Donating to USA CURLING/US Nationals

Several folks have asked me "how can I donate to USA Curling?"  Well, here you go:  http://usacurl.mybisi.com/products/all-categories_0/?page1.

I am happy to be home watching the Closing Ceremony from my couch.

Next up:  US Nationals  http://www.wingsstadium.com/curlingnationals/index.php

Martin Mines Gold

I made it back to my house in Greenville just in time to see Kevin Martin take the gold! And the crowd explode.

Somehow that seems fitting....especially since its about 15 degrees colder here than in Vancouver.  About time I saw some curling in the cold! 
I am happy for our northern neighbors and Congrats to Martin.  He deserved it!

But wait til 2014!

Gold Medal Game Underway; Opening Ceremony Award Update

The gold medal game of Kevin Martin's Canada Rink vs. The Nowegian Funny Pants Wearers is underway.

I am on a plane in Atlanta trying to get back to the great state, but the crew in Minnesota is keeping up to date on the action:  Martin blanks the first.

For those that don't know, Martin lost the gold to the Norwegians in 2002 at the Salt Lake games, albeit a different Norwegian skip whose rink had decidedly more conservative pants.....he lost it on a missed last stone....so I am sure he is gunning for payback.

Should be fun to watch - he's basically.....awesome.

Oh, the Opening Ceremony Award Update:  I am pulling very close in the standings to the Belarussian for the Smelliest Person on the Planet Award......it's time to do laundry.

Leaving the YVR

So I have decided to cut my trip home a day or so short. I have had an absolute blast here - so many good memories.   Having said that, I feel like I have been in Vancouver for a significant portion of my late 30s.  

This is not the end of curling for me....well maybe for February. March heats up with the US Nationals next weekend in Kalamazoo, followed by my and Grace's duties later in March as Team Leaders for the US Women at the World Championships in Swift Current, Saskatchewan......yes, that Swift Current.......I am indeed going to attempt to be the first South Carolinian to travel to so-called "Speedy Creek" ....and return.  (Apparently 3 Georgians did make it in 70s so Grace will have to settle for being number 4.)

I have had great company on this trip and would like to thank lots of people for great memories (in no particular order):

Dave Ogrean - USA Hockey
Jeff Turnham - Triangle Curling Club
Sandra - Smokey Mountain Curling Club
Chris Dawes - Vancouver Curling Club
Crystal Muller - London, Ontario
Dick Zokol - PGA Tour
Patrick Sanduskey - USOC
Jen Kim - NY, NY
Vernon Davis and Lisa Goodwin - SF 49ers
Sasha Taylor - San Jose, CA
Team USA - Curling and families - MN and WI
Rick Patzke and Terry Kolesar - USCA
Bob Weeks - Toronto
Leland and Margaret Rich - Fairbanks, Alaska
Kellie Krake - NBC
Dan Field - Chicago
Carl Lewis - New Jersey
Dick Fosbury - Ketchum, Idaho
Greg Stremlaw - CCA
all the World Curling folks - Joanna and Kate from Scotland , Graham and Sandy from Canada, Didi from Germany, and many more
Kelli Obrian - MN
Angela, the CIA lady - parts unknown
Matt Van Houten - USA Handball
Gerry Guerts - London, Ontario

I'm sure there are others, but it's just past 5am and I have had about an hour sleep. I have cleared customs and am waiting on the first of like 14 flights to get home.

The pic shows some of the poor saps that are like me - stuck in early morning airport existential bliss.

Thank you Vancouver - thank you friends and family and other people that have gotten stuck reading this.

Talk to you soon....until then "Good Curling."

Canada Wins Short Track Relay Race

The entire bar I'm in just exploded as Canada won the gold in short track. Everyone in the place is on their feet yelling, except for me and the four other Americans I'm with.
Now, the Canadians are chanting in unison: "free beer, free beer, free beer,..."  We have decided to join them.  

My USCA Friends

Dan, Kellie, Rick and Terry are certainly blogworthy.....they've had to put up with me all week! 

Thanks, y'all, for taking an Olympic Rookie under your wings!  And for listening to my hourly reports about the latest membership count of the South Carolina Curling Club.

Q and A - Delivery

Q: New York - "Why do shooters hold on to their brooms while shooting a rock? Is it required by the rules for some reason? Is it a balance thing? Or is it just aesthetic, since it does look kinda cool?"

A: When a player throws a stone, he or she oftentimes holds a broom in the non-throwing hand and presses it against the ice for balance and stability. The more stable and consistent the slide, the more accurate  the throw.

