Scotties Recaps & Brier Preview

As the Season of Champions rolls on, the guys start out by talking about Rachel Homan's 5th Scotties title and everything else that happened over the course of the week in Thunder Bay, including a roller coaster event for Kerri Einarson, a tough week for Krista McCarville, and a farewell to Kerry Galusha. Then (at 24:01) they shift to this week's Montana's Brier, which kicks off Friday in Kelowna. They go through the field and talk about all 18 teams and what they each need to do to consider the week a success.

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Scotties Trivia

With the Scotties in full swing, the guys get together for some trivia about the Canadian Women's Curling Championship. Play with Scott as he tries to navigate a rather challenging trivia game created by Sean. Let us know if you beat Scott's score.

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Scotties Preview

This week the Season of Champions kicks off with the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts and the guys are here to give you a full preview of what should be a very fun week in Thunder Bay, ON. They go through all 18 teams in the field looking at their strengths and weaknesses before making their picks for who they think will represent Canada at the world championship.

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How Rec Games Change During the Season of Champions

With the Season of Champions kicking off next week, the guys look at how games at the rec level tend to change at this time of year. From different shot selections to pace of play, they look at the pros and cons of rec players incorporating some of what they see on teevee into their own games. The guys wrap by talking about last weekend's U.S. championship and the remaining provincial championships coming up this weekend.

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Catching up with Northern Ontario Curling Executive Director Laura Forget

With the provincial championships in full swing, Sean catches up with Northern Ontario Curling Association Executive Director Laura Forget. They discuss the role of executive directors for member associations, how provincial championships are put together, and the challenges of streaming provincials. They also chat about some of the financial challenges facing member associations, how the associations work together, and the challenges facing recreational curling in Northern Ontario.

You can stream the Northern Ontario provincials here.

Sean and Scott are doing play-by-play on Saturday January 26 for the qualifying games at the 2025 Over the Rainbow bonspiel at the Ottawa Curling Club. Streaming starts at noon ET on Saturday and the guys are doing the games at 2:00 and 4:30. Check our socials for links to the stream.

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Curling Trivia

Everyone loves a good trivia game, so this week Sean gives Scott some trivia questions related to the Scotties and Brier. Play along and see if you can beat Scott! If you do, be sure to let us know!

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2024 Curling Commercial Rankings

For the first time in a couple years, we were gifted with some new curling commercials for the 2024 Season of Champions! And as we love to do with a new batch of ads, we’re here to rank them. From agricultural products to Curling Canada promotions, there is a lot to discuss this year. What do you think of our rankings? Did we miss any ads this year?

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Scotties Recap: Passing the Torch

We join you nearly live from the Ottawa Curling Club, home of Team Homan, to talk about an action packed week at the Scotties. From Rachel Homan capturing her fourth title to Kerri Einarson's remarkable streak coming to an end to the retirement of Jennifer Jones, there was a lot going on in Calgary and we try to cover it all.

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Super Scotties Preview

It's our favourite event of the year, the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. To get you set for the week, we give our full preview, including the new playoff format, new rules, and the biggest storylines of the week. We also preview all 18 teams in the field, the expectations for each, and give our picks for how things will stack up at the end of the week. But before all that, we give our initial reactions to the news that this year will be Jennifer Jones' last Scotties as she steps away from the 4-person game.

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Provincial Playdown Excitement!

It's provincial and territorial playdown season across Canada, so we go coast to coast to coast to discuss some of the biggest storylines we're looking forward to following. From deep fields to up and coming teams to the CTRS points, we talk about what will be a fun few weeks as the Scotties and Brier fields are rounded out.

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*recorded Wednesday January 17

Schedule Watch 2023

We're back from our summer break and looking ahead to the upcoming curling season! This week,  we go through some team schedules to see how the new Brier and Scotties qualification rules are impacting how teams pick their events. We talk about the defending champs, some established squads, and some up and comers to see if we can spot the differences in how they are approaching a new season. 

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Curling Canada Makes Changes

After a week off, we're back to talk about some of the changes Curling Canada made to Olympic, Scotties, and Brier qualification. We briefly touch on the world mixed doubles and senior championships before getting into the Curling Canada changes. We talk about what we like (a lot) and what we don't like (less) and how this could impact things moving forward.

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Scotties Recap: Back-to-Back-to-Back-to-Back

We're back to review an eventful 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. We start by talking about Kerri Eirnarson's 4th straight Scotties title and her final win over Jennifer Jones. We then discuss another podium finish for Krista McCarville and a breakout week for Christina Black before going through some of the highlights from the rest of the field. 

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Scotties Trends Heading into Playoffs

We're back to chat about some of the trends we've seen this week at the Scotties. We discuss the playoff scenarios, the increase in scoring from last year, and time management for teams with more active front ends. We wrap up by talking about the rather interesting measures we've seen, the ice conditions, and the new look TSN booth. 

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Super Scotties Preview

It's time for our favourite event on the curling calendar, the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. We talk about Joanne Courtney joining the TSN booth for the week and how strong the field is before turning our attention to each team. We go team-by-team through the pools to talk about the lineups, the favourites, and who we think will stand tall at the end of the week. We wrap up by talking about our special Scotties giveaway.  

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Scotties Field Set, Dumb Pregnancy Rules, & Best Bonspiel Formats

Recorded before the David Murdoch to Curling Canada news, Sean and Scott talk about a busy weekend in curling as the Scotties Tournament of Hearts field is set. They talk about the provincial championships from the weekend, the Wild Card selections, and a rather stacked pool for the Scotties. They then turn to 2 announcements by Curling Canada, including the very strange pregnancy policy and the new qualification format for next season's PointsBet Invitational. FInally, the guys talk about their bonspiel experience over the weekend and what formats work best when heading to a 'spiel. 

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High Performance v. Grassroots, Curling Canada Launches Streaming, & ChatGPT Curling Storytime

It's been a big week in the world of curling, both on and off the ice. The guys start by talking about some of the provincial finals from the weekend and currently on going, including a phenomenal game winning shot from Kayla Skrlik. They then discuss Curling Canada's review of the high performance program and the attention (or lack thereof) on the grassroots level in Canada. They also give their thoughts on Curling Canada+, the new streaming service for all non-Season of Champions events. They wrap up by sharing a curling story from ChatGPT.

Check out Scott's AI generated curling image here.

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News Roundup & First Timer Live Event Tips

There's been a lot going on in curling, so Sean and Scott roundup all the news, including the Grand Slam, provincial results, and some lineup changes. They also dish out some tips for first timers heading to live events during the Season of Champions.

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Smaller Curling Venues, Interesting Masters Outcomes, & We're Playing Weird Games Lately

Curling Canada announced this week that the 2024 Brier will be held in Regina, prompting the question of whether the days of Briers in NHL arenas are behind us? And does that impact the fan experience? We then talk about this week's Grand Slam and what winners would make for the most interesting storylines going into 2023. The show wraps up by talking about some of our recent games, including a big strategy decision and what makes for major momentum swings in rec level games.

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Madeleine Dupont Proves Scott Wrong! And What's the Value of Rankings?

In this episode, Sean and Scott talk about a fun week so far at the European Championships. They discuss Madeleine Dupont's incredible run, the women's final, and the crowded middle of the women's field. They also chat about the men's side and how things look heading into the second semi final. They then look at the current CTRS, Ken Pom, and Twine Time rankings and debate about the value of ranking systems and whether they warrant so much attention.

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