Tuesday Night Curling Results for Jan 31, 2006

The photo below is Team UpRiver, they were curling on Tuesday night replacing a postponed game from last Thursday; they were defeated by The City of Bathurst Team.
Other games tonight saw Brunswick Mining defeat Jim Duncan, GE over Norhtern Light and Wells Chapman over Lounsbury Avalanche.
Good curling all!

Les Olympiques de Gatineau

January 31, 2006
Gatineau's hockey team enjoying a relaxing afternoon of curling at the Bathurst Curling Club prior to their game at the KCIrving Centre tomorrow February 1, 2006. Please support hockey and take in the game. Thank you Team Gatineau for visiting our curling club, do visit us again, we've enjoyed your visit.

Tuesday Afternoon Curling Results

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The photo above is Jim Aubry. Well Jim your team lost today to Bud Hanley, you were not there and yours truly let you down to Bud team skipped by Dave Dowe. In other teams Biff Homiak over George Barclay, Ken Leaman over Pat Maher, Emery LeBlanc over Jim Duncan, and Gerry Roy over Guy Gallant.
Good game all!

Monday Night Curling Results for Jan 30, 2006

One of our Monday night curling team is Danny MacDonald's team, members are Michel, Terry and Ernie, unfortunately they were defeated by team Maher. Other teams Alvin Lavigne over team Raj Chettiar, Fred Elhatton over Tatiana Bishop, Joel Roy over John Ferguson, Team Val Saulnier over Marc Imbeault and Team M. Godin had a bye.
Good curling all!

UCT Sunday Curling Results for Jan 29, 2006

Roe Doucet over Val Saulnier
Emery LeBlanc over John Gorman
Alvin Lavigne over Raj Chettiar
John Ferguson over Albert Mazerolle
Good Curling All!

What's happening at other clubs

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Photo by David S. Spence⁄The Gazette

Photo on the right is Judy Gilbert of Montgomery Village curls at the National Capital Curling Center in Laurel.

Our thanks to Gazette.net Maryland Community Newspaper online for this article

Catching the curling fever Olympics put fringe sport in the spotlightWednesday, Jan. 25, 2006

In this obscure — and to most, baffling — game, players are encouraged to throw stones at houses. Just not those kinds of stones, nor those kinds of houses, though the sport of curling can at times require quite a bit of sweeping.

Curling is the sort of seemingly-inane diversion that might normally frustrate a wife to no end.

Thing of it is, like her husband Ron, Judy Gilbert is a curler too. And judging by the casual grace of her efficient lunge and the repeated ‘‘Lovely curl!” accolades she wins from team skip John Bittner on Sunday night at the National Capital Curling Center, she is not at all a shabby one.

It’s been nearly four years since the Gilberts were in Utah, Ron working the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics for an online ticketing agency. The company needed someone to manage the venue in Ogden, Utah, which happened to be the sole site for curling.

It took a week of watching every day — and the good fortune of Judy happening to sit next to one of Team Canada’s curlers — for the two-hour matches to start making sense.

But by the end of the two weeks, the Gilberts had caught the bug they would soon bring back with them to Montgomery Village, watching as the curling craze caught hold among the small but fervent crowds, earning a cult-like status in only its second Olympics as a medal sport.

Television executives are banking on the same kind of boom for next month’s Olympics in Turin, Italy — the Torino Games. Fifteen of 26 curling matches that are being televised will be live.

Like last Olympics, Ron Gilbert will be at the games, with a front-row seat to what could be curling history as the U.S. teams vie for what would be the first American curling medal.

And if the stateside buzz so far carried by the women’s team is any indication — a widely enamored press has dubbed them the ‘‘Curl Girls” — Gilbert might be witness to a vastly more significant moment: when the fringe sport curling breaks through to a mainstream audience.

Like a good curler, he isn’t holding his breath. He knows that for the uninitiated spectator, curling can be a lot like watching paint dry.

