Holy Coweee!

I am pretty sure it is safe to say that if Team Middaugh cannot represent Ontario in St. Johns we are very happy to get behind Team Hanna. Nice gals, great come from the mud win, happy, happy.

Jenn was a great asset as the Fifth for Team Middaugh at Red Deer and everyone she touched came away impressed with her attitude, demeanour and all around niceability.

Way to go Jenn

Good luck on the Rock.

Curry Zoweee!!

I have seen more spellings of Karuizawa in the past month then I can handle. Or I suppose I should say mis-spellings, I have written most of them and I had a nun for a teacher once who would have whacked my hand raw with her yard-stick for being such a dunce. I miss her quite a bit actually. Sister Syncleta, RIP.

No matter how you spell it, our gals are headed there on Tuesday, Feb. the oneth and neither Japan nor our gals will ever be the same. I am reminded of the song popular after one of the Wars to end all Wars, "How you gonna keep 'em down on the farm, after they've seen Paree'".

The ladies are scheduled to visit a Sumo wrestling practice session early one morning and I fear at least one of them may want to take up a new sport and sign up on the spot. Don't even really want to think of her wearing one of those elaborate thongs though. Maybe she will resist and just take pictures instead.

The Team proceeds almost directly to Karuizawa and spends 7 days curling and other related activities in that beautiful mountain town. Then 3 days and nights amidst the brite lites of Tokyo, the Ginza for shopping, the famous Roppongi area, which is the centre for nitelife in Tokyo and just in case they wanted to bring home something really nice for a fabulously supportitive fan, the Akihabara, THE PLACE to buy discounted electronic geek stuff.

The Team will be meeting with the President of one of their wonderful sponsors, JVC or the Japan Victor Company, which is a great honour, and have a very busy schedule set up for their stay in Tokyo.

Some nice folks from the Karuizawa curling community have sent us a link to a website for the event so clik on the title of this post or the LINK at the bottom to be whisked to the Far East for up to date info.

I must admit it is a little bit challenging to navigate the 3 different sites linked, some are in Japanese and English, some not, but I suspect that once things get underway we will be able to track the progress of this event.

I will post anything I garner, gather or get sent. Now it is time to go practice chopsticks, and no, I don't own a piano.

Arigato (not the Greek guy with the ships)

4 Sale

4 Sale, one, slightly looked at, walking map of Ottawa. Complete with plasticised finish and colourful coded icons indicating the locations of hospitals, schools, community centres, BIG IMPORTANT GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS, and Tim Horton outlets.

The Rideau Club, site of the Provincial STOH, is indicated by a big red smudge. This is what happens when you try to circle the location with red indelible (hah) ink on plasticised maps and then get them wet with a little spilled double double. {Hint, do not try to wipe this up with any article of clothing that you may want to keep in pristine condition, like a shirt sleeve or a tie}. Use a Scott Tissue!!

Map is also useful for drivers, but since there is no place to park, driving is just silly.

I have often wondered why there are not street people standing on streets selling maps to politicians homes. Could it be that no one cares?

contact owner via email through this site, best offer.

Rounds 4 & 5 - L's

Team Middaugh has reached a dead end in their journey through the maze that is the various qualification rounds that lead to the Scott Tournament of Hearts.

Our gals put together a pretty good game against a very determined Kathy Brown rink from Sutton in the A final. Made Kathy throw her last rock which she made in perfect fashion. We always say about Kathy that when her game is on she is very hard to beat and today she and her team were not to be denied their trip to the Provincial STOH in Ottawa.

The ladies never got on track in the B final agains Chrissy Cadorin's talented rink from Guelph. Crissy and her squad ran our gals out of rocks in the 10th to put an end to this years Run for The Roses.

Congratulations are in order for Team Kathy Brown and Team Chrissy Cadorin. Good luck in Ottawa.

It was a great run, lots of games, lots of high fives and candies and head shaking and long faces and all of this behind the glass. Our gals were pros throughout, showed respect for their opponents, graciousness in both victory and in not victory. They always made sure to pay proper and honest thanks and gratitude to the many volunteers who made it all possible at the various clubs played.

