Continental Cup of Curling gets more serious on a Sunday

You could tell the mood at The Continental Cup had changed a wee bit right near the end of the afternoon skins event, the second-last draw of the competition. In one of the games, Tom Brewster, the excellent Scottish skip who almost always seems to have a furrowed brow and a pained expression on his face (although he was actually caught smiling and maybe even chuckling at one point) had just thrown a stone that nestled into the four-foot, but well off the button.

Team North America skip John Morris, looking to outdraw Brewster and take the skins points that had accumulated in an 8th end carryover, came up way, way light in his attempt, with a rock that didn't even make it into the rings despite the full force efforts of super-sweeper Ben Hebert and teammate Jessica Mair.

Morris, who'd been spotted in many happy-go-lucky moments during most competitions over the weekend, swept the ice in front of him in disgust. Then, as hands were being shaken all around, he dutifully joined in, but the cameras showed his expression; he was obviously not pleased.

This is where The Continental Cup had become more than just a goodwill tournament, with some of the best on the planet trading barbs as well as exhibiting superb shotmaking.

In the end, a pesky World comeback was denied when Team North America skip Glenn Howard made a hit and stick for three points in his game against Thomas Ulsrud putting the North Americans over the top and made them Continental Cup champions for 2013.

If organizers of the event were looking for a way to ensure the final day's events would be hotly-contested and dramatic (last year's competition, won by Team World, suffered through a bit of a final day snoozefest as the they had all but wrapped the title before Sunday's ice got its morning pebble) it seems they came up with one. Or, perhaps, it was just a much better performance by the North American crew this year that made the event a lot more interesting down the stretch.

A change to the way the the teams would accumulate points helped turn the trick, as well as simplify things for those following in the stands and at home. Instead of 400 total points available (Team World won last year's competition 265-135) there were 60 on the board for the taking. First team to 30.5 points would be the winner and if it ended up tied, the Cup would remain in the clutches of last year's champions.

That kind of math certainly made following the progress of the teams a lot easier. With 30 of those points being made available on the final day alone and the previous days' wins each being worth a point, it would have been virtually impossible to have one side or the other run away and hide by Saturday night.

As well, making all victories worth just one point until Sunday's skins events took over gave wins on Thursday, Friday and Saturday kind of a quaint feeling. That it wasn't really a back-breaker to see one slip away.

And you could see the difference in the demeanor of the players. The first three days of curling seemed to be just as much fun as they were business. Maybe even more. Lots of smiles, lots of jokes and the occasional bit of trick-shooting, too.

Sunday's games, while not entirely bereft of mirth, most definitely saw competitors carrying themselves in a more serious manner. The players' benches still fluttered occasionally with the sound of noisemakers, albeit in a fashion that suggested the weekend's grind as well as a bit of a flu bug had taken some of the starch out of that kind of energy.

The Continental Cup seems to be a tale of two tournaments.

The first one, for the first three days and nights, has the feel of an NHL All Star game, with a little bit of the skills competition thrown in.

The second, in evidence once again in Penticton this year, shows up on the last day when the fun dissolves a little and the stakes go higher.

Curlers being curlers, they love the fun that goes with a weekend event. Palling around with the foe is easy and enticing. The fellowship's the thing and it's celebrated as legend in the game's history.

But when the chips get stacked higher and higher, it's still about being better than the other guys. Wanting to be. Maybe even having to be.

If that doesn't seem entirely evident on Day one, two, or three, it is by the time a draw to the button comes up terribly short and the fun and frivolity has vanished from a skip's eyes.