Olympics: Olympic Curling

[Eisen]

Yeah, he did go through that. Multiple times.

Probably never covered curling.

 

[nameless1]

Gushue bronze.
23 medals for Canada.

 

[GKJ]

Sweden and Great Britain women going at it here. 7-5 Sweden after 6. Anna Hasselborg and Eve Muirhead producing fireworks.

 

[GKJ]

4 for Eve in the 9th. Incredible match. Sweden needs 3 to tie

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

RIP

 

[GKJ]

Tie game! Unbelievable. 11-11 to the 11th

 

[offkilter]

The Japanese women's team just upset the Swiss team 7-6 and will play for gold in the final. They took a three point lead in the 5th end with a beautiful 4 point shot, but nearly gave up the lead in the 7th allowed the Swiss to pull within one. They held on over the last three end which were a thrilling back and forth affair to edge them out for the win.

 

[Eisen]

The Japanese women's team just upset the Swiss team 7-6 and will play for gold in the final. They took a three point lead in the 5th end with a beautiful 4 point shot, but nearly gave up the lead in the 7th allowed the Swiss to pull within one. They held on over the last three end which were a thrilling back and forth affair to edge them out for the win.

Wow, I need to watch that game in the evening.

 

[GKJ]

Great Britain wins 12-11 in the most totally nuts game I’ve seen. If I was Swedish I’d be pretty pissed off at that coach

 

[Eisen]

Great Britain wins 12-11 in the most totally nuts game I’ve seen. If I was Swedish I’d be pretty pissed off at that coach

What happened?

 

[Rob]

The Japanese women's team just upset the Swiss team 7-6 and will play for gold in the final. They took a three point lead in the 5th end with a beautiful 4 point shot, but nearly gave up the lead in the 7th allowed the Swiss to pull within one. They held on over the last three end which were a thrilling back and forth affair to edge them out for the win.

I love their enthusiasm. Plus they are very cute

 

[Rob]

Such high scoring games. I wonder if the ice conditions are a factor?

 

[GKJ]

What happened?

Both times they called time out it looked like he got the tactics wrong of what Eve was going to do. In the 8th he wanted Anna to peel a guard when she wasn’t even thinking of that, Anna thought Eve was going for a hit to the button. He thought Eve would put the guard back up but Anna was right, and Sweden only got 1. In the 11th he wanted to freeze stones in the rings, when it looked to me they should’ve done hit and stay? Anna’s last stone overcurls just a tiny bit and Eve doesn’t even have to throw her last stone.

 

[Eisen]

I just watch the 10th end of the Sweden vs UK game. With a three stone lead, I don't get why the British didn't just play takeouts.

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

Hasselborg

 

[Eisen]

Hasselborg

The last stone in the extra end was a bit astounding.

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

The last stone in the extra end was a bit astounding.

Yup :/

Are you happy with germany's olympics? Impressive haul of medals when its all said and done.

 

[JackSlater]

Curling has been good on both sides. From a Canadian perspective it's obviously a disappointment though. They should probably come up with a more serious approach to mixed curling, and in particular do away with the rule that players cannot be in the teams events and mixed curling. The curling trials are a mistake that has very likely cost Canada gold medals over the years, though on the men's side Gushue probably does have the best team in Canada at least. His team never looked right mentally. Jones' team looked sort of like her team always looks in recent years and shouldn't have been the team selected, though Einarson doesn't inspire confidence internationally. She should have been there in 2010 though.

Not sure what exactly the solution is for Canada. The depth of teams is far beyond what any other country has but you only send one team to the Olympics, and the Olympics cannot be the only goal. No gold medals is a bad result no matter how you slice it.

 

[Eisen]

Yup :/

Are you happy with germany's olympics? Impressive haul of medals when its all said and done.

I am, honestly. Especially with the 2 unexpected ones of Herrmann and Carl/Hennig. But a little disappointed with the skijumpers (and the Garlic Girls not doing as well as last time, for some reason, I like them since Pyeongchang, still have them as my wallpaper on the PC. They had a hard time between the games and qualified after it looked like they might not).

