Draw Thirteen

I was back at the arena in time for the march with the piper, and shook my head when Team Canada got confused and Jenn started going the wrong direction while the rest of them followed the flag and “Team Canada” sign to the right. I didn’t see that as a good omen as Jenn laughed and ran to catch up with her team; another sign of distraction (or maybe intense introspection?).

Manitoba gave NS a big run and actually had a chance to win. We’ll never know: the red lights came on for Harvey’s last rock (the game’s last rock) and a measure for the tying point showed it was the yellow NS stone counting one for 2 points and the win. I think Colleen was quite relieved to get out of that one, especially as she and Mary-Anne disappeared for quite a while during the break and the fifth player came in to play. Then at the end of the 6^th I heard Kim call for Colleen in a voice that any woman knows as being ‘hurry there’s something you need to hear and it’s important’. They had a meeting with the official and then continued on. For the first time that week I wished I was watching it on TV to find out what happened. What did happen, incidentally, was that Mary-Anne had an allergic reaction to someone’s perfume, ending up at the hospital. However she was ok and returned for the evening game.

Cathy King’s crew played their worst game of the week, and she herself missed many shots—giving up a steal of 3 in the 6^th!—and Newfoundland won that nail-biter. At that point, I knew King would not make the playoffs. And I began hoping that Newfoundland would.

On Sheet C Canada played Ontario, though I didn’t watch this game as much as the AB/NL game. But it was rather well-played and they were eventually the last game on the ice as it went to an extra end. I thought Ontario had a chance, despite Canada having the hammer… but Scharf threw her last tap-back attempt just a little too heavy and it pushed hers cleanly through: a heart-breaking loss for them (but as I was still rooting for Canada, and as Ontario was pretty much out of everything, I wasn’t too upset).

After the game, Team Canada was due at the Lounge for an Up Close and Personal and I decided to go watch. I pushed back my shyness and introduced myself to a couple and sat at their table while I waited. They came in their street clothes—Jenn all dolled-up to go out, Cathy in a tracksuit, the others in-between—and it was quite fun, though I couldn’t actually see them sitting on the couch. George was how I’d imagined her, as was Jennifer—actually I was impressed with her as I hadn’t really expected a lot. Cathy was a goof and both laughed and frowned a lot; Jenn looked nice with her hair down (much better than when I’ve seen her on TV with her hair down!). The person who I was most impressed by was Jill. She looks kinda silly when she curls with her mouth hanging open but she was actually very well-spoken and quite pretty. They had good comraderie, I thought. And it was kinda neat to see Jenn’s family: her husband and sister both asked ‘questions’. Now I knew where to locate them in the arena: the crazy cow-bellers in white, red and black in the far corner.