Sorry for the silence....no, Swift Current did not get swallowed up by a giant hole in the prairie. We have been busy scrapping and fighting....but we are alive and kicking!
After the Swiss win took us to 6-2, we faced Scotland, and it didn't go as we would've hoped. We got behind early, and then the Scottish ladies put on one of the better hitting displays I have ever seen in women's curling. We literally could not keep a rock in play ....we would hit and roll behind something but then it would just be double peel (again and again and again). Kelly Wood and Eve Muirhead were pretty impressive. Stats had to be high. They had impressed me drinking beer at Cub Bud in the Olympics....but this was even better.
That loss dropped us to 6-3 and set up a dramatic last day of the round robin as we faced Sweden and China.
The math was pretty simple - win out and we were in the playoffs. But it was also such that if Germany, China, or Sweden won out then they were in. So the net of all of that meant that if we lost to Sweden in the morning then we needed to beat China and hope for a Swedish loss vs. China or a German loss vs. Latvia or Switzerland, the two bottom dwellers.
Well, we lost to Sweden. The 22 year old Swedes showed up with their A-game; we missed a couple of shots and the next thing I knew it was over.
My attention shifted focus to the shockingly tight Germany-Latvia game. It was tied 2-2 in the tenth; Germany had hammer but the Latvians got a rock buried pretty good with backing, behind the center guard. It looked like I might be standing up and singing Sweet Home Alabama for the Latvian gals as well as inviting them to the US team dinner we were going to be having later that evening.....but unfortunatly, my high hopes were vanquished when the Latvian skip's first stone just ticked the guard, giving the Germans a path to victory.
So, it was on to China knowing that our destiny was in someone else's hands. But we still had to beat China.
After a quick Subway feeding, the gals came out on fire, and when Betty Wang came up short on a last rock against three in the second end, we took control of the game. We played well through out the game - probably our best of the round robin - and ultimately defeated Wang and Company 9-5.
So, we finished the round robin 7-4, which I think we would've taken Day 1 as that should've been enough to qualify for the playoffs. But it wasn't, and our fate would be decided later that night. If China didn't beat Sweden or the Swiss beat the Germans, we would be out.
While we waited to see whether we had more curling ahead of us, I took the gals and their families out to dinner at the nicest place in town: The K Motel. Yeah, you read that correctly......The K Motel.
So, just so you get the right picture: visualize all 17 Americans currently in Swift Current eating steaks at a place called the K Motel and pulled loudly for Red China.
Well, more power to the K Motel....Ms. Betty Wang came through, having the Swedes shaking hands after 8!
We were alive!
Gals went back the arena for some practice and now here we are playing Sweden in the tiebreaker.
I am feeling good! We even have Jeff Bishop in a do-rag!
Go USA!
The Bishops are awesome! :)
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