Big news! 3 declines on the men’s side for Nisku: Jacobs, Shuster, and Xu. The PanCon begins Monday for the men with practice ice on Sunday, which forced the 3 teams to forgo Nisku. The women can still play because they don’t start until Tuesday with practice going Monday.

Brad Gushue is retiring. There’s definitely still gas in the tank but do you wanna go out in St. John’s while you’re still one of the top teams in the world or risk playing another year or two and finding out you don’t have it anymore? He chose the former and it’s tough to argue

Huge upset at the Japanese Olympic Trials: the defending Olympic silver medallists Team Fujisawa are OUT after all three teams went 2-2 in the double RR and Fujiasawa lost the tiebreaker to Yoshimura, who now advance to the final which will be a best-of-3 against Ueno. Wild!

I always hate to make posts like this but if you believe Jared Allen (a literal Pro Football Hall of Famer) playing in a single Grand Slam event is somehow bad for curling you either hate the sport or you’re an idiot

Interesting move in Scotland as Craig Waddell leaves his brother Kyle and the #3 team in Scotland to join Ross Whyte as permanent fifth with McFadzean injured. Now it’s Craik’s team minus James but with Kyle, which is still very solid but not the plan heading into this season

Found this beautiful vintage curling sweater while thrift shopping today. It’s in perfect condition, stoked to have it

With the GSOC event in Tahoe running the week directly before the US Olympic Trials, I was wondering if US teams were going to play in it. Team Dropkin just released their season schedule and Tahoe is not on it. We’ll see if others follow suit

Curling fans may not be aware but the Korean Championships are on right now and the winner gets the Olympic spot. Youth movement is in full swing as Bobae Kang eliminated Eunjung Kim in the 3/4 game and Seungyoun Ha has advanced to the final after beating Gim in the 1/2

Curling Canada just released the draw schedule for the Pre-Trials and with it, the news that Team Carruthers has withdrawn, citing Reid’s coaching commitments with Team Einarson. Wonder what that means for the future of that team in general.

Yes e-book for sure at some point

EXCITING NEWS! I have written a book about curling, designed to be enjoyed by curlers and non-curlers alike, out on Douglas and McIntyre on October 14. Pre-orders available now: www.indiebookstores.ca/book/9781771...

Some June gossip incoming: hearing some big changes are afoot on the men’s side of the game in Scotland. Mouat and Whyte lineups are remaining unchanged but the rest? xoxo

On the women’s side of pre-Trials moves, Team MacMillan announcing today they’re adding Brittany Tran and Lauren Lenentine to the lineup. Unsure if they’re going to be able to find a way to play the Scotties but for the PTs they’re locked in

Team McDonald announcing on Instagram they’ve parted ways with Dallas Burgess. I don’t know for sure but if I had to guess, they’ll look inside Manitoba for a replacement

While there have been quite a few team changes and announcements already, I think more are coming. I’m thinking we will still see changes on at least one men’s pre-Trials team. Maybe more… Xoxo

Following on the heels of the Slams experimenting with blank rules, I’m hearing at the U30 SGI Canada Best of the West this weekend they’re experimenting with the “teams can only blank one end per game” rule. Should be interesting to see how that plays out

Couldn’t ask for a better final GSOC Championship Sunday of the season, storyline-wise. ✅ two World final rematches ✅ Bruce could become the first team to win 4 in a season ✅ Yannick could win his first ✅ Rachel could win the Career Grand Slam Don’t miss it!

Worlds format so unforgiving. No excuses but “go 11-1 and your reward in the semifinal is the World #1 and the only team that beat you in the tournament”. If they could’ve picked their semifinal opponent they’d have sprinted to the mic to pick China

BRAD JACOBS YOU ABSOLUTE MAD LAD

We said Broom Brothers wouldn’t be back until after the ASG but what if…we had Briane Harris giving her first-ever podcast interview about the last year of her life? I mean, you’d make that happen too if it were you, I think. Would be huge if true…

On the women’s side of the Trials there are two factors: 1) LSG loses her pre-Trials spot due to losing two team members; 2) points were awarded for last year’s U20 championship but haven’t yet for this year. Plett is 1 point behind Englot so if points are granted, she gets it

I can’t see any material difference being made at the Players, so I believe the Trials and pre-Trials fields are set for the men, barring any team change that sees two members removed.

Incredibly interesting scenario developing at two year-end tournaments that usually don’t matter much for points. The Pre-Trials field has 6 teams that are in: Peterson, MacMillan, Inglis, Sturmay, Thevonot, and McCarville. LSG is out of contention because she lost two players.

An apology:

Team MacMillan announcing on Instagram they’re parting ways with Sarah Daniels. They’re in a very interesting spot because they might be one of the only Trials or Pre-Trials teams actively looking for a player. Could potentially see a big fish landing there

What a week for Team Homan. Unstoppable yet again, as teams continue to get punished for the smallest of mistakes. Homie is obviously insane but this week and the final was about Tracy for me. She’s the perfect complement to Rachel and makes an absurd number of shots

Here to report that Rachel Homan is once again very nice with it. What a double

We are in the thick of the Season of Champions but two GSOC announcements worth noting: 1) Battle of the Sexes is almost sold out (🤯). Get on it. 2) VIP package for the ASG now includes a welcome reception with the curlers and an on-ice experience. Looks pretty cool

Sorry that I've been neglecting posting here but I have Buffer now, so I'll be able to post to here and the bad site at the same time. Looking forward to hanging with good folks here too!

As we know, Team Einarson currently has 7 players. Team Cameron announcing today they’re opening up a spot on their team. I’m gonna guess one of those 7 Einarson players ends up there. It won’t be Kerri lol

Mat Camm Hat Camm

It’s been a long time since Germany has been a concern on the international stage for the men but this lineup of back-to-back World Junior silver medallists with Muskatewicz throwing the brick super well has been dangerous all season. Big W

The latest edition of Broom Brothers is up....we're chatting with Isabella Wranå and it was a great time podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/m...

Curling, amirite?