Diana Krall was in town for the Gilmore Fest, did a concert last night at Chenery Auditorium. Tom Mulhern’s wife Kym works for Gilmore and got me in as a volunteer driver with a back stage pass. Last night after the show I drove Diana’s band from Chenery to the Radisson. This morning I drove Diana’s, her band’s and her crew’s luggage from the Radisson to the AZO airport.

And I had the opportunity to actually meet Diana in the airport this morning. I told her that she had fans in the Kalamazoo Curling Club, that we’ve made her an honorary member, gave her a club pin, and told her to wear it with pride. She shook my hand, said thank you, and that she would work on her sweeping.

We will be having our 2nd ANNUAL KCC DINNER/MEETING at Lake Doster Golf Course. The DINNER / MEETING will be in the club house area and will begin at 3 pm. We will again be blessed with some of the best spaghetti you will ever have, thanks to Jim and Barb Gesmundo. We will start off the afternoon with our normal meeting agenda. We will be voting on our open board positions, handing out awards, updates on the capital campaign – along with donation requests and an update on next year’s happenings. If you are interested in running for one of the open board positions, please let me know and I will put you down. Then we will spill into dinner. It is a lot of fun. Feel free to bring family and friends. It’s a great way to introduce others to the curling family. There will also be a special surprise for all first year curlers that attend.

For those of you that are interested, we will be playing 9 holes of golf before the annual dinner. It should be a lot of fun. This will be a little different. For those of you that just want to play your own ball, you can. For those of you that more interested in just getting out to have some fun, we’ll have a scramble, that way you don’t have to worry about playing your shot all the time. It will be great. After we wrap up the golf, we’ll head on over to the meeting. We’ll have a few goodies for everyone that attends.

We already have close to 50 people signed up for the ANNUAL DINNER and about 15 for the golf outing. Spots are filling up fast.

A Friendly Bonspiel in Two Parts

Please grab some friends, and join us for the inaugural Kal-Haven Curling Cup on February 19 in South Haven, and on April 13 in Kalamazoo. The idea behind it is pure fun, with the hopes that it generates enthusiasm for the sport in each city, and perhaps gives people in each city a feel for the fun that might be had at a bonspiel. South Haven has an outdoor skating rink, where they have installed some curling sheets. They’ve shortened the regulation curling sheets to fit on their rink, but it’s certainly helping to expand the sport in southwest Michigan.

We’re looking for 4 teams from each city for each event. Here’s the details:
South Haven – Sunday, February 19
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
$5 per player / $20 per team
Kalamazoo – Friday, April 13
7 p.m. – 10 p.m.
$25 per player / $80 per team

Yes, you read that correctly. $5 for the curling in South Haven. It’s their rink. They get to decide the prices. Don’t argue with them. There are still more details to come, but the likely scenario is the chance to play one game in South Haven (they only have stones for two sheets), and play two 5-end matches in Kalamazoo.

If you’re interested, download the registration form. We need people to sign up ASAP for the South Haven portion… and spaces will likely fill up quickly for the Kalamazoo portion. If you have questions, contact Jason Hall: jason@curlthezoo.org

The Super Bowl™ exposes millions of people to the sport of American football each year, inspiring many people to play this brutal game. It provides an opportunity for people who have never heard of this quirky sport to learn a little more about it. I know, I don’t understand it either. The rules are so weird, and there’s this whole new language to learn. Quarterback? Free safety? Tebowing? What do these things mean?

You can imagine how I felt when a curling commercial was aired; it was a refreshing break from the madness that is football. This particular commercial was trying to coerce viewers into purchasing some type of alcoholic beverage. I didn’t pay much attention to that… because I was starstruck. There, in high definition, was Sean “Puffy” Combs, delivering what was surely the deciding stone in a championship match. My “Puff Daddy” was playing for Team USA, and it was up to him to finish off the beatdown of Team Canada with a draw to the button.

Now, if you’re at all familiar with Mr. Combs, you may recollect that he changes vocations and nicknames like nobody’s business. One minute he’s a hip hop star, the next he’s selling clothes and perfume. One minute he’s “Puffy,” and then next he’s “P-Diddy.” Well, we can now add one more facet to the gem that is Sean Combs — This man can curl in a way that NO ONE else in the history of the game has ever been able to curl. Obviously, somewhere along the way, “Curl Daddy” realized that in order for his shot to get to the button, the stone would need to change course dramatically. Sweeping alone would not get this job done. Watch this commercial closely, and you’ll notice that Sean “Puffy Curly Daddy” Combs begins his delivery with an in-turn, but the shot finishes with an out-turn. We seem to hear him yell “MOVE!” This command tells his sweepers (or the stone itself!) to change turns half way down the ice! Amazing! This chameleon of a man has done it again! From rapper to producer, from in-turn thrower to out-turn thrower!