A standard broom is not required by the rules, and, in fact, many players design their own "crutches" to use instead. 

Sverige!

Sweden takes golf as Bernard misses the double with the hammer.

The crowd is stunned. People are literally standing, not knowing what to do. Canadian Deer in Headlights. 

Going to an Extra End for the Gold

The photos show the last rocks of the 10th. After Bernards hit for the win jammed, the Canadian a few down from me claimed "I thought I was having heart attack for second."

Canada has hammer....so heart attacks will most likely be avoided....but you never know....this is curling.

Glad I'm not sitting behind the dude with the flag

The Final Showdown

We are moments away from the first rocks of the gold medal game - Sweden vs. Curling.

The stands are filling rapidly - lots of flags, posters, noise maker, and maple leaves of course.

I am sitting right in the heart of the stands - just left of the far end hog line, 10 rows up.  I wanted to get a better feel of what this controversial, rowdy crowd is all about......plus, my credential doesn't work today.

In event, here is one of my fellow Row 10 seatmates. His name is Dan. He is for Canada.

My Last Day in Vancouver

It's raining....back to "normal" Vancouver weather, and I am sitting in the hotel bar that I have seen a lot of....at night.  It's funny how it seems a little different with light.

Women's gold medal game is at 3pm pacific - I will be heading over shortly. Looking forward to it but also ready to go home......I think I have been here for 3.7 years.

China beat Switzerland for the Bronze 12-6.  I think the gold medal match will be closer - wouldn't be surprised if it goes down to the last rock.  I think I will be pulling for Bernard but I gotta a feeling that Norberg is going to disappoint the certainly-screaming-home-town-fans.


Should be fun!

 

Men's Gold Medal Match Set

To the delight of the hometown crowd, Kevin Martin's Canada Rink advanced to the gold medal game with a relatively easy victory over Sweden. The Swedes looked to be in it initially, but Edin missed a shot for three in the 3rd and then when he gave up 2 a couple of ends later it was  over.

After cheering Martin's exit from the ice, the Canadian crowd started chanting "Norway Pants" as they rooted their next opponent's victory over the Swiss.

Canada in 2 golf medal games = Chaos at the Vancouver Olympic Center.

 

Women's Gold Medal Game Set

It will be Canada's Bernard vs. Sweden's Norberg.

The Locals are happy.

Bronze Game will be China vs. Switzerland.

Donald Sutherland Makes an Appearance

Apollo cools off after he smoked some cats

Short Track Camera Men Wear Camo!

Thanks Jeff from Raleigh for pointing that out!

Short Track Warm Ups

Tonight's Activity

My new curling friend's from TN and NC have hooked me up.

Looking forward to it.!

The Official Winter Olympic Sport of South Carolina?

http://www.palmettoscoop.com/2010/02/23/curling-to-become-official-sport-of-sc/

Another Tough Day

The Women lost both games today to finish just like the Men, 2-7 and in tenth place.

I really don't know what to say.  The teams just didn't seem like themselves all week. My heart goes out to them especially, but also to everyone involved with USA Curling as this was not the week that anyone wanted or  expected.

Hopefully, we can find the positives in this experience and learn from the week to be better and stronger as we look to win medals and grow the game in the United States.

It is a great, wonderful game and I am excited about the coverage and exposure we got this week:

- We had 1500 people show up for a "learn to curl" event in a Ballroom in a Hilton in Washington DC. (1500!  Not even on ice!)

- I heard stories of whole bars of people in Atlanta, GA watching curling.

- I did seven radio shows in non-traditional curling markets because they were interested in curling. Some of them even asked intelligent questions.

- More curling was shown on tv in the United States than in the history of television. Ever.

- Preliminary tv ratings were up significantly.

-  We have people serious about new clubs throughout the country, but, for me, some of the more notable places include NC, SC, GA, AL, FL and LA. (Including my hometown of Greenville, SC)


Curling's future is bright in the USA.


Good curling.

Southern Canada

I have now been in Southern Canada for 12 days. I can't remember the last time I was somewhere for 12 days.

I find myself  starting to say "y'all, eh."

Greenville SC Curling

Since being at the Olympics, we have received serious enquiries about new clubs throughout the South: NC, SC, GA, AL, FL and LA.

Looks like Greenville may be a possibility too.

When I get back I am going to try realluy hard to help these efforts descibed in the link.

