Episodes
Come along with Sean and Scott as they play in the 2024 Rideau Curling Club 1-day Oktoberfest Bonspiel. With a 6-person team, they take you through the day as they play 2 games, comment on the third, and talk about the pros and cons of the 1-day format. For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com
Published 11/23/24
It's time for the 2024 European Curling Championship! Ryan from Rocks Across the Pond joins Sean and Scott for the 5th Annual Bad Beer Bet! They go through the fields for both the A & B events before giving their picks for who will win, who will get relegated, and who will be promoted. For more, join us at GameofStonesPod.com
Published 11/15/24
Published 11/15/24
Sean is joined by Elaine Dagg-Jackson, the Chair of Women in Curling, to talk about the initiative's re-brand. Formerly known as the Women in Curling Leaders' Circle, the re-brand has come with four new pillars that the group is focusing on to help foster greater women's representation at all levels of curling. More information - including on how to apply to be part of the executive council and committees - can be found here. The deadline for applications is November 17. For more, visit us...
Published 11/08/24
In recent years, the guys have talked about how it seems like shooting percentages have been inflated, so today they talk about how percentages are calculated based on the instructions for scoring each individual shot. They discuss the Curling Canada guidelines for scoring a game and how that could be influencing the stats we see during broadcasts. Sean also scored a game using these guidelines and they discuss the difference between his score and the official stats from that game. You can...
Published 11/01/24
This week the guys chat about the differences in the strategies you see on teevee compared to what is advisable in your regular leagues. What parts of strategy can you incorporate from the top levels and which ones should you leave the pros? They also chat about the Pan Continental Curling Championship, which kicks off on Sunday, and the news that Curling Canada is still looking for a title sponsor for next year's Olympic Trials. For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com
Published 10/24/24
The guys are back to talk about another week of bombshell news in the world of curling. They talk about Brendan Bottcher joining Team Gushue as second and what that will look like on the ice. They then chat about whether this is part of a larger trend in the sport and what that means for elite-level curling moving forward. For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com
Published 10/17/24
Sean and Scott chat about last weekend's Grand Slam before talking about the state of streaming in the world of curling, including the World Curling Federation's new season pass. They debate the value of streaming games and whether it's a good idea to keep all games behind a paywall. They then discuss a couple of big - and rare - in-season lineup changes for Teams Koe and Gushue and chat about what this trend could mean for the sport moving forward. For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com
Published 10/11/24
This week the guys are joined by John Robertson, author of Curling for Beginners and Improvers. John talks about his passion for the sport, why he wanted to write a book for new players, and the best way to introduce people to curling. John also talks about some of the key topics in the book, including best ways to practice, introducing the rules, introducing strategy, and keeping up with pace of play. Following the discussion with John, Sean and Scott talk about the PointsBet and this...
Published 10/05/24
The guys are set to hit the ice next week and are talking about what they do to get ready for the season. From physical prep to checking equipment to team dynamics, they go through all the pre-season steps that can help once the games get started. They then talk about what they are most excited to see at the elite level before Sean describes how he tracks his games through the course of the year. Sean's Stretching Routine Neck Circles Shoulder Circles into Arm Circles Arm Crosses Hip...
Published 09/27/24
The 2024-25 season is underway and the guys are back with their annual look at how teams are setting up their schedules. They look at a couple of the top Canadian teams, some of the best international teams, and a couple of the 'middle class' and up-and-comers to see which events are being targeted and how teams are managing travel. They wrap up by talking about some of the early season results along with the other news from the world of curling (44:10). For more, visit us at...
