The Brier

[dwaechte]

It's been a phenominal tournament this year; I can't remember the last time they've had so many exciting games.

Did anyone just see Stoughton's double raise stick to win 8-7 over Gushue?

[Mudcat]

Saw it. You're right - the whole tournament has been amazing. Martin's 2 year undefeated streak is beyond phenomenal considering the competition.

We can't go wrong in terms of who will represent us at the World's. Stoughton, Howard and Martin are all pretty good options. I wouldn't have been upset if it was Gushue either.

Prior to last year, Martin might have been the most worrisome with his tendency to crack at the world level. But hopefully that has all been swept away once and for all. Now he just looks rock solid and I would have a ton of confidence if it's him.

My only regret is I am playing poker tonight so I won't see the semi. But I'll see the final tomorrow.

[dwaechte]

Yep, any of the last 3 should be good to go on the world stage. Martin's team has been nothing short of amazing, and Howard is right there with him.

Personally, I've always been a Stoughton fan. I have no idea why, I guess I just picked him as my favourite when I was younger and have gone with it since. It always adds to the entertainment factor for me when he's in it and doing well. I doubt he'll be able to keep up with Howard's team tonight, but we'll see. They need Park to play much better than he did this afternoon. Without the hammer in the 1st it really puts a lot of pressure on them early.

[Mudcat]

I have never seen anyone with draw-weight-in-his-back-pocket like Stoughton the year he won the Brier and worlds. The precision was insane.

I was cheering for Gushue today for some reason. No idea why. It just happened. But now that it's over, I'm more than fine with Stoughton.

Kinda cheering for Martin overall right now. As an Ontario boy, maybe I'm supposed to cheer for Howard but Martin just seems like a steamroller out there and I like that for the worlds.

[dwaechte]

I was a little conflicted today because Gushue may be my 2nd favourite team. They're a fun rink to watch as they seem to really like playing the big weight shots, almost to a fault. I forget which end it was today, maybe 7, where I thought(and the commentators might've suggested) a draw was a better idea and they went with a heavy raise. It worked out for them, but curling is a sport where those unnecessary risks can really kill you.

Although I certainly respect Martin, and I have to admit he's just playing lights out right now, but I've never been a fan. Again, I think it goes back to when I was younger and some imagined rivalry I thought of between him and Stoughton. Looking at it from the perspective of who gives us the best chance at worlds, you can't argue with him. Like you said in your first post, it's really a win-win-win from here.

[Mudcat]

Martin had a horrible image for years. It was deserved at times. I remember an incident where he showed very poor sportsmanship in a final at the worlds (against David Smith of Scotland as I recall, probably early 90's). He was losing and he pulled out a dirty corn broom and just littered the ice trying to change things up. That would be illegal now.

He was also probably the #1 reason behind the free guard zone rules. There were games (again probably going back to the early 90's) where he would have hammer and would set out to peel and blank for an entire game. As a fan, it sucked that he would try that.

Maybe I will end up rooting for Stoughton today. But the Martin team is just so freaking good right now and my main focus is always on defending Canada's curling honor at the international level.



People who don't take the time to learn curling don't know what they're missing. Today's game should be great.

It's March Madness baby!

[dwaechte]

Anyone other than me and mudder going to be watching the finals tonight?

The Ontario/Manitoba game yesterday was pretty sloppy, but I think we'll see some great quality shot making tonight.

[Mudcat]

I'll tell you what I like. I like how they stick with TSN and have Ray and Linda and Vic doing the commentating.

They used to cover the Briers on TSN all through the week and then we'd get to the semi and final and it would switch to CBC and Don Duguid and various partners over the years. Nothing against Duguid but I like the continuity. Is this the first year they've done this? Not sure.

The Martin team is looking machine-like again.

[tacomax]

Worst. Thread. Ever.

[Mudcat]

BACK OFF MISTER!

[RogueScholar]

I wish we had coverage of curling down here in the States, I enjoy watching it in the Olympics and certainly would find time to tune into it for league play.

[dwaechte]

Worst. Thread. Ever.

Pfft. Are you implying that the masses at SBR don't care about Canadian curling? That just can't be.

[tacomax]

OK, dwaechte. I'll try and SBR the thread a little.

[RogueScholar]

Nicely done, Taco! This thread just improved by orders of magnitude.

[Mudcat]

Wow. I saw that and I swear . . . it moved.