This last weekend we saw the Larway team lose in the semifinal game of the USA Curling Nationals. While most consider third place a pretty good acomplishment, I have a feeling that they are not too satisfied with these results. It was the same as last year. There is also the outside pressures that say that if you can not improve, you are not doing what you need to do. I think this team has grown signficantly and should be commended for their hard work.
What really sucks is when we talk about most national and worlds competitions, there can only be one from a nation. There can never be two or three representing a country. Now that makes sense because of the time it takes if you have too many competitors or teams. But it almost seems like with figure skating and curling that you could have second chance competitions for the worlds. The top 3 other teams could compete and the top two of those get to go. It would make the fields more diverse and exciting.
I remember how crushed Roslyn Sumners was when she got the silver at the Olympics losing by 1 tenth of a point. Practically on the verge of suicide. Why should a competitor feel this much pressure and this much disappointment when he/she has achieved a great feat? It just sucks. Luckily, I feel that I have learned that while winning should be the ultimate goal and it is truly great to win, sometimes there is something more than winning and you do not have to live by the creed that winning is everything!
