I bring you my end of season entry of my blog to share some thoughts of the year. This has definitely been a season of change for me personally. I moved away from home for the first time and hopefully the last time, only to move back to Winnipeg a few months later. I now live with other family as I try to find my way in life. Things always sort themselves out so I am not worried. Now to the Curling.
As I mentioned it was a season of change for me and curling was included. Mentally it has taken me a long time to get over the disappointment of failing to represent Manitoba at the National Juniors some 7 years ago. Some of you who read this may think 7 years is a long time to get over failure and I am inclined to agree with you. I don't know why it has taken so long but I think the return of the Winnipeg Jets has something to do with the solution. Last May I was in Las Vegas when the announcement of the NHL coming back to Winnipeg was made. Seeing the passion in eyes of Winnipeggers during the summer to the lead-up of the home opener really touched home with me. One thing people will tell you about me is that I am very passionate and patriotic. The return of the Jets helped rekindle my passion for curling but it took some time to realize.
I had a very frustrating curling season in terms of success but will continue to chase my dreams but I must put a better effort away from the ice. But during a game a few weeks ago with my team at the Fort Rouge Curling Club I realized it is not about success or failure. It is about who you do it with and the camaraderie you share in that journey. That team that I curl with will probably never win the Brier because that is not our goal. Our goal is simply to curl together and enjoy each others' company. The success will come but you cannot force it. I have been too wrapped up in the competitive side of the game to take sometime to enjoy it.
I want to thank Ernie, Peter, Garth and the rest of the Manitoba Stick Curling Association hosting a great event a couple of weeks ago with the 2012 Manitoba Open Stick Curling Championship. My aunt Connie Fennell and I entered into the championship a few weeks prior after I saw a poster for the event. Connie blew her knee out a few years back and has been using a stick to curl with for a few seasons. The opportunities for us to curl together have been few and far between. If I were to thank anyone other than my mom that got me into curling it would be my aunt Connie. Thanks Connie!!! Connie will be retiring from curling most likely after this year so this bonspiel was the perfect chance to curl with her in something we both could enjoy together. You may be asking how do only two people curl in a bonspiel? Well, for the most part across the country stick curling is played in a doubles format. The rules are fairly similar to traditional curling with a few exceptions: 6 rocks, 6 ends, 3 rock free rule(I'll explain in a second) and no sweeping in between hoglines. One member per team throws from each end. So teammate 1 throws rocks in ends 1,3,5 and teammate 2 throws ends 2,4,6. My aunt and I finished the event with a record of 7-2 bowing out in the quarter-finals. I got to meet some great people and I found the transition from sliding to using a stick quite natural. I encourage everyone to go out and try Sturling as some of them say it. You can visit http://www.sturling.net/index.html
for more information
As the season winds down I would like to congratulate all the winners at national championships this year. It feels like Alberta won almost everything doesn't it. As well as a bonus congratulations for Glenn Howard and his rink of Wayne Middaugh, Brent Laing and Craig Savill for their victory today over Scotland to win the 2012 World Championships. Good luck all the teams competing at the Players' Championship next week.
Resby Coutts and I will have one final Rock Talk this curling season this Wednesday April 11th at 7pm CST on TSN 1290. We will be joined by Shane Ray of CurlManitoba and Paul Wiecek of the Winnipeg Free Press to wrap up another great curling season. That's all I got for you right now but I promise to myself to update this blog more often next curling season. If you would like to get in touch with me you can reach me on twitter: @ShaneOJak
Until next time, have a good one.
Jordan
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Rock Talk November 9, 2011
Sean Grassie joins Resby Couuts & Jordan Bauldic in studio to discuss the upcoming Canadian Mixed Championships, Kerry Burtnyk's induction into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and latest results.
Friday, June 24, 2011
The off-season
Boy, it has been sometime since I posted an update. I do apologize to everyone who did follow the blog. Last thing I remember was my good friend Reid Carruthers winning the world men's curling championship alongside Jeff Stoughton, Jon Mead and Steve Gould. Their hard work ended Manitoba's Brier/World Championship drought of 12 years.
I wanted to thank everyone that supporter me this past year. I started to see the fruits of my labour after I graduated from broadcasting school in April. I landed myself a job in Swan River, MB working at the local radio station. At the same time I was interviewing for the job in Swan River I also had a job interview in Dauphin which they offered to me just before I started in Swan River. I am now living on my own for the first time and I really have to credit my success to my family who have supported me in all my decisions.
I hope to be able to get back to competitive curling next season but I know that if I want to have any shot at getting to the brier someday I will need to make drastic changes in my life. John Morris and Dean Gemmell released a curling fitness book a while back that I am thinking about purchasing to help me start out there. We all know the story of John Morris curling at the Brier I believe just days after being hit by a car so I think his conditioning allowed him to do that. Anyways, I had a lot of success in juniors and I question how great my curling ability really is. I was surrounded by a great team and even better friends(thanks Adam, Andrew & Geoff) who are the ones that really deserve all the credit. Those were an amazing 5 years we had together in juniors.