What isn’t immediately obvious that the uninitiated will miss at first, even second, glance, is the profound nuance that defines the centuries-old game.

‘‘A lot of people compare it to shuffleboard on ice, but it’s actually like a chess match on ice,” he says. ‘‘Not only is there only a lot technique involved, but there’s also a lot of strategy. I love it now that I understand it.”

Explaining it, on the other hand, can be an exercise in the seemingly absurd.

‘‘I can’t say, ‘Well, they’re coming out of the hack and trying to put the rock in the house past the hog line.’”

As he throws his stones with his abrupt lunge Sunday night on the ice at the Laurel center, he still bears the imposing physique that served him well in his younger days in the hockey rink.

Though it does take strong, hardy posture, considerable flexibility and unwavering balance to settle into the lunge position without pulling a muscle or slipping a disk, he doesn’t fool himself that curling is going to whip him into shape — ‘‘We’re not great physical specimens,” he says.

The physical demands are not such, however, that a die-hard septuagenarian curler like Olney’s Jane Bittner can’t take part Sunday night despite her two artificial knees. No, all she needs is her ‘‘geezer stick,” she jokes, a pole that fastens onto the stone’s handle which she uses to push the rock without all the fuss.

Curlers are used to the befuddled disbelief that any sport that involves sliding a 42-pound polished granite rock down a sheet of ice could in any way be legit.

After 20 years, Ken Wray of Gaithersburg isn’t one bit shy about owning up to his curling habit.

‘‘Everybody at the office knows that I’m a curler,” he says. ‘‘They look at me quizzically, like, ‘Curler? What’s a curler? Oh yeah, that’s where you slide the rock down the ice.’ And of course, they rip me for it.”

Jerry Kelley of Montgomery Village took more of a wait-and-see attitude when he came into the sport in 2004.

He remembers his first few throws sliding off course as he struggled to balance his weight on one slick Teflon-soled shoe.

But the touch came around after five or six games, and soon came the angles, he said — being able to clearly visualize the caroms needed to nudge an opponent’s stone with just the right weight in just the right direction.

Now he has a sense almost of being a sort of ambassador for the sport, he said, a feeling not uncommon among curlers.

‘‘You get the feeling that you’re part of a more exclusive club. Curling is a little bit different, so it’s got that bit of a mystery to it.”

The Potomac Curling Club hopes that mystery will be blown wide open next month, the winter games sparking a surge of interest as they did four years ago.

The club, which has been drawing northern transplants and home-grown curlers to its membership since 1961, boasts some 200 members, with curling available every night of the week for as far down as 8-year-olds.

Through the several ‘‘bonspiels,” or tournaments, the club throws throughout the October-through-April season — even traveling to take on clubs on the Eastern Shore, in Philadelphia and in New Jersey — the club is nurturing that one-of-a-kind curling ethic, which invariably involves a smile, a shake of the hand, the promise of a few rounds of owed beers, and as always, a ‘‘Good curl.”

Friday Afternoon results for January 27, 2006

Gerry Roy over Ken Leaman
Biff Homiak over Jim Duncan
Pat Maher over Jim Aubry
Emery LeBlanc over Guy Gallant
George Barclay over Bud Hanley
Good Curling All!

Thursday Night Curling Results for January 26 2006

Brunswick Ground Control over The Duners
Napa Pro over Smelter Dragons
Rolling Stones over Broken Brooms
Legion Warriors over Lounsbury Hot Chevys
City of Bathurst and Up River postponed.

Tuesday Night Curling Results for Jan 24, 2006

Wells Chapman over Jim Duncan
GE over Lounsbury Avalanche
Brunswick Mines over Northern Light

Monday Night Curling for January 23, 2006

Maher over Bishop
Imbeault over Ferguson
Chettiar over MacDonald
Saulnier over Lavinge
Roy and Juniors Postphone

Good Curling All!

