To be national champion is something I’ll never take for granted.
Scottish Championship week is probably the most pressurised one of the year.
We’ve got so much to lose, and all the other teams have nothing to lose. All the pressure is on us.
And last week was probably the toughest Scottish Champs we’ve had.
There have been times when we’ve gone through unbeaten but we weren’t expecting that this year because there are a lot of junior teams coming through now.
Don’t get me wrong, it some ways it can be nice to have it all your own way but that doesn’t help us in the long term. You don’t want the gap between domestic and international competition to be too big.
It was the best two teams in the final, and I’d say Hannah Fleming’s team played their best game against us at the weekend.
It was the fourth time we’d faced them in the week, and after you’ve won three it’s always in the back of your mind that the law of averages would say they could win one.
But we scored when we needed to and made a big jump in the eighth end.
It feels great to have another Worlds to look forward to. Japan, here we come!
* It was a bit disappointing that the BBC showed our final when most people would have been in bed.
The time they put it on was ridiculous. It was 20 past midnight!
We’re trying to increase the profile of curling over here.
Yes, it was great that the BBC covered it but who’s going to watch it after midnight? It was almost like a token gesture sticking it out that late.
It used to be 11ish, which isn’t so bad, but 12.20…..come on.
From our point of view it’s a bit frustrating, and for the sport as a whole.
* I saw a bit on the news the other night about Bradley Neil’s preparations for the Masters.
He’s got some great opportunities and is playing in a European Tour event in South Africa this week.
These invitations will be really important.
In amateur golf you play a lot of match play on links courses, but the pro game is all about stroke play and hardly ever on a links.
So Bradley’s in a privileged position to get invites to try and bridge that gap before he turns pro.
There are so many players who have great amateur careers and then you never hear of them as pros.
I really hope it works for Bradley. He’s clearly got loads of potential.
I never played a junior competition abroad. I always made sure it was ladies’ competitions.
I’d get thumped off the park, but slowly you get better, and when you do make the transition it doesn’t feel so big.
It will be about baby steps for Bradley, and he shouldn’t set his sights too high, too soon.