The Second Season

Last night was our first playoff game this season. We ended up tied for 3rd in the B Division, however due to tiebreakers, we were seeded 4th. So, we ended up playing the 5th place team. In theory, this shouldn't be that bad, because we've beaten the 5th place team 3 out of 3 times this season. The game didn't start off that great, as they were able to score 1 point in the first end and then steal 2 in the 2nd, to lead 3-0 after 2 ends. However, we got on our game and scored a huge 4 point end in the third, followed by a steal of 2 in the 4th. We were comfortably in the lead 6-3 halfway through the game. At this point, we should have played the rest of the game defensively and not allowed them a chance to get back in the game. We've blown big leads many times this season... and last night was no different. We narrowly avoided being scored 4 against in the 5th end, thanks to a missed shot by the opposing skip, but they still scored 2 to narrow the gap to 6-5. The next two ends just spelled disaster, as they were able to steal one point in both the 6th and 7th, to lead 7-6 heading into the last end. In the last end with the hammer, we were only able to manage 1 point, which sent us into extra ends. It, of course, came down to the last rocks. Our skip making a perfect draw to the 8 foot behind cover, and the last rock of the end was a missed takeout by the opposing skip, which gave us the 8-7 extra end victory.

So, we move onto the semi-finals. We play the first place team, which had a bye this week so hopefully they're a bit rusty. It could be the last week if we lose. If we win, we play on a special Wednesday night for the B Division championship.

Exciting times we live in.

I Have A New Lease On Life!

Well, that title might be overstating things a wee bit, but I'm still pretty excited... I just bought a new game for my Nintendo DS. Wait for it.... it's Tetris! That's right a brand new version of Tetris made for the DS. It's got the same old version that made it great in the first place, plus about 5 other variations. On top of that, you can play online. So, my suggestion to you is to get a DS and challenge me to a game. We're goin' to school...

My Weekend

There's one thing I've been lucky enough to avoid for the last, oh I don't know... 8 or so years. That thing is sickness. Not "I've got a cold and my throat hurts" sickness or kidney stones, which I don't really classify as sickness, but hard-core not keeping anything down... or up (if you know what I mean). And that's what I discovered I had at 4:30am Saturday morning. It made my entire weekend a writeoff, and it was quite the bad weekend to have that happen. Saturday was an office get together, which consisted of Bowling and Pizza, and Sunday was the 2nd TPTP event of 2006 (Dan was the big weiner, so I hear). This evening, I seem to be enough on the mend to envision myself getting up for work tomorrow. I suppose that's how it goes... get sick from the very beginning of the weekend until the very end. I've never even taken a sick day from work in the 2 and a half years I've been here.

Anyway, I was able to keep myself entertained this weekend (for the part I could keep my eyes open anyway) with the movie version of the musical "Rent" and with the Leafs game on Saturday night (although I fell asleep during the first period and didn't wake up until halfway through the second period of the next game). It's times like this that make me really wish I had a wife-type person... you know, just so I'd have someone around to listen to my incessant whining.

Useful fact of the day: Water tastes a lot like toothpaste if you drink it right after puking. Go figure.

The Three Words... Of Doom

So, according to some, I use three words too much.

1. Totally
2. Seriously
3. Absolutely

Look at that, they all end with "ly". I wonder what that means. Anyway, I'm not really that bad, am I?

Hey Matt, Do You Like Curling Or Something?

Last night I took a trip down the 401 to London to see the Scott Tournament of Hearts at the John Labatt Centre. I was eager to make it out to at least one draw this week, as I quite enjoyed watching The Scott three years ago when it was in Kitchener. Jessica came with me and we were treated to four games at once, which is a challenge to keep track of. The games were Alberta vs Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia vs PEI, BC vs the Territories, and New Brunswick vs Ontario. The first two matches I mentioned turned out to be blowouts and were over after 8 (out of ten) ends. In fact, PEI wasn't able to even score a point until the eigth end, losing 6-1. The TV game last night was BC vs the Territories. It was a decent game, going the full 10 ends. However, it wasn't a cliffhanger, with BC leading by 3 points going into the last end. The other match turned out to be quite the thriller, as Ontario was trailing by 2 in the last end, without the hammer, where they were able to steal 2 to send it into an extra end. The extra end finished up with two amazing shots, the first by Ontario to put their rock on the button behind lots of cover with a triple raise. The last rock of the game was a great angle raise takeout by New Brunswick to score the point and win the match. The official score says NB scored three in the extra end, which is true, but it was much closer than that suggested.

The only real disappointment of the night was when I realized halfway to London, that I forgot my camera. It's quite interesting to see a hockey arena converted to four sheets of curling ice. Oh well, next time I suppose.