UCT Sunday Curling Results for Jan 22, 2006

John Ferguson over Raj Chettiar
Alvin Lavigne over Roe Doucet
John Gorman over Val Saulnier
Emery LeBlanc over Albert Mazerolle
Until next week,
Good curling all!

Friday Afternoon results for January 20, 2006

Pat Maher over George Barclay
Ken Leaman and Jim Aubry Tied
Bud Hanley over Emery LeBlanc
Jim Duncan over Guy Gallant
Gerry Roy over Biff Homiak
Good Curling All!

Thursday Night Curling Results for January 19 2006

Napa Pro over Brinswick Ground Control
City of Bathurst over The Rolling Stones
Legion Warriors over Smelter Dragons
Lounsbury Hot Chevys over Up River
Broken Brooms over The Duners
Good Curling all!

Don't forget to reserver Feb 17 & 18
for the fun speil and register your
team with Omer or Claude.
$7.00 per player include the games
and the meal on Saturday which will
be served between 4PM and 6PM.

Curling Results for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday Jan 15, 16, & 17

Hi everyone, the Christmas season is over,
the Christmas tree is just a memory and yes,
we're back full time curling.
Now for this week curling results:

Sunday UCT Curling Results

Val Saulnier over Alvin Lavigne

John Ferguson over Emery LeBlanc

Albert Mazerolle over John Gorman

Raj Chettiar over Roe Doucet

Monday Night Curling Results

Godin over Bishop

Elhatton over Ferguson

Maher and Saulnier tied

Chettiar over Lavinge

Imbeault over MacDonald

Tuesday Afternoon Senior Curling Results

Jim Aubry over Pat Maher

Bud Hanley over Gerry Roy

George Barclay over Emery LeBlanc

Guy Gallant over Biff Homiak

Jim Duncan over Ken Leaman

Tuesday Night Curling

Wells Chapman over GE

Brunswick Mines over Lounsbury Avalanche

Jim Duncan and Northern Light Rescheduled

A public Announcement

The Computer Access Centre is asking;

"Are you getting the most out of your home computer?"

"Are you having difficulty performing some tasks?"

The Computer Access Centre tells us:

"That's what we are here for!"
"Come visit or call
Bathurst High School
Computer Access Center,
We are here for you!
Tel: (506) 547-2753 After 3:15p.m."

Friday Curling Results for January 13, 2006

Ken Leaman and Gerry Roy a tied game.
Jim Duncan over Jim Aubry
Biff Homiak over George Barclay
Guy Gallant over Emery LeBlanc
Bud Hanley over Pat Maher
Good Curling All.

Thursday Night Curling Results for Jan 12/06

Welcome to our new team; they will retain the name of
the team that dropped out the Rolling Stones:
Larry Petrie as skip, mate Brenda Gallagher,
First and Second Stones Tom Bogi and Colleen Murphy.

Now for the results:
Napa Pro over Rolling Stones
Brunswick Mines Ground Control over City of Bathurst
Lounsbury Hot Chevys over Smelter Dragons
GE over Up River
Legion Warriors over Duners

Great game all!

Please bring in $ for our fun spiel to be held on
February 17 and 18 evenings only. Friday the 17
the games begin at 7PM, Satruday the 18 a chicken bouillon
will be served from 4PM to 5:45PM and the games begin
at 7PM.
Scoring method will be one point for each end won.

There has been a few requests to change the our method of
wins and losses to one (1) point for each end won. The executive
will be consulted and a decision rendered shortly.

As a community centre we wish to remind you that we are an all Volunteer club except one.

Tuesday Night Curling results for January 10/06

Thank you to the Olympic Committee for the picture.