If you are interested, please sign up. If you are in another town and interested in Curling let me know.

http://greenvillerec.com/parks/pavilion/curling

Tuesday Morning Draw

The women's team just concluded this morning's draw and, unfortunately, came up just short against the World Champion Chinese team. They played them really tight, but the Chinese were successful in blanking the 9th, thereby keeping hammer for the final end only needing to score one. 
I thought we had a chance after an unsuccessful Chinese stone mid-way through, but on the last stone the Wang Rink prevailed. 

So, the loss elimated Team USA from competition.  The gals have one more game tonight versus Switzerland and I fully expect them to go out like the Champions that they are.

The womens playoff field is now set: Canada, Sweden, China and Switzerland.

The men's 2pm draw will determine whether any tiebreakers will be necessary tomorrow to set that field.

Fun Afternoon

After this morning's draw, I headed into town and ended up at Nike's hospitality area. Shani Davis was in the house - it was certainly neat to see him, but I got an even bigger laugh out of thinking about all the people that kept thinking that Vernon Davis was Shani Davis (because of his jacket with "Davis" on the back).

Vernon is about 3.8 times the size of Shani.

After Nike, I met some new friends from down South. Sandra from the Smokey Mountain Curling Club in Knoxville and Jeff from the Triangle Curling Club outside of Raleigh. They are both pumped to be here - and it was great to be able share a beer with folks that love curling, appreciate college football, and understand what barbeque really is. I think I may go bonspieling with them in June.

Speaking of curling in the south, we have gotten serious enquiries/indications from possible new curling clubs in NC, SC, GA, AL, FL and LA this week.

The South is gonna rise again.

Who woulda thunk that it is gonna be with brooms, rocks and ice?

Q and A: Youth Curling

Q:  Memphis, TN - "How did most of the Olympic curlers get involved in curling? Did they start young? Is there competitive youth curling in parts of the U.S.?"

A:  Almost all the Olympic curlers started curling at a young age as all lived in towns with local curling clubs.  Many of them come from big curling families.  There is youth development curling in parts of the United States as well as competitive Junior Curling. In fact, current US Olympian Chris Plys is a former World Junior Champion where Coach Phil Drobnik also served as his coach.

Story from Weaverville, NC

This is a true story.

A good friend of mine, Jim "Famous James" Bannister  was a part of the South Carolina delegation that traveled to Denver last February for the Olympic Trials to investigate whether Curling should become the Official Winter Olympic Sport of South Carolina.  He gained a good working knowledge of the sport and has become quite a fan.

This past weekend Famous James was deep in the western NC mountains near Weaverville to go grouse hunting.  After a day on the prowl, he stopped in at a country liquor store in search of some much needed refreshment.....well, sure enough, there in the middle of nowhere, the local proprietors had curling on the television. It was a tight moment in the France vs US contest so Famous stopped for awhile to take in an end or two.

Well, the locals took notice of him standing and watching the television and before too long asked, "u kno' what thiz stuff is? U unnerstan it?"

Well, he certainly felt obliged and began his impromptu lecture with the basics.   As more and more customers came in, many would stop with bottles in hand to listen to the discussion.  After rocks,  scoring, and sweeping,  he began to discuss strategy, and while, he was greeted with a mix of understanding nods as well as some mouth-agaped stares,  there was no doubt he was creating some new fans - as bottles began to be opened as the lecture continued.

 As the game grew to its dramatic conclusion, the small crowd of mountaineers cheered on Team USA as they prevailed in their first win. As Famous thanked everyone and began to make his departure, one of the proprietors, a forty-something, mountain born and bred, platinum bleach blond, commented "thankee for splainin all that....I kin tell already this here's lik eatn biled p-nuts....atter ya eat one ya jes kaint stop!"


Curling is coming to the South. 

Physics Baby!

http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=ice-ice-baby-the-physics-of-curling-10-02-18

Thanks Katie B. From Charlotte for the heads up!

Hockey Payback

Canada took revenge on our Men's Curling team for the US win over Canada in hockey last night. Hockey and Curling are Canada's two bigggest sports and the whole nation was stunned last night with the victory by the Yanks.

In the curling, our guys hung in there early, probably playing as good they have all week.  After the break though, Canada was able to steal two ends when we missed a couple of high risk/high reward shots. Once Martin was up by three, he just put the death clamp on us by hitting most everything out.  Unfortunately, I believe that eliminates the men from the playoffs, though they do have one game remaining tonight vs. China.

Hopefully, they can close out with a victory and the Women can throw the Hail Mary tomorrow.

