19QOS19 Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 Not sure how accurate it was but I was reading something yesterday that said she was actually offered two golf scholarships in America but turned them down. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingscot Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 3 hours ago, Donathan said: The golf season pretty much runs from Easter to September/October and curling through the winter so it makes a lot of sense. They’re also both very social games that are relatively easy to pick up as a beginner but ridiculously hard to master to world class standard. Yeah golf and curling are matched esp in Canada when courses can be completed snowed in during winter. 10 hours ago, IrishBhoy said: What kind of numbers play Curling at any sort of level in Scotland? I can’t imagine it’s very many, and not to downplay the talent of the guys who made the Olympic team, the standard required to reach that level must be lower than other sports that have a higher number of players. I just had a look on Google to see if that rink is still open and it seems it is. Might go up and see if I can make the 2026 team, or more likely realise how hard it is and stick to 5 a sides. There’s a lot of players, at a variety of levels. Clubs have suffered a bit with covid however. In terms of that standard in Olympics, it really is phenomenal. I can’t underplay the time commitment and skill involved. You can play well relatively quickly with practice but the tactics and consistency take time to learn and it’s not easy to reach. If I could compare it, it’s like golf, there are plenty of low handicappers, fewer still towards scratch but still a massive gulf between a scratch amateur and top pro levels. I’m fortunate to have played on good teams and come up against some top players. The concentration needed is unreal against the top club guys. It’s amazing if you get a result and I’ve had some good ones but I’ve had my arse handed to me on a few occasions. I can’t imagine what playing Olympic teams like Mouat would be like, even David Murdoch says his WC winning team from 2002 wouldn’t have a chance against them. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishBhoy Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 10 minutes ago, flyingscot said: There’s a lot of players, at a variety of levels. Clubs have suffered a bit with covid however. In terms of that standard in Olympics, it really is phenomenal. I can’t underplay the time commitment and skill involved. You can play well relatively quickly with practice but the tactics and consistency take time to learn and it’s not easy to reach. If I could compare it, it’s like golf, there are plenty of low handicappers, fewer still towards scratch but still a massive gulf between a scratch amateur and top pro levels. I’m fortunate to have played on good teams and come up against some top players. The concentration needed is unreal against the top club guys. It’s amazing if you get a result and I’ve had some good ones but I’ve had my arse handed to me on a few occasions. I can’t imagine what playing Olympic teams like Mouat would be like, even David Murdoch says his WC winning team from 2002 wouldn’t have a chance against them. I should clarify I wasn’t being entirely serious when I said I could qualify for the 2026 team. I was being serious about playing at Greenacres in Howwood when I was younger, and I do genuinely wonder what could have came of it if I did continue to pursue the game. Statistically it will be easier to reach elite level in curling when compared to football or rugby, but that’s down to the number of people participating. I know full well that these men and women chosen for the Olympic teams will be of world class standards, and that has been proven with a silver and gold medal. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binos Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 12 hours ago, Caledonian1 said: World Championships (women) 17th - 29th March in Canada.....come on BBC get it on the telly Sportscene 11.45 highlights likely only at best 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingscot Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 29 minutes ago, IrishBhoy said: I should clarify I wasn’t being entirely serious when I said I could qualify for the 2026 team. I was being serious about playing at Greenacres in Howwood when I was younger, and I do genuinely wonder what could have came of it if I did continue to pursue the game. Statistically it will be easier to reach elite level in curling when compared to football or rugby, but that’s down to the number of people participating. I know full well that these men and women chosen for the Olympic teams will be of world class standards, and that has been proven with a silver and gold medal. Oh I know. I just don’t know how much easier it is- I mean I’d say it was harder in curling than many other sports such as football and rugby to get to the top. You have a host of top clubs in rugby and football to represent and win stuff but only one 4 man team gets to go to Olympics and Worlds etc in curling and it’s cutthroat. Jackie Lockhart kicked Rhona’s Olympic rink out of the Worlds a few weeks after gold medal for example. As for Canada, host of top players never get to represent the maple leaf. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Sanchez Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 Absolutely delighted that a Finnish team of Finnish jobbers finally won gold. Beating Russia in the final is even nicer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishBhoy Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 21 minutes ago, flyingscot said: Oh I know. I just don’t know how much easier it is- I mean I’d say it was harder in curling than many other sports such as football and rugby to get to the top. You have a host of top clubs in rugby and football to represent and win stuff but only one 4 man team gets to go to Olympics and Worlds etc in curling and it’s cutthroat. Jackie Lockhart kicked Rhona’s Olympic rink out of the Worlds a few weeks after gold medal for example. As for Canada, host of top players never get to represent the maple leaf. That’s a good point I didn’t actually think of it that way. Much harder to get into a 4 man team than to become a professional footballer to be fair. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishBhoy Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 3 minutes ago, Miguel Sanchez said: Absolutely delighted that a Finnish team of Finnish jobbers finally won gold. Beating Russia in the final is even nicer. They’re not Finnish, they’re Annti Niemi. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invergowrie arab Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 (edited) There's about 15,000 curlers in Scotland which is pretty decent in Scottish terms. By comparison Canada has about 700,000. One of the main issues Scottish ice hockey has is trying to find ice time in competition with curlers and many rinks are built purely for curling and you can't play hockey on them. In the Highlands it used to be shinty in summer and curling in winter until the leagues were formalised and shinty became a winter sport like football, although shinty is now summer again. Shinty and golf has a huge crossover and I'm sure i read once Kingussie golf club has more left handers than any other club in the UK given the ambidextrous nature of a shinty swing. The main difference between shinty and curling would be that curling is genuinely a national sport with a history throughout the lowlands too. Edited February 20, 2022 by invergowrie arab 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donathan Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 39 minutes ago, IrishBhoy said: That’s a good point I didn’t actually think of it that way. Much harder to get into a 4 man team than to become a professional footballer to be fair. I was reading about curling throughout the UK when I learned that all but a couple of hundred of the UK’s 15,000 curlers are in Scotland. There are 100 or so in England, playing out of just two clubs (one in Preston and one in Kent), the two rinks that do exist are such poor quality that the English championships are held in Dumfries. There’s a single club in Wales and none in Northern Ireland (the Northern Ireland national team practice in Stranraer) I then looked up the eligibility to represent different nations in the sport and realised I’d actually be eligible to play for England as I’ve lived here for eight years now (minimum two years needed), despite the fact I was born in Scotland to Scottish parents and grandparents. If I lived nearer one of the two rinks in England I’d be genuinely tempted to take it up and attempt to make it onto the national team. They’re miles down the divisions of the European championships, and given their lack of curlers I do think it would be possible to have a go at making the national team if you took it up and practiced hard enough for a few years. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishBhoy Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 15 minutes ago, Donathan said: There are 100 or so in England, playing out of just two clubs (one in Preston and one in Kent), the two rinks that do exist are such poor quality that If I lived nearer one of the two rinks in England I’d be genuinely tempted to take it up and attempt to make it onto the national team. They’re miles down the divisions of the European championships, and given their lack of curlers I do think it would be possible to have a go at making the national team if you took it up and practiced hard enough for a few years. As a true Scotsman, I think it is your duty to infiltrate the English curling team, no matter how shite they are. We’ve had to put up with far too many defeats to our larger, southern neighbours, and I can’t think of a more noble quest than to build the English curling teams hopes up to the brink of qualifying for a World Championships, only for you to turn full villain at the final stone, moonwalking down the ice singing ‘England get battered everywhere they go’, as your team mates slowly realise you have played a 4 year prank on them and they have wasted many years of their lives. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MP_MFC Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-sports/60452348Some curling coverage on the beeb. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donathan Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 52 minutes ago, MP_MFC said: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-sports/60452348 Some curling coverage on the beeb. Scottish Curling also streaming some games on YouTube 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro Sham Bo Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 4 hours ago, 19QOS19 said: Not sure how accurate it was but I was reading something yesterday that said she was actually offered two golf scholarships in America but turned them down. Yeah. Was just reading about that there. She got down to 1. She also plays the bagpipes, which I had forgotten about. https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/sport/other-sports/1279303/eve-muirhead-at-30-from-superglued-milk-cartons-on-curling-shoes-to-sochi-olympic-success/ 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingscot Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 (edited) 8 hours ago, Donathan said: There are 100 or so in England, playing out of just two clubs (one in Preston and one in Kent), the two rinks that do exist are such poor quality that the English championships are held in Dumfries. There’s a single club in Wales and none in Northern Ireland (the Northern Ireland national team practice in Stranraer) If lived nearer one of the two rinks in England I’d be genuinely tempted to take it up and attempt to make it onto the national team. They’re miles down the divisions of the European championships, and given their lack of curlers I do think it would be possible to have a go at making the national team if you took it up and practiced hard enough for a few years. Think the current English team is based in Glasgow and a few are Scots with English heritage or from the borders. I'm certain I've played against a few of them in the past. England and Wales both did OK in the B division in Lillehammer. It would be miles easier than the Scottish team but would still be a fair challenge to represent them. You can also play at Cambridge too as far as I know and many English players are based in Kelso and Lockerbie. The flower bowl in Preston is something else, didn't realise it wasn't up to standard as I was sure some competitions are held there. Probably easier for all to have them in Scotland given where teams play. Edited February 21, 2022 by flyingscot 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Brightside Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurkst Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 Never thought I'd say this but I'm going to miss Clare Balding tonight. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torpar Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 On 20/02/2022 at 11:43, invergowrie arab said: One of the main issues Scottish ice hockey has is trying to find ice time in competition with curlers and many rinks are built purely for curling and you can't play hockey on them. You can play hockey on them but it's far from great playing on tiny rinks with square corners like Ayr and Kilmarnock, Murrayfield and Dumfries have the right idea having separate curling rinks, Dumfries overall is a great example of how rinks should be run. On 20/02/2022 at 11:29, Miguel Sanchez said: Absolutely delighted that a Finnish team of Finnish jobbers finally won gold. Beating Russia in the final is even nicer. Wouldn't say the KHL is a jobbers league but still happy that they beat Russia, fair play to Slovakia too, they seem delighted with their medal 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Sanchez Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 1 hour ago, Torpar said: You can play hockey on them but it's far from great playing on tiny rinks with square corners like Ayr and Kilmarnock, Murrayfield and Dumfries have the right idea having separate curling rinks, Dumfries overall is a great example of how rinks should be run. Wouldn't say the KHL is a jobbers league but still happy that they beat Russia, fair play to Slovakia too, they seem delighted with their medal It's good to see Slovakia producing exciting young players again, it's been a while since they've had a decent amount of top end talent all throughout the lineup. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invergowrie arab Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 1 hour ago, Torpar said: You can play hockey on them but it's far from great playing on tiny rinks with square corners like Ayr and Kilmarnock, Murrayfield and Dumfries have the right idea having separate curling rinks, Dumfries overall is a great example of how rinks should be run Rinks like Perth, Forfar, Kinross etc are purely curling rinks. You could play hockey or snooker or football on them but it would be shite 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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