Published 09/20/24
Sean talks with Michelle J. Manno, author of Denied: Women, Sports, and the Contradiction of Identity. They talk about Michelle's personal experience with collegiate basketball, how personal identity mixes with team identity in sports, and how players navigate contested spaces. They also discuss how coaches police players' identities, the role of TItle IX, and how these issues exist across all women's sports. For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com
Published 09/05/24
This week, we are running a conversation from 2017 between Sean and Jean-Marie Leduc, who had one of the world's largest private collections of skates. Mr. Leduc passed away on August 12, so we wanted to share this conversation as a tribute to him - a man with an incredible passion for sports on ice. If you're so inclined, check out Lace Up or the French version Coup de patin
Published 08/29/24
This week we take a couple questions from the listeners before checking out what's being asked over on the curling sub-reddit. From new schedules to best positions to how to improve your club, we offer up our answers to these questions. For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com
Published 08/23/24
Fresh off the Olympics and the Soccer Canada drone scandal, we sit down and discuss what some comparable scandals in Canada could potentially look like. For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com
Published 08/15/24
This week, Curl ON Executive Director Matt Allen joins the show to talk about his Engagement Tour Report (which you can read here). After spending more than 200 hours meeting with curlers and clubs across the province, Matt's report outlines ideas to increase engagement at the local level and proposes strategies to get more people playing the sport. From improving the online presence to attracting new and young curlers to adopting new business models, the report lays out a number of ideas to...
Published 07/15/24
Everyone loves a good trivia game, so this week Sean gives Scott some trivia questions related to the Scotties and Brier. Play along and see if you can beat Scott! If you do, be sure to let us know! For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com
Published 07/03/24
This week Sean talks with the skip of Team Davies, Zach Davies. You may remember that we sponsored a team for the 2023-24 season, so we wanted to catch up with everything that happened over the winter. Zach talks about the challenge of skipping his team while also playing front end for the Canadian Junior Men's team, how the team improved over the season, and some of the highlights they experienced along the way - including some surprising road trip music choices. For more, visit us at...
Published 06/29/24
It's been a while since we caught up on all goings on around the world of curling, so this week we catch up with what's been happening. We talk the European C championships, some host city announcements for upcoming events, and the Canadian Wheelchair program selections. We also get into a report on recreational curling engagement from CurlON and finish the show with a special clip of what could Scott's big break. For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com
Published 06/16/24
In 2021, Curling Canada announced that it was changing the timing of the Canadian Junior Curling Championship, allowing teams that win a full season to prepare for the world championship. That puts junior champions in a unique situation as they have access to resources that were not previously available to Canadian champions. This week, Adam Naugler, the lead for Team Johnson Tao, joined Sean to talk about the team's season as the Canadian junior champions. He talks about the challenge of...
Published 06/07/24
For the first time in a couple years, we were gifted with some new curling commercials for the 2024 Season of Champions! And as we love to do with a new batch of ads, we’re here to rank them. From agricultural products to Curling Canada promotions, there is a lot to discuss this year. What do you think of our rankings? Did we miss any ads this year? For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com
Published 05/17/24
We're back after a brief hiatus to talk about what has been a very busy spring in the world of curling. We start by discussing the Men's World Championship along with the mixed doubles before going across Canada to talk about all the men's (16:00) and women's (39:40) lineup changes that we've seen. For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com
Published 04/30/24
It's a busy time of year in the curling world and we're excited to be talking about it all. We start by recapping what was a fun week at the Women's World Curling Championship. We talk about Rachel Homan's win, the game/shot of the year, and how the rest of the field broke down over the course of the week. We then move on to preview the field for the Men's World Curling Championship. We go through the field and talk about all 13 teams before offering up our picks for the week. For more,...
Published 03/29/24
In the midst of the very busy Season of Champions, we're back to recap the week that was at the Brier and look ahead to the Women's World Curling Championship. We start by recapping the Brier, including Gushue's run of dominance, a great week for Saskatchewan, and some of the best stand out performances of the week. At 31:05 we look ahead to the Women's Worlds by previewing all 13 teams in the field, including Silvana Tirinzoni going for her 5th consecutive title. We wrap the show by talking...
Published 03/16/24
The Season of Champions is in full swing withe the first ever Montana's Brier set to kick off on Friday. We talk about the format, the storylines, and all 18 teams heading to Regina before making our picks for who will stand tall at the end of the week. For more, visit us at GameofStonesPod.com
Published 02/29/24