Every Canadian I see I talk smack about the Hockey.....like I even know what hockey is??

My favorite line is to wish them good luck in the elimination game they have to play tomorrow because they lost to us.

USA.

Q and A - Golf

Q:  Columbia, SC "Didn't Richard Zokol wear a walkman while playing?"

A:  Yes.  Hence he was known as "Disco Dick."

How Crazy is the Weather?

See photos....one is a famous golf hole seen worldwide in the spring; the other is an unknown park next to an Winter Olympic Curling Venue.

It is another glorious day in Vancouver.

I decide to go to the Winter Olympics and it snows in the Deep South, while its Canadian-shorts-wearing weather at the ice rink.

NB: Canadian-shorts-wearing weather is still no where near Beau-shorts-wearing weather.

Shuster Steals One in the First

The boys played the first end well and when Martin missed his hit for one, they were able to steal one!

U-S-A has broken out in the stands.

Today is the 30th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice.

Men's Day

The women have the day off today, while the US plays Canada this morning and China tonight.  I did some early morning mathematics and the good news is that we are not out of it!  The bad news is we need a lot of stuff to happen....switzerland or sweden need to lose two and germany and france each need to lose one......and of course we have to win two....including beating red-hot Kevin Martin this morning.

It is a tall order....buy hey it's curling!

Rally caps folks.

Last Draw of the Day

The final draw of the day is in its final hour. The picture shows Deb McCormick throwing her final rock of the 9th end, while Cheryl Bernard stalks the house in the 8th, looking at who is shot in her match against the Chinese. USA trails Sweden 6-3 while Bernard just tied it up in the 7th at 4.

Been another tough day for the USA. Hopefully the gals can work some end of the game magic again.

Carl Lewis in the House

I have become the resident expert to explain curling to our non-curler guests.

Disco Dick Zokol

Just has a great lunch with Richard Zokol, the Canadian PGA Tour player.

Women Started Slow Today

I was at a Today taping and had to watch the Ladies from the Richmond Curling Club. Unfortunately, they did not have their A-game this morning. After going up 1-0, Deb missed another draw and ended up giving Bernard, the Canadian, 4 early, and our gals were never able to recover.

I saw Allison and Nat last night - they seemed in good spirits. I hope they can help rally the team as tonights contest against now becomes "must-win."

Below is the USOC prees release, but first I do need to mention that I have had another "small world" occurence. The State Department attache we had at the taping this morning used to serve with a South Carolina colleague of mine in Sao Paulo, Brazil of all places.....even as a student of network science, this small world stuff it is getting kinda weird.


Up next - lunch with PGA Tour player Dick Zokol.


From the USOC:

Debbie McCormick and the American ladies drop to 2-4 in the round robin standings after a poor shooting performance by three-time Olympian McCormick that hampered the team in a 9-2 loss to undefeated Canada. McCormick shot just 58 percent today. She alluded to a potential line-up change that would have her throw vice skip stones for tonight's matchup against the defending champions from Sweden to keep the team's playoff hopes alive.

Big Day for the USA

We are on the ice 3 times today. Women have Canada this morning followed by Men vs Scotland, then Women have Sweden. All huge games.

I'm taking the boys to film a Today show segment right now, then gonna hustle back to the arena to watch the gals take care of business against the Canucks.

USA baby.

Q and A: Rocks

Q: from Alabama by way of Colorado - "do the mens' and womens' stones weigh the same amount? hope you're having a blast over there!"

A:  Yes , all stones weigh the same amount, 42 pounds. They also all come from the same place: Ailsa Craig, off the coast of Scotland.

Question for the questioner:  Do you know what ocean one from North America must cross to get to Scotland?

Huge Win!

Way to go Ladies!  Awesome awesome awesome. 

Huge win - stole the 10th and 11th. Doesn't happen a lot. Maybe our luck has changed.

Maybe I shouldn't let Vernon Davis leave!

The Duke hanging with the Guys

Beware: More Toliet Drinkers

Apparently, they're concerned about toilent drinking in the Village as well.  To avoid the language confusion, they have resorted to a pictorial warning.

Who knew toilet drinking was such a global epidemic?

Lunch at the Village

Vernon decided to have lunch with Men's Team after a good extra end victory over the Swede's.

The Village is cool - more to comment later.

8 billion people wait to get in Sochi World

Q and A

Q:  Ada, Oklahoma - "Why do the teams "blank" at the end (of an end)? Can't they just curl one onto the button and score a point? I assume we are missing something important....

