The team finishes the inaugural Holiday Bowl with a 1-2 record and in third place. On Saturday, Squirrels dropped a 7-4 decision to Happy Hour.

Ice Techs finished undefeated and earned a spot in the Winter League championship game. The four teams participating in the Holiday Bowl will reset their schedule and finish a second Round Robin tournament.

The winner of that round will play Ice Techs in the Winter League Championship.

Squirrels spent much of the second round of the Anthracite Curling Club Holiday Bowl trying to eliminate or stymie a stubborn shot rock and based on the final score, went home frustrated.

In a 6-2 loss to Ice Techs, Squirrels miss a chance at winning the first-ever Holiday Bowl, a four-team, three-game mini-tournament. Ice Techs win the tournament after two weeks. Squirrels face Happy Hour (1-1) on Jan. 7 at 9:45 p.m. for a chance at second place. 

In the loss, Squirrels were unable to hit shots when they were most needed and even when they weren’t essential, a real “off” night for the team which started badly and got progressively worse as the game slogged toward the midnight bell.

Ice Techs were able to protect an early shot in the house behind a field of guards, wisely established by the shooters. A dramatic pull and some negative ice limited the approaches.

“We’ll put this one behind us, resolve to play better than that in 2012 and come out ready to play in a few weeks,” Skip Sophy said.

Squirrels never held the Hammer during a 12-0 victory over Cracked Ice in the opener of the four-team Holiday Bowl.

Squirrels stole a point in each of the first three ends, then pulled away in the fourth. Both teams were left short-handed at three per side after Char Hick was injured on her first shot. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

The ACC Holiday Bowl - complete with all the pageantry that encompasses the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl, pitting the sixth-best teams in the Big 12 and Pac 12 conferences - begins this Saturday, Dec. 10 and continues through Jan. 7, 2012. The competition consists of four regular teams with a few new faces but opponents all familiar to Squirrels, especially in the first game.

On Saturday, Squirrels face Cracked Ice at 9:45 p.m. In the other draw, Ice Techs will face Happy Hour. Ice Techs has won the title in all formal and semi-formal competitions held at Anthracite Curling Club, including the Summerspiel in August.

The four teams will complete a full Round Robin tournament with draws Saturday, next Saturday (12/17) and Jan. 7, 2012. At that time, the standings will reset and new teams will be accepted into a competition to complete the Club’s winter schedule at the rink. If no new teams are organized, the same four teams will complete a second Round Robin and the winners of each Round will face-off on March 3.

Squirrels enter the eighth week of the NFL Pick ‘Em competition and the two leaders throughout have created some distance between the other two curlers on the team. If only their shot weight was this consistent …

Mark and Kimm enter this week tied with 66-34 records, six and 10 games ahead of Josh and Dan, respectively. Kimm’s short-lived lead atop the standings was halted by an impressive round of picks from Mark last week. The Squirrels’ Vice posted a 10-3 record and was the only one who saw Kansas City pull out its upset over the Chargers last week. He’s also the only one who cared, including half the Chiefs.

Mark also turned on his Chiefs this week and believes the Dolphins will get their first win of the year at Arrowhead Stadium. Mark is also playing lone wolf with picks of the Redskins and Ravens. 

Dan wears the Lone Wolf costume this week most often. He’s taking the Buccaneers, Jets, Seahawks and Cardinals on his own. Josh is the only one who believes San Diego will beat Green Bay.

Here are the full picks for NFL Week 9

Mark (66-34): MIA, ATL, NO, BUF, DAL, HOU, WAS, TEN, OAK, NE, STL, GB, BAL, PHI.

Kimm (66-34): KC, ATL, NO, BUF, DAL, HOU, SF, CIN, OAK, NE, STL, GB, PIT, PHI.

Josh (60-40): KC, ATL, NO, BUF, DAL, HOU, SF, TEN, DEN, NE, STL, SD, PIT, PHI.

Dan (56-44): KC, ATL, TB, NYJ, SEA, HOU, SF, CIN, DEN, NE, ARZ, GB, PIT, PHI.

As a team, they had never played together outside of Anthracite Curling Club ice and this would be the first game the entire quartet of Joshua Sophy, Mark Dorval, Kimm Montone and Dan Pearson will have taken the ice together.

Additionally, with the exception of Pearson’s time at Utica (N.Y.) Curling Club, it was the first time on a dedicated curling ice surface.

The team arrived in Paoli Thursday night to prepare for its 9 a.m. draw to start the bonspiel at Philadelphia Curling Club. Here is a breakdown of our four draws during the bonspiel, culminating in our victory on Sunday morning:

(L-R: Pearson, Montone, Dorval, Sophy) Kimm's phone camera still sucks, but be happy this wasn't in any better resolution. This is us after the awards ceremony following our 8 a.m. draw, FTW. Sorry if you had a hard time hearing that over Mark's shirt. Next time we'll try tucking them in to look more professional. At least Kimm wore his good dungarees for this one.

GAME-BY-GAME

First Event – Round 1
Team Kraft (Plainfield) 14, Squirrels 6

Our first-ever game on dedicated ice did not go as planned but it turned out to be the ability to allow our opponent to score a big end – something that’s plagued our results at Anthracite – which doomed us in this maiden game.

