thank you to TSN, Curling Canada, location staff and all the volunteers who make the #IceBubble a safe success. We hope all of you remain healthy.

#StayTuned

The 2021 World Men's Curling Championship is next up inside the #IceBubbe, starting on Good Friday (April 2). The blog will return with a preview post next week.

Do not forget to sign up for the World Men's Curling Championship Pick'Em through OfficePools. This should be interesting. Many international teams have not played competitive games for quite some team. 

Some have been able to play exhibition games against other teams in the home nation. Some played exhibition games against some of their competitors. Some played against their national women's champions. 

#TwineTime was doing well for MD until the playoffs. Too many picks going with the heart over the head. Oops! Can you beat #TwineTime?

Enjoy the few days off rockheads.