We're off and Running!

The first day of the 2008 CIS/CCA University Curling Championships is officially history and things are unfolding relatively smoothly here in Guelph, Ontario. All thirty six teams arrived safe and on time for the first draw action which got underway at both the Guelph and Elora Curling Clubs at 4:30 this afternoon. Reports from the student athletes suggest that ice conditions at both clubs are competition ready. There's four feet of curl to the lid at the Guelph Curling Club with both turns and somewhat less than that at the four sheet Elora Club.
No real surprises after the event's first two draws. In men's action Laurier has continued to play with the diligence and drive which earned them the 2008 OUA championship title, while Calgary, Brandon and Waterloo have also impressed. In women's play, three Ontario based teams have shown well thus far. Brock was full measure in stealing an eighth end win from the Laurier Golden Hawks, while Queens and Western looked impressive in their opening game wins over Regina and Memorial respectively.
With the pool play format being employed in advance of the playoffs, it looks like a record of
4-2 should pretty much guarantee you at least a tie breaker come Saturday afternoon.
Playoff seeding is based upon pool play records so it's in your best interest to have the best possible record you can generate. The short term goal of all nineteen men's and seventeen women's teams is to be left in the mix when the eight quarter finalists are announced. From there, it's just a matter of manufacturing three straight wins in order to punch your ticket to China and the 2009 Winter Universiade.
So the curling is as it should be at any major national curling championship. And then there were the opening ceremonies............
What a schmozzle! To be fair to the organizers, it's always going to be a bit of a challenge when you're trying to get almost two hundred athletes to file out onto the ice behind one lonely piper.
The introductions went smoothly enough, but then the sound system bogged down just about the time that the dignitaries were scheduled to deliver their words of welcome. Oh well, by then 9/10ths of the people in the building were on the ice and too busy laughing and kibitzing to really care. If that's the biggest gaffe that the organizers have to deal with this week then everything about this event will be A O-K.
We'll keep you posted.