The Team's fans have been wonderful in showing their support, in person, via email and telephone. Every one of you deserve a special thanks for the warm feelings and good wishes that you conveyed to the Team members.

The Web Guy humbly acknowledges and says thanks for the kind thoughts expressed about the words written here. I have just tried to describe what I saw, if there is beauty or dignity or humour anywhere in these posts it is just a reflection of the character(s) of Sherry, Kirsten, Andrea, Sheri and the best coach and friend in the world, Pat B. Reid. It is my extreme pleasure and an honour to play some small part in the Team Middaugh season.

There will be more to come, likely to be lots of pics from Japan and I will keep the blog up to date with current news and events.

Curling is just a sport, a game to be played between like minded individuals acting in concert as a team. The people you meet in curling, the bonds between team members, club members, the thousands of hard working people volunteering their time and effort to make possible a sport that bonds family and friends in ways that no other sport does, not hockey, not golf, not baseball, nowhere else do you find such gracious, mannerly consort between so many people. Winning is great, not winning is not so great, but to play a part in the sport of curling is a pretty good way to spend a winter.

domo arigato gozaimashita

Round Three - W*

Well sports fans, another W tonight, this time with an asterisk for two reasons.

1: Our gals played an outstanding game against the Colleen Madonia rink sans Colleen for some reason or other. Skipped superbly by stand in Carrie Lee Grant (sic) the Madonia foursome played a great game right down to their last rock which was a perfect freeze to our shot rock in the back of the 8 foot. Fortunately for our side in this tie game we had the last rock and Sherry played a beautiful draw/tap/hit shot right down on top of Carrie's to seal the deal and send the Middaugh Marauders Fan Club into equal measures of relief and joy.

2: This game also deserves an asterisk because both teams played on ice that can best be described as "interesting". When I asked Dave, the icemaker, before the game if he was willing to provide topographical maps of the ice surface to the teams he mentioned he might just sell me one out by the ice plant room if I had cash. I am not entirely sure he could provide one but I am damn sure someone could draw one. (Or at least trace it if he had my art teacher).

For those of you who still remember the pre-split timing numbers when 24 seconds was a pretty keen T-line weight you will know what I mean when I tell you that this ice was 20 seconds. It was not conducive to good curling to see veteran thirds hogging rocks in the 9th end, which happened much more then once.

Lovely club, nice people, challenging ice conditions.

Tomorrow we tee off against Kathy Brown of Sutton in the final of the A side. Kathy has the sunniest dispostion in curling if not the planet and is quick to smile and genuinely pleasant to be around. She is also a terrific shotmaker and we have had some great games against her. She has a talented team and her third, Janet, is an outstanding curler. Should be a barn burner.

I will let you know what happens. Game time Sunday is 2:00 PM which gives uber fan Diane Stone just enough time to watch Coronation Street before coming to the game. Don't even think about asking her to miss Celebrity Canasta for a mere curling match.

Curlers make the best people, look it up.

Round Two - W

Our gals won a game this morning that had to be seen to be believed. Trailing throughout to a high flying Stacey Brandwood team from Glendale CC in Hamilton, our ladies were two down coming home with and struggling with both weight and the ice.

When Sherry went to throw her last rock, she faced a stone that Stacey had to have carried down the ice through a hole to lie one in the 8 foot covered. We had a lot of rocks around the 8 foot however and two in front of the house on centreline, one on the 12 and another just in front.

Like it had eyes, Sherry's last rock rocketed down the ice to a 2 oclock hit on the rock in front of the house, which just missed our rock on the centreline in the 12 foot, smacked the Brandwood rock which then made a beeline for the backline right between two of our counters without kissing either one. 3 for our side and a heart stopping win which just had to pick up the spirit of anyone who was watching that was not a member at Glendale.

It was an amazing shot and it needed all four of our gals to make it happen. At least two of the parents present were reaching for the nitroglycerin pills as the rocks came to rest and the win took hold of their frontal lobes.

Our gals now play old friend and frequent foe Colleen Madonia at 9:00 pm tonight. Mrs. Webby says we have to be there so it is nap time for the Web Guy.