After exchanging the Hammer and two points apiece in the first two ends with the team from Plainfield (N.J.) Curling Club, inconsistency ruined the rest of the match. Squirrels quickly found themselves in a 7-2 hole after surrendering five big points to Team Kraft in the 3rd end and matters got worse in the 4th when the opponent put up two more.

Squirrels scored four points in the 5th to make the game interesting, 9-6, but another five-ender for the boys from Plainfield quashed any comeback thoughts.

The loss bumped Squirrels into the first round of the Second Event bracket, where a familiar opponent would soon arrive.

Second Event – First Round
Squirrels 10, Legally Stoned (Anthracite) 1

By virtue of our mutual losses in the First Event openers, the two Anthracite Curling teams in attendance at the bonspiel met in the First Round of the Second Event. It was Squirrels’ second game of the opening day of the bonspiel, eight hours separating the end of the first and beginning of the second.

Legally Stone was comprised of members of the Misericordia University Curling Club operating within Anthracite Curling Club. The team was Skipped by Alison Piatt. Vice was Alyssa Leonard, Second was Dana Griesback and Maria Maas shot Lead. Piatt and Griesback were Skip and Second, respectively, on the same team with Sophy and Montone at the GNCC Arena Championships bonspiel in June.

The team was able to find its proper shooting weights and came away with a 10-1 victory, advancing to the Semifinals of the First Event and finishing the day on a positive note. More importantly to the team psyche, the win allowed the Squirrels to get a little extra shut-eye as they were scheduled Saturday for a 2:30 p.m. draw and guaranteed us a fourth game and a spot in a bracket final. A loss would have meant an 8 a.m. start.

Second Event – Semifinals
Youngbloods (Phila.) 10, Squirrels 3

Squirrels faced one of the better young teams at Philadelphia Curling Club in the Semis of the Second Event Saturday afternoon and despite the great start the team enjoyed in this draw, it would be inconsistency that would doom them in this draw.

The team was able to steal a point in the first two ends but Youngbloods Skip Bryan Beck was able to find a unmatched shooting touch and carve apart the Squirrels over the next three ends, scoring three points in each, ultimately ending any chances the Anthraciters had at a comeback.

Despite the loss, Squirrels were given a shot at redemption via the Fourth Event Final, a chance at earning some hardware and an even record at the bonspiel. The downside? An 8 a.m. start.

Fourth Event – Finals
Squirrels 8, Burns Rink (Plainfield) 4

The prospects were daunting, certainly. The Fourth Event finals featured a 1-2 team (Squirrels) and a 2-1 team (Burns). Burns reached the First Event Semifinals before getting relegated to the Fourth Event Final via a loss to eventual overall champs, The Ice Men (Bucks County).

Prior to that loss, Burns had beaten the two teams who defeated Squirrels earlier in the bonspiel (Kraft and Youngbloods).

Squirrels picked the right moment for their game to come together as they took advantage of some opponent missed shots and made theirs en route to a win in a bracket final!

The team was led onto the ice by a bona fide bagpiper and a ceremonial march from hogline to hogline was capped by a shot of Drambuie.

The Squirrels jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the match before allowing three points to Burns in the 6th end, setting up a white-knuckle finish. The Squirrels hit some key shots throughout the 7th end and eventually made a comeback an impossibility for their opponents from Plainfield.

An awards ceremony during brunch at the club capped the weekend and Squirrels were awarded gold pins signifying our victory in the Fourth Event final.

Luckily, we were able to make the picks before 1 p.m. kickoffs, and based on our results so far this season, you’ll be able to tell none of us were cheating.

We’re also not building the graphic for this week’s picks. It will all go back to normal next Sunday.

Here were our picks …

Mark: Packers, Steelers, Redskins, Lions, Falcons, Colts, Bills, Ravens, Raiders, Patriots,  Saints, Vikings, Jets. Record: 7-6.

Dan: Packers, Steelers, Eagles, Lions, Panthers, Bengals, Bills, Ravens, Raiders, Patriots, Saints, Vikings, Jets. Record: 8-5.

Joshua: Packers, Steelers, Eagles, Lions, Panthers, Bengals, Bills, Ravens, Raiders, Patriots, Saints, Vikings, Jets. Record: 8-5.

Kimm: Packers, Steelers, Eagles, Lions, Panthers, Bengals, Bills, Ravens, Raiders, Patriots, Saints, Vikings, Jets. Record: 8-5.

Another “stellar” week of picks from the Squirrels. That brings the overall standings to:

Kimm and Josh won last week with 10 correct picks. It was Kimm’s second straight weekly prize. For Sophy, it was his first. Mark picked 9 correctly and Dan got 8 right, going against the grain on the Sunday and Monday night games and falling short.

Mark and Kimm lead the overall standings with 33-15 (.688) records. Josh and Dan are each 7 games back at 26-22 (.542). Here are our picks for Week 5:

NFL Week 5	Sophy 26-22	Dorval 33-15	Montone 33-15	Pearson 26-22
TEN @ PIT
SEA @ NYG
CIN @ JAC
NO @ CAR
OAK @ HOU
PHI @ BUF
KC @ IND
ARI @ MIN
TB @ SF
NYJ @ NE
SD @ DEN
GB @ ATL
CHI @ DET