A:  Teams "blank" an end so that they can keep the hammer in the following end. Generally speaking when you have hammer, you would like to score 2 or more points; if you don't have hammer, forcing your opponent to take one point is not a bad result.  

Fw: BREAKING NEWS: US Men Pick Up First Extra-End Win in Curling

USA defeated Sweden, 8-7, in men's curling at Vancouver Olympic Center in what was the fourth extra-end game for the Americans in six outings. This was the first in which USA, 2-4, came out on top, powered by the suddenly hot shooting of vice skip Jason Smith (Chisholm, Minn.). As with their first win of the tournament, Smith delivered the last stones of each end for USA. He was perfect on two draws in the extra end, the second to out-position Sweden for the winning point.



Today, skip John Shuster (Chisholm, Minn.) was back in the lineup and called the game while delivering the third set of stones. The U.S. men play Great Britain at 2 p.m. Sunday as the nine-game round robin continues in the chase for the four playoff spots.

US Men headed to Extra End for 4th Time

All four Swedes had to start sweeping just past the hog line, but they got their final draw into the 4-foot to score a point and send the US to its fourth extra end game.....with hammer again.

Let's go boys.
 

Who are the Canadians Worried About?

Everytime I need to relieve myself, I chuckle reading this sign.  Has the world really evolved to the point where we need to advise human beings not to drink from toilets?

Q and A

Q: Greenville, SC - "how does one get the hammer?"

A:  One team is awarded the hammer at the start of the game. After that, the hammer changes hands after a team scores. That is why you see teams sometimes purposely scoring zero ("blanking an end") so that they can keep the hammer in the next end.

Comment and Answer

Comment:  Minneapolis, MN - in reference to me seeing Shaun White.......  "You should have gotten a picture with him! And then taken it to wherever you get your hair cut and ask for that style, sans beard. :)"

A:  I didn't realize they taught comedy classes at Law school

Q and A

Q: Greenville, SC "so, can you play the game without the sweepers? Say, just two on two and just throw? Are ther variations recognized?"

A:  Sweepers are not required but certainly give a team an advantage as they help to control the trajectory of a thrown stone.   Recreationally, people play all kinds of variations of the game, including 2 on 2, no sweeping, etc.  Competitively, there is another version of the game: Mixed Doubles. In this variant, the game begins with one stone in play for each team,  and each male/female team throws 5 stones.  Mixed doubles contests tend to end up with many rocks in play and thus very exciting.  It doesn't take as long to play as a regualtion game, and in some ways is a "made for tv" version of curling. Don't be surprised if Mixed Doubles ends up being a medal event one day.

On a side note, I coached in the first ever Mixed Doubles US National Championship.  My team lost...clearly due to poor coaching.

Draw 13 is getting ready to go

Two big victories for Team USA yesterday and I successfully made it out of the club last night.....all and all a good day.

I could literally lay down on the ice and go to sleep right now.

Let's go USA.

Clubbin' n da YVR

Honary Captain

After cheering on Team USA to its first victory in round robin competition, Honorary Captain Vernon Davis got a little ice instruction from Coach Phil. 

Way to go guys!

Vernon Davis the Duke

Vernon Davis is in the House!


Pun intended.

Q and A

Q: Pensacola, Fl - "how many feet from starting point to center ring?"

A:  In curling speak, the question is "how many feet is it  from the hack to the far-end button?"   The answer is 126 feet; hack to hack is 138 feet; the total sheet of ice is about 50 yards.

Flying Tomato at USA House

He is a little dude

Q and A

Q: How many games does a team play if it hasn't won one yet?


A: The initial round is a ten country round robin.  So, all teams play 9 games regardless of record. The top 4 teams then proceed to the medal round.

This is getting tough

Unfortunately, our women's team did not prevail against the Danes either. They fought hard and seemed to be in good shape at the halfway point, but a missed draw in the sixth gave Denmark a three point end which proved to be the difference. 

They had a chance to tie on the last rock of the tenth but Debbie's shooter rolled long.

All of these women are friends of mine and I've known them since I first showed up in Bemidji in 2006. So, this has been tough to watch.

I'm still pulling hard though and expecting the famous McCormick rally to kick in tomorrow.  (She won Worlds after starting 0-3)

Let's go USA.

Coach Wally

Debbie McCormick's father, Wally Henry, is also the coach of Team USA.  Here he is getting ready for his Elfie interview at the break.

Go Wally!

