Blogs with Stones

Admit it, you're getting sucked in by Curling at the Olympics.

Sure you started off mocking the sport. I've heard it all. "Bowling for Janitors" was one remark I saw on twitter but face it, the sport is sucking you in. There are of course those people who say it isn't a "real sport." Do you want to try throwing that stone weighing 42 pounds? Can you run on ice like that? I didn't think so.

I grew up watching the sport in Canada. Unfortunately I now live in New Jersey and as you are aware Curling has no presence on TV here aside from the Olympics. As you may have realized from watching the crowds during the Olympics, Curling is a pretty big deal north of the border. It has a huge following around the country and it gets good coverage on sports networks in Canada. Curling has been on TV during the Olympics in the past but I just can't remember whether the networks of NBC carried all US matches live like they did this time around.

Social media tools like Twitter are definitely helping the popularity of the sport. People like me have been able to explain the rules of the game to curious Olympics fans. Some sports bloggers though took the internet connection to a whole different level. That is where "Blogs with Stones" comes in. If you follow me on twitter, you probably saw me use the hashtag #blogswithstones today. It is an online curling tournament with all the games being played at "Play Curling" The tournament is the brainchild of Dan Levy of "On the DL Podcast." You can follow the progress of the tournament courtesy of Google Documents. It started off tonight with 48 bloggers like me separated in 12 groups.

The top 32 teams have advanced to a knockout tournament to be held Thursday night.

If you join "Play Curling" get in touch with me if you want to play. If you're already playing in the tournament...best of luck the rest of the way.

There are more curling games out for the Wii/PC/DS than I thought. Click on the pictures for more info.



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If you hit a parked car...would you stop to check damage?

Simple question. If you hit a parked car that didn't have anyone in it, would you stop to see if you caused any damage?

Earlier today I was returning home and about to park my car when I noticed that someone backing out hit my other car right there in front of me. Obviously that person had no idea that the car he hit was mine. I honked him to no avail and he took off. Luckily I hadn't shut off my car yet so I took a quick U-Turn without checking to see if he actually caused damage to my other car I took off after this guy because I wanted to catch a license plate just in case there was actual damage to my car. I mean what were the odds that I would be there parking my other car when this happened?

Luckily, he hadn't gotten too far yet and I was able to get the license plate. I tried my luck and flashed my lights from behind to see if the guy would pull over. After about half a mile I pulled up next to him and got his attention and got him to pull over. . Claimed he was in a hurry and didn't think he actually caused damage. He agreed to drive back to see if he caused any damage. We drove back to my apartment complex and turns out this guy does actually live in the building across from mine. There wasn't any damage to the car other than a small scratch.

Did you guys see what a snow plow do to nearly a dozen cars in the middle of the night last week in New York?



So this brings me back to my original question. If you hit a parked car, would you stop to see if you had caused damage? Two years ago I did back into a car. Got out to check if I had caused damage and realized that the other car was fine but my back bumper got messed up. I definitely wouldn't have stopped if a random guy on the roads asked me to pull over.

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Tiger Woods Speech

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Just got done watching the Tiger Woods speech. It was pretty much what I expected it to be. Completely scripted. Don't get me wrong, there was some powerful stuff in their about "feeling entitled". Him taking an extended break is definitely important. I understand the need for a written statement but couldn't someone at Team Tiger get him a teleprompter or two?

Here's a transcript from PGA Tour's website.

Notable in her absence was his wife Elin. Good for her. Tiger's mother was sitting in the front row though and was used as a prop by Tiger at the end. Did someone want to tell Tiger that no one cares about his charitable work today? What did speaking in front of his "friends" accomplish? He's going to have to answer questions sooner or later, why didn't he just start that process today? Did you notice the dramatic shift to looking at the camera when he was speaking to "his fans?" Who directed this? I seriously want to sit in one of these P.R meetings one of these days. What goes through these guys heads?

I was actually surprised to hear him say he doesn't know when he will return to the PGA Tour. I think this layoff will cost him chance to catch Jack Nicklaus. Darren Rovell of CNBC wrote a good piece today on the sponsorship issues. Darren Rovell appeared on ESPN today as well to talk about the Tiger Woods brand. . Some PGA Tour golfers did issue statements in support of Tiger Woods. I loved Bill Simmons' take on this. I disagree with Rick Reilly's take on this. How can you say he accomplished something today? How can you say this was really well done? Is he angling to get an exclusive? Commissioner of the PGA Tour, Tim Finchem also made comments in front of a camera



If you hadn't yet heard there is a book coming out on the Tiger woods affairs called, Unplayable: An Inside Account of Tiger's Most Tumultuous Season. Just in case you needed to reminded, MSNBC has a timeline up for the last 2-3 months.

Haven't caught much of the analysis yet. Will get around to it eventually. The networks treated this as a big deal. Katie Couric anchored CBS coverage. Matt Lauer anchored NBC's coverage while Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos anchored ABC's coverage. Did you hear that Charlie Rymer of The Golf Channel actually cried on the air!



I don't understand the Tiger Woods apologists though. I don't understand the, "50% of married men do this" attitude either. This isn't a man who just had an affair (not saying that would make the situation right), this was a man who did this as a hobby. There is a big difference. I don't understand the people who say, "this is a private matter" either. Sure, parts of it is. But he does need to come clean in public. You lose the "privacy" argument when you have your name plastered on billboards across the world. You lose the "privacy" argument when you have your own clothing line. You lose the "privacy" argument when you appear in advertisements around the world. You lose the "privacy" argument when you are the cover man for a video game franchise named after you. You lose the "privacy" argument when you make a living off of your name.

I don't agree with the paparazzi standing outside his kids schools but Tiger Woods does need to come out and answer questions. I don't have an ounce of sympathy for Tiger Woods. As I wrote previously, he brought this on himself.

I truly believe he cost himself a shot at Jack Nicklaus with this break he's having to take. The Majors were lined up perfectly for him this year. Courses where has dominated in the past. One of the biggest advantages Tiger has had over the years is intimidation. Golfers have been afraid to play him and it has showed down the stretch of big tournaments as they have melted one by one. That aura is gone now. We've seen golfers and the golf media FINALLY speak up against Tiger. How will he handle the galleries? He had temper issues in the past and that was with with really friendly galleries. How will he handle comments from the galleries now?
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GWAA votes not to participate in Tiger Woods public statement - Press Tent

GWAA votes not to participate in Tiger Woods public statement 

Great to see. Neil Best of "Newsday" was the first to suggest this yesterday on Twitter. Why don't we see this more often, especially in politics? This will be a sham. A sham that will be carried live on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN News, MSNBC, FOX News, CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC. As I mentioned earlier, him not answering questions tomorrow makes no sense whatsoever.

Not that the whole world didn't know already, but we finally got some confirmation that Tiger was and is returning to rehab.

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Bob Costas interviews Stephen Colbert

Did you guys catch Stephen Colbert with Bob Costas last night on NBC? Hilarious stuff as you would expect. Check it out here. As you may or may not Colbert is in Vancouver with the US Speed Skating team. He was recently on the cover of Sports Illustrated, He is also taping bits for his show which will return with new episodes on Monday.




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