The best way for me to describe the reason for the tight, thrilling games, is to quote Ann Dunn, current World Seniors Champ and participant at this Challenge, who, upon hearing reports of numerous hogged rocks in the late ends and flashes which started out as easy takeouts, said, "that ice makes everyone look like an absolute fool".

To be kind, it is a little bit runny, with patches of serious falling and the occasional unexplainable and unpredictable slooowwwiinnng down around the hog line.

The rest of the renovations at the club look great though, and they make a good cheeseburger.

Later

Round One - W

Our gals managed to come out on top of a great game with Heather Moffett who was playing on home ice and doing a great job of it. It was tied coming home and went to the last rock, hard on the heart but a good win to get behind you.

The Team plays Stacey Brandwood of Glendale Sat. morning at 9:00 AM. We will report back with whatever news we can.

A kind word about our friends at the OCA who are all over the challenge rounds with fairly timely results. Check out the link in the sidebar for all the results.

Coup' Canada

Team Middaugh has taken a pass on the Canada Cup being held in Kamloops in March. Having won the right to an entry by their showing at the Canada Cup East event the team has released their spot back to the organisers.

It is worth noting that this move makes it possible for a team that may not have another avenue open to them to capture the last Olympic Trial spot to be awarded. I am certain that there are four very happy curlers somewhere today as a result of this move.

It also means that Mrs. Webby is going to have to come up with another excuse to visit Kamloops in the Spring but she is up to that task. No problemo.

Fur Flying is the Norm

If the fur is flying and the claws are out it must be time for the Challenge Round.

As often happens when it is getting close to closing time, the magnifying glasses and the calculators were operating on overtime this past few days as both the "innies" and the "outies" jockeyed for positioning over the last 16 spots available for a shot at the Provincial Scott.

In a replay of a challenge which saw Team Middaugh moved around the seed chart just two years ago, challenges to the mathematical skills of the folks at the OCA have resulted in the draw sheet being redrawn and one team being replaced by another. Wave the magic abacus and an "outie" becomes an "innie".

Our erstwhile opponent in the opening game tonight, Jennifer Mooij, is out, replaced by Heather Moffett of Bayview Country Club. Others seem to have shifted in mysterious yet mathematically precise ways.

I have no doubt that this final draw is now fair and balanced and cast in Times New Roman font. I only hope that before the gun goes off tonight all those that belong in the CR that qualify for it are present and accounted for and that a combination of skill, talent, good ice and determination decide the winner of the obviously much sought after final spot in the Provincials.

Good luck to all the teams. It ought'a be a barn burner.

Humping, or is that Harumping?

It's Hump Day here in the land of the falling frozen water, which I guess is falling ice, which is an apt name because falling on this kind of ice is pretty easy to do. I mean, it could happen to anyone right? I think I will stay indoors today or at least until Friday, Jan. 14th, 2005 at 6:00 PM cause that is when Team Middaugh begins their Challenge Round run for the roses against Jennifer Mooij of Leaside. Maybe the bruises will have healed by then.

It is Hump Time for our gals and all of the great competitors signed up. Lets hope there is no falling down on the ice at Bayview Country Club where all of this takes place. The Bayview Country Club is not really on Bayview. It is on it's own road running north from Steeles Ave. just west of Leslie St. and most of a Kountry Klik East of Bayview.

I was a local boy in my teens when they built this club on Steeles Ave.. Having an address on Bayview was considered pretty hoitsy toitsy (look it up) in those days so they didn't give much consideration to calling it the Steeles Country Club. But please, if you come, don't go nuts looking for a Bay, unless it is a window, cause there ain't one in sight.

Steeles Ave. was a two lane dirt track East from Bayview in those days, until they built this fancy club that is. Just in time for the Grand Opening with the Premier et al the road was miraculously paved all the way from Bayview to the Country Club lane and about another 200 yards over a hill where no one could see it turn to dirt again. We locals were very impressed with the new neigbours.

Today, Bayview is a great club, a true friend to curling and I understand it has a pretty good golf course to boot and an excellent tennis crowd. They certainly have a magnificent kitchen and friendly staff. We like the place a lot. If you feel moved to do so, tell the good folks there you like the brand new renovations.

