Well -
we lost our game against AZ yesterday. We gave it to them in the 9th. We were sitting two after lead rocks - accidentally tapped them in for shot during 2nds. Then we decided to try this runback on Derek's last that went badly awry - ended up running their guard back on our 2nd shot to give them a steal of two. How dumb can we get that we score both of their points for them. That end will haunt me for a long time. Couldn't get the 10th set up to take 2. Derek tried a crazy shot on his last (not even sure it was there) to try and generate 2.
All in all we didn't play well enough to deserve to be in the semi's.
Don't know why - but definitely we were not firing on all cylinders. This is not the same team that we had last year - I mean, of course it's the same team - but we didn't play like it.
Oh well - another year at mixed, another year of not reaching the goal.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Still alive
Well it turns out that by winning our game last night and with a little bit of help from others, we are still alive. If we win our last against AZ - we will be in a tiebreaker to get into the semi's. We played much better yesterday - even against WA. Had a nice game against MD - felt like we were in control most of that game. We let a few opportunities slip away from us and got some breaks from them (particularly in the 8th when we took 4). It's nice to get another W. Now we just need to get one today.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Ugh 2
Well - we managed to win our two games yesterday - but they weren't pretty. The first Nodak game - I really struggled and the team still managed to win - which was good - but it was close. The second Nodak game we played better but it was still close - they played nicely.
Then came this morning. Sheet 3 is just dogging us. The first end was fine - played a clean hit game, actually were sitting 2 at one point - but their vice made a nice double. Derek then unfortunately missed a hit - things are really floating on the outsides. No big deal, down 2. But the ice in the next end killed us. We were playing the in-turn side and if you were just slightly inside the 4 foot - it would curl up, but if you were on the 4 foot or just a little outside - it would float out and away - at draw weight. Needless to say - they managed to either hold a tighter broom or come out a little tighter and theirs curled and ours were just a little full on the broom and wouldn't come back. Tough to keep chasing like this. The Ohio team played well the whole game.
We haven't been playing our best yet - as obvious by our linescores. We need to pull ourselves together or we'll be drinking a lot earlier than we had hoped...
Then came this morning. Sheet 3 is just dogging us. The first end was fine - played a clean hit game, actually were sitting 2 at one point - but their vice made a nice double. Derek then unfortunately missed a hit - things are really floating on the outsides. No big deal, down 2. But the ice in the next end killed us. We were playing the in-turn side and if you were just slightly inside the 4 foot - it would curl up, but if you were on the 4 foot or just a little outside - it would float out and away - at draw weight. Needless to say - they managed to either hold a tighter broom or come out a little tighter and theirs curled and ours were just a little full on the broom and wouldn't come back. Tough to keep chasing like this. The Ohio team played well the whole game.
We haven't been playing our best yet - as obvious by our linescores. We need to pull ourselves together or we'll be drinking a lot earlier than we had hoped...
Monday, March 23, 2009
Back on track
Had a good game last night against Illinois. Felt like we were in control the whole game - forcing them to one when they had hammer and having chances at multiples when we did. The one end where we gave them two - my second shot picked. The ice has been kind of dirty - so there's been a few picks - ironically, the other teams' picks so far have done nice s-curves and ended up making the shots... not so for ours. So we're trying to keep it clean. We stayed to see the end of the other games and also went out for a little practice.
Should be sleeping in right now, but unfortunately - baby Kevin had a really bad night - he's all clogged up and couldn't sleep. So I don't think Rachel got hardly any sleep. I'm sure I slept some, but I am awake earlier than I had intended to be. Hoping we can find a way to get Rachel some sleep - otherwise today's games (and the rest of the week) will be hard. Luckily we don't play until 3pm - so hopefully there's time to recover...