So enough wallowing in the past and on to the future. Optimists are always telling me do not dwell on the past because if you do life will pass you by. I am quickly coming to learn this. This upcoming season will be the 6th year where I have not curled in a provincial championship even though I have been close a couple of times. What must I do to become a better curler? Well I defiantly need to start working out on some kind of level and eat much healthier. When I have a chance to go throw rocks I should take the opportunity to do so. A little work every day goes a long way. Over the next couple of weeks I will try to think of some things to help my accomplish these very vague goals.
Time to head to bed. I wanted to also thank Resby Coutts for having me alongside this on Rock Talk as his "in-turn" as he would say. He also deserves a congratulations for becoming the next President of CurlManitoba. Until next time everyone.
Jordan
I wanted to thank everyone that supporter me this past year. I started to see the fruits of my labour after I graduated from broadcasting school in April. I landed myself a job in Swan River, MB working at the local radio station. At the same time I was interviewing for the job in Swan River I also had a job interview in Dauphin which they offered to me just before I started in Swan River. I am now living on my own for the first time and I really have to credit my success to my family who have supported me in all my decisions.
I hope to be able to get back to competitive curling next season but I know that if I want to have any shot at getting to the brier someday I will need to make drastic changes in my life. John Morris and Dean Gemmell released a curling fitness book a while back that I am thinking about purchasing to help me start out there. We all know the story of John Morris curling at the Brier I believe just days after being hit by a car so I think his conditioning allowed him to do that. Anyways, I had a lot of success in juniors and I question how great my curling ability really is. I was surrounded by a great team and even better friends(thanks Adam, Andrew & Geoff) who are the ones that really deserve all the credit. Those were an amazing 5 years we had together in juniors.
So enough wallowing in the past and on to the future. Optimists are always telling me do not dwell on the past because if you do life will pass you by. I am quickly coming to learn this. This upcoming season will be the 6th year where I have not curled in a provincial championship even though I have been close a couple of times. What must I do to become a better curler? Well I defiantly need to start working out on some kind of level and eat much healthier. When I have a chance to go throw rocks I should take the opportunity to do so. A little work every day goes a long way. Over the next couple of weeks I will try to think of some things to help my accomplish these very vague goals.
Time to head to bed. I wanted to also thank Resby Coutts for having me alongside this on Rock Talk as his "in-turn" as he would say. He also deserves a congratulations for becoming the next President of CurlManitoba. Until next time everyone.
Jordan
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Social Media
What does it hold for curling? I don't really know but it will be fun to see where social media takes the game of curling in the next 5 years. Facebook is a great way to start a group to share photos, create events and a whole slew of other goodies. I am slowly but surely adding more people to follow on twitter everyday and there are some great tweets out there. @fakekevinmartin made the airwaves as he or she was mentioned during one of the brier playoff broadcasts. There is no truer form if flattery than a copy cat. Youtube often gets overlooked as a social media but is just as big as facebook and twitter.
What will be interesting to see is if teams & players will indulge themselves and fans with social media. Mike McEwen and his rink already have a twitter account(@mcewencurling). Go there for team updates that I am sure will be a bit more quite during the off season.
A big round of applause to the Manitoba boys of Jeff Stoughton, Jon Mead, Reid Carruthers & Steve Gould for bring home Manitoba's 27th Brier championship. The final against Glenn Howard was one of the most complete games I have ever seen. To Glenn Howard's credit his team played great and on most days he would have won the final. Howard just ran into a team that would not be defeated on that Sunday. The difference in that game was the steal of 2 for Stoughton in the 6th end which ended up being the difference as Stoughton would run Howard out of rocks in the 10th. This was a great moment for Manitoba and curling. Manitoba is still the capital of the world when it comes to curling, slurpees and mosquitos. Curling needs Manitoba as much as Manitoba needs curling. Through out the years the two have grown a symbiotic relationship where they thrive off each other. Some great tuckers and personalities have come from the Bison province such as Stoughton, Mead, Peters, Don and Doug Duguid. Good Luck to Team Canada in Regina in a couple weekends.
What will be interesting to see is if teams & players will indulge themselves and fans with social media. Mike McEwen and his rink already have a twitter account(@mcewencurling). Go there for team updates that I am sure will be a bit more quite during the off season.