Best way to get there from the North or South is Highway 404 to Steeles, turn West and look for the club road entrance after you crest the hill out of the Lesley St. Valley. Hey, they could have called it "Valleyview Country Club".

The whole way there is on paved roads now, or iced roads, depending on Mother Nature, who(m), as you can see by the frozen falling down water this morning and the promised 10 degrees C this afternoon, can be a fickle b#t*h when she wants to be. So be careful out there, and we really look forward to seeing you at BAYVIEW.

Clik the LINK or the TITLE for the OCA home page and the Draw.

The Challenge is in Competing

Good morning sports fans and welcome to the week of Jan. 10th. Our Team, having lost another squeaker (1 up coming home without) in the Regionals which shut the door on that path to the Provincial STOH are entering the Challenge Round Competition which will be held at the Bayview Country Club starting on Friday, January 14. The Team will be playing to win the last spot into the Provincials which is the prize for winning the Challenge Round. Look for the Draw at the OCA website www.ontcurl.com or come back here for info. I will post the Team's game times right here.

Congratulations are in order to the West Regional winners, Kim Moore and Jo Ann Rizzo. The East will be represented by former teammate Janet McGhee (nee McGhee) and our team's easy-to-like 5th player from last years STOH, Jenn Hanna of Ottawa.

There should be quite a lineup of talent at the newly renovated Bayview Club which is on Steeles Ave. just East of Bayview in Thornhill. If you have a chance, come on down and cheer on your favourite team.

It was wonderful to see old friends such as Iris Empey, Diane Stone and Lynn Reynolds, coach of the Karen Bell team, at Norwich. Jennifer Harmark was there to supply bio dish on just about anyone in sight and Knud Harmark provided insightful analysis of the play on all 4 sheets simultaneously. Those two are very sharp observers of people and the game we love. It is no surprise to me that neither Kirsten nor her sister Andra have any trouble making change. We had a great time in Norwich, looking forward to seeing you at Bayview.

In closing, it should be noted that Team Middaugh's very first successful STOH run took this very same path. The 'Roaring Game' is indeed a game of inches however and anything can and usually does happen. The "Game" is a wonderful metaphor for life with it's ups and downs, heartaches and happiness all being experienced by players and fans alike at breakneck speed with split second results often overwhelming your senses. There is indeed great challenge in the competition and in curling more then in most sports, winning first place may always be the goal, but it is not always all there is to the game.

Everybody say Amen and all thanks for that to the God of Granite, wherever she may be.

Oh No, Mr. Bill!

Our gals have lost to Kristy Russell and her team from Brampton and will be headed home for now.

Congratulations to Kim Moore for winning the A side. Russell plays Rizzo for the B.

More tomorrow.

Momma Lawes comes through again

Our little birdie reports that Team Middaugh won against Karen Bell and now play Team Russell from Brampton at 2:00 PM. Keep your eyes glued to this station folks.

Our OCA friends have finally updated the info for the Norwich results, check the Link for the Big Picture.

Thanks again Judy.

WG

Another Curling Mom checks in

Still no news from the OCAlways behind the curve but I did hear from Judy Lawes that as of 11:30 this morning (Sunday) the girls are tied 4-4 in the 6th end.

This means that they won last night against against either Stacey Brandwood or Vicki Craig and that they are now playing either JoAnn Rizzo, Karen Bell or Carrie Lindner. These three being the possible losers of last nights "A" game.

Judy was a tad "un"-specific about just who we were tied 4-4 in the sixth with. Nevertheless this is great news and we are very grateful.

Hang on to your touques folks, more to come!

Region Report

Mrs. Webby and I returned last night (Sat.) from a visit to beautiful downtown Norwich where we were treated to some great curling games and some pretty good chili.

Our gals defeated Ann Dunn Friday night and we watched them lose a last rock squeaker, 3-3 coming home with, to old friend Kim Moore who was backed up by one of the nicest people on ice, Lindsay Downer, at third. Both teams played exceptionally well and it was a matter of inches that gave the victory to Kim Moore and her team.