Should be sleeping in right now, but unfortunately - baby Kevin had a really bad night - he's all clogged up and couldn't sleep. So I don't think Rachel got hardly any sleep. I'm sure I slept some, but I am awake earlier than I had intended to be. Hoping we can find a way to get Rachel some sleep - otherwise today's games (and the rest of the week) will be hard. Luckily we don't play until 3pm - so hopefully there's time to recover...
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Oh well
Well - our first game didn't get off to a great start. The ice is super straight and falls on the outsides. The first end was going okay - we were looking at giving them 2. Derek tried a soft weight hit and roll on his first that ended up being too soft - tapped one of their guards in. Their skip drew in - so they were sitting 4. Derek tried a double and roll - but we only got one and rolled out. Ouch - never a great thing to spot the other team 4 in the first end. Second end went a lot better - unfortunately we left Derek's first rock in a bad spot - it had run really straight and was wide open and was in front of the tee. The other skip made a really nice hit and roll to the button - impossible to draw to that - all that was left was a long double off of a guard - but that risked giving them 3 (if it picked off our rock that was sitting second). So we opted to be conservative and throw the rock away. Down 5 - ugh.
But we kept it going - and played well the rest of the game. Tied it up in the 10th. Got our corner guards up, had a couple of nose hits on the guards - made two great come arounds on vice's rocks - it does curl inside to out (the ice must be domed). They tried the runback on their skip's first, but just peeled the guard that was covering our two. We tapped up the other guards on the other side with Derek's first. They tried the double on our open ones - almost missed both, but picked off the top one. Draw in for 3 to tie.
Extra end got set up okay - we tried to tap up a tight guard and unfortunately it overcurled and ticked over our own guard - that was a bad break. Derek made a pistol on his last - but the skip still had a draw down to it to win the game. We made a great comeback, but an L is unfortunately still an L.
We had some luck not go our way - one of mine picked, one of theirs picked (when it was going to miss) and made the shot, and their skip's last in the 9th totally missed the open stone they were trying to hit, ended up glancing the one of ours that was frozen on theirs in the top 12 and tapping theirs into the button - whatever... Derek tried a runback, but it overcurled
Ok - got that crappy play from the first end out of our system. On to the next...
But we kept it going - and played well the rest of the game. Tied it up in the 10th. Got our corner guards up, had a couple of nose hits on the guards - made two great come arounds on vice's rocks - it does curl inside to out (the ice must be domed). They tried the runback on their skip's first, but just peeled the guard that was covering our two. We tapped up the other guards on the other side with Derek's first. They tried the double on our open ones - almost missed both, but picked off the top one. Draw in for 3 to tie.
Extra end got set up okay - we tried to tap up a tight guard and unfortunately it overcurled and ticked over our own guard - that was a bad break. Derek made a pistol on his last - but the skip still had a draw down to it to win the game. We made a great comeback, but an L is unfortunately still an L.
We had some luck not go our way - one of mine picked, one of theirs picked (when it was going to miss) and made the shot, and their skip's last in the 9th totally missed the open stone they were trying to hit, ended up glancing the one of ours that was frozen on theirs in the top 12 and tapping theirs into the button - whatever... Derek tried a runback, but it overcurled
Ok - got that crappy play from the first end out of our system. On to the next...
Sunday Morning
We're here in Medford - had practices yesterday. The outside sheets were running very straight, more curl on the inside sheets. Ice speed was good, although it slowed down during the practice - maybe the pebble was wearing down - we'll have to watch that during the game.
The girls didn't get a good night's rest last night - baby Kevin just couldn't get comfortable. That's okay - we'll just play through it.
In about 20 min we'll head to the club for the opening ceremony and then games at 1 and 7.
At 1pm we face Minnesota - this is essentially the same rink that was at mixed last year (just a different lead) - the Stolts. They played well last year and should be a contender for the final four this year (last year they lost the tiebreak to make it into the final four). We lost to them last year in a tight one during the round robin - but we weren't having a great game. So - revenge this year...
