Thanks for all the support

The Club Playdowns were great. It was nice to have all the support of Nutmeggers.

The level of competition was definitely better than last year. However, there were five and under teams there as well who were very good. Get together and form a team for next year. Especially on the Women's side. Nutmeg has good curlers because we have all received great instruction and support from the "experienced" members. It would be great to have a men's and women's team playing for Nutmeg next year.

There will be plenty of ways to follow the action from Utica, more on that later.

Jeff

Onto Utica!!!!!

Congratulations to Jeff Hannon, Derek Surka, Angelo Marasciulo, and Joel Leneker for winning the 2nd spot to the club nationals for the GNCC. There were 13 men's teams in all and the round robin play with tiebreakers forced the playoffs to today. Team Hannon had won their pool and played the winner of the other pool this morning (Team Faircloth). It was a very tight game and, unfortunately, they weren't able to hang on for the win. So Team Hannon then had to play the winner of the 2v2 game - Team Tyner from Broomstones - to see who would get the second slot to Nationals. The game has just ended and Team Hannon has emerged victorious!!! Great job, boys - you did so well representing us and we will be very proud to have you represent Nutmeg at the USCA Club Championships in Utica, NY.

Live from Broomstones, it's Sunday night!

The was supposed to be over today. However, lots of tiebreakers so the Club National Playdowns have been extended an extra day. Team Hannon beat the top team (at the time) in their pool twice, including this Sunday morning. That put them in the Championship final as Charrissa said.

The other round robin pool was just decided and the winner is Team Faircloth from Potomac. Last year's champion. So a rematch is in the making for the Nutmeg team. Final goes off at 8:00am Monday morning. The "coach", Sally, will be in attendance and will update hopefully this blog or at least Twitter the results. You can go HERE to follow the tweets from twitter.

A few more emails to send and then off to bed for the big game.

Jeff

Go Team Hannon go!

Since the Broomstones coverage on-line has been a bit spotty, I'll share the lowdown.
Our boys from Nutmeg - Jeff Hannon, Derek Surka, Angelo Marasciulo, and Joel Leneker have won their pool and advance to the championship game in the GNCC Club Playdowns. This means that they will play the winner of the other pool tomorrow morning at 8am. The winner of that game advances to the USCA Club National Championships (to be held in March in Utica, NY). The loser of that game will play the winner of the 2 v 2 game (the second place finishers from each pool playing eachother) for the 2nd slot to the national championships.

We are all so proud of them and how they are representing our club!

With any luck, there will be some line scores or shot-by-shot tracking to follow the game tomorrow morning.

Go Team Hannon!!!

bump in the road - Club Playdowns

Team Hannon had a little bump in the road this morning. A loss to Team Lesuk from Ardsley drop them to 3-1. They play the top team in the pool this afternoon at 4pm. A win will put them in a tiebreaker for first in the pool. A loss would be a tiebreaker game for second.

Naps are occuring right now for some of the team. Off to lunch soon then back to the club for the next game.

Jeff

Club Nationals update

Greetings. Well, so far we are doing okay. Two close games that we won. This afternoon another win in 8 ends. Next up two more games on Saturday at 8am and 4pm. The 4pm game is against the 2nd ranked team in our pool. Need to win both and then off to the playoffs. First things first, win the game at 8:00.

Everyone playing really well and meshing well. Have enjoyed the competition. The level of play has been great.

Off to bed soon so we can get up early and head to the club.

Jeff

USCA Club Nationals

Another National championship that a Nutmeg team is trying to attend. Team Hannon with members Derek, Angelo and Joel will be in playing at Broomstones starting Thursday Jan. 22. Two teams of the 13 attending will advance after the playdowns to Utica for the Nationals.

The format is a split round robin with Team Hannon in a pool with 6 teams so they have 5 games to make the playoffs. Team Hannon starts play at 4pm on Thursday.

Hopefully Broomstones will be posting results on their website or you can keep up with us via Twitter here. I will also try to blog some of the results and play as the weekend progresses.

Jeff

Let's go to Denver!!!!

Congrats to Charrissa, Tanya, Karen and Nicole along with coach Joseph on the win this morning. Exciting, nerve wracking and fabulous.

The last two ends were reallllly nervous to watch especially for Derek who got permission to attend. Team Lin down one without the hammer in nine. Charrissa made two nice shots without the hammer to leave Anne Stuhlman just a draw to the four foot for one. Anne came up light and it was a steal of three.

Tenth end, up two without the hammer. Team Lin trying to keep it clean. A flash on a takeout of a guard makes it interesting. Anne has two rocks touching the four foot with one behind the button. Charrissa makes a great freeze down to that rock to sit shot. Anne tries to throw a big weight takeout to remove the Lin rock and her own. Flash. Charrissa comes up just a bit short on another draw to the button but it is a good guard. Anne tries the same takeout and makes contact but not enough to remove the Lin rock. Anne scores one and Charrissa wins!

Congrats to all the teams that played at Ardsley. Sandra McMakin from Potomac who has been to Nutmeg for instructor classes also advances to the challenge round.

