Curling on Any Sport Any Time
Sunday, April 8th, 2012
Glenn Howard (Wikimedia Commons)
It was a solid performance by Team Canada today at the 2012 World Men’s Curling Championships in Basel, Switzerland.
Team Canada, led by 49 year old skip Glenn Howard of Midland, Ontario won his fourth World Championship of his career in a 8-7 extra end victory over Scotland’s Tom Brewster. Howard previously won the 1987 World Championship at Vancouver as a third for his brother Russ, threw third stones again for Russ Howard in Canada’s Gold medal performance at the 1993 World Championship in Geneva, Switzerland and skipped Canada to World Curling Gold at the 2007 World Curling Championship in Edmonton. Howard has also won a World Title in four different decades, making today’s performance remarkably special.
Another interesting statistic is that it is the third World Championship at three different positions for third Wayne Middaugh. The veteran curler was also the second for Team Canada at the 1993 World Championship and skip for Canada at the 1998 World Curling Championship in Kamloops, British Columbia.
(more…)
Tags: glenn howard, jeff stoughton, kevin koe, russ howard, wayne middaugh, world men's curling championship
Posted in Curling | No Comments »
Saturday, April 7th, 2012
Glenn Howard (Wikimedia Commons)
Team Canada will play for Gold tomorrow morning in Basel, Switzerland at the World Men’s Curling Championship.
This morning, the Canadians skipped by Glenn Howard of Ontario defeated Team Scotland skipped by Tom Brewster 7-6 in eleven ends in the 1-2 game. Down 3-2 in the eighth, Howard just might have made the greatest shot of his career. He delivered a triple takeout that scored four Canadian points.
One disconcerting area though is that Howard’s foursome did a poor job in protecting the lead. They didn’t set up their stones early in the ninth end and allowed Scotland to score a deuce and then in the tenth end, Howard came up light with his final rock forcing the extra end.
Team Canada’s opponent Sunday will once again be Scotland. Despite a shaky start, Scotland hung on for a key 7-6 victory over Sweden in the semi-final game. Howard will try to become the third Canadian skip in consecutive years to win a World title following Edmonton’s Kevin Koe in 2009 and Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton in 2010. Another Edmonton connection tomorrow is that Tom Brewster’s wife is from the Alberta capital.
Tags: glenn howard, jeff stoughton, kevin koe, tom brewster, world men's curling championship
Posted in Curling | No Comments »
Friday, April 6th, 2012
The Masters will obviously headline my television viewing this weekend with the very first major of the PGA Season. Currently Peter Hanson of Sweden (-5) leads U.S. Open Champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa, Ben Crane of the United States and day one leader Lee Westwood of England by a stroke.
Other players in contention are Major winners Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk and Paul Lawrie.
The television coverage for the tournament is Friday at 1pm on TSN, Saturday at 1:30pm on CBS, and Sunday at noon on CBS.
Here are the other events I’ll be watching this weekend:
Friday–NLL–Rochester Knighthawks @ Calgary Roughnecks–7pm–I’m heading down to the Scotiabank Saddledome this evening to see the Roughnecks in National Lacrosse League action. At 10-3, the Roughnecks are tied for first place in the West Division with the Colorado Mammoth. The Roughnecks lead the NLL with 180 goals scored, are led by former Knighthawk Shawn Evans, who leads the team in scoring with 58 points.
(more…)
Tags: ben crane, boston red sox, c.j. wilson, calgary roughnecks, chicago white sox, colorado mammoth, denver nuggets, dwight howard, gavin floyd, glenn howard, golden state warriors, hayley wickenheiser, heath bell, jeff stoughton, jim furyk, jose reyes, kevin koe, lee westwood, los angeles lakers, louis oosthuizen, masters, matt harrison, miami marlins, Orlando Magic, paul lawrie, peter hanson, philadelphia 76ers, philadelphia phillies, phoenix suns, rory mcilroy, Shannon Szabados, shawn evans, stan van gundy, Steve Nash, texas rangers, tom brewster, toronto blue jays, ty lawson, women's world hockey championship, world men's curling championship, yu darvish, zach johnson
Posted in Amateur Sports, Curling, Home, MLB, More, National Lacrosse League, NBA | 1 Comment »
Thursday, April 5th, 2012
Glenn Howard (Wikimedia Commons)
Glenn Howard. Are you kidding me? First the Yukon/Northwest Territories at the Brier and then New Zealand at the World Curling Championships?