Deutschland Breaks

Germany and Canada are tied at 2 at the break

Team Canada taking the 5th end break

Women have their Game Face on....Let's Go!

Team USA, Gamecocks??

Matt Smith, from Greenville, SC, points out that I should be used to what has happened to the US Men's Curling Team - given that I am a University of South Carolina Gamecock fan. 

How true.

In fact, I am starting to wonder if Shuster and the boys don't have some Gamecock blood coarsing through their veins. They just lost their third consecutive Extra End game.  The crazy thing is that they have had the Hammer everytime. Generally speaking, a team with Hammer in an extra end wins 75 percent of the time.....so, assuming that the 3 events are independent (which is arguably a big assumption), the odds of losing three in a row are about 1.5 out a hundred.

That sounds Gamecock to me.
(For those of you that don't know, weird, bad things happen to my beloved University.....I think it may be because we eat the mascot while tailgating before home football games.)

Shuster looked to be in control in the 9th, but when he bypassed an easier shot for 2 to go for more points and missed, the Danes found themselves only down one going into the tenth.

The tenth was super exciting with both teams making some great shots through some really narrow Ports. (At the same time the Swiss and Scots were also putting on some nifty shotmaking as well to the delight of the crowd.)  Ultimately, the Danes squeezed out a point  to force the Extra End.

Team USA was in control the whole extra end and on the last stone,  Shuster needed to knockout the Dane stone in first position. To the dismay of the crowd, the Danish stone "jammed" on another Stone to remain Shot Rock.

I nearly threw up my Danish as the German federation leader, Didi,  looked at me and proclaimed, "So sad."

Stimmt.

In any event, I hope the women are susceptible to the Chicken Curse.....they just took the ice against the Danes.

Breaking News: Listen to the Southern Curler Live

It looks I am going on Charleston, SC ESPN Radio at 3:25 eastern today with Bobby Harvin and Ted Byrne.

Listen Live at http://www.910theteam.net/listen_live.shtml

Danish for Breakfast

Draw 7 has started with the USA facing the Danish men; the women are having Danish in the next draw as well.

The men's game yesterday for Switzerland was bizarre; of the 11 ends played, 8 ends were "stolen," meaning the team without the hammer scored. Shuster got down 4-0 early then came roaring back to go up 6-4. The Swiss had some good shoots in the 9th but only got one point. So Team USA looked good with hammer and up one in the 10th. Unfortunately, his last rock "draw" shot (draw means throwing the rock and intending for it to come to rest in play without hitting another rock) was just short giving the Swiss a point and forcing the extra end.

At that point I had to leave to go live on the radio in Missoula, Montana with Curling at Curly's.  (Apparently Curly's is a local yet rowdy tavern that has really gotten into Curling.  Thank you Curly's patrons!). I wasn't worried as Team USA still had the hammer in the extra end. I got back from the interview just in time to see Shuster's last rock. Having missed the draw in the 10th, he tried a "run-back" which is a shot where one stone is hit and used in place of the thrown stone. In this case he was trying to run back the stone and hit a Swiss stone which was "shot rock," meaning in first position. He did all of that but his own stone rolled too far and just past the Swiss rock that was in 2nd position.

It was a tough loss.

I thought my Annie "The Sun Will Come out Tomorrow" philosphy was going to work magic for the US yesterday.....it didn't.

Truth is I never liked Annie anyway.

We just need to eat Danish for breakfast today and get this ship righted.

I don't know who won the other men's games yesterday. I was so occupied with the US game. All I know is that Canada wasn't playing.....it was easy to tell with the full, but much quieter, crowd.

I didn't attend Draw 6 as the US Women weren't playing. 

Danish time.

USA!

Draw 5 Heartbreaker

Shuster lost in an extra end again. It was brutal. It was painful. It has led me to this.

Hurry, Hard!

"Hurry, Hard!" is a command you will often hear a skip call out to implore the sweepers to keep sweeping and get the stone into position.

My friend Dan Field is getting coverage on CNN for his Hurry Hard entendre (no pun intended):

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/smallbusiness/1002/gallery.oddball_olympic_sponsors/index.html

Q and A

Q: Columbia, SC - "While sweeping a person by accident steps on a rock- is there a penalty; if so what is enforced?"

A:  If a sweeper makes contact and moves a rock that was at rest, the opposing skip can ask to put it back in its original location. Other than that there is no penalty. If sweeper touches his team's moving stone, that stone is "burned" which means it is removed from play. Oftentimes, the only person that would know such contact had been made is the sweeper himself.  In curling, much like in golf, players are required by the "spirit of the game" to call penalties on themselves.