Okay Nutmeg, road trip to Denver upcoming!

Jeff

Charrissa in a tiebreaker

Charrissa lost to Patti so now has to play in a tiebreaker game for the third spot to the Trials. There is three way tie for third. Charrissa will play the winner of the first tiebreaker game.

Updated: The first tiebreaker game will be played tonight at 6:00pm. The winner of that game will play Charrissa tomorrow morning at 9:00am. The losing team in both games advances to the Challenge (second chance) round.

Jeff

Derek down to his final chance

Derek lost his game this morning in an extra end. He had stolen two in the tenth to tie and lost in the 11th.

Now he plays another game against the loser of the other game, Matt Hames. Winner of that game goes to the second chance and the loser is done. GO DEREK!

Jeff

Fifth end break update

Charrissa stole one in the first after Patti made a great shot to only give up one. A tick of a guard in the second gave Patti a draw for three. Blank third end. Charrissa had a good chance for two in the fourth but again Patti made a great shot and Charrissa drew for one. Patti had open draw for two in the fifth and was slightly heavy, measure for second shot goes to Charrissa.

4-2 after five ends, Charrissa starts the sixth with the hammer.

Jeff

Sunday update

In Boston, Derek is playing for a spot in the Second Chance. If he wins he is in, if he loses he plays again for a second try.

At Ardsley, Charrissa is about to play Patty Lank. If she wins, she advances directly to the Trials. A loss probably sets up a tiebreaker for the Trials spot. I think she has a spot in the second chance locked up at this point.

Jeff

Derek loses the first

Okay, so here is the situation. He plays Farbelow again at 8:00pm. If Derek wins, they play again with the winner being the pool winner. If he loses then he finishes second and plays for a second chance spot. Simple, huh?

Jeff

Saturday update

Charrissa lost her game this morning to Erika Brown. Still in the hunt for the third spot to the trials as the team they lost to yesterday also lost. Big game tonight against the GNCC Junior champions of Katlyn Beebe.

Derek is even more complicated then I explained this morning. At this point he is basically in a playoff with Farbelow. Those two teams need to determine first place so they play each other at least twice. If one team wins both, they win the pool and move to the playoffs for a Trials spot. If they split the two games they have to play once again to determine the winner. The rest from this morning applies. Winner of the pool plays for a Trials spot, second place team plays for a spot at the second chance.

Jeff

Trials update after Friday

Okay, this is a bit complicated but here goes. Derek has qualified for the playoffs. If he wins today he will play in the playoffs to go directly to the Trials. He would then need to win one of his next two to get there. A loss today would give him a playoff to get to the second chance event where there is another round robin to play with 4 teams from that going to the Trials. So, basically his game today is a playoff and a very big game. They play at Noon.

Charrissa is tied for 3rd right now and needs to win 2 of the next 3 to get to the Trials (I think). She plays one of the top seeds today and the other tomorrow. So things will be clearer after today.

We watched the game yesterday afternoon. They played well but the other team played better. A tough day but they will bounce back today I know it.

Heading down there soon so updates will happen later.

Jeff

A good day for Nutmeg

Charrissa won both her games today. She is 3-0 at this point with her next tomorrow morning at 9:00am.

Derek won his first game today and is off until tomorrow at Noon. Derek won in an extra end against wily veteran Stu Graves. Stu has his Senior National team there to get some practice for the Senior World playdowns. He is always tough. So, a good start for Derek, Tim, Sean and Ron.

Sally and I are heading down to Ardsley tonight to catch some of the action.

Jeff

Another W for Charrissa

A big confidence boosting win this morning. Derek on the ice right now, Charrissa back at it at 2:00.

Jeff

Charrissa wins her first

A big steal of 2 in the tenth to wrap up a win for team Lin. Anne Stuhlman is a tough team and this was a great game to pull out. Congrats to Charrissa, Tanya, Nicole and Karen. Keep it up!

Jeff

Follow all the Trials action

Charrissa starts today at 4:30, Derek starts tomorrow (Thurs) at noon.

You can follow the action from all of the regional events HERE. Under the scoreboard just click on the region you want to follow. Derek and Charrissa are both playing in the East.

The complete schedule for all the regionals is also available at the USCA site.

If you are a Twitter user, they may also be posting some info there as well.

Jeff

Online Scoring From Ardsley

For those interested in following Charrissa's team in their quest for the gold which starts tomorrow (Wednesday, January 7) at Ardsley, there will be real-time shot-tracking available at www.broomstones.com for the following games:

Friday 1/9 9:00am - Lin vs. Montgomery
Friday 1/9 2:00pm - Lin vs. McMakin
Saturday 1/10 9:00am - Lin vs. Brown
Saturday 1/10 7:00pm - Lin vs. Beebe
Sunday 1/11 1:00pm - Lin vs. Lank

This is courtesy of Sharon Cutter and Teri Olsen of Broomstones. End-by-end scoring will also be available at www.usacurl.org/curlingrocks/