Although the Mixed Doubles curling with only 2 players was not splashed all over the news, I found it quite interesting, although I still don’t quite understand all the rules involved.
Having said that, I saw some amazing shots and VERY clever curling that required both skill of reading ice and sweeping.
When I watched the Scotties and the Brier I have been disappointed by the ‘high’ level skills curlers have. They can clear the rocks in the rings quite easily creating a blank so they can carry the hammer although they record no points. There goes the finesse and skill to get points in rock ‘placement’. In fact, the men’s can be quite boring due to the ‘blanking’ and carrying the hammer to the next end. Some teams go end after end with NO points due to the ‘blanking’ of the end to keep the hammer. The game is losing my interest.
In the Mixed Doubles, if you have the hammer, you must get a point because even if you blank the end with the hammer, you lose the hammer to the other team. This creates a whole new issue. If you’re going to HAVE to take one point because if you ‘blank’ you cannot carry the hammer, you are really trying to get 2 points instead of just the one. This creates some very exciting curling shots.
I hope Curling Canada starts to see that ‘blanking to keep the hammer’ has dulled the game a lot as well as skill to make points.
