tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119465342008-06-15T13:48:02.032-04:00EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comBlogger456125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-54062071727143899062008-06-14T07:59:00.002-04:002008-06-14T13:08:45.339-04:00

At the end of this past winter, concerned about his weight gain and deconditioning, Mike Moffatt of About.com:Economics, undertook a commitment that if he didn't reach his body-mass-index goals for each of March, April, and May, he would pay $100 each, as directed by three economics bloggers for each of those months (a total of $900 -- three $100 payments each month). Most of us invited to

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-70663300948009775432008-04-14T08:36:00.003-04:002008-04-14T08:43:04.997-04:00

After suffering a heart-breaking defeat in the 1-2 playoff with Scotland, Team Canada defeated Norway in the semi-finals of the 2008 World Men's Championship and then defeated Scotland in the finals to win the overall championship (just as Alan and I predicted!). Unfortunately, I was traveling and was unable to watch the game on television. And once I arrived in Houston, no one here had any idea

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-81794678908674790242008-04-12T02:59:00.012-04:002008-04-12T06:49:38.899-04:00

[at the Spring Thaw, Vanastra Curling Club].

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-52532270609716669532008-04-06T16:46:00.002-04:002008-04-06T16:49:53.055-04:00

I have no idea what happened but finally we are able to watch the second half of draw 4 via cbc.ca/sports. If you want to do so, it is working now, but the resolution is downright putrid. Luke is doing a good job with his announcing, but the video leaves more than a little to be desired. And while we're watching, it looked initially as if Canada was going to have some trouble with Sweden, but

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-53623672822002484192008-04-06T15:43:00.003-04:002008-04-06T15:56:52.650-04:00

I have just sent the following message to the World Curling Federation: I'm sure you have heard from many others, but let me lend my voice to the complaints from Canadian curling fans: 1. Why on earth did the WCF negotiate a broadcast contract that does not permit us to watch ANY curling on television during the remainder of the round-robin? 2. CBC is allegedly webstreaming the games involving

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-22951405047659148102008-04-06T15:20:00.003-04:002008-04-06T15:55:39.972-04:00

I swore I wouldn't write about this topic any more, but wtf is going on??? We have been told that CBC is streaming the WCTV webcast of the 2008 World Curling championship round robin games involving Canada, and indeed the cbc sports website says they will be carrying the webcast. But (and perhaps I'm missing something) WTF is it???

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-5210013523227169762008-04-05T23:02:00.003-04:002008-04-06T07:44:46.682-04:00

Martin missed a couple of shots early in the draw, but made a spectacular draw to the button in the 8th end as Canada defeated Denmark 9-3 in the second draw of the round robin. To see the difference between the teams, check out the curling percentages between the two teams: Overall, Canada curled 86% while Denmark curled only 62%. Too bad we couldn't see the end of the Sweden-Australia match

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-22901526345373435072008-04-05T21:35:00.002-04:002008-04-05T21:42:02.351-04:00

The telecasting travesty from the 2008 Men's World Championship is the result of contract negotiations carried out by the World Curling Federation, not the Canadian Curling Association, according to this: Please note that World Championships convened outside of Canada are not owned or operated by the Canadian Curling Association. The 2008 World Men’s Curling Championships in Grand Forks, North

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-80463563096759452862008-04-05T07:39:00.005-04:002008-04-06T16:20:14.335-04:00

We were discussing this last night at the local curling club. It turns out you won't be watching much of the 2008 Men's world curling championship on CBC-TV, who has the exclusive telecasting contract in Canada. Why not? Several of the games will be shown on "Bold", formerly known as "Country Canada", CBC's alternate channel for things they don't think are important enough to show on the main CBC

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-45055436750875158762008-04-03T21:22:00.003-04:002008-04-03T21:26:34.829-04:00

Regular readers of this blog will know how upset we are that we are unable to watch more curling from the world championships. Nevertheless, we have shown amazing self control with our language: Created by OnePlusYou [h/t to Rondi, who cussed on 1.1% of her blog postings]

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-13775586322930282812008-04-02T06:33:00.004-04:002008-04-02T06:40:30.248-04:00

I have noticed at the local curling club that more than for any other woman curler, men tend to really like Jennifer Jones (when talking among themselves -- they are curiously quiet about this in the presence of women), but women are quite outspoken about not liking her. Some dislike her so much that despite their strong nationalistic spirit, they were cheering for China to beat Jones and Team

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-28069024645579090012008-04-01T17:23:00.003-04:002008-04-01T17:30:37.052-04:00

Alan and I both picked Jennifer Jones of Canada and her rink to win the 2008 Ford World's Women's Championship, and we also both had some pretty good ideas about who the challengers would be. I was pretty far off in some major respects, though: I didn't think either China or Japan would have progressed as fast and as far as they have.I really expected the US to be better than they were.I was

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-20998899176383918722008-03-30T16:38:00.003-04:002008-03-30T16:48:08.498-04:00

Jennifer Jones and her rink won the championship game against China, 7-4, running the Chinese out of rocks in the 10th end. The big blow came early. China began by taking only one, but then Canada scored three in the second. After that the teams traded singles for a few ends, but then with Canada up 4-3 with the hammer, Canada took two in the seventh to go up 6-3, and the game was all but out

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-24198245710950481282008-03-30T15:54:00.002-04:002008-03-30T15:56:41.510-04:00

Does it bother anyone else that Mike Harris has called the Chinese team "Japan" so often during the championship game? At the very least it's disrespectful, and I shudder to speculate what else it might mean.

