STOH offers more “emotion and fun”
The Scotties aka the Canadian women’s curling championship kicks off this week, which signals the beginning of curling’s television season.
Sure there have been earlier events, such as Grand Slams, but the Tournament of Hearts kicks off TSN’s “Season of Champions” coverage, which they do very well.
I really enjoy the Scotties. The curling is good, and the women will tend to have a few more rocks in play than you would see at the Brier. The women’s game also seems to have more emotion and fun.
This will be a compelling week of curling. Teams have been shuffled since last year so apart from the defending champs, most of the favourites are using new lineups. And of course I will cheer for LSG—aka Laurie St-Georges—to defy the odds and make some noise.
As far as predictions go, you have to think that Ontario’s Rachel Homan and Team Canada’s Kerri Einarson are the favourites. Both have the experience and the talent to win the big games and smart money would have them meeting each other in the finals again.
Kaitlyn Lawes (one of three Wild Card teams) and Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones will likely round out the final four.
I’m curious to see how some of the younger teams fare. I think the women’s game is more likely to see new teams be in contention for the next Olympic qualifying round than the men’s game. Teams like Alberta’s Kayla Skrlik, BC’s Clancy Grandy and Mackenzie Zacharias (with or without Jones) will be interesting to watch develop over this event and the next few years.
TV versus streaming
There has been a lot discussion of late around streaming and TV coverage of curling. At the Ontario provincials, an event with one-tenth the budget of a national championship, every single game was available to watch via online streaming, yet in a Brier or a Scotties I only get to watch the TSN feature game.
I get that TSN has been using the same format for many years, but it’s hard to believe it might not be time for a re-think in how they cover the big events to help drive more exposure and better coverage.
• Firstly, they need to be more flexible to switch games, and switch back if needed. Can we get updates that involve more than just the occasional shot? I watched the opening draw, and while the Alberta-WC1 game was televised the commentators were telling us how good the Canada vs. Quebec game was—and all we saw of it was the occasional skip rock.
• There needs to be a way to watch the other games online, even without commentary. I know TSN dabbled with covering multiple games across their TSN 3-4-5 channels, but I get why that is tougher given the production value that they put into each game.
So why not stream the other games on the TSN platform? I get they want eyeballs on their main feed, but it seems like a low-cost way of drawing in fans. Eyeballs equals revenue.
The current TSN model is based on the notion that most people still watch television, but if you are trying to reach the next generation of curling fans, you need to offer options that appeal to the multi-screen, streaming-only crowd.
WTF—where F is for format
Let me explain how the Scotties format works.
• Two pools of nine teams play an eight-game round robin.
• The top three teams advance to the playoffs.
Then, the second-ranked team in Pool A plays against the third-ranked team in Pool B, for the right to play Pool B’s first-place team for a spot in the Page playoff 1 versus 2 game.
Meanwhile, the second-place team in Pool B plays the third-ranked squad in Pool A for the right to battle Pool A’s top-ranked team for the other spot in the 1-2 Page playoff.
The losers of the crossover final meet each other for the right to play the loser of the Page playoff 1 versus 2 game.
The winner of that game then plays the .... ah, forget it. The final takes place next Sunday.
What the hell are they trying to do? This is the most confusing format I have ever seen. I don’t know any other sport that tries to give teams so many chances to lose and still win.
Here is a truth: At a certain point, it comes down to a game where you need to win or go home. Why is curling obsessed with giving everybody so many chances to lose? It just makes the event seem interminable. It is hard to maintain the drama over so many damn games. There must be a better way.
I mean, the friggin’ Olympics are sudden death after the round robin!