The 2010 Scott Semi-Finals: PEI vs. Ontario, Conclusion

My guess is that ON needs to score more than one in the 8th end (while they have the hammer) if they want to have even a ghost of a chance against PEI.

End #8: Again, PEI starts with rocks in the rings and ON tries for corner guards. And again O'Rourke nose hits a guard, giving ON a chance to do more in the rings. 2nd time, she peels the guard. guard-peel, etc., again. Ramsay ticks on a corner guard, loses her shooter, and removes a PEI rock from the rings. Oops... the front end of ON called a George rock to be back 4', but it was top 4'. Set up a double for Carmody. Hit and roll attempt by McCarville, but the shooter either went too far or not far enough, sitting wide open and pickable. Beauty double by McCarville to score 2 and keep ON in the game.
PEI 8, ON 6

End #9: Two rocks in the rings for PEI (one too deep) and two centre guards for ON. Freeze by ON to the PEI rock on the side of the 4'. PEI peels the guard. Miharija's draw attempt ticks on the guard, rolls over to the side 12'. PEI peels the guard. George puts up a guard, and PEI removes a rock from the rings. PEI lies 1, George draws around the guard to be shot rock. PEI removes the guard. McCarville puts up a near-centre guard, but PEI thinks they can knock out a couple of ON rocks. A knock-out and a top leave PEI sitting two. ON's play is a draw around the near-centre guard. 4' heavy and sweepers could have held up on it. That leaves Carmody a draw to the full 8' for one, or if she's bold, a slight tap-back for three. They settle for one.
PEI 9, ON 6

End #10: ON has the hammer and must score three to tie and force an extra end. It's doable, but unlikely. The curling percentages have gotten closer (as reflected in the tighter score), and Carmody is curling over 90%, twenty percentage points more than McCarville!

Two guards by ON, two in the rings by PEI (which really bothers both Ray and Linda [colour commentators]). Both of them would prefer that PEI keep the rings clean. I have to agree. And once again O'Rourke, who has the lowest curling percentage on the ice for this game, noses the guard. So, to quote Doyle, "the game is afoot."

Hit and flop by George, but not quite far enough. Ramsay was wide with a pick, but got a very lucky double, making life pretty difficult for ON. George's draw ticks a guard and is wide open. Carmody hits and rolls out. Time out PEI.

As it is, PEI has shot in the top 8, ON has a rock in the top 12. ON needs to get rid of the PEI rock and score three. It'll take a miracle for them to pull this off. They freeze to their own, which is a pretty good strategy. If Carmody completely misses now, then ON can nose it and score 3. PEI decides to guard against this possibility, which will make life very miserable for ON. The guard is pretty tight. The only shot left for McCarville is to play a hard split so that her shooter barely slides in and the guard hits and rolls out and the momentum is high enough to move the two reds onto the yellow and drive it out. I don't know that I've seen her throw this much weight, but it sure is exciting to contemplate.

Nope. PEI steals one.

Final Score: PEI 10, ON 6

Digression: what a great day for sports couch potatoes tomorrow! Soccer in the morning at 11am, Scotties final at 2:30pm, and the SuperBowl at 6:30.

The 2010 Scott Semi-Finals: PEI vs. Ontario, Part II

Holy Crow! the bottom 3 for ON are all curling under 70%!! No wonder they're trailing. Also, they look emotionally beaten. I doubt if they can come back -- it would really be something if they do.

End #6:Corner guard by ON; two in the rings by PEI. Tap back by Maclean (ON lead) was a bit off but okay. PEI removes the ON rock in the rings. Draw by Miharija a bit heavy, lies between two PEI rocks in the 4' and is neatly picked out by O'Rourke. Miharija's second draw attempt is way light and leaves two guards for ON. PEI peels the centre guard, but why? leaving it would have made life hard for ON.

George freezes to a PEI rock but is only 3rd shot. But Ramsay flashes, sailing through a very narrow port. George tries to freeze to the other PEI rock on the button, but comes up waaayyy short, leaving a tight centre guard. And as PEI calls time-out, I'm going to replenish my scotch.

PEI decides to remove the only ON rock in the rings. Didn't remove it, but moved it over so that PEI lies 3. I heard part of the ON discussion, and I think they misread the angles a bit. They got a double but lost the run-back rock. Carmody draws to lie 2. At this stage, McCarville has to try to double for two to get back into the game. It's not a dead-sure double, though, but she makes it.
PEI 7, ON 4

End #6: It's sad: they just showed the local sponsors for all the teams. They all had 4 sponsors listed except the Territories, who have only one local sponsor --- KFC Yellowknife.