A big round of applause to the Manitoba boys of Jeff Stoughton, Jon Mead, Reid Carruthers & Steve Gould for bring home Manitoba's 27th Brier championship. The final against Glenn Howard was one of the most complete games I have ever seen. To Glenn Howard's credit his team played great and on most days he would have won the final. Howard just ran into a team that would not be defeated on that Sunday. The difference in that game was the steal of 2 for Stoughton in the 6th end which ended up being the difference as Stoughton would run Howard out of rocks in the 10th. This was a great moment for Manitoba and curling. Manitoba is still the capital of the world when it comes to curling, slurpees and mosquitos. Curling needs Manitoba as much as Manitoba needs curling. Through out the years the two have grown a symbiotic relationship where they thrive off each other. Some great tuckers and personalities have come from the Bison province such as Stoughton, Mead, Peters, Don and Doug Duguid. Good Luck to Team Canada in Regina in a couple weekends.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The Scotties
It was a great week of curling in Charlottetown with many great stories. We have a new champion, a phenomenal young team from Ontario & and we had former teammates face off in one of the highest rated Scotties game in history. After all the dust had settled Amber Holland and her of Kim Schneider, Tammy Schneider & Heather Kalenchuk will represent Canada at the upcoming Ford World Curling Championship in Esbjerg, Denmark as well return to be Team Canada at the 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Rachel Homan stepped into the spotlight and made it all the way to the semifinal before bowing out to Amber Holland. One of the weird introductions in this year's Scotties was the bronze medal game. The loser of the semi-final would play the loser of the 3 vs 4 page playoff game. Homan was the deserving winner of the bronze medal after beating Heather Smith-Dacey of Nova Scotia in the 3 vs 4 playoff game. Smith-Dacey would end up beating Homan in their rematch in the bronze medal game.
I think TSN persuaded the CCA to add the bronze medal game for one more game to make more money. For TSN the bronze medal game makes sense but it makes no sense for the curlers. If you have lost the semi-final do you really want to come back to play for bronze medal?? I didn't think so. I hope the CCA squashes this game in the future because it is a blatant cash grab.
Perhaps the biggest storyline headed into the Scotties would be the first game between Cathy Overton-Clapham and Jennifer Jones since Overton-Clapham was released from Jones' team. Overton-Clapham's Manitoba team faltered early and carried a 2-6 record into the match up on Wednesday night with Jones. It was one of the best games I had seen in a long time and was glad to see Overton-Clapham curled an amazing 92% in the win over Jones and made a spectacular double to win.
Stayed tuned for some posts during the Brier.
Rachel Homan stepped into the spotlight and made it all the way to the semifinal before bowing out to Amber Holland. One of the weird introductions in this year's Scotties was the bronze medal game. The loser of the semi-final would play the loser of the 3 vs 4 page playoff game. Homan was the deserving winner of the bronze medal after beating Heather Smith-Dacey of Nova Scotia in the 3 vs 4 playoff game. Smith-Dacey would end up beating Homan in their rematch in the bronze medal game.
I think TSN persuaded the CCA to add the bronze medal game for one more game to make more money. For TSN the bronze medal game makes sense but it makes no sense for the curlers. If you have lost the semi-final do you really want to come back to play for bronze medal?? I didn't think so. I hope the CCA squashes this game in the future because it is a blatant cash grab.
Perhaps the biggest storyline headed into the Scotties would be the first game between Cathy Overton-Clapham and Jennifer Jones since Overton-Clapham was released from Jones' team. Overton-Clapham's Manitoba team faltered early and carried a 2-6 record into the match up on Wednesday night with Jones. It was one of the best games I had seen in a long time and was glad to see Overton-Clapham curled an amazing 92% in the win over Jones and made a spectacular double to win.
Stayed tuned for some posts during the Brier.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
The Final We All Wanted
Charlsewood's Jeff Stoughton is joined by Assiniboine Memorial's Mike McEwen in the championship final of the 2011 Safeway Championship final in Beausejour today. McEwen defeated Terry McNamee of Brandon in the semi-final 6-3 earlier this morning.
This is the final everybody wanted to see. This is a rematch of a year ago when Stoughton beat McEwen 9-8 in an extra end. McEwen was appointed the number 1 seed by his peers after a very successful cash season which included 2 grand slam wins. Stoughton is the defending champion with Steve Gould back at lead, new member Reid Carruthers at second and returning to the team at third Jon Mead.
You can catch this game right now on Shaw TV or logging into www.safewaychampionship.ca
This is the final everybody wanted to see. This is a rematch of a year ago when Stoughton beat McEwen 9-8 in an extra end. McEwen was appointed the number 1 seed by his peers after a very successful cash season which included 2 grand slam wins. Stoughton is the defending champion with Steve Gould back at lead, new member Reid Carruthers at second and returning to the team at third Jon Mead.
You can catch this game right now on Shaw TV or logging into www.safewaychampionship.ca
LIVE CHAT RIGHT NOW
Visiti the front page of The Last Rock Rock blog to chat and get some insight into the semi-final and final today with myself. If you want to stream the game live on your computer visit http://www.safewaychampionship.ca/.
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