It is a game of honor and integrity. A great example of this occurred a few years ago in the US when a competitor in the finals of the National Junior Championship called such a penalty on himself, nearly costing his team a trip to the World Championships.

Et Tu Annie?

Though the sun is still shining outside, Annie didn't seem to get it to shine for the US inside the Olympic Curling Venue. Team USA fell to Die Deusche Frauen on the last rock of the 10th. Debbie and the gals had a chance for a big end in the fourth but weren't able to pull it off. The Germans followed immediatley up in the fifth with 3 points to go up 4-1 at the break, and the US ended up trailing the rest of the contest. The McCormick Rink did gain some ground, but needed to steal 2 in the 10th but came up one rock short.

Right now, the USA really needs a win. Big time. Hopefully the men can do so in the next draw.

The other women's games were very entertaining with the Canadian skip Bernard totally wowing the fans with a last rock takeout in the 10th to score 2 to beat the Japanese by 1. It was a really interesting end with a mess of stones piled up at the top of the house but Bernard proved to have the right stuff. There are lots of Japanese fans in the audience so it was fun to watch both sides really get into it. Adding to the drama, the Japanese called two timeouts in the last end, which ended up helping build the excitement in the stands.

The other contests were also great with Scotland beating China and Sweden downing Switzerland - both in extra ends.

There is lots of good curling and the talent level is deep.

The US is not out by any means but it's "go time" now.


Next up Men vs. Switzerland.

Annie is in the House!

Getting Ready for Draw 4. Our Women's team faces Germany at 9am pacific.

There isn't a single cloud in the Vancouver sky and the sun is shining brightly.

Way to go Annie!

This is going to be a good day!
U-S-A!

Tough Day for the USA

Draw 3 just ended and it was a heartbreaker for the USA. After battling Norway and their crazy pants in a low-scoring affair, Shuster and company forced the Norwegians into an extra end with the US having the hammer (the last rock advantage.) Needing to draw into the four foot, Shuster's rock skidded through just enough to give Norway the win.  It was a tough way to lose.   Really tough.

February 16th will not go down in the history of USA Curling as a great day.

But the good news:  The Sun will come up tomorrow. 

Yes, that's right, I am resorting to Annie-style-philosphy right now.

Can't hurt right?

In the other games, Germany and Canada had a very spirited contest. Kapp, the German, was playing aggressively and loading the house up with stones, but, time and time again, Martin would pull something out of his bag of tricks and escape much to the delight of the roaring crowd. Ultimately, Martin's skills were just overwhelming as Canada went on to a convincing win......the guy has got skills....and watching him in this environment is pretty awesome, in the true sense of the word.

The only other game was China versus France. France led early, but the Chinese, curling for the first time in an Olympics, came roaring back, taking a one point lead into the 10th. At that point, with the Canada game having been conceded, the crowd took up the Chinamen's cause with frequent chants of "let's go CHI-na!" It looked like for sure the Chinese were gonna make their debut with a victory, when out of the blue, the French skip pulls off a miracle shot, angle-raising a corner guard sharply back at the button to takeout China's seemingly irremovable buried stone. The entire audience sprung to their feet with applause, including all of the Canadian/Let's-go-china-come latelys.

With the US game going to the extra end, it was the only game left on the ice and now the Canadians started pulling for Norway....I thought pulling for China was a little odd, but, it was France.  But Norway against the US?......I'm gonna let it go and attribute it to the Canadians probable attraction to the Norway pants......let it go for now.

I hope nobody up here has to learn the hard way what it means to go " Old School Folly Beach" on somebody.

Annie you have the stage....maybe Leland can play Daddy Warbucks?

Scoring Update

Shuster just drew for two in the 7th to put Team USA 3-2 after 7 against Norway.

Q and A

Q: Asheville, NC "Can both teams sweep in the House at the same time? And if so, what if I want to sweep the same rock they want to sweep? Or what if I want to protect a rock the other team wants to sweep? "

A:  Yes both teams can sweep in the House at the same time, provided that the team who did not throw the stone only sweeps behind the T-Line. Both teams can sweep the same rock. If your opponent chooses to legally sweep your stone, there is nothing you can do to "protect" it.

Thank You CCA!

We have bummed some behind the House seats from the Canadian Curling Association.  This is where you want to sit to watch curling.

