Memories - good and bad - from 2008

I was fully intending to post a list of the various 'happenings' from this past year, the good and the bad of 2008, as seen by Curling Today. I must admit that I found this difficult to do. Highlights included moose hunting in Ostersund, seeing Scottish teams winning medals, learning that the National Curling Academy project is finally off and running ....... But when I started thinking about the bad, such as the Vernon saga, I had to stop. It is all so depressing. Then I realised I was just getting maudlin.

Maudlin is what many Scots get at this time of year! Most dictionaries have a couple of definitions:

a. tearfully emotional
b. foolishly sentimental because of drunkenness.

So, this Hogmanay, let's not look back but instead look to the future. I'm sure that today four young men, Glen Muirhead, Greg Drummond, Scott Macleod and Scott Andrews are doing just that. They are about to head off to the Taarnby rink in Copenhagen to try to win Scotland's place in the World Junior Curling Championships in Vancouver, March 5-15. You will remember the story. In Ostersund last season Scotland's junior men finished in ninth position at the World Juniors with a 2-7 win-loss record, and we were relegated (explained here).

Rather than have a playdown, the Royal Club decided to nominate Glen Muirhead's new season team, with three still eligible from Ostersund, to try get us back into the world junior top ten (see here). They will compete in the European Junior Curling Challenge, January 2-8. There are thirteen junior men's teams looking for two places at the Worlds in Vancouver. The Scots play in section A, with seven teams. Team Muirhead are up against Spain on Saturday evening, and then have the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Russia, Slovakia and Estonia, in that order. The top teams from Section A and section B (which has Poland, France, Italy, Belgium, Latvia and Finland) then play each other. The winner goes to Vancouver. The loser plays the winner of a match between the two second placed finishers in each section. The winner of this game also goes through.

There are eleven junior women's teams also fighting it out for two places. Scotland (the current world junior champs) already has a place in Vancouver. Anna Fowler's English team are challenging for the first time.

The event website (for results) is here.



Here they are at Lockerbie recently. Top: Scott Andrews and Scott Macleod. Above: Glen Muirhead and Greg Drummond. Pics by Bob.

Right, that's it for now. May I wish all Curling Today and Scottish Curler supporters health and happiness in 2009!