Keeping Up With The Joneses
Hello. The Scott Tournament of Hearts is 7 draws away from completing the round-robin, and guess who's ahead? Defending champion Jennifer Jones and her Team Canada rink. A half game behind is former multi-champ Colleen Jones of Nova Scotia and Kelly Scott of BC, who lost last year's Scott semi-final and this year's Olympic Trials final to bronze medalist Shannon Kleibrink.
What can we conclude so far? Experience matters. Going to a national championship where there are thousands of people watching live and hundreds of thousands on TV can be a daunting task. Add to it having to play 11 high-pressure games in 6 days and it can be overwhelming.
The battle for 4th took a turn today when Heather Strong of Newfoundland beat Cathy King of Alberta. Strong is now 4th alone. If she keeps winning (now 5 in a row) she'll finish no worse than 4th, by far her best finish in 6 Scott appearances.
Will the top 4 prevail? I believe they may, because they're all hungry. Strong, as mentioned, wnats to go to the playoffs. Jennifer Jones wants to get back to the worlds (in Grand Prairie, Alberta on March 18th) to avenge not winning a medal in Scotland. Georgina Wheatcroft at lead, a new addition this year at lead and former world champion, will keep them from becoming complacent. Colleen Jones is trying to shake off not surviving the Scott tiebreakers last year and missing the Olympic Trials playoffs. The fact her team is still intact means in my mind they want to try for Vancouver. And Kelly Scott also wants to make up for her recent near-misses. It should make for exciting curling.
It also makes for educational curling. I find I learn so much from watching curling on TV, especially when the women are playing. They are very good strategists, which is something I need as a relatively new skip.
All the best to everyone competing in London! I'll pick Jennifer Jones to repeat, because I think they have the best talent throughout the lineup. Then again, it's tough to not pick the other teams. On any given day, anything can happen.
Regards,
Steve
What can we conclude so far? Experience matters. Going to a national championship where there are thousands of people watching live and hundreds of thousands on TV can be a daunting task. Add to it having to play 11 high-pressure games in 6 days and it can be overwhelming.
The battle for 4th took a turn today when Heather Strong of Newfoundland beat Cathy King of Alberta. Strong is now 4th alone. If she keeps winning (now 5 in a row) she'll finish no worse than 4th, by far her best finish in 6 Scott appearances.
Will the top 4 prevail? I believe they may, because they're all hungry. Strong, as mentioned, wnats to go to the playoffs. Jennifer Jones wants to get back to the worlds (in Grand Prairie, Alberta on March 18th) to avenge not winning a medal in Scotland. Georgina Wheatcroft at lead, a new addition this year at lead and former world champion, will keep them from becoming complacent. Colleen Jones is trying to shake off not surviving the Scott tiebreakers last year and missing the Olympic Trials playoffs. The fact her team is still intact means in my mind they want to try for Vancouver. And Kelly Scott also wants to make up for her recent near-misses. It should make for exciting curling.
It also makes for educational curling. I find I learn so much from watching curling on TV, especially when the women are playing. They are very good strategists, which is something I need as a relatively new skip.
All the best to everyone competing in London! I'll pick Jennifer Jones to repeat, because I think they have the best talent throughout the lineup. Then again, it's tough to not pick the other teams. On any given day, anything can happen.
Regards,
Steve
posted by Irrelevant at 3:49 PM
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