Q and A

Q:  From Asheville, NC...."What are the rules of engagement for sweeping after contact between stones in the house? Seems like I've seen both teams sweeping both stones, but perhaps I'm mistaken."

A:  Once a thrown stone or a stone put into motion by the thrown stone has crossed the "T-line,"  one member of the team who did not throw the original moving stone may sweep stones in the House. Hence, you will often see both teams sweeping in the House. The T-line is the line that goes through the Button perpendicular to the direction a stone is thrown. 

Q and A

Q: From Barnwell, SC...  "what are the shoes like and where can you get some?"

A:  Curling shoes are sort of like tennis shoes with one big difference. When a curler delivers the stone, he/she pushes off from the "Hack" which is like a rubber backstop. Right-handers use their right leg to push off, putting most of their weight above their left foot upon which they slide.  The left shoe in this case is called a "slider" and  the big difference from a tennis shoe is that the sole of the slider is made of a low-friction material like stainless steel or teflon.  Many people put a rubber cover over their slider when the sweep, which is called a "Gripper," but not all; e.g. Jason Smith slides on his slider when sweeping.

Curling shoes can be bought online or through any curling supply store (e.g. Steve's Curling Supplies www.stevescurling.com)

Draw 2

Another exciting draw with lots of close games. Canada played Switzerland in a very tight contest. Again, it came down to the final stone with Canadian Skip Cheryl Bernard drawing to the four foor as the home team crowd exploded into applause. Maple leaves, cowbells, chants....exciting chaos.

Team USA skipped by Debbie McCormick entered the tenth end down one but with hammer. She had a shot to at least tie with the last stone, and it looked like, to us in the Olympic Family section, that she had made it, but, after a measurement was called for, the yellow stone of Japan was moved into the center indicating that in fact the Japanese stone was closest and unfortunately that we had lost.

I thought we were in control of the game but a few missed shots and few good ones by the Japanese later in the match proved to be the difference. Definitely a disappointing loss, but there is lots of curling left. With the experience of our Women's team, I expect them to shake this loss off...no problem.

Other winners were Sweden over Denmark and Germany over Russia.

Next Draw: Men's....USA plays Norway.....I hope we are ready for the pants!

Q and A

Q:  "Why are there so many rocks that don't make it to the rings?"

A:  They are "guards" and are meant to either protect rocks that are either in the house or will be in the house.  This question begets a longer discussion on strategy whicj I plan on getting to at some point.

There is something called the "Free Guard Rule" which means that no rock NOT in the house may be removed from play until after the fourth stone of the end has been played. 

Q and A

Q:  Another reader asked "when there are 6 or 7 rocks in the house, why not just through the stone really hard and knock all of the rocks out?"

A:  You would have to have super-human strength to do that!

 Each stone weighs 42 pounds so if there are 6 stones in the house, then the house stones collectively weigh 252 pounds. The thrower is only throwing 42 pounds. The physics of the interaction is that Momentum = mass x velocity and Momentum must be conserved in the collision. So even throwing the stone as hard as a human can, post collision there is so much more mass with the house stones that their resulting velocities are very, very small...friction takes over and they don't move very far. 

Q and A

Q:  One of the questions I have received is "what's the deal with the draws? Because the US Men lost are they out of the competition?"

A:  A Draw is like a session. For example, right now in Draw 2, a Women's Draw, it is USA vs. Japan, Sweden vs Denmark, Russia vs. Germany, and Canada vs. Switzerland. In other words, there are four different games going on at the same time (on different "Sheets").   There 10 countries in each Competition (Men's and Women's). The initial round of play is a round robin, ie everybody plays everybody else. After the round robin the top 4 teams will advance to a playoff where medals will be determined.  If there are not four clear countries in front after the round robin, there will be a series of tiebreakers played to produce the four teams....in other words, no one is "elimated on the scorecard" as in golf.

So the US men's team has not been eliminated; they are merely 0-1 in the ound robin with 8 games left to play.

US Women finishing up Warm-ups

Team USA Women are up in the next draw facing Japan.

(I guess it World War 2 day here in the Curling.)

World.....get ready to meet my fellow Pisces, Natalie Nicholson.

The First Draw

The first draw ended in very dramatic fashion with Canadian Skip, Kevin Martin, drawing to the button to beat the pesky Norwegians who had forced an extra end. The crowd was really revved up as Martin got ready to throw his final stone. It was quiet when he slid out of the hack, but as the rock slid slowly down the ice the crowd started to come to life. By the time it entered the house, the Canadians were going bananas and pandemonium erupted when it