Ice Problems

I don't remember so many "picks" during the round robin play, do you? But now, all the sudden, we hear about rocks "picking" and hence upsetting the game and the players. Why the difference from the round robin?

In the 9th end, Morris executed a perfect draw behind a Ferby rock on the button and just bit the back of the 12' rings. And after Nedohin missed either a double or a hit and stick, Martin had a relatively easy hit and stick for two. I say relatively easy because Martin and Morris had quite a discussion about how much the rock might curl, even with the weight Martin throws.

After 9: Ferby 8, Martin 7

The Top Teams Move on to the Play-offs

After watching the Brier all week (well, whenever I could sneak a peek away from my work), I had the impression that as good a curler as Kevin Martin is, he just was not quite as good as the top three teams: Ontario, Manitoba, and NF/L. I was glad he made it to the play-offs, but the defeat of Alberta by Manitoba in the 3-4 game seemed reasonable, given their apparent abilities demonstrated throughout the week.

As we go into today's semi-final, I am confident that any one of these three teams will serve Canada well at the World's next month in Edmonton. That confidence makes me a bit less upset than I would otherwise be at the ice conditions in Hamilton. If one of the better teams were eliminated because of bad luck with debris on the ice, I would be more-than-disappointed (see here for more). But the ice conditions impart a randomness to the outcomes of the games that provides strong support for the use of the page play-off system, where the top two teams from the round robin are less likely to be eliminated from the final simply because of some random events on the ice.

What Is With That Ice at the Brier?

I have never heard so many complaints from the competitors in major tournaments/bonspiels about the ice as we have been hearing from the curlers at the 2007 Tim Hortons Brier in Hamilton. What gives?

Why are there so many "picks" this year as compared with other tournaments?

• I simply do not believe it is because the curlers are using dirty equipment, as Dave Merklinger implied in one of the interviews he gave. Is there any reason at all to believe the equipment is dirtier this year than it has been in the past? (well, maybe dirtier shoes? See below.)
  
• Also, I do not believe the problem arises from curlers' leaving their hands or knees on the ice too long and creating flat spots; again, the incidence of these behaviours this year seems no higher than in the past, when there were far fewer problems.
• One possibility is that the curlers are tracking crud onto the ice from the walkways. If so, certainly those areas should be kept cleaner. And, as is done some some places (e.g. the Scotties), the curlers should wear shoe covers on their way to and from the ice. Quite frankly, I cannot believe they are not required to do this, but the TSN announcers say they aren't.
• Another possibility might be from the ventilation system. If it is not well-filtered, all it takes is a few ducts to spew dust and crud onto the ice to create more picks.

Whatever the problem, I hate seeing the randomness that results from picks be responsible for some of the scoring. And surely, if picks are a problem, wouldn't you, as a curler, want to throw very slightly less weight and have the brushers keep the path clean? Why aren't the curlers adjusting better?

For an interview that Alan did with Dave Merklinger (ice-maker at the Scott last year and at the Brier this year), click here.