 

[GKJ]

Curling has been good on both sides. From a Canadian perspective it's obviously a disappointment though. They should probably come up with a more serious approach to mixed curling, and in particular do away with the rule that players cannot be in the teams events and mixed curling. The curling trials are a mistake that has very likely cost Canada gold medals over the years, though on the men's side Gushue probably does have the best team in Canada at least. His team never looked right mentally. Jones' team looked sort of like her team always looks in recent years and shouldn't have been the team selected, though Einarson doesn't inspire confidence internationally. She should have been there in 2010 though.

Not sure what exactly the solution is for Canada. The depth of teams is far beyond what any other country has but you only send one team to the Olympics, and the Olympics cannot be the only goal. No gold medals is a bad result no matter how you slice it.

Just by looking around and looking up stuff, Canada's biggest problem seems to be it's own success. Everyone's hiring Canadians to coach and run their systems.

 

[JackSlater]

Just by looking around and looking up stuff, Canada's biggest problem seems to be it's own success. Everyone's hiring Canadians to coach and run their systems.

That's part of it. Certainly Wayne Middaugh has been getting lots of camera time over the years as the coach of Hesselborg's team. I recall that for some time the Chinese women's team was paid to live in Canada and train, and some teams like Edin's have basically been funded by their government to train. Unless curling becomes a sport where a country can send multiple teams then the margins will be difficult. According to the World Curling Federation's men's rankings, 8 of the top 1o men's teams are Canadian (13 of top 21). Only one of them is going to go to the Olympics however, and Edin and Mouat are as good as any teams in the world and they are going to get sent every time. Canada sometimes sends its best team, but half the time it doesn't. There is also the issue of spreading talents. Canadian curling is still very much divided among provincial lines (though this is becoming less of an issue) and that spreads the talent around. Sweden has one good team, and it's an excellent team. In Canada however Oscar Eriksson would be skipping his own team and there would be two great teams rather than one exceptional team.

The women's side is more open, with 4 of the top 10 teams coming from Canada and 10 of the top 21 overall. Same thing overall though with talent spread out rather than placed in one or two teams. If you stitched a women's team together out of say... Fleury, Lawes, Birchard, and Courtney and gave them some time to build chemistry it would probably be a lot stronger than any Canadian women's team currently is.

There are lots of good teams now though, and that makes for a good viewing experience.

 

[GKJ]

That's part of it. Certainly Wayne Middaugh has been getting lots of camera time over the years as the coach of Hesselborg's team. I recall that for some time the Chinese women's team was paid to live in Canada and train, and some teams like Edin's have basically been funded by their government to train. Unless curling becomes a sport where a country can send multiple teams then the margins will be difficult. According to the World Curling Federation's men's rankings, 8 of the top 1o men's teams are Canadian (13 of top 21). Only one of them is going to go to the Olympics however, and Edin and Mouat are as good as any teams in the world and they are going to get sent every time. Canada sometimes sends its best team, but half the time it doesn't. There is also the issue of spreading talents. Canadian curling is still very much divided among provincial lines (though this is becoming less of an issue) and that spreads the talent around. Sweden has one good team, and it's an excellent team. In Canada however Oscar Eriksson would be skipping his own team and there would be two great teams rather than one exceptional team.

The women's side is more open, with 4 of the top 10 teams coming from Canada and 10 of the top 21 overall. Same thing overall though with talent spread out rather than placed in one or two teams. If you stitched a women's team together out of say... Fleury, Lawes, Birchard, and Courtney and gave them some time to build chemistry it would probably be a lot stronger than any Canadian women's team currently is.

There are lots of good teams now though, and that makes for a good viewing experience.

Canada having such a robust national scene also incentivizes them to have enough teams who are great as opposed to one who is exceptional I would guess. I looked up other countries, and like Switzerland always has world class women's teams but it seems they only have 3 in their country worth a shit, and the team that's here has their fourth as a former skip of one of them.

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

Team Edin wins gold!!!!!!!!!

 

[LiveeviL]

Very nice last end for Sweden, really nothing substantial to do with the last Scottish stone.

 

[GKJ]

I’m definitely glad for Edin. Been a fun team to watch when I’ve seen them since 2010. Hoping the same for Eve tomorrow.