My dear hubby took me on a date night last night. A fish and chip dinner at a local pub and a trip to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts where we watched an epic curling battle.
Since I’m not one to follow the behind the scenes drama of curling, I can’t give you the particulars on why or what lead up to the firing. I've read there were personality clashes as well as Team Canada and their leader, Jennifer Jones looking toward their teams future and wanting to bring in young blood to their team. That is the circle of life, is it not? Regardless, in the few short interviews I have seen of Cathy O, it is very evident that the firing sent her reeling. She is visibly shaken and I think that says a lot about her because she has always seemed, to me, to be tough as nails. While being interviewed, it was obvious that she is verging on tears every time the subject is brought up. Once she was back on her feet, she was able to bring together her own team and is now leading a young, up and coming group. Their play has not been stellar. Team Manitoba is positioned far down the leaderboard but that didn’t stop the fans from showing up and providing her with much support last night.
It was a decided case of voting for the underdog, right or wrong, the crowd made their loyalty known, and Cathy O handled what had to be the most awkward game of her career with much style and grace. In all fairness, I have to say the same for Team Canada. The crowd was pretty brutal. Awkward silence pretty much describes the response they received whenever they were successful in their own efforts. The only people from the crowd cheering them on seemed to be their own families seated in a small section at the far end of the civic centre. I’m sure it was difficult for them to watch, but they did themselves no favours when they refused to take part in some crowd participation which made them stick out like a sore thumb. That old adage, two wrongs don’t make a right comes to mind.
It was a very close game with control teetering back and forth with each end, and it came right down to the last two ends to decide who would be victorious. The play was so enthralling that many of the competing teams stuck around after their own matches to watch the duel which, I understand, is almost unheard of.
During her final rock of the 9th end which pretty much sealed Team Canada's fate, the entire crowd, including the Mani-TOGA crowd sporting, you guessed it, neon yellow togas, were on their feet chanting, “CATHY O, CATHY O”. And, oh yes, the sound of cowbells was deafening as Team Canada conceded defeat at the games finale! What a wonderful piece of Canadiana to be fortunate enough to be present for. Congrats to all teams that played last night. It was truly entertaining.
You can read more about the battle here and while I perused the comments, many negative about the crowd not supporting Team Canada because they represent the Canadian population, aren't all of the players CANADIAN? Furthermore, there were some criticisms claiming the people of PEI should be ashamed of the way they portrayed themselves, but I have to say, that crowd was a huge mix of people that travelled from near and far (including us, really?) to watch this game. Also present were many university students (the Manitoga crowd), who are truly temporary residents of the province just there to support their home province. It's easy to get caught up in the enthusiasm.
I'm sure Team Canada was hurt but I don't think the show of support for Team Manitoba was meant as a slight against them. It was more the crowd trying to lift a wounded soul to her feet and I'm almost certain that her feet weren't even touching the ground after that classic battle!