Well, after that nice double by McCarville, is there a chance her confidence will return and ON can get back into the game?

ON tries to set up guards, but not successfully. guard-peel, etc. Horrible miss by O'Rourke: nose hit on the guard leaves her shooter as a guard, peels her own from the rings, and taps the ON rock over behind the guard.

George tries to draw behind the guard but is narrow and heavy, leaving a hit and flop for McCarville [I just reread this; I think I combined/confused the effects of 2 or 3 shots; sorry]. She opts to tap instead. Carmody taps the ON rock over, lies 2, but leaves a possible double or freeze by ON. ON chooses to freeze and does so beautifully, lying shot, forcing a draw for 1 by Carmody.
PEI 8, ON 4

The 2010 Scott Semi-Finals: PEI vs. Ontario, Part I

Ontario soundly defeated BC this afternoon by a score of only 6-4, but the back end of ON was noticeably better than that of BC for the 3-4 page play-off.

So now Ontario has a rematch with PEI in the semi-final. It will be VERY interesting to see which teams show up, since both of them have had games when they were really good and other games when they were worse than mediocre.

End #1: Maybe I'll get some of my carping out of the way now. I wonder what the day jobs are for the programmers for Curlcast. Surely full-time programmers wouldn't have created such a user unfriendly site (unless they were told to do so).

Hit and over-roll by ON, followed by an over-shot draw by PEI. Not an auspicious beginning. Two more draws that are a bit too deep. Double and roll by George (ON vice), but shot rock is wide open for a hit-and-roll, which was missed big time by Ramsay (PEI Vice). McCarville (Skip ON) under-curls with her guard attempt. Tap back by Ramsay leaves PEI shot, with a bunch of ON rocks at the back of the house. Nice tap by McCarville leaves ON sitting 2 or 3, forcing Carmody (skip, PEI) to draw to sit shot. The PEI team held their breaths, but the draw was good to the back of the button. McCarville tries to freeze but comes up a foot short. PEI is shot with a draw to the button for 2. Carmody has draw weight (finally?)
PEI 2, ON 0

End #2: Oops. Work matters arose, requiring my attention. As I look at this end, they have just finished throwing vice stones, with one from ON in the top 12, exposed, and two other rocks over on the side in front of the house. Carmody hits and rolls away from the guards, leaving a biter on the edge of the 12'. McCarville hits and rolls over, but not quite behind the guards. Hit and flop by Carmody puts PEI partially behind a guard, forcing McCarville to draw for one.
PEI 2, ON 1

End #3: I`m almost embarrassed to admit it, but I love the Capital One ad that combines all the holidays.

Nuts. More work to do. I`ll see how much I can get done. Nice tap by Carmody with her first rock, but it leaves a pocket for McCarville to freeze to. But McCarville is outside a bit and a bit light, leaving a hit for 4. But she missed slightly and scored ònly`three.
PEI 5, ON1

End #4: As I am finally able to join the end in progress, they're on 2nd rocks. There are two corner guards, and two rocks in the rings. Miharija (ON 2nd) draws, but is wide open. Ramsay (PEI vice) hits it on the nose and sticks. George (ON vice) hits and slides slightly toward the centre. Another nose-hit-and-stick by Ramsay.

George wrecks on a guard, trying to draw. Carmody sort of buggers a shot, knocking one of the PEI rocks back and not removing the ON rock. McCarville has a very difficult tap back to lie 3. Too light: didn't get behind the guard with the shooter and didn't remove the PEI rock (still shot). Carmody tries to draw to split the rings, but drifts back too far, leaving a possible double for 3 for McCarville. A shade narrow and scored only one.
PEI 5, ON 2

End #5: Two centre guards for ON, two in the house for PEI. Miharija's draw is a bit short, ending top 12. O'Rourke removes it and rolls to corner 12'. Miharija draws to the back 4 from the other side. O'Rourke peels the short guard. George puts up a tighter guard.

Small attendance again, compared with the crowds when this was held in London, ON.

Ramsay peels the long guard. George draws around the tight guard, and ON lies 2 for now. I can't figure out what Ramsay was trying to do as she shook up her own rocks in the house. Maybe trying to open the path to the button? Nevertheless, McCarville seems non-plussed. McCarville tries to draw around a PEI stone in the house, but again is a tad light and open. But PEI eschews the hit, opting for a Carmody tap back of their own instead. McCarville again was outside the broom (or else the broom was set out too far) and flashed on a classic angle raise. But Carmody made a perfect angle raise to score two.
PEI 7, ON 2

Break Time!