Doc Palmer and Alan Adamson:Reports and Interviews from The Scott

There is a reason that Phil and Sparky refer to me now and then as "Doc Palmer".

From late 1980s through the late 1990s I was a sportscaster, doing baseball play-by-play of first the AA London Tigers and, after they moved, for the independent league London Werewolves.

And now it looks as if Alan Adamson, my co-blogger at Curling, and I will be doing regular reports on CHRW from the Scott Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian Women's Curling championship. The tournament, referred to colloquially as "The Scott", runs from Saturday, February 25th, through Sunday, March 5th.

From time-to-time, Alan and I will be filing brief reports and interviews from The Scott. We will also be providing CHRW with longer interviews that they can use between periods during their evening broadcasts of UWO hockey games. We also expect to make the raw interviews available as wma files from an as-yet-to-be-determined podcast site.

We have been trying to make arrangements to broadcast play-by-play of one of the round robin morning draws (which are not being televised by either TSN or CBC), and it might happen, but don't hold your breath. If it does happen, CHRW has streaming audio, so everyone, all around the world, will be able to listen.

When we mention doing radio play-by-play of curling matches, many people roll their eyes in disbelief; some are even so rude as to feign a yawn. As one news director said, "The game is pretty slow. What will you talk about?"

For many curling fans, though, curling is no slower than baseball [despite Craig Newmark's e-mailed reaction that he thinks curling makes baseball seem like formula one]. Furthermore, the time between shots is used for description and analysis, just as it is between pitches in baseball. Curling has been described as "chess on ice" by some people. The strategies and counter-strategies would provide ample material for people to enjoy via the radio. Here's hoping we can work something out -- stay tuned!