At 7pm we face Illinois. We haven't played this team before - but we played Russ Armstrong (the skip) when mixed was at Medford the last time. We had a really tight game against them (I think we went to an extra end) and won it - I think it was mostly because we unveiled our "slow walk" during that game :). Russ still talks about it. It's a secret weapon we pull out when a rock is travelling too fast. Worked that game...
Well - we're ready - hopefully everything will come together for us!
The girls didn't get a good night's rest last night - baby Kevin just couldn't get comfortable. That's okay - we'll just play through it.
In about 20 min we'll head to the club for the opening ceremony and then games at 1 and 7.
At 1pm we face Minnesota - this is essentially the same rink that was at mixed last year (just a different lead) - the Stolts. They played well last year and should be a contender for the final four this year (last year they lost the tiebreak to make it into the final four). We lost to them last year in a tight one during the round robin - but we weren't having a great game. So - revenge this year...
At 7pm we face Illinois. We haven't played this team before - but we played Russ Armstrong (the skip) when mixed was at Medford the last time. We had a really tight game against them (I think we went to an extra end) and won it - I think it was mostly because we unveiled our "slow walk" during that game :). Russ still talks about it. It's a secret weapon we pull out when a rock is travelling too fast. Worked that game...
Well - we're ready - hopefully everything will come together for us!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Getting ready for mixed
Ok -
I was a very lame blogger during the Trials (ok - I didn't write any). But I will try to be better during mixed next week. The field is strong and we start off against a tough team - MN -the Stolts who were there last year as well. Hopefully we've gotten all of our losing behind us and can finally capture this event. That would be awesome
I was a very lame blogger during the Trials (ok - I didn't write any). But I will try to be better during mixed next week. The field is strong and we start off against a tough team - MN -the Stolts who were there last year as well. Hopefully we've gotten all of our losing behind us and can finally capture this event. That would be awesome
Friday, February 20, 2009
Off to Denver
Derek is doing his usual busy thing of random chores and worries before we leave for a trip and I, of course, am wasting time figuring out how to create my own blog. I do need to get going on finishing packing and getting ready - so I'll make this short.
I was really excited to go to Denver over the last week, but now I'm feeling kinda nervous - just that normal tension/energy I get in my chest before a competition. The team was playing very well at our last practice, so that's great - we've come such a long way from those first tryouts. It's kind of amazing.
Have I always dreamed of going to the Olympics? Well - I have always been a huge Olympics fan - watching as much coverage as I could, being moved by all of the stories, etc. I don't think I ever thought it was in my realm of possibilities - so in that sense, I probably didn't actually dream of it. Some might say it's not really in my realm of possibilities now - but hey, we're one of 10 teams vying for the Olympic slot. We're underdogs for sure, a Cinderella story if we can do it - but we just need to win probably 5 games to make it to the playoffs and then it's one game at a time.
We're flying out of LGA and arriving in DEN at around 5:15pm MST. That means we'll miss the opening President's reception - which is really a shame, but we didn't find out about it until this Monday - too late to change the plane reservations.
Ok - off to finish packing
I was really excited to go to Denver over the last week, but now I'm feeling kinda nervous - just that normal tension/energy I get in my chest before a competition. The team was playing very well at our last practice, so that's great - we've come such a long way from those first tryouts. It's kind of amazing.
Have I always dreamed of going to the Olympics? Well - I have always been a huge Olympics fan - watching as much coverage as I could, being moved by all of the stories, etc. I don't think I ever thought it was in my realm of possibilities - so in that sense, I probably didn't actually dream of it. Some might say it's not really in my realm of possibilities now - but hey, we're one of 10 teams vying for the Olympic slot. We're underdogs for sure, a Cinderella story if we can do it - but we just need to win probably 5 games to make it to the playoffs and then it's one game at a time.
We're flying out of LGA and arriving in DEN at around 5:15pm MST. That means we'll miss the opening President's reception - which is really a shame, but we didn't find out about it until this Monday - too late to change the plane reservations.
Ok - off to finish packing
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