Schenectady: The First Night

Posted by Britt

We arrived in Schenectady and got checked in to the hotel in the afternoon. This gave us an hour or two just to relax and unwind. Our first draw was scheduled for 8:30 PM, but there was an early draw starting at 6 PM and our colleagues from Nutmeg would be playing in it, so we wanted to go and watch. This of course had nothing to do with the fact that I was hungry or that David & Mike wanted to scout out the ice, of course.

The club is beautiful. A large warm room with a fireplace a large bar area and everything you could want short of a restaurant in there. the folks are very friendly. and dont get me started about their locker room, its massive. I love nutmeg, but this if I have to travel, this is the kind of place I'd want to travel to.

Our friends from Nutmeg 2, fought valiantly and played a very close match. Joel kept them off guard by stealing a few ends early but in the end they could not pull off the win. They played one Hell of a game and I was honored to congratulate them coming off the ice. they play again today @ 12:30 and we will be there, so we wish them well. I think they have a very good chance of going to the 2nd event final and had fate been a little kinder, the 1st event final.

We played a team from Schenectady who could not have been a nicer group of guys. We took 4 in the first end and just cruised from there. We kept waiting for them to make some sort of comeback attempt and played consistently and aggressively, but they couldn't mount a comeback and we won the game 13-2 after 6 ends. We play today @ 9:30.

We are having a blast, the people here are fantastic and I have met so many nice people. The level of competition is strong but there are teams here with only a year of experience. The lead on the team we played last night, is in his first year, so anyone who gives you the impression that you have to have a certain amount of experience before you go to one of these events, is a fool. there, I said it. The team we played last night was no better or worse experience and skill wise than anyone I've played at the club level. The blessing and curse of the 5 & Under bracket is the time frame. You're learning the game and unsure of your skills but you only have a limited amount of time to develop those skills before these events are inaccessible. DO NOT WAIT! Go to a Bonspiel, if you think you're not ready, you're wrong. The game is only half the fun and trust me you will have fun.

I'm finishing breakfast and getting ready for the morning draw as I type this. I was nervous last night until I stepped on the ice, and I'm more nervous right now. We set a pretty high standard last night and I only hope we can keep it up. Last night was easily the best game I've played all year and it will be tough to top it, but I'll try. Keep us in your thought. -Britt

Openers

Posted by Britt

Hi everybody. I wanted a place I could post my thoughts and progress as we head out on the road this season. I'm traveling with David Asano, Mike Hope & Sean Mayne. We are hitting Schenectady for the USWCA 5 & Under before heading to the Dykes in February. We leave in a little under a week and I thought a blog would be an ideal place for us to all post our ideas.

So stay tuned, I'll be asking the other team members to post as we travel and represent Nutmeg on the open trail this year. I'm both excited and scared to be heading to Schenectady this week. Excited to get a taste of competition outside the club walls and terrified to experience competition outside the club walls. I'm reassured that I'm traveling with a wonderful group of teammates, all of which bring something different to the team. Sean brings a consistency in the 4th slot that is hard to find anywhere else. He is one of the few people I have ever met who has been able to take the lessons he learned in his 15 years of bowling and be able to adapt them to curling. In all the years I've known him, I've never met anyone with a more consistent approach to bowling in the way he approaches each and every shot. Mike has traveled a bit already and has experience out in bonspiels. He'll know many of the teams we will face and will be able to help us evaluate teams and identify our own weaknesses as well. David is as enthusiastic as anyone I've ever met at the club and is willing to go out there and have a great time. He has helped me fine tune my delivery a great deal in the last month or so and has a depth of knowledge that is rivaled in many with his level of experience. All in all, the only one who does not seem to have a particular purpose on this team is me, so I've busied myself with helping on the preparation front, organizing practices and communications. So far its been a lot of fun and we haven't even left home yet.

Our draw comes out Monday & we leave Friday. Wish us luck, we will need it. -Britt