Wow!
But there is good news for Canadian curling fans and that is Ontario’s Glenn Howard rebounded with a 8-7 victory this afternoon against China. With the win Canada improved to 10-1 and will play Scotland’s Tom Brewster in the 1-2 game Saturday morning at 6am on TSN. The winner will then advance directly to the final and the loser will play the winner of the 3-4 game. Norway has clinched third place while Sweden will play New Zealand in the fourth place tie-breaker tomorrow.
Getting back to New Zealand. Their skip is actually not from New Zealand at all but originally from Scotland. In any case, it has been a big week for Peter de Boer who delivered without questionable doubt the biggest victory of his curling career on Thursday in an extra end.
Tags: glenn howard, peter de boer, tom brewster, world curling championships
Posted in Curling, Home | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012
Glenn Howard (Wikimedia Commons)
Ontario’s Glenn Howard is now a perfect 7-0 at the World Men’s Curling Championship in Basel, Switzerland.
Tuesday he defeated Switzerland 7-6 in an extra end and then Denmark 8-5.
Howard is 49 years of age, but is curling at an exceptionally high level. He leads all skips at 86%. How many athletes are the best in their particular sport at 49 years of age? What Howard is doing in Switzerland at the moment deserves significant recognition.
China, Scotland and Sweden meanwhile are all tied at 5-2 in second place. It was a tough day for the Swedes, who are without their regular skip Niklas Edin because of a back injury. Sweden, which entered the day at 5-0 and tied with Canada for first place, lost to the United States shockingly 10-1 and to Norway 8-3.
Howard’s schedule will be much more difficult for the remainder of the tournament. Canada’s final four round robin opponents (China, Scotland, Sweden and New Zealand) are all currently above .500.
(more…)
Tags: glenn howard, world men's curling championship
Posted in Curling | No Comments »
Friday, March 30th, 2012
Patrick Chan (David Carmichael, Wikimedia Commons)
2011 Lionel Conacher Award winner Patrick Chan of Ottawa, Ontario is one step closer to defending his title at the World Figure Skating Championships in Nice, France.
Today, Chan put down a solid short program, and leads the Czech Republic’s Michal Brezina by 1.74 points. Due to the fact the television coverage on CBC is absolutely lousy, the event can be seen live on www.cbcsports.ca or if you have Bold. The final flight of skaters in the men’s event is at 8am and the final flight of skaters in the women’s event is at 1:30pm on Saturday with Alena Leonova of Russia in the lead. In the pairs competition today, Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov hammered the strong German pair of Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy by 8.04 points, but only hung onto the silver medal behind the Germans after a poor short program.
(more…)
Tags: agnieszka radwanska, alena leonova, anaheim ducks, andy murray, bryan cochrane, buffalo sabres, calgary flames, Edmonton Oilers, erik karlsson, final four, glenn howard, heath mccormick, jarome iginla, john calipari, kansas jayhawks, kentucky wildcats, louisville cardinals, maria sharapova, marion bartoli, maxim trankov, michal brezina, new orleans hornets, novak djokovic, ohio state buckeyes, Ottawa Senators, patrick chan, Philadelphia Flyers, phonix suns, rick pitino, ryan miller, shannon kleibrink, tatiana volosozhar, thomas dufour, toronto maple leafs, Vancouver Canucks, victoria azarenka, world figure skating championships, world men's curling championship
Posted in Amateur Sports, ATP World Tour, Curling, Home, More, NBA, NHL, Soccer, University Sports | 1 Comment »
Saturday, March 24th, 2012
Edmonton’s Heather Nedohin is three victories away from winning the Women’s World Curling Championship in Lethbridge.
Yesterday afternoon, Nedohin got things back on track with a 9-8 victory over the United States in the fourth place tie-breaker.
Nedohin’s team got off to a commanding 4-0 lead after the second end before hanging on for the narrow victory. They now will have to face Korea’s Ji-Sun Kim in the 3-4 game this afternoon (1pm, TSN). With a win, they will then face Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott, the two-time Olympic silver medallist in the semi-final (6pm, TSN) and then if they win that, they will have to face Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson in the final (Sunday, 4:30pm).
