With the new year almost upon us I felt it was about time we posted the result of Round 1 of challenge Scott as I know some of the regular readers have been asking how he got on. In all honesty I've had trouble downloading the cinema quality video from a mobile communication device and that's what caused the delay. Unfortunately I took the video on the wrong orientation so you'll have to excuse half of Scotts head being cut off although it's probably best that way.
I don't think the video needs too much of an introduction if I'm honest so I'll leave you to enjoy the show with a tub of popcorn and a bucket of coke. All you need to know is that this is Scott's effort at trying to consume a tablespoon of Cinnamon. I'll let you decide whether he was successful or not.
The boys will be back in action at the Mercure Perth Masters on the 3rd of January at 16:45 against Steve Laycock's Canadian side.
Team Edwards would like to wish everyone a happy new year and a cracking 2013.
The season so far has been a slow burner and our social activities could be viewed by some as the reason we've misfired on a couple of occasions elsewhere on the Scottish Curling Tour. That being said results have been improving and we headed off to Kinross last weekend hoping to make a move up the Scottish Curling Tour rankings and by all accounts we had a pretty successful weekend.
When Dave and John arrived on Friday there was a sizable welcoming party in attendance who proceeded to question the Lionel Richie concert the previous night that Dave attended. Dave claimed that the tickets were free and that he was dragged out by Louise. This is not true. Dave has loved Lionel ever since his second solo album released in 1983. (The reason for Dave’s number 83 shirt).
The team lined up against the Latvians (Regza) in the first game miffed that team Curl One Out (more to follow on them later) had received a walkover in their first round game and therefore had a lie in. The lads headed off the Latvian challenge and headed off for a bit of fuel at Loch Levens Larder. It has to be said it was worth the trip and for those of you who haven't been it's thoroughly recommended and you get a cracking feed. One question that did crop up was whether it really was an impression of Rob Niven's torso that was stuck to the wall in the restaurant?!? We sincerely hope it wasn't his legs that were on show! The Christmas jumpers were also of extremely high quality.
Catalogue worthy
Team Barr took an early 4-1 lead in our second game of the weekend and fortunately they ran out of steam before the end. Next up was Gordon Addison in a game that could see us qualify with a day to spare. We took a 3 in the first end and ran out the game to ensure qualification for the knock out stages.
Last game of the group stages was against Team Curl One Out. Now we don't normally go into too much detail about curling games, but on this occasion we're going to make an exception. This was the big one and the crowd arrived in their droves to watch the match-up against Gracie & Co. Dave Soutar was one fan in attendance who had extracted himself from his pit on a Saturday morning to witness this momentous game. Pregame nerves got the better of the underdogs and Team Edwards whipped a three off the pretenders in the first end. Scott "Hagrid" Robertson deserves a special mention as he was soaking up so much "fresh air" in the first few ends that we wondered if he thought he was on the beach. It didn't get any better for the boys from D&G as we brought out the power game and punishment rained down. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the boys from the south bent over and took a good spanking from Team Edwards. We did notice Curl One Out stood for the rest of the day as their arses were so red raw.
Hagrid enjoying the fresh air.
The old boys Colin and Dave went for a nap while Scott and John had a romantic afternoon planned together with the TV and Babestation. The young boys topped out their phone bills calling the Babestation girls, they will have a lot of explaining to do when their parents get the bill at the end of the month.
This is Dani. She was their favourite, looks like she has a wonderful personality.
Following the nap, Team Edwards headed out to Dunfermline for some nutrition and competition in the form of Frankie and Benny’s and ten pin bowling. The main task of the night involved getting through the crowd of stabby looking neds at the door to the Megabowl. Never to fear, John and Scott lead the team confidently past the neds protecting the two weaker members of the team (Dave and Colin) as the Megabowl Young Team scurried away in awe of such Alpha males.
They didn't look this cocky after Penny and Macleod walked by,
Down to the Ten Pin Bowling. We played 3 games.
John struggled in the early frames with all the skill, power and accuracy of an 8 year old girl not quite cutting it in this high level game.
For Scott, ten pin bowling was very much like his peels. A combination of extremely poor technique mixed with a max power effort sometimes resulted in some embarrassingly erratic results, but by Christ, when it hit, it really hit.
Being a lead, it felt incredibly unnatural for Colin to actually knock the pins over. He kept trying to freeze them. After a solid 20 minutes of trying to explain the concept to him we were not having any luck and let him use the throwing aid mainly used by young children. This helped and he redeem him score slightly.
Dave was consistent and shit.
Here are the results.
The running totals were Scott-363, Colin-343, John-324, Dave-322.
As you can see, the Scott’s power game ran out the winner and JP did eventually get better.
After the ten bowling, we headed home to bed in preparation for the quarter final against team Lorna Vevers with Kyle Smith skipping. This was a game we really wanted to win as there was potential we could once again face Team Curl One Out in the semi.
We were also motivated by Dave Soutar who was getting a bit big for his boots and forcasting our impending defeat on Twitter.
@David_Soutar wrote:
@scottmacleod1 @granitecitydave Big game this morning. You're going to lose to girls (and a guy!). #c'monthefemmes #curling
Psyched up by a bald man, we were focused and ready to go. It was a reasonably tight game until we stole a 2 and managed to hold them off until the end of the game.
In the semi-final, Team Curl One Out were once again out of their comfort zone. Having never ventured anywhere near this stage in a competition before and being up against such a high class and better looking team, they were always going to struggle. This was especially true after taking the rough side of the spanking paddle so hard in the group game. Prior to the first stone, Team Edwards won the toss and the game was effectively over. Team Curl One Out sought solace in the fact that they managed to score a 2 in the 6th end to make it more respectable.
