Morning Call: Friday, December 4

Here is Friday's early morning news from Aberdeen, and the Le Gruyere European Curling Championships.

This is practice day for the 20 teams involved at the Linx Arena, and the 31 at Curl Aberdeen.

It will be/was (depending on when you are reading this) an early start at Curl Aberdeen, where several of the men's teams, namely Lithuania, Greece, Serbia, Belarus and Iceland, were practising at 07.30, and of course Tom and Paul had been up much much earlier to get the ice prepared. And Alan Stanfield and his umpiring team were on duty before there was any light in the east! All twenty men's teams, and all eleven women's teams have been allotted practice times during the day.

Now here's today's really important trivia. Did you know that the men's teams in the B division get ten minutes practice on each sheet and the women get fifteen minutes! No, don't say it!

The A Division teams begin their practice at the Linx at noon.

The opening ceremony for all the athletes will be at the Linx Arena at 18.30!

But now the gossip! Apparently three tons of cheese has gone missing! The sponsor Le Gruyere AOC always has plenty of its product on hand at the Europeans. Where is this year's? Has it gone missing in transit? Delayed at Customs? Lost in Space? Surely no-one has pinched it.

I asked President Andrew Ferguson Smith, the 'big cheese' (sorry) of the European Curling Federation, for a comment. "I am confident it will turn up," was his response.

George Esson, chair of the local organising committee, said, "There's been no sight, sound or smell of it so far. No, wait, there was a strange aroma in the media room last night."

I remembered I had changed into my curling shoes there." It was my turn to apologise... again.

"We have a contingency plan," said George. "I have twenty volunteers ready to rush to all the local supermarkets to buy up all the Gruyere they have in stock. It's not a disaster. We'll still have the midnight fondue party on the beach, by hook or by crook, don't you worry."

Tansy Whitebits is on the case. Coo is beside herself with worry.