Some Early Results

Saskatchewan:

Amber Holland jumped off to a 4-0 lead with a steal of three in the second end and never looked back, defeating Cindy Ricci 9-2 in their semi-final of the Saskatchewan Scott Tournament of Hearts. Holland meets Lawton in the final this evening. Through the round robin, Lawton looked spectacular and Holland struggled.

Canadian Open: Apparently the 4th-end break helped the Howard rink regroup, as they tied the game with McEwen 4-4 in regulation play. In the extra end, Howard made what looked to be an unmake-able double, but then McEwen played a very tight take-out for the win. I'm sure lots and lots of hockey fans were inspired by that curling! 8-)

Ontario: As I'm writing this, Homan leads McCarville 9-6 after 9 ends. Homan jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but McCarville edged her way back and stole 2 in the 8th to make it close. Homan scored 2 in the 9th to take a three-rock lead into the 10th end. [Update: Homan wins 9-6]

Additional thoughts/questions:

• I'm still struggling, trying to get used to 8-end games like the Canadian Open among the pros and semi-pros. We play lots of 8-end games at our club, but I keep expecting more. If they've cut back on curling to have more cutesy interviews, I'm less-than-keen on them.
• Kudos to Saskcurl for trying to do so much with their website. The webcasts have been very good. At the same time, though, they really need to work on fixing all the things on their site that don't work.