(more…)
Tags: 2012 olympic games, 2012 women's world curling championship, anthony davis, billy donovan, brent sutter, calgary flames, colorado avalanche, columbus blue jackets, dallas stars, Edmonton Oilers, florida gators, harrison barnes, heather nedohin, jay feaster, ji-sun kim, kansas jayhawks, kris joseph, louisville cardinals, margaretha sigfridsson, michal misewicz, mirjam ott, north carolina tar heels, ohio state buckeyes, rick pitino, soccer olympic qualifier, syracuse orangemen, thomas robinson, tyler zeller, tyshawn taylor, Vancouver Canucks
Posted in Amateur Sports, Curling, NHL, Soccer, University Sports | No Comments »
Monday, March 19th, 2012
Edmonton’s Heather Nedohin delivered one of the greatest comebacks by Team Canada in the history of the World Curling Championships on Monday afternoon in Lethbridge.
In the second end this afternoon, Team Czech Republic scored a remarkable five points to take an early 5-0 lead when the Canadian team allowed the Czech Republic to bunch up some stones on the right hand side of the sheet and Nedohin flashed with her final rock.
But give a significant amount of credit to Nedohin’s foursome who simply failed to give up. Team Canada scored a deuce in the third, followed by a steal of three in the fourth to tie the game at 5. Nedohin then dominated the second half of the game, constantly pressuring Czaech skip Linda Klimova with steals in the sixth, seventh and eighth ends and a 8-7 victory.
Next up for Nedohin is Team Denmark this evening. The victory this afternoon was mentally draining for Nedohin’s team, so it will be interesting to see if there is enough energy. Also watch out for the second end, as that is the end where Nedohin says the team are having “brain farts”. Canada is a perfect 4-0 now and lead South Korea and Sweden at 4-1.
Tags: heather nedohin, linda klimova, women's world curling championship
Posted in Curling | No Comments »
Monday, March 19th, 2012
Team Canada is off to a perfect 3-0 start at the Women’s World Curling Championship in Lethbridge.
The question is should they be 3-0? On Sunday night, Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott missed a rather simple takeout of a Canadian stone behind a long guard.
You could make the strong argument that Switzerland lost last night more than Canada won 6-5. But at the end of the day, the Canadian team is right where they want to be, and have looked more impressive on the ice after the first three games of the Women’s World Curling Championship than they did at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
The level of competition should be a little easier over the next day or two than it was on the weekend. Team Canada has the Czech Republic and Denmark today followed by Russia and Sweden tomorrow. In fact the only team I see that will create significant problems for Nedohin between now and the end of the round robin is Scotland’s Eve Muirhead Thursday night in the final round robin draw.
Tags: eve muirhead, heather nedohin, mirjam ott, women's world curling championship
Posted in Curling | No Comments »
Monday, March 12th, 2012
Glenn Howard (Wikimedia Commons)
Ontario’s Glenn Howard will now be going for his second World Curling Championship as a skip in five years.
On Sunday night in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Howard defeated Calgary’s Kevin Koe, representing Alberta, by a score of 7-6.
Howard might have defeated Koe by only one point, but in actuality the score was significantly more lopsided. The game was dominated by Ontario for the first eight ends. Alberta played better than Ontario in the latter stages of the game, but it was too little too late.
Team Ontario also won as a team. Wayne Middaugh set a Brier final record for the highest percentage by a third at 97%. The Ontario front end also dominated Alberta, especially at the second position where Brent Laing was twelve percentage points (91% to 79%) higher than Carter Rycroft.
Team Alberta also ran into some clock issues, as they only had 16 seconds remaining when Koe delivered his final stone. The major reason for this particular issue was because Howard’s Team Ontario squad made life miserable for Koe as he constantly had complex shots to deal with throughout the game. One end that comes to mind was the fourth, as third Pat Simmons and Koe each had to make difficult doubles to get out of messes created by the Alberta front end. Koe actually to make a second double to prevent Ontario to score two points, and missed in his attempt by an inch.
Howard’s rink will now represent Team Canada at the 2012 World Curling Championship in Basel, Switzerland starting March 31.
Posted in Curling | No Comments »
Monday, March 12th, 2012
Brendan Bottcher (Wikimedia Commons)
Team Canada has won the World Junior Men’s Curling Championship in Ostsersund, Sweden.
Yesterday, skip Brendan Bottcher, and teammates Evan Asmussen, and Landon and Bryce Bucholz defeated Team Sweden 10-4 in the championship final. The game was headlined by a five point seventh end for the Canadian squad, who only needed eight ends to win their championship.
It was third time Team Canada beat Team Sweden this past week. They defeated Sweden 5-2 in the round robin and then 9-3 in Saturday’s 1-2 playoff game.
