Start of the Scott

I left Toronto early, then I settled in at my home for the next week. Then, with some trepidation and a hand-drawn map, I set out for the John Labatt Centre.

It took me almost 30 minutes, past some nice old houses, on a very nice afternoon. London downtown was fairly quiet, and a little run-down, but everywhere hung flags advertising the Scott and most shop windows had displays of hearts and curling paraphernalia. This made me smile, but I was still a little anxious as I headed for the JLC.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I arrived, as I thought I’d be the conspicuous as the only one there. I was dead wrong! The place was busy, and I went to my seat quietly: the Hot Shots competition was underway. Right away, I saw both Joneses, Colleen and Jennifer, and all my anxiety was gone, replaced by a little thrill: here I was, in the presence of my curling idols. I was instantly drawn in. They both made it to the semis, and competed on my side of the rink (Sheet D). It was fun to see this in person, as you only get little snippets on TV. Ultimately Colleen went on to win the whole thing and we all spilled out into the sunshine. I walked around the downtown a bit and then returned to the arena.

DRAW ONE
I arrived just after practice had ended, and settled in to my seat. The MC came out and announced the pipers. What I hadn’t realized from watching on TV was that when the pipers marched out at the head of the teams, the crowd stood. I loved that: clapping my hands in time with the pipes and focusing on the teams entering the arena. The curlers came in clapping too, marching in lines around the whole arena and then back to the start. Then Oh Canada was sung, the MC wished everyone good curling, and ‘let the games begin!’

My sheet had what I thought would be a good game, NS versus King’s AB crew, but Team Alberta was outplayed the whole game, and inevitably lost. The best game ended up being ON and Northwest Territories, on the far sheet, with Koe almost pulling off a first-game upset. NB’s young team skipped by towering Andrea Kelly trounced PEI, and Saskatchewan edged favourites BC.

After the game on my sheet, Colleen got a big cheer as she left the ice: all the fans I’ve heard for years have done so much complaining about her... and yet in person they love her. And I have to admit, I liked her too.

DRAW TWO
But it was the evening draw I was waiting for with baited breath: Team Canada’s debut. The afternoon draw went long with extra ends and I raced home the half hour jog and raced back again to make sure I was there when the piper’s first notes rang out. The fourth team out was headed by the Canada flag and then there was Jennifer, giving Scottie’s Little Softie (the big, ridiculous-looking mascot) a high-five like the other curlers, making her way up the arena and then back down my side of the sheet. She looked right at me as they paraded by and I dropped my eyes immediately with shyness: there was no one in the two rows ahead of me. The team was throwing things into the audience but they were out by the time they got to me.

My seats were pretty awesome, about 10 feet out from the home-end hog line, five rows up (but really only three, because of the ‘penalty box’). And despite the fullness of the arena, there was no one in front of me: and wouldn’t be, until Wednesday! The evening draw was not quite as full as the afternoon one, but it was still pretty good.

Watching their game closely, I was disappointed in Jennifer’s play and if it wasn’t for the rest of her team they’d have lost. She seemed to be frustrated, especially by a flash in the 5th end, leading to a steal of 2 by Manitoba. She sat silently on the break but they came back with 3 in the 6th. The tenth end was a little funny, especially as it appeared that there was going to be a hogged rock (by George or Jill I can’t remember) and the crowd was cheering like crazy to get it over and went wild when it finally made it. Cathy started laughing and I later watched the tape to see what she said: “Sweep a guard and the crowd goes nuts!” Yup, we’re crazy alright.

Canada won the game in the end. BC won their game against PEI handily, NB won another to top the leader board, and Quebec stole lots of points to win their game. I was impressed with the Quebec skip and her style of play and made a note to watch them, especially as I immediately recognized Marie-France Larouche, a past Scott runner-up and fan favourite, as their fifth player.

Back home, to watch curling! I wished I knew someone who would go with me to the Heart Stop Lounge with everyone else but instead I made the long and weary (and rather spooky) trek back home through the silent Saturday night streets of London.