This put our ladies into the mud which they must really like because they then went out and put on a real display over a nice young Jordan Davies team from Burlington. Davies never really got started and it was over in 4 ends, thus giving our ladies a nice rest before their 9:00 PM game last night.

I have no results from that game but will post any I get immediately. In The Hack has someone kindly posting ladies regional results under their Ontario/Quebec section. They seem to be getting a lot more news from Quinte.

The OCA is a little slow but is updating their PDF draw files with results. Gotta give them credit when they do something right, thank you OCA. Clik on this post title or the "Link" below to take a look at the file.

Go Team

Our gals relax in the lounge at Norwich Sat. Afternoon after convincing win against the Jordan Davies Team from Burlington. 

The Draw

The draw for the upcoming Regional Playoffs has been posted as a PDF file on the OCA website. Not sure why we have to use a secure (read hard as hell to copy) format to post such information but there you go.

So instead of posting the draw on our web or here in Blogland, you have to clik on the Link at the bottom or you can clik on the title at the top of this post, either of these actions will take you to the OCA page streaming the PDF file.

It says here that our heroes play Anne Dunn at 9:30 PM on Friday, Jan. 7. Good thing our gals are nocturnal. Or was that "not turnal". What is a "turnal" anyway? Sounds like something I would usually try to look up in my Audobon Junior Bird Book. "Audobon", snort, seems like it should be a book about German cars and highways.

But I digress, sorry about that, back to curling.

Anyway, I know that at least one of the team members (and possibly more) is/are usually much more awake at 9:30 PM then at 9:30 AM. Morning draws can be tough. Hope there is a Starbucks in Norwich.

Nice Going Norwich

Well, all you gotta do is ask it seems, isn't that nice. We received a nice note from Tim Trewin of the Norwich District Curling Club and he says that despite what the folks at the OCA claim in their Club directory that Norwich has a web site and it has been up for some time. They also have 4 sheets in a beautiful wooden, quonset style building.

We checked it out (see Link in this post and sidebar) and it is a nice site, way to go Norwich. They have a lovely historical WMF file of the building construction and lots of pictures. They even posted a few pictures of expected teams to show the competition level at the Regions this weekend. Looks exciting to me.

See you there!

WG

How to get to Norwich District Curling Club. Phebe St. & Main. 519-863-3932 

Onward & Onward

Well dear friends, I keep having to tell myself it is really Sunday and not Monday which is a continuation of a problem I have been having for a week now. For some reason, having Christmas on a Saturday is hard on the old Circadian rythm, which, as many of you know, is not the same rythm which keeps Catholic women from becoming with child. Surprisingly, neither of these rythms have anything to do with those ugly little bugs which make all the noise on hot summer nights.

My New Years resolution is to light a candle, or maybe sacrifice a couple of Christmas Cookies to make my case for a permanent Wednesday Christmas celebration. That ought to max out the old holiday squeeze on employers and make it easier for me to keep track of. I know, I know, why didn't they just think of this 2005 years ago? Likely they were going for the weekend rate on the manger.

Which brings me to my point, and I do have one, that it is Sunday Jan. 2, 2005, and therefore only 5 more wake-ups until the action starts in our Regional Playdowns on Friday, Jan. 7, 2005.

This year, our Region is holdng their playdowns in Norwich Ontario. At the Norwich District Curling Club, which, according to our precious OCA Club Directory, has a Name and a District number, (15), but no phone, no fax, no email, no website and we do not appear to know how many sheets it has. How about that.

There is a map, which shows downtown Norwich in great detail. Unfortunately, it gives absolutely no clue as to the location of said downtown, which could very well be near Cobalt.

Not to fear however, here are some facts to help you out and if I can figure out how to do it I will post a real map which may be more helpful.

Norwich District Curling Club is in beautiful downtown Norwich at the intersection of Phebe (sic) and Main. Phone is 519-863-3932.

As you can see by the posted map, the town is on Hwy.(or Regional Road) 14, almost directly south of the intersection of Hwy's. 403 and 401 which occurs near Woodstock.

I hope some of you can make it out to cheer on our gals as they continue their march to the Ontario STOH.

I will get back to you when I have details of the draw and game times.

WG