You get to quit in curling

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One thing you never hear the commentators say in curling is this:

"Well Jim, you have to give them credit. They hung in there to end and played hard."

Can you think of another game where it's okay to quit? There isn't one. In curling, it's not only okay, it's sort of required.

Until that is, the final is on TV. The Dominion Ontario Curling Championships where basically over after the first end. Howard's team got three, but more than that, they got into the heads of the Balston team. You could see it in their body language that they knew they'd lost. Down 8-2 after 5 ends, the only requirement from then on in was to finish eight ends.

Since everyone knows it's over, then it's easy to phone it in. Fast shots, zero conversations, get in the hack fast and throw the rock to make it to the 8th end. Howard is already at the other end to shoot, Balston stands at the other end ready to throw. It's not an exhibition of curling, it's an exhibition of speed.

Glenn Howard is one of the best players to ever play the game. He holds the record for the most Ontario Championships, and his team of Richard Hart, Brent Laing and Craig Saville are arguably the best team in the world. They are definitely the most fun to watch.

That they are going back to the Brier is excellent news for the London organizing committee. And it's excellent news for fans of curling.

Grimsby Tankard, half way

They said it would be cold here in Grimsby for the 2011 Ontario Championships, otherwise known as the “Can anyone beat the Howard rink” Championships.

The semi final is Greg Balston’s team playing Peter Corner.

An interesting stat: Team Corner is the oldest team at the competition. They have the two oldest players on the team, and their team average age is older than all but 4 players. 

I talked to Phile "the Head" Loovenmark before the game, and he agreed that his team was old. Phil still looks exactly like he's always looked, maybe it's that large head. 

It is tempting to call this game the experienced old veterans versus the youngsters, but I don’t think that’s fair. So far, Balston hasn't make any 'rookie' like mistakes. Even more, they are executing really well. Or they were, until the 4th end. If this was a boxing match, I would give the first three rounds to Balston rather convincingly. 

But in the 4th, the corner team counter-punched, and they were always stealing one. Balston made a draw down to shot rock to concede the steal. But Balston came back strong in the fifth. And even though a curling game ebbs and flows, I'm putting my money on the kids.

Best team ever?

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Glenn Howard's team just one their fourth Ontario Championship, basically kicking the crap out of the field again. One can wonder from this two things:

1. Does everyone else in Ontario suck?
2. Is Glenn Howard's team the greatest ever?

This was actually asked on a blog post by Bob Weeks. I answered it there, and elaborate here.

To answer the question of is Team Howard the best team in Ontario, I want to take you back to the lat final versus Martin.

If you recall, in the seventh end Howard was up one with playing Martin. Martin was sitting two, with lots of guards around. Originally Howard was going to just pick out one of Martin's and give up a steal of one.

Then, as he sat in the hack, he saw a whole to shot rock and decided to play for one through a little port. The port consists of a guard and second shot rock, so the miss is to hit second shot (in essence, playing the original call).

As Howard throws the rock, I swear I don’t think there’s a team on the tour that doesn’t sweep it to ensure it hits more of the top one. They are relaxed, not screaming right off, or sweep. It hits just enough of the top rock, and just enough of the back one to just get three by enough.

My point: either they froze, or they are so confident in outcomes that they wait for the outcome.

I remember when I used to deal blackjack. I could tell who was going to beat the table because they were the ones who were not afraid to lose.

To me, that last shot is indication that they are not in the least bit afraid to lose. It hit a comfortable amount of the rock, but again, there aren’t too many teams, if any, that let that curl.

They are 4 relaxed guys who simply aren't afraid to miss. That might be because they have the greatest pure thrower of the rock at skip, but it also might be because they've learned as a team that misses will come, but they will also be overcome.

As a team, I think they are the best curling has ever seen.

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