Also worth noting in this commercial is that, apparently, simultaneously on the adjacent sheet, Team Diddy (DDY) is facing team China (CHN), and he’s winning there, too!

I can’t wait to see what he does next, but I certainly don’t look forward to facing this skip on the ice! He’s devastating!

Over the weekend, be sure to check out some of the rare opportunities for us Stateside folks to view some live curling. The Continental Cup is underway — it’s kind of like the Davis Cup in golf — in Langley, British Columbia, and the World Curling Federation is helping to bring TSN’s coverage of the event to an audience outside of Canada. Teams from North America are squaring off against teams comprised of players from the rest of the world.

One event that you may want to keep an eye on is the Mixed Doubles curling. In this event teams of two square off against one another in an event that is quite interesting — once you get past the oddities. Two stones are placed in play prior to the start of each end. The teams then throw 5 stones, with one player throwing the first and last stone of an end, and the other player throwing stones 2, 3 and 4. Each player then sweeps their own stones… it’s something to behold.

The World team is making some news off the ice as well. They have banned their players from indulging in alcohol until the last stone of the cup has been thrown. One reporter from Winnipeg has let it be known that the event in the past has been the “most beer-soaked and philandering curling event” that he’s covered. The Godfather of Kalamazoo curling, and host of The Curling Show, Dean Gemmell, Tweeted about the controversy: “I’m not saying an in-comp booze ban is wrong. But a weird event for it. And I don’t like the inference that curlers always overdo it.” He goes on: “I mean, hockey players?Basketball players? Or skiers? I’m pretty sure those men and women leave a mark on some scenic Alpine villages.”

What do you think? Let us know on our Facebook page.

If you know for sure that you’d like to join a league, NOW is the time. Our Friday night Winter league will get underway on January 27, but the deadline for signing up is January 13. There is still time for newcomers to SIGN UP this week, get some instruction next week, and enjoy 8 weeks of league play into March. To sign up, click here.

LEAGUE START DATE: January 27th
The cost for the 8 nights of curling is $185 for members, and $245 for non members. To sign up, please email our league coordinators Eric and Michelle Nitz or Marcus Gleaton. You can also sign up on our website. If you are looking to get your own team, have 3 people and need another, or just want to jump on someone’s team, we’ll get you taken care of. Just let us know.

SIGN UP DEADLINE FOR THE LEAGUE IS JANUARY 13th.
If you sign up after that date, the cost of the league is $205 for members, and $265 for non-members.

Some other information for everyone to think about:

• We have an open sheet on Monday nights that is not being used for our league. We are renting it out to groups for $125 for 2 hours. If you know of anyone that is interested in renting it, have them contact Marcus Gleaton, and he will schedule it for them. It is also available for club members free of charge, and to individual non-club members for $20 per person. The individual curling is only available on nights we don’t have it pre-rented. If the sheet is already rented to a group, there won’t be any availability.
• The publication date for the winter issue of the KCC newsletter, The Extra End, is scheduled for Friday, January 27, 2012. If you have pictures, articles, or other items to submit for the newsletter, please send them to Jason Hall. The submission deadline is Friday, January 13, 2012.
• Look for some updates on our next Trivia FUNdraiser to be held at Bell’s Brewery again. We are looking at a couple dates in January and February.
• We have an OPEN CURLING / LEARN TO CURL event scheduled for January 20th. This is meant to be for newer curlers looking to try the sport and possibly get them to join our league that starts the following Friday. Try to think of someone who has said that they want to try curling and try and get them out there for our learn to curl.

Our curling season is underway, but perhaps you didn’t sign up for a league. Don’t worry about it. You can sign up for the Winter 2012 Friday Night league… there’s plenty of time for that. In the meantime, if you’d like to come out with some friends and throw some stones, we do have an open sheet available each Monday night from 8:30 to 10:30. It is available to be rented out (as an entire sheet) for $125 (up to 8 people) or $20 per person for non club members, free for club members.Contact Marcus Gleaton to inquire about the availability of one curling sheet during this time. Remember that club members can also sub for free; if any of the Monday night teams are in need of a sub, you could get in on a game, too!