Sports

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Catching up with Northern Ontario Curling Executive Director Laura Forget

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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.

For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com

2025 Bold Predictions

It's time for one our favourite annual traditions as we go around the world of curling and offer up some bold predictions for 2025. From Olympic qualifying to broom foam density, there's a lot going on in the sport that will shape how the year plays out. Let us know if you agree with our predictions and what you think will happen this year.

For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com

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2025 Off to a Hot Start! Trials, Lineup Changes, & a Draft

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We are kicking off 2025 with a roundup of what has been a very busy time in the world of curling. Sean and Scott start by talking about the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials that wrapped up on the weekend, including what happened in the final, before getting into the most recent major lineup shuffle with Teams Carey and Einarson and the implications for both squads. They then discuss the draft that the Grand Slam held to determine the pools at next week's event in Guelph, ON before wrapping up with some streaming and world curling announcements.

For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com

They're Saying Boourns! & Other Curling News

After a week off, the guys are back to do a tour around the world of curling. They start with the recent lineup change to Team Dunstone before talking about the Grand Slam in St. John's, which included a great moment where Team Jacobs was booed by the home crowd. They also talk about the field being set for the Canadian Mixed Doubles Olympic Curling Trials, the Canadian Senior Championship, and a new initiative from Curling Ontario.

For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com

Nearly Live from a 1-Day Bonspiel

Come along with Sean and Scott as they play in the 2024 Rideau Curling Club 1-day Oktoberfest Bonspiel. With a 6-person team, they take you through the day as they play 2 games, comment on the third, and talk about the pros and cons of the 1-day format.

For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com

Women in Curling

Sean is joined by Elaine Dagg-Jackson, the Chair of Women in Curling, to talk about the initiative's re-brand. Formerly known as the Women in Curling Leaders' Circle, the re-brand has come with four new pillars that the group is focusing on to help foster greater women's representation at all levels of curling. More information - including on how to apply to be part of the executive council and committees - can be found here. The deadline for applications is November 17.

For more, visit us at GameofStonespod.com

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How to Score a Game

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In recent years, the guys have talked about how it seems like shooting percentages have been inflated, so today they talk about how percentages are calculated based on the instructions for scoring each individual shot. They discuss the Curling Canada guidelines for scoring a game and how that could be influencing the stats we see during broadcasts. Sean also scored a game using these guidelines and they discuss the difference between his score and the official stats from that game. You can find the Curling Canada instructions here.

For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com

Biggest Differences Between Elite & Rec Level Strategies

This week the guys chat about the differences in the strategies you see on teevee compared to what is advisable in your regular leagues. What parts of strategy can you incorporate from the top levels and which ones should you leave the pros?

They also chat about the Pan Continental Curling Championship, which kicks off on Sunday, and the news that Curling Canada is still looking for a title sponsor for next year's Olympic Trials.

For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com

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A New Roster Trend?

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The guys are back to talk about another week of bombshell news in the world of curling. They talk about Brendan Bottcher joining Team Gushue as second and what that will look like on the ice. They then chat about whether this is part of a larger trend in the sport and what that means for elite-level curling moving forward.

For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com

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What's the Value of Streaming & In-Season Lineup Changes

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Sean and Scott chat about last weekend's Grand Slam before talking about the state of streaming in the world of curling, including the World Curling Federation's new season pass. They debate the value of streaming games and whether it's a good idea to keep all games behind a paywall. They then discuss a couple of big - and rare - in-season lineup changes for Teams Koe and Gushue and chat about what this trend could mean for the sport moving forward.

For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com

Curling for Beginners and Improvers

This week the guys are joined by John Robertson, author of Curling for Beginners and Improvers. John talks about his passion for the sport, why he wanted to write a book for new players, and the best way to introduce people to curling. John also talks about some of the key topics in the book, including best ways to practice, introducing the rules, introducing strategy, and keeping up with pace of play.

Following the discussion with John, Sean and Scott talk about the PointsBet and this week's return of the Grand Slam as well as some of the new branding we're seeing in the world of curling.

For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com

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Women's Sports & Identity

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Sean talks with Michelle J. Manno, author of Denied: Women, Sports, and the Contradiction of Identity. They talk about Michelle's personal experience with collegiate basketball, how personal identity mixes with team identity in sports, and how players navigate contested spaces. They also discuss how coaches police players' identities, the role of TItle IX, and how these issues exist across all women's sports. 

For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com

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Improving Engagement at the Rec Level

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This week, Curl ON Executive Director Matt Allen joins the show to talk about his Engagement Tour Report (which you can read here). After spending more than 200 hours meeting with curlers and clubs across the province, Matt's report outlines ideas to increase engagement at the local level and proposes strategies to get more people playing the sport. From improving the online presence to attracting new and young curlers to adopting new business models, the report lays out a number of ideas to keep the sport strong at the grassroots. Do you think that these ideas will help increase engagement at the rec level?

For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com

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!

For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com

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Summer News Update

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It's been a while since we caught up on all goings on around the world of curling, so this week we catch up with what's been happening. We talk the European C championships, some host city announcements for upcoming events, and the Canadian Wheelchair program selections. We also get into a report on recreational curling engagement from CurlON and finish the show with a special clip of what could Scott's big break.

For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com

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?

For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com

Spring News Update

We're back after a brief hiatus to talk about what has been a very busy spring in the world of curling. We start by discussing the Men's World Championship along with the mixed doubles before going across Canada to talk about all the men's (16:00) and women's (39:40) lineup changes that we've seen.

For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com

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Biggest Brier Preview

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The Season of Champions is in full swing withe the first ever Montana's Brier set to kick off on Friday. We talk about the format, the storylines, and all 18 teams heading to Regina before making our picks for who will stand tall at the end of the week.

For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com