Results:
Chapman and Brunswick Mines Tied
Ringers (Jim Duncan) over GE (Ken Brown)
Lounsbury Avalanche over Northern Light
Omers draw to the button on his last rock
assured a win for Lounsbury Avalanche.
Also noted at the club curling with gusto was 4 team from the young Katimavit group, happy to see you on the ice.
Don't forget to enter for the Fun Speil for the
Tuesday and Thursday night Commercil/Industrial league which will be held February 17 and 18 (evening only).
A Chicken Bouillon will be served from 4 to 5PMon Saturday. Friday the games begin at 7PM.
Price per person is $7.00.
Please pay Omer or Claude by next week.
Thanks all.

Monday night Curling for January 9, 2006

Godin over Elhatton
Maher over Lavigne
Saulnier over MacDonald
Imbeault over Chettiar
Roy over Bishop
Good curling all!
Is there a speil for you???

New to Curling, read this article.

Reporter makes clean sweep of odd-duck sport By Ann Tatko CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Posted on Thu, Jan. 05, 2006 Contra Costa Newspapers 2640 Shadelands Drive Walnut Creek, CA 94598

The Winter Olympics are all about the thrill of the games. The breakneck speed of downhill skiing. The soaring majesty of the 120-meter ski jump. The slam-bang drama of hockey.Then there's curling.

A cross between bocce and shuffleboard, curling is played with heavy stones on ice. The game is simple: two four-person teams slide their stones to the opposite end of the ice, blocking and knocking out each other's stones as they aim for the center of a circle.

Captivating, it isn't, or so I thought until my father called while I was covering the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

"Where's the curling?" he asked almost daily.

Turns out my 6-foot-3, football-loving father had developed a keen interest in the Winter Games' most odd-looking and yet oddly appealing sport -- which NBC seemingly never aired, according to the TV Guide listings.

I was amused by my father's interest in curling, so much so that I found myself giving it a closer look, although still discreetly. After all, this was a sport of big rocks, brooms and tournaments known as bonspiels.

I just didn't get it.

Then, the U.S. women's Olympic curlers baited reporters at the 2006 Olympic Media Summit in Colorado Springs, Colo., to come try the sport firsthand.

Devious, I thought. To decline was to show blatant ignorance. To accept was to risk potential ridicule.

Who knew ridicule could be so cold and bumpy.

Curling, unlike hockey and figure skating, is staged on pebbled ice, which helps the propelled stone to curl -- or move. It's believed the sport began in 16th-century Scotland, where the only quarry exists that produces the rare granite stones.

A pack of two dozen reporters waddled across the ice for a 10-minute briefing on how to curl, appropriately conducted by a Scotsman, whose kilt and accent added a little authenticity to the night. "Usually, you would need a whole weekend to learn how to curl," he explained.

Great, I thought, we get the "Cliff Notes" version.

Lesson one: Don't try to pick up the 42-pound stone unless hernia surgery sounds like fun. When you "throw" the stone, it actually just slides across the ice.

Lesson two: Release the stone before the first hog line (21 feet from the start) and get it past the second hog line (21 feet from the finish). Or, in simpler terms, let the stone go and pray it moves.

Lesson three: If you're a sweeper, the object is to brush the ice, creating a thin film of water to reduce friction and allow the stone to move into the house -- a round scoring area that is 12 feet in diameter. For rookie sweepers, the real goal is to brush back and forth like crazy and run like the dickens.

Sounds simple enough, I thought as I joined a half dozen other wanna-be curlers.

The group next to me went first. A solidly built, 5-foot-10 male reporter crouched down in what looked like a track sprinter's starting block. He grabbed the rock by its handle. Then he pushed off, stone sliding in front of him, right foot jutting out, and released the rock.

The stone skidded about 25 feet. The reporter toppled over.

Everyone clapped as loudly as they laughed.

I glanced over at Times photographer Karl Mondon, who was there to record my curl-capade.

Karl smiled.

Suddenly, I felt that jolt of queasiness usually brought on by airplane turbulence.

I inched my way toward the tee, scooting the stone along with my foot.