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-90765370587681074502008-03-29T19:18:00.003-04:002008-03-29T19:25:58.663-04:00

For various reasons I did not see Canada's win, described by Doc below, in the semi-final, except for part of the tenth end, standing in a Sears store with ONE screen showing curling (I suspect because all the screens were HD and the basketball was in HD and the curling looked awful on that one screen). My wife and I left the screen just before Jones' great freeze. Worse, I will be in the air

Alan Adamsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05056885454533015349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-49007659703962730892008-03-29T18:54:00.006-04:002008-03-29T19:07:34.465-04:00

Wow! Canada started off the semi-final playoff against Japan with the hammer but quickly lost it by taking only 1 when it had the hammer, while Japan took two when they had it. After five ends, the score was tied 3-3, and Japan had the hammer. Then Japan scored three to lead 6-3 and, to be honest, I had all but given up on the Jones rink. They weren't curling well, and there seemed to be

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-106030070426594712008-03-27T19:22:00.004-04:002008-03-27T19:44:29.789-04:00

Let me once again, though probably already anticipated, express my extreme disappointment in not having been able to see this draw in Canada. Three of the games went to an extra end, and Japan defeated China while Sweden defeated Denmark. As a result there will have to be at least one tie-break tomorrow (Friday) involving Japan and Denmark; furthermore, China, Canada, and Switzerland are in a 3-

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-10434917426302286912008-03-25T22:29:00.005-04:002008-03-25T22:40:56.936-04:00

Several years ago there was a very big stir among curling fans (and non-fans!) about a calendar featuring a number of women curlers in various states of undress from around the world. The calendar has attracted renewed interest at this year's 2008 Ford world women's championship because Melanie Robillard, who lives in Belgium but curls for Germany, used to curl with Dawn Askin, the lead for Team

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-30835966519389184732008-03-25T17:30:00.003-04:002008-03-25T17:38:42.535-04:00

I missed the middle ends of the game between Canada and China during the 9th draw. But my students and I saw that last few ends. We were really impressed with the shooting of the Canadian team, firing take-out rocks through the narrow port to remove Chinese shot-rocks so deftly drawn there. And when Jones had a draw to the 8-foot to win, we were sure Team Canada would emerge victorious, despite

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-43204957585694368672008-03-25T12:25:00.003-04:002008-03-25T12:30:01.609-04:00

Wow, does Wang, the skip for China, ever look good! Those two draws in the 2nd end were mighty fine. And to be blunt, Jones is really off: After drawing to score 1 in the 3rd end, Jones was curling a paltry 50%, way below her usual. Still, the overall curling percentages don't differ tooooo much, and Canada is trailing only 3-1 without the hammer after 3 ends. But now my day job calls... 8-(.

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-22956672214143909882008-03-25T11:01:00.004-04:002008-03-25T11:09:18.180-04:00

Today (Tuesday) at 11:30am Canada and China meet each other at the 2008 Women's World Curling Championships. Fortunately, TSN.ca is carrying the match, since I'm stuck in the office until 1pm.Unfortunately, I have to teach at 1pm.Fortunately, I am going to declare an optional field trip for the class at 1pm to Gryph's, the pub on campus at the University of Guelph, where we will discuss the

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-44966313938647945622008-03-24T15:13:00.002-04:002008-03-24T15:16:45.919-04:00

Wouldn't it have been nice if Canadians had been able to watch the 11-end matchup in Draw 6 between China and Denmark (won by China with a single point after Denmark scored two to tie the match in the 10th end)? China is undefeated (4-0) and Denmark is looking mighty good despite their two losses.

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-26701582810350621712008-03-24T13:07:00.003-04:002008-03-24T14:41:58.706-04:00

Have you seen the attendance figures for the world's so far? You didn't really have to see the numbers to see that attendance must be pretty low. The venue is small and there aren't all that many people there. My standard for comparison is the Scotties in Kitchener a few years ago and in London two years ago, and so it may not be a fair comparison. I haven't kept track of the attendance at

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-66393781208954348322008-03-21T16:40:00.003-04:002008-03-21T16:11:25.574-04:00

I don't really know the other teams all that well, but my recollection is that Mirjam Ott and Debbie McCormick are both pretty darned good and could give team Canada a run for the their money. I'll still pick Jennifer Jones and Team Canada to win the 2008 world championship. Jones and her team looked awesome during their last eight or so games at the 2008 Scott Tournament of Hearts. I'm glad

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11946534.post-68879007445757412572008-03-21T14:03:00.001-04:002008-03-21T12:39:10.667-04:00

I was watching the Brier on a wide screen HDTV. As I watched, I wondered if I might enjoy it more if the telecast showed the ice from side-to-side instead of from top-to-bottom as is the current practice. Of course if they did, they'd have to change the orientation of the ads on the ice, but I think I might like being able to see more of the ice from the overhead cameras as the shots come into

EclectEconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992827334243694380noreply@blogger.com