The paddle that became extremely familiar with Team Curl One Out
Team Curl One Out went on to beat Murray Young on the 3/4 playoff and take home the four bottles of whisky. Congratulations.
This lined us up against Ross McCleary in the final. Colin Campbell, for the first time as a Team Edwards member, was prolific at winning the toss. We once again had hammer in the first end which we used it well to take a 2. Following this we gave up a 1 and a steal after we could not quite get to grips with how quick the ice was getting. We then took another 2 and had a bit of breathing space in the last end, which we needed. We had a hit on a stone which was around half open for the tournament victory. It unfortunately picked half way down and wrecked on the guard. Onto the extra end, with the ice not curling a ton, so it was tricky to get round guards, Ross left his last stone high and we had the open hit for the win!
This was Team Edwards first ever tournament victory and let us sail to the top of the Scottish Curling Tour rankings with only one event remaining in Aberdeen.
Kinross Open 2012 - Champions
For those wondering, Scott attempted the Cinnamon Challenge. The results will be uploaded and posted in the near future.
Next weekend will see the introduction of a new video feature called "Challenge Scott". Challenge Scott unlike the 90's TV programme Challenge Anneka will be no good to man nor beast and will involve some completely pointless tasks.
Being a midget Scott's little man syndrome means he refuses to back away from a challenge and next Saturday he will take on the famous "Cinnamon Challenge". Dave mentioned to Scott the other weekend and as predicted the wee man couldn't say no to eating a tablespoon of cinnamon inside 60 seconds. Apparently this one is going to be easy, but we think there may be some surprises in store for the little man.
Verne is taller (and stronger) than Scott
January will see Scott tackle the Slains Castle "Burger Challenge", which involves eating 2 x 12oz burgers topped with 4 rashers of bacon, 6
onion rings salad and a mound of cheese. All served in a focaccia roll
with a pile of chips! Victory will be his if he can finish inside 25 minutes. Chances?!? Nae chance!
Any suggestions or ideas for Challenge Scott would be gratefully received and he'll do anything that doesn't involve jumping off a bridge with an elastic band between his legs.
Adding to the excitement of the Kinross weekend is the possibility that we may have a team streaker. Should a certain event happen (this has to be kept under wraps) one of the team members has volunteered do a streak! Colin's identity will remain secret until the big event, however we will provide advance notice for all the ladies who would like to see his elephants trunk shrivel up in the cold should events transpire against him.
Team Edwards were back in action again this weekend competing
in the Stirling Invitational. This weekend saw super sub Ringo returning to our
line up as John Penny had other commitments that he could not get out of.
Ringo in action.
But what other commitments could John possibly have that
would mean he would have to miss one of the most important curling weekends of
the season and leave his team in the lurch? And more worryingly, allowing Scott
to play third?
Work?
A holiday?
A wedding?
A funeral?
A family emergency?
They would probably all be pretty valid and understandable
excuses. But no, it was none of these.
John Penny missed the Stirling Invitational because he is
whipped.
The trousers that John never gets to wear.
JP’s lucky significant other had booked flights up to
Aberdeen where they could spend a romantic weekend together. Rumour has it that
John had a fun filled weekend prepared for himself and Caitlin. Our sources say
that John had booked a candle lit table for two at McDonalds, where he
would even consider letting Caitlin supersize the meal, as it is certain that nothing else over the course of the weekend would be *"Supersize". This was to be followed by a drive in his car back to Old Meldrum where
he had prepared nothing but the finest 6 pack of Strongbow to watch the
football with. I am sure that she will have been impressed.
Romance.
As for the curling, it went alright.
Win 5-4 v Fraser Hare. Pretty tight, made the hit and stick
for the win.
Win 10-0 v A Mitchell. Dishing out free points.
Win 7-2 v Graeme Shedden. Made a good double for 4 in the middle of the game.
Win 7-1 v Murray Young. Stole a 4 in the 6th to
seal the deal.
Draw 2-2 v Logan Gray. They gave up half way through the
game.
We were through to the quarter final against Ewan McDonald
where we once again improved our playoff record with a tight 3-2 victory.
We then had Warwick Smith in the semi-final, they
beat us 5-1 by taking a 3 when Warwick made a triple followed by a split.
We also had to play the role of Richard Hart on a couple of
occasions over the course of the weekend.
After the games on Friday and Saturday we had a couple of
beers while watching boxing and playing cards. Like real men. As
I am sure you are all aware, Team Edwards are highly desirable company and Team
Barr begged us to allow them to come for a few drinks with us to celebrate
their qualification into the Scottish Ladies Finals. We initially said no, but we finally caved and accepted. One thing to note about their qualifying
weekend is that Rhiann Macleod travelled to the curling competition in Dumfries
without her curling shoes. Absolute spacker.
Standard Rhiann
After a couple of drinks Kerry Barr was getting a bit mouthy.
She challenged Scott to a high stakes game of pool in the hotel across the road.
It was a good game which was very tense at times. After an opportunity to clear
up, Kerry choked and gave Scott the tap in for the win. Kerry whimpered away with her tail between her legs. FIVE POUNDS TO
MACLEOD!!!!! Victory pic below. Never in doubt.
The prize giving.
That was the Stirling Invitational.
Because we stole some photos, I will give the source a shout out.
Andy R Macpherson did a great job, here is a link to his album.
