WE ROCK

CWB Prepares for Nationals and Total Domination

We head out to Portage next Friday for the Nationals. For coverage during the event please visit http://www.portagejuniornationals.com/. Game results, pictures, news releases, etc. should be posted throughout the week so check the site often! See below for our round robin game schedule:

Saturday 2/2/2008 (KC's birthday!)
8:00 am Practice
7:00 pm vs. Anderson (PA)

Sunday 2/3/2008
12:00 pm vs. Schieber (UT)

Monday 2/4/2008
12:00pm vs. Solem (MN II)
8:00 pm vs. Tucker (ND)

Tuesday 2/5/2008
4:00 pm vs. Schaffer (WI II)

Wednesday 2/6/2008
12:00 pm vs. Hufman (AK)
8:00 pm vs. Stewart (IL)

Thursday 2/7/2008
12:00 pm vs. Spatola (WI I)
8:00 pm vs. Carlson (MN I)

For the complete draw visit http://www.usacurl.org/curlingrocks/images/PDFs/2008.jr.draw.pdf

We would appreciate your support during the week. You can email us at teamwalker@usacurl.org

Good Curling!

CWB Wins GNCC Playdowns

We went 5-0 in Utica, NY and won the GNCC Championship for the fourth year in a row. It was a bittersweet moment for Laura and I--we're done with junior playdowns forever. Now we are currently preparing for Junior Nationals to be held in Portage, WI the first week in February. We don't have much event-wise going on, just a whole bunch of throwing rocks together as much as possible before school starts again, and sorting our equipment and logistics.

Sidenote: We are in DESPERATE need of funds and fund raising ideas and we could really use YOUR help. This so important to us. Help! Look for information about a Silpada Jewelry party and raffle tickets to come.

Check out the website at www.portagejuniornationals.com

2007-2008 GNCC Junior Playdowns : Thursday

Well it's nine o'clock at the Ramada hotel in Whitesboro, New York and Team Walker is thinking about bed. We have the massive ipod speakers hooked up, and the walls of our minuscule hotel room jam packed with cream cheese and shampoo literally shake. It's an early start tomorrow morning with a 7:30 AM team meeting and then a 9 AM draw. But after stopping by the club post-dinner, we are ready to get out on the ice and get going.

I got to see a little bit of sheet one and the overall ice conditions and it looks pretty generic -- more curl towards the wall and less away, the ice seems quick although I've heard complaints about weird spots. I don't like the new(?) format with choice of rocks pre-chosen, what if the Utica Curling Club happened to have quite a few bad rocks that could have an impact on the outcome of the game...? I guess it's a good thing we didn't have any practice time, at least then we don't KNOW about the rocks until about the fifth end and by that time it's either too late or not a problem. I could probably complain about a lot of other things, but I guess I won't.

Okay so it's 9:07, definitely time for bed.

GNCC Junior Playdowns Draw

Friday Dec. 28th
9:00 AM vs Bareiss (Utica)
2:00 PM vs Anderson (Philadelphia)

Saturday Dec. 29th
9:00 AM vs Beebe (Albany)
2:00 PM vs Morrison (Cape Cod & battle of the sisters and EMILY Walker's junior curling debut!!!)

Sunday Dec. 30th
9:00 AM vs Ely (Rochester)

All games played at the Utica Curling Club. Face paint and streaking encouraged. Having the early draw three days in a row kind of sucks. I heard some online scoring may be done of the Broomstones Curling Club website at www.broomstones.com so check that out. We declined CurlTV, they just aren't good enough for us (extreme sarcasm).

So yeah, feel free to bring us snacks or just say hi. Oh and if you're looking for a good time, we'll be staying at the Ramada. Look for blog updates.

Morgan Stanley Curling Classic

Another weekend of traveling and curling has come and gone and we are closer than ever to what really matters.

It's certainly a relief to be back in a state where I can walk around with a mean look on my face and not be questioned about it. And for all I've said about Canada, Wisconsin is ten times worse.

We played five games total against Bonot (Thunder Bay Canadian team), Ryan Lemke, Aileen Sormunen, Matt Mielke, and Pete Fenson. And we lost all of them. Looking back, this might not have been the best event for us because it seems to be more of a men's cashspiel (I guess it is a men's event on WCT) and we were out of our league. Playing Fenson was certainly humiliating for an assortment of reasons, as was sitting with them and Team McCormick after the game and watching all the rumors come true. But, it was nice to play US teams for once. And we definitely had some close games. So overall a good time. And any experience that is not east coast teams is good for us.

Thanks to the family who housed us, and to Josh Scherz from Bela-OLHAO, our sponsor, who made it out for the weekend to watch some of our and the other teams' games.

Some highlights from the weekend:
-Discovering Oregon's nicest hostess, thankfully not staying in a shack, the thrill of risking staying in a shack.
-Belting out Elton John's "Rocketman" at 7AM while driving through Wisconsin farmland, determining that our true calling is not curling but instead a four-part harmonious chorus.
-Cheese curds and Italian beef actually tasting alright, although understanding they still and will always look dreadful.
-Meeting Dean Gemmell and realizing he looks exactly like his voice sounds, not joking.
-Hanging around the curling club all day because of a snowstorm and then not being able to fly home because the storm has figured out where you live and is stalking you. (And has the capability to divide itself and multiply, covering two cities at once).

GNCC regional playdowns here we come, Utica, NY, Dec. 27ish to 30ish fingers crossed, come watch and support your favorite junior women's curling team.

Broomstones Junior Spiel

Also - I think it's a true testimony to the TOTAL DOMINATION of our team that three out of three (ALL) who played in the Broomstones Junior Bonspiel this past weekend were in the finals. Unfortunately Nikki chose the wrong team.



Us with the Hot Chillys Turtle. (I look silly).