Canada Was Simply Out-Curled by the U.S.

I wrote earlier that I thought Anette Norberg and the Swedish rink at the 2006 Ford Women's World Curling Championship would be unstoppable. After watching Debbie McCormick and the U.S. rink defeat Kelly Scott and Team Canada by a score of 6 to 2 last night, I have to say that the U.S. team looks mighty good too.

Kelly Scott had a bit of an off night, misjudging the weight on several of her own shots. All through the match, Ms. Eclectic and I argued about how much of the difference in the game was due to strategic errors and how much was due to shooting errors by Canada.

Regardless of the reason, Team US looked very good: good game plan, good strategies, and good shot-making.

And Team Canada looks now as if it will struggle. Canada has better than even odds of making the playoffs, but they could even miss the playoffs. This morning, Canada, at 6-3, plays 5-4 Denmark, and this evening (tape delayed again!!!???) Canada plays the wily veteran, Nordby, and the Norwegian rink (4-5).

Meanwhile, Sweden squeaked past China for 6-5 win last night. China, at 5 -4, still looks better than their W-L record and stats would indicate. Watch out for them to be spoilers or long-shot winners.

And where did Germany come from to be 6-3??? Talk about your real sleepers!