There is Crying in Curling

With just the slightest of kicks, the tears poured forth. That was the scene at the Optimist U-18 Curling Finals on Sunday.

With a 2-point lead, the girls from the Yukon played their last stone, a draw to the four-foot. As the rock lowed, it was suddenly spurred on just a little bit further by the foot of second Linea Eby. A mistake. An error. A tragedy. As soon as it happened, the young girl's face went pale. You could see the horror in her eyes as the decision of what to do was being made. But in her stomach the poor curler knew there was only one thing to do. Pull the rock off.

Immediately Eby began to cry. It was an unsettling feeling as Marlee Powers stepped into the hack to throw the final Nova Scotia stone that would eventually find the paint and score the win. Never have I heard the call to the sweepers overshadowed by the crying of one heartbroken girl.

Eby composed herself just long enough to shake hands, only to collapse again. To their credit, the Nova Sc0tia team were gracious in victory. In fact, the looked like they felt bad for winning, but after all, they did.

So often we only see the glory of sport and the winners. The tragedy that is losing seemingly is forgotten. For one poor girl from the Yukon, this will be a cross she will bear. Right or wrong.

Truth be told, the game was not lost on the mistake. In fact, had the rock stayed in play it was an easy takeout and the result would have been the same. But it was obvious in her mind that her error was the difference. Never mind its an 8-end game with 64 separate shots per team. This one little mistake certainly couldn't be any worse than sliding long on a draw in the third end.

The girls from the Yukon will head back north with silver medals around their necks, and should be proud of the medal hanging down in front of their hearts, even if they are broken.
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The Callie will host this event again next year and I for one hope to spend a lot more time at it. Real cool to see teams of kids from Canada, US and Asia go at it! I also hope to run into Linea Eby again at a curling rink somewhere and see her with a smile on her face. What doesn't kill you makes you better and nobody bounces back like kids!