Kathy Avery, a member of the local curling club, helped position me in the starting block. She smiled with more empathy than Karl had.

"Slide the stone forward, then pull it back and when you slide it forward again, just let it go," Kathy told me. "Piece of cake."

Sure, for her it was easy. Kathy had been curling for 30 years, not 30 seconds.

I did just as she said. Forward. Back. Forward again.

I let the stone go. My foot moved about six inches. The stone moved about the same.

But I didn't fall over.

Karl shook his head.

He recognized a pathetic attempt when he saw one. The next thing I knew, Karl was dragging 2006 Olympian Maureen Brunt to my side.

"She needs help," he told Maureen.

Much as Kathy had, Maureen plopped me down in the starting block. She showed me how to drop and slide my knee along the ice to give the stone more "umph."

This time, I couldn't very well take the chicken's way out with my Olympian mentor watching.

I gave myself a good push off, careened across the ice and reluctantly released the stone.

It flew. I wobbled. And boom, down on my butt I went.

"Look how far your stone went," Maureen said excitedly, waving down the ice.

Sure enough, the sweepers had taken the stone all the way to the house.

I had a bruised bottom but no longer a bruised ego, even knowing Karl had captured my humbling moment in all its digital glory.

On the next lesson, Maureen showed me how to hold the broom so that it dragged along the ice, instead of jutting out like a lance.

"It will act like a brace," she told me. I liked the sound of that.

On my third try, I launched the stone and stayed upright.

Maureen moved on. Apparently, I was ready to be on my own.

I tried my hand at sweeping, too. Turns out those 42-pound rocks move faster than you might think. The broom and I never could keep up.

Not that I minded. I already had my one moment of glory.

That night, I really got a closer look at curling -- and thanks to Karl's photos, the experience was anything but discreet.

As I left the rink, I dug out my cell phone to call my father. "Guess what I did tonight?"

UCT Curling Results for Jan 8, 2006

OK so it was a picture of last year's Xmas, this year was just as good but no pictures. Yes Bob was with us and, yes we miss you Bob.
Best of luck in Moncton from all of us.

Now the Curling results for UCT:-
Albert Mazerolle over Roe Doucet
Val Saulnier over Emery LeBlanc (get well soon Emery)
Alvin Lavigne over John Ferguson
John Gorman over Raj Chattiar.

Standings after 8 weeks:
John Gorman 8 wins
Alvin Laving 6 wins 2 losses
Albert Mazerolle 5 wins 3 losses
John Ferguson 4 wins 4 losses
Raj Chettiar 3 wins 5 losses
Val Saulnier 3 wins 5 losses
Roe Doucet 2 wins 6 losses
Emery LeBlanc 1 win 6 losses.

Good curling all.

Thursday Night Curling Results for Dec 5, 2006

This is a photo of the Olympic Village in Torino, Italy.
Thanks to the Italian Olympic Committee for the photo.
Now for Thursday Night Curling Results.
Legion Warriors over Brunswick Mines Ground Control.
Lounsbury Hot Chevys over City of Bathurst.
Duners over the Rolling Stones.
Ken Brown over Napa Pro.
Alcide's team and Smelter Dragons didn't post their results.
Good Game all.
Please Note and reserve the weekend of February 18 and 19 for our Fun Speil, curl, eat and win prizes. More news to follow.
Omer Fontaine is chairman for this event.
Let Omer know if your interested in helping
to make this event a success.
Your reporter has already volunteered to
make a chocolate cake, anyone else, because
chocolate cake will be the desert of choise that
weekend:-)

Tuesday Night Curling Results for Jan 3, 2006

Hope everyone had a festive New Year eve party!
Now for the good stuff:-)
Ken Brown over Brunswick Mines
Northern Light over Wells Chapman
Lounsbury Avalanche over Jim Duncan
Good game everyone!
Thanks to epicurious.com for the photo.

Nouveau/New

Bonne année----Happy New Year!