Latest news with #GameofStones
Edinburgh Reporter
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Edinburgh Reporter
Capital curling event returns after six years
Some 24 teams took to the ice at Curl Edinburgh to contest the Edinburgh International Curlers Gathering The competition returned after a gap of six years and the demand for places from international teams was high, with eight teams from North America, nine from Europe and seven from Scotland. After the initial phase of 3×6 end games teams were ranked 1 to 24 and redrawn into six new divisions, for three more six-end games. On the concluding day each division was undecided until all games were played. Each of the six division winners were presented with crystal glasses, etched with the competition name and year as a momento plus extra prizes. The tradition of presenting a friendship quaich to one team was continued in memory of Penicuik CC member Ronnie Hope who passed away on 2022, and was a great supporter of the Gathering and a friend to many of the competing teams. Team Game of Stones carried Capital hopes and finished runners-up The new Gathering Quaich went across the Atlantic with winners Denver The Friendship Quaich in memory of Penicuik curler Ronnie Hope was awarded to Czechia rink Curling Brno Legia The Czechia team Curling Brno Legia were presented with the quaich. Team Denver from USA was the overall winner, topping Division One. They were presented with the new Gathering Quaich, which will be engraved with their team name. They received engraved mini curling stones, engraved glasses, plus a selection of Moonwake Beer from the sponsors. The Edinburgh team, Game of Stones, finished in second place and also received Moonwake Beer. The event also proved a major social occasion with a dinner and ceilidh held in the Watsonian pavilion at Myreside during which auction lots included a jacket and broom from Bruce Mouat donated before flying out to Canada where and his rink excelled by winning the world championship. All told £700 was raised and will go to hosting future gatherings along with a further £1043 from various sources. Like this: Like Related
BBC News
03-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'It's changed football for me' - Life as a Fantasy Football contender
It is the bane of many football fans' game of Fantasy Football has rarely been so popular, with supporters up and down the country wanting random players to perform in pursuit of points to beat their imagine being 66th out of 11 million players in the world of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) - and just 51 points off the top is the reality for 19-year-old Nathan Bannister, a Nottingham Forest fan who works as an apprentice at BBC he shares the work that has gone into taking his team, Game of Stones, into the top 0.0006% of teams worldwide, how he's been buoyed by the success of Nottingham Forest and the mental toll of doing well. 'I've already got 10 draft teams that I may use' Nathan Bannister was talking to BBC Sport's Ciaran VarleyWhen I meet new people now, I'm often introduced as the FPL guy. I've played the game for five years and this is the best season I've had by a mile. I finished around 13,000th the season before last, which is still really good, but nothing to shout becomes a real part of your life when you're doing so well and makes me commit more to the previous seasons, I'd scroll though X a bit on a Friday and then make my transfers. I wouldn't be thinking about the game all week. This season, FPL is something I consider a lot and it affects my mood weird knowing that if I suddenly drop off, I'll lose a bit of what makes me the weekend, I watch as many games as I can. If one of my players is involved, I want to see how they perform, rather than just checking how many points they've picked up the first couple of days of the week, I'll review my decision-making process from the previous weekend. Then I'll look at what FPL content creators are putting out on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, I'll look at every single club's press conference, checking who's injured. Even if the player is not in my team, I want to a Saturday, I do my transfers at 10:30 - right before the deadline - so I have all my information up to this whole process, I'm endlessly talking to friends and family because it's very easy to get tunnel vision. My brother's a massive FPL fan too, so we have phone calls for hours, just chatting about teams.I also look five gameweeks into the future, thinking about who to buy and who to get rid of. It's important to be aware of when fixtures land, because you have gameweeks where teams play twice and gameweeks in which teams don't play at all.I've planned to play my wildcard chip - which allows players infinite transfers - in two weeks' time. Around wildcard weeks, I will build loads of drafts of different teams and compare them side by side. I've already got about 10 draft teams that I might use.I trust my gut a lot too, because I try to bear in mind that it's a game and it's supposed to be favourite part of FPL is the community. Everyone's passionate about the game so we're always sharing opinions and advice, trying to make the 'optimal' team. There's no hierarchy to any of it, just people coming together. 'I genuinely believed Forest would be brilliant this year' I'm a Nottingham Forest fan and for almost the entire season I've had goalkeeper Matz Sels, defender Ola Aina and striker Chris Wood in my build relationships with players in your team, somewhat. I have trust in Aina and Wood now. I got told by so many friends that they didn't understand me starting Aina against Arsenal. He got the clean of people go and buy into the media narrative around teams. The narrative around Forest the whole time we've been in the Premier League is that we buy too many players, our squad's dismantled and that our signings are scatter-gun, but I genuinely believed we would be brilliant this year. If I'm unsure of a team, I ask someone who follows them. Working at BBC Sport is fantastic for me because there are fans of every club. 'It's changed football for me' Being 66th in the world in FPL and Forest being third in the Premier League is the most ridiculous season I could ever imagine.I've also had a lot of other things happen in my life this year: I got this job and I moved from London to Manchester. I always think: 'how much has FPL improved my life?' It is football, so you can't really tell. This season has changed football for me a little bit. When I watch a game, I'm now following it as an FPL fan first, football fan second. It's fun, but there is a degree to which I'll be relieved when the season is over. At that point, I'll think about what's made me so successful this season. I'll probably go through the entire season and every single decision I made. Because there are no international tournaments in the men's game this summer, I'll be missing football by the time the new season comes along. There are people online that have ridiculous records, season on season. I'll want to prove to myself that I'm as good as I think I am, in terms of replicating my success.
