Con Cup for Sin City?

I'm pretty sure that the Continental Cup, being played this weekend in Medicine Hat, Alberta, is of little interest to Scottish curlers. Despite the fact that two Scottish teams, skipped by Kelly Wood and David Murdoch are competing for Team Europe, the event has little relevance here, or to other countries in Europe. The made-for-television event, promoted by the World Curling Federation and the Canadian Curling Association, cannot be seen on this side of the Atlantic. Well, that's not strictly so, as some games are available if you are a CurlTV subscriber... and are prepared to sit up to the early hours of the morning.

Does it do anything to promote or advance curling in Europe? I submit it does not.

It's a pity really. By all accounts the players enjoy the event. It benefits them financially and it sounds fun to be part of. But perhaps it is only the logical people of Scotland/Europe that find it a bit strange that the competitors play away for three days, meaninglessly, because the outcome is decided entirely on the last couple of skins games!

Now what stimulated this little rant (and the editorial for January's Scottish Curler having already been written), is the discovery of Al Cameron's interview with Warren Hansen, the CCA's Manager of Event Operations and Media, which can be found here, and is mirrored above. Cameron is the curling scribe for the Calgary Herald. His Cameron on the Rocks blog is here.

Hansen indicates that the Con Cup could be headed for Las Vegas, Nevada, in the years ahead. And if you listen carefully, Hansen sees it coming to Scotland. Aye, right! I personally would hope that the Royal Club has more sense than to waste time and money getting involved in this charade. Speak your mind on the Scottish Curling Forum.

Next year's Con Cup will be held in Alberta, again, at Camrose. The press release is here.

However, if you ARE interested in this years event, you can find all the results here. Team Europe is struggling this time round, as I pen this. Still, Europe stuffed North America last year so it's the latter's turn to win. But does anyone really care?