Eve Muirhead and her team of Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams and Claire Hamilton are even further afield at the Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic in Calgary, a thirty-two team triple knockout World Curling Tour competition. The draw is here. This is the first of two competitions for the girls in Canada. They will also play the Meyers Norris Penny Charity Classic in Medicine Hat next weekend.
The Scottish Senior Mixed Championship takes place at Stranraer, with twenty teams competing in four sections. First games are this morning. Follow the results here.
The Kinross Junior Curling Classic has sixteen junior men's teams and eight junior women's teams. New website, here.
I mentioned above the Credit-Suisse Women’s Masters in Basel, Switzerland. Some games are to be covered by Curling Champions Tour partner, Laola1.tv. I have seen a number of the CCT broadcasts this year, and have been impressed by the quality of the package, and by the fact that, for the very first time, I've been able to watch curling streamed live into Skip Cottage without what seemed to be the inevitable stutters and drop offs that had plagued my past experiences.
Technically, the production is good too. I love the way they do the split screen, showing the overhead camera alongside the end to end shot, above. This screenshot was from last weekend's semifinal in the men's Swiss Cup, Basel.I wondered if my experiences were being shared by others, so I asked Sandy Morton, from Millport, for an opinion. Over the years he must have watched more curling on his computer than anyone else in the country!
Sandy says, "LAOLA1.TV: I was very impressed with the very high quality of the video coverage which they provided and I was very happy with the quick responses which they made to any of the, hopefully constructive, comments which I sent in. I much prefer Curlingkanalen because of it's chat box but I realise that this may not appeal to everyone although it was nice to see some of the names from way back appearing again.
So, as an armchair critic, coverage was fantastic."
Thanks Sandy. And for your positive statement on Logan as a commentator!
Anyway, why don't you watch some of the coverage yourself over the next three days and share your experiences? That is, if you are not out there on the ice yourself! You will find the games to be webcast here. And there is also a Facebook page here.
Webcasting curling in Scotland was once a most talked about topic, but things have been quiet on that front recently.
