The Southern Observer » ted his 50th birthday by seeing his tea

WINNIPEG -- Sherry Middaugh is a Canadian curling veteran with a hard-luck streak getting to the big game, but she will be playing Jennifer Jones Saturday for the right to represent Canada at the Olympics. Middaugh fed off Rachel Homans mistakes to cruise to a 10-4 win at the womens semifinal at the Olympic Curling trials Friday night. "In the past its been normally like a missed shot on my behalf, maybe nerves, but the fact (is) that maybe all those experiences have helped," Middaugh said of her record of stumbling before the finish line was in sight. "Id certainly give all of those away to win tomorrow." On the mens side, Kevin Martin and John Morris will be playing Saturday in the semifinal to see who will compete against Brad Jacobs Sunday. At 47, Middaugh is the oldest female skip at the trials. Shes won many provincial championships but had trouble getting out of the national semifinals. Her biggest national win to date has been the 2003 Canada Cup of Curling. Ironically, although she started with the hammer, she missed her attempt to blank the first end and benefited from the change in tactics that dictated. Homan, the youngest skip at the trials and reigning national champion from Ottawa, threw a disastrous runback attempt that gave Middaugh her second three of the game in the sixth end. She said she didnt even forsee that as a possibility. "It just wasnt our night," she said. "Youve got to sum it up like that. Theres not much to say about it." After exchanging singles in one and two, the first few ends werent the same mistake-free, careful curling that Middaugh and Winnipegs Chelsea Carey played earlier in the day in the tiebreaker. Instead, their front ends traded half shots and misses that opened opportunities and Middaugh took an early lead, thanks to a three she scored in the third end. But Homan came back with a deuce in the fourth to keep it close. The veteran then scored a deuce of her own in five to make it 6-3, with two perfect draws to the button behind cover and a thin hit by Homan that failed to move Middaughs first counter far enough. Then came Homans runback attempt in six that could have netted her two but instead handed Middaugh another three. "I didnt even think we could do that. I thought at worst case . . . wed take one." Middaugh was deadly with her hits and near perfect with her draw. After Middaughs rink scored another point in the eighth, Homan shook hands. Homan said she had trouble with the ice. "The right side of the sheet was just a mountain . . . and the other side was just a valley." But Middaugh said she has found the ice consistent all week, which has helped her with her draws. "The ice has been the same all week which is a credit to the ice crew. . . The ice isnt patchy, its consistent right from the first end all the way through to the end," Middaugh said. "That certainly builds the confidence because you just throw what youve been throwing all week." Shes married to three-time world champion Glenn Howards third Wayne Middaugh. They live in Victoria Harbour, Ont. Theyre just one of four couples at the event. Edmonton skip Heather Nedohin is married to Martins third Dave Nedohin. Winnipeg skip Mike McEwen is married to Jennifer Jones lead Dawn Askin and Jones is in a relationship with Glen Howards second Brent Laing. Earlier Friday, Martin defeated Morris 7-6 in an extra end to clinch second in the mens standings. But Morris also advanced to the semifinal after Kevin Koe beat Mike McEwen 5-4, guaranteeing Morris a third-place finish. Martin is hoping he can repeat the feat en route to a fourth Olympics berth. He won gold in 2010 and silver in 2002 and also went to the 1992 Games. "It will be a tight game again but it was good to get through that one and the hammer in the semi and well hopefully play another good game (Saturday)," he said after Fridays win. "I would have to say we have to play a little better than (Friday) as a team. We were a little bit sloppy on a couple of ends." Morris was happy with how his team played. "I think we had a real sound strategy and kept control most of that game," he said. The exception was the sixth end when Martin scored three. "If we can just pick it up maybe just a half notch then we can win this thing . . . I like our chances," said Morris, who was born in Winnipeg but has made his name curling for both Ontario and Alberta. The former two-time world junior champion joined Martins Edmonton-based rink in 2006 but abruptly left in April to sign with skip Jim Cotters squad out of the Vernon and Kelowna curling clubs in B.C. Cotter moved to third. Martin then picked up another Manitoba native, former Randy Ferbys fourth rock Dave Nedohin, to replace Morris. In other mens action, Jacobs completed the round robin with a 7-4 victory over John Epping, who finished last with a 1-6 record. Jeff Stoughton defeated Howard 9-3 but both were already out of playoff contention. Stoughton finished 3-4 and Howard 2-5. Cheap Air Jordan 5 UK . Calgarys Bo Levi Mitchell and Montreals Troy Smith will be the starting quarterbacks in a CFL season-opener for the first time in their careers. Both want to reinforce their No. 1 status. You can watch the game live in the first half of a doubleheader on TSN and TSN GO at 3:00pm et/Noon pt. Cheap Jordan 5 Retro . With the Rangers already leading 2-0, Carey Price was taken down early in the second period of New Yorks 7-2 pounding of the Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final on Saturday afternoon. http://www.airjordan5uk.com/. 3 seed Phillip Kohlschreiber from Germany. 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Instead, do feel free to complain if the roof is closed for any reason other than to allow a game to be played.MANCHESTER, England - Tottenham was among nine teams to qualify for the knockout stage of the Europa League on Thursday after beating Partizan Belgrade 1-0 in a match that was briefly suspended because of three separate pitch invasions.Inter Milan and Napoli also advanced to ensure there will be at least three Italian clubs in the last 32 of Europes secondary competition.Spurs victory, secured by Benjamin Stamboulis 49th-minute winner, was overshadowed by a succession of pitch invasions that forced the referee to halt the game after 41 minutes. It appeared to be an orchestrated PR campaign, with the individuals entering the field of play wearing shirts with the logo of a Tottenham sponsor.Play resumed after a 10-minute delay but Tottenham faces punishment by organizing body UEFA.The club said on its Twitter page that the three pitch invaders were arrested and were assisting police with their inquiries.Besiktas, Celtic, Everton, Dynamo Kyiv, Feyenoord and Trabzonspor also progressed Thursday with one group game to spare.The Group E game between Estoril and PSV Eindhoven was abandoned at halftime after torrential rain in Portugal made the pitch unplayable. UEFA said the game will be completed on Friday, with Estoril leading 3-2 and needing a win to stay alive in the competition.Tottenhams Group C game against Partizan was tied at 0-0 when a third pitch invasion by an individual led referee Yevhen Aranovskiy to call players from both teams off the field. The second pitchh invader had attempted to take a photo on his mobile phone of himself with Tottenham striker Roberto Soldado.ddddddddddddThere were no further disruptions in the second half, during which Stambouli slotted home a rebound into an empty net for his first goal for the club after Soldados shot came back off the post.Spurs top the group and are two points clear of Besiktas ahead of their meeting in two weeks. Besiktas squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Asteras Tripolis but still progressed.Inter coach Roberto Mancini celebrated his 50th birthday by seeing his team beat Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 2-1 and secure first place in Group F. Dani Osvaldo scored the winner in the 50th minute, soon after Andrea Ranocchia was sent off for Inter for a second yellow card.Napolis 0-0 draw at Sparta Prague ensured the Rafa Benitezs team cannot be denied a top-two finish in Group I. Fiorentina is the other Italian team guaranteed to be in the knockout stage after qualifying following the fourth round of matches.Everton will finish first in Group H after beating Wolfsburg 2-0 away through goals by Belgium internationals Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas.Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv beat Rio Ave 2-0 to ensure progress from Group J, Feyenoord won by the same score at home to defending champion Sevilla and will advance from Group G, while Trabzonspor won to qualify from Group L.Celtic joined Salzburg in qualifying from Group D despite losing 3-1 at home to the Austrian team. ' ' '