Monday, December 26, 2005

Again!

Well, we had to rush back to town for the finals at the Fun Spiel again this year. Mind you, this year we had Dad as skip, so it didn't seem quite so crazy for us to win some games. (Sorry, Garth, I really enjoy playing on your team, but Dad has been a keen curler for a lot of years.) Last year was bizarre; Garth and I had been curling for a month or so, and before that, we hadn't done anything but the odd Fun Spiel since high school. The kids were in their first year of curling. And we kept winning, including a game against one of the top curling families from the area. "Welcome to Earth, third rock from the sun" (Joe Diffie). We made it into the finals, and then got put firmly in our place. But it was still great fun.

Boxing Day curling is always a good time. There are people visiting home from all over, and people gather up in-laws, children, girlfriends and boyfriends or whoever they can find to make up teams. In the two draws we played in the round robin, there were kids on every sheet, and everybody was helping and encouraging and laughing with everyone else. We had good close games all the way through, and it was great fun to just try whatever and not worry about doing the safest shots. Brian tried using a slider, even though he'd never been comfortable with one before, and he did really well with it.

So we squeaked into the finals, and won our event. It would have been a great day anyway, but I have to admit, it's fun to win, too.

3 comments:

H. Stallard said...

Hey Cool...I just did some research on curling. I had seen it before but didn't realize just how complex it could be. Sounds like it could grow on you.

Madcap said...

We just found out that in our little, generic prairie town, we have a Master Curling Ice Guy! He lives here in Horsebite, and we'd never heard a breath of him before, but he gets flown all over the world, and he's really famous in the international curling community. Funny the people that lurk in your own little town.

arcolaura said...

Ooh, it didn't even occur to me to give a link to explain the game. Yes, it certainly does grow on you. And it's much better exercise than first appears, as I remember to my chagrin every Dec. 27th!