I think it is safe to say, in recent times there has been some concern about the future of Canadian curling. With other nations closing the gap, Canada just doesn’t dominate like they once did. For example, after Canada won the World Junior Men’s Curling Championship nine times in ten years from 1998-2007, this was Canada’s first men’s junior title in five years when Charlie Thomas of Didsbury, Alberta won his second straight junior championship.
On the women’s side, Scotland defeated the Czech Republic 6-5 in the championship final. Red Deer’s Jocelyn Peterman lost 11-10 to Russia in a tie-breaker on Friday and finished fifth.
Tags: brendan bottcher, bryce bucholz, charlie thomas, evan asmussen, landon bucholz, world junior curling championships
Posted in Curling | No Comments »
Saturday, March 10th, 2012
It was a fantastic day for Alberta Curling.
In the semi-final of the Tim Horton’s Brier in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Kevin Koe, now of Calgary, defeated Rob Fowler of Manitoba by a score of 8-6.
Down 4-3 in the eighth end, Team Alberta scored four points on two mistakes by Fowler. First the Manitoba skip missed on a takeout and then he was heavy on a corner freeze, allowing Koe to score his bundle.
Earlier in the day, Alberta defeated the Yukon/Northwest Territories 10-6 in the 3-4 game. History was made as it was the very first time in the history of the Brier that a team from Canada’s most northern region qualified for the Brier playoffs. In this game, Kevin Koe came back as well. Down 4-3 after five ends, Kevin Koe dominated the next four ends outscoring his brother Jamie 7-2. He had a great eighth end in this game as well, as he stole four points.
Alberta will play Glenn Howard of Ontario in the final.
Also, at the World Junior Curling Championships in Ostersund, Sweden, Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher qualified for the final with a 9-3 win over Sweden in the 1-2 game. Sweden is playing Norway in the semi-final.
Tags: brendan bottcher, glenn howard, jamie koe, kevin koe, tim horton's brier, world junior curling championships
Posted in Curling | No Comments »
Saturday, March 10th, 2012
Curling Rock (Earl Andrew, Wikimedia Commons)
It will be an historic playoffs at the Tim Horton’s Brier in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan starting today. For the first time ever, Yukon/Northwest Territories will be part of the final four. There is another unique storyline here because the 3/4 game will be a battle of brothers. Jamie Koe of Yukon/Northwest Territories will take on his brother, the formidable Kevin Koe of Calgary, the 2010 World Champion. The game can be seen at 12:30pm on TSN.
The winner of the 3-4 game will play Manitoba’s Rob Fowler this evening at 6pm (TSN) in the semi-final with the winner of the semi-final playing Ontario’s Glenn Howard in tomorrow night’s final also at 6pm (TSN). Howard gave Fowler a 9-3 spanking last night in the 1-2 game, a game completely dominated by the veteran skip from Midland.
(more…)
Tags: boston bruins, bubba watson, calgary flames, claude giroux, colorado avalanche, Dany Heatley, Edmonton Oilers, evgeni malkin, Gabriel Landeskog, glenn howard, jamie koe, jarome iginla, justin rose, kevin koe, minnesota wild, paul stastny, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, rob fowler, ryan o'reilly, Sidney Crosby, tim horton's brier, toronto maple leafs
Posted in Curling, NHL, PGA | No Comments »
Thursday, March 8th, 2012
Ontario Flag
At 49 years of age, Ontario’s Glenn Howard continues to play the sport of curling at a very high level.
This week at the Tim Horton’s Brier, Howard has been the team to beat, as he leads the national bonspiel at 9-1. His only loss came to Jamie Koe of the Yukon/Northwest Territiories by a score of 10-6 in an extra end. But you can put a slight asterisk beside that Ontario loss because Howard’s lead, Craig Savill was out with the flu.
What makes Ontario so strong has been their overall consistency. They do an excellent job with their finesse shots. They may not have the same power as Team Alberta and Team Manitoba, but Howard makes up for it with his experience. He is now the all-time leader in games played at the Brier and has been representing Ontario now for 14 times.
Tonight, Howard will play Team Alberta, a rival, as Kevin Koe defeated Howard in the final of the 2010 Tim Horton’s Brier in Halifax. If Alberta defeats Nova Scotia this afternoon, first place is on the line.
Tags: 2012 tim horton's brier, craig savill, glenn howard, jamie koe, kevin koe
Posted in Curling | No Comments »
Loading ...
