Sunday, March 22, 2009

The Night Before

Hello from Halifax, NS, where the little card with the chocolate treat on my pillow tells me that we are expecting snow tomorrow, and a high of -1C.

I'm still working on BC time.  It's 6:30PM, and Martin and Ferby are about to play in the Canada Cup.  But it's an early start tomorrow, or at least that's what I'm telling myself right now.

If the Canadian Nationals are as well organized and as sociable as the preliminaries today, it's going to be a fun week.  WestJet service was excellent, I was met off the plane, the room was as advertised, there's restaurants and shops without having to go outside in the wind and cold, and did I mention that it's an early start tomorrow morning?

Most of the teams got together this evening for munchies and a no-host bar.  Chris Daw arrived with his retinue of three female teammates, a female coach, and his wife, all wearing tee shirts that say, "Throw like a girl" with a purloined wheelchaircurling.com logo.

Everybody seems in good spirits, particularly the Northern Ontarians, still celebrating their win over those big city guys from Thunder Bay.

Alberta's Anne Hibberd was unable to travel, having seriously injured her foot.  Everybody wishes you well, Anne!

And with that, we'll see you online tomorrow for the Opening Ceremonies at 11:00AM Atlantic Time. (Conversion here.)  Opening Ceremonies will be followed by team practices, and the first draw at 4:00PM Atlantic Time.  We'll be covering defending champions BC, who will be playing the Host team.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The big question is whether or not Chris can "throw like a Jim". Can this be Chris's comeback?

I would think Chris would need Jim's endorsement to have a chance at Team Canada now.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Eric for your well wishes. National Championship is what we work so hard for all season, and I am devastated not to be with my team in Halifax. Each year the level of competition increases making for a very exciting week ahead. I will be following game progress closely from my hospital bed in Calgary.
Good Luck and Good Curling to all.
Anne Hibberd (Team Alberta)