Final

It was a gorgeous sunny day and the air was filled with excitement. I drove over, gave my change to a homeless guy (hoping that maybe neither he nor his buddies would trouble my suitcase and souvenir-filled wagon), and bought a big order of Thai food at the market and ate outside by the outdoor curling rink in the warm sun. And then, inside to watch the practices. I saw that Jenn had yellow rocks again: they’d served her well the past two games and I thought that would be a boost of confidence for her. But I was a little concerned watching Team Canada practice: Jenn threw draw after draw after draw rather than holding the broom for her teammates… did she not have draw weight? She was going to need it. I commented on my worry to Charles.

Turns out she didn’t have draw weight at all.

Jill did not play well. Cathy couldn’t make a draw to save her life. There seemed to be a couple of picks, but not being able to see it again on TV it’s hard to say. Jennifer was light on a few draws and while she screamed and screamed at her sweepers to get it there, and waved at Cathy to help sweep, Cathy never came and ultimately she was light.

Kelly Scott seemed supremely confident and relaxed, laughing and smiling in the fourth end. But BC wasn’t playing as outstanding as at other times during the week and began to give Canada some openings, especially with many poor shots by the lead. Then, a crazy fluke shot by Jeanna Schraeder put a Canada rock on the button, but Jenn didn’t capitalize, throwing a wild in-off that was way too heavy to put a second point there. Again, I’m not sure how the analysts would describe that one.

The audience was large and again very appreciative: we did the YMCA during the 7^th end break and Amy Nixon—opposite me up in the boxes with her team—really got into it. CathyO made a pass at the dance. BC never tried. Jill danced to the between-end music (especially the country ones) but again, BC did not. They weren’t an easy team to warm up to, and certainly not the most entertaining team on the ice.

And then, in the 10^th, the BC team allowed Canada to get a guard and one in the top four-foot. Jenn placed the guard back well on her first stone. She was a little short on time but actually played very smartly the 8^th and 9^th to make up time. In fact, that was the last two ends were two of the most confident I’d seen her skip all week. Then Kelly Scott decided to pick the one out of the house. This shot has been debated a lot but it wasn’t a bad choice I thought, as it would force Jennifer to make a really good draw.

But Kelly flashed it by—her expression was priceless—and suddenly it looked like we might get to see an extra end, or even, possibly, a Team Canada win. But Jennifer released her last rock and it died just past the hog line, having picked something. She seemed resigned: luck was just not on their side (she’d come very close to making a great down-weight hit through a crazy hole in one end, that I hadn’t thought even possible). She had not been as agitated as I’d seen her in the week.

And, of course, Kelly did not miss the pick again (though she came very dangerously close to nicking the guard), getting the blank and the win. The crowd got to their feet rather reluctantly: not the instant standing ovation we’d witnessed after Friday’s outstanding 1-2 game.

The BC team ran together and hugged and cheered but I knew I’d see them again on TV and so I watched the losers: they didn’t hug or cry (though Cathy was wiping tears from her eyes). Jennifer was all class: she stood with a large and (so I thought) quite genuine smile as she waited for the celebration to end so she could shake hands. I was extremely impressed by her grace, and the image of her patiently waiting and smiling has stayed with me.