I'm not sure I can stand the strain. Watching Team Murdoch lose to Switzerland yesterday evening, by the narrowest of margins, at the last stone of the game, was heartbreaking! The 'red button' is great, but it might be easier just to watch the linescores (here), or read Mike Haggerty's reports (see here).Or even just look at the photos on BBC Sport's website here.
Still, watching Eve Muirhead is always encouraging, even though, with Kelly Wood taken ill, it was a strange team she had in front of her - Jackie at third, Lorna at second and Annie Laird at lead. They certainly had the measure of the Russians in last night's game, and how Lucy's Fan Club must have suffered! The Russian skip had a game she will want to forget. It was not pretty.
I don't know if it would be better, or worse, to be in Vancouver in person. The fans put such a lot into supporting our teams. Skipcottagecurling does have its correspondents on site. I asked them, "What's the talking point? The venue, the games, the fans, the ice, the stones?" None of these, apparently.Talk of the steamie is still the Norwegian trousers, above. I love them, and so do 76,064 (at 11.30pm last night) others who are fans of 'The Norwegian Olympic Curling Team's Pants' on Facebook.
Norway's trews really make the slacks we wore in the early 1980s look rather conservative. But perhaps that's a matter of opinion!
In case any younger readers of this blog don't think this is relevant, have a look at what this young team was wearing not too many years ago. (Names have been withheld to protect the innocent). These were called 'Irn Bru' trousers, if I recall correctly.
Loudmouth Golf, the suppliers of the Norwegian trousers, have quite a selection, see here and above. Maybe curling will once again become the colourful game it once was!Top pics are courtesy of Hugh Stewart. Thomas Ulsrud is wearing the trousers. And Euan Byers and Pete Smith are sweeping Ewan MacDonald's stone. Other pics are from my archive.
