We may be back on ice for training but competing again still feels like a long way off unfortunately.
The first event of the season that we had on our schedule has been cancelled.
It was meant to be in Finland but strict government restrictions over there on who can come into their country have forced it to be abandoned.
Next up after Finland was supposed to be Switzerland so we’ll just have to wait and see how things pan out for that trip.
You’ve got to be realistic and say the chances don’t look great at the moment.
The men are supposed to be playing in a different part of Switzerland to us in a couple of weeks but I’ve already heard that Norwegian teams aren’t allowed in and that if the field goes down to 16 then it will be called off.
This is just how things are going to be for the foreseeable future.
You can’t get too annoyed about it.
Governments have bigger worries than curling tournaments and there’s also the fact that the organisers of these events know that they have a huge responsibility.
There will be a fear that their competition sets the sport back with Covid-19 being spread at their venue.
If there is no prospect of a championship on the horizon then it will have an effect on our training as well.
It’s great to be doing what we’re doing at the moment and it all still feels quite fresh a couple of weeks after our return.
But from my own point of view, I know that there’s only so much you can do without being put under the pressure of a scoreboard.
You can kid yourself on a bit in practice. The only way to expose flaws is in competition.
That’s why I wouldn’t mind even if we only got one event then there was another gap.
At least it would show where we are after lockdown in relation to other top European teams.
British Curling and Swiss Curling are working on a Euro Super Series for November, part of which will be played over here in Stirling.
It will be for men, women and mixed doubles. The idea seems like a good one and, fingers-crossed, it will be our light at the end of the tunnel if regular tour events keep falling down.
* The only other high profile sports person I can think of to compare with Ronnie O’Sullivan for ‘jaw-dropping’ quotes is Nick Kyrgios.
Sometimes you think Kyrgios is just trying to shock to make a name for himself.
O’Sullivan doesn’t need to do that. He’s one of the greatest his sport will ever know.
Part of me likes the idea that he doesn’t have a PR filter and just says what comes into his head.
But I think it’s more likely that’s what he wants us to think and there’s a bit of strategy going on there.
He piled the pressure on his World semi-final opponent, Mark Selby, by saying he was a big underdog but I don’t really believe it.
It’s not a tactic I’ve ever tried – probably because we don’t have to do press conferences after every round of a tournament – but if he makes it Crucible crown number six, I might start to use it!
