Nobody would mistake Las Vegas for a hotbed of curling.
But competing there in the Continental Cup gave me some of my best memories of the sport.
You can’t compare it to anywhere else in the world I’ve ever competed.
When it comes to putting on a one-off event, there’s no place like it.
It was actually a bit of a surprise to learn that this weekend will be the first time the Super Bowl has gone to Vegas.
Given the build-up that event gets and the importance of all the off-field stuff in American sport, it feels like the perfect marriage.
For a long time ‘Sin City’ seemed to be out of bounds for a lot of sports apart from boxing.
Not anymore.
F1 was back there last year and now the Super Bowl.
What next? Could there even be a Las Vegas Olympics?
As much as I’ve got absolutely no doubt Nevada would put on a show like no other, I do think that might be a bridge too far!
The Scottish Championships in Dumfries are progressing along the lines a lot of people would have predicted.
You can never rule anything out but Team Mouat and Team Whyte are on course for the final that their status in the world game would suggest should happen.
I’d be surprised if we get a different game than that.
And in the women’s, I’m pleased to say that Team Henderson, who I’m helping to coach, are keeping up with Team Morrison, who are the favourites to win the competition.
The girls have taken on board the learnings from our last event together before I flew out to Gangwon for the Youth Winter Olympics and they’re in good shape to make the play-offs.
And if they do get to the final part of my advice would be to stay in the moment and focus shot by shot.
The two teams out in Gangwon did that so well.
Nobody really knew who would be the favourites going into the Games – I certainly didn’t.
The athletes were all between 14 and 17, which is too young for world rankings and things like that.
Our curlers adapted brilliantly to being part of a multi-sport environment.
There’s only so much you can do to prepare for that.
They, like the rest of the Team GB athletes, loved every minute of it and I’m sure we’ve got some future Olympians on our hands.
I wouldn’t put too much pressure on our curlers.
They’re still a bit off World Junior level, which is an under-21 age limit.
And then after that, it’s a big jump to the men’s and women’s game.
What I will say is that all the curlers are in the Scottish academy system so they’ll get the opportunity to impress and progress.
And they all had exactly the sort of attitude you want to see.
They were forever asking questions and looking for advice about how to take the next step.
Add those two medals to us winning the World Juniors in the women last year and it feels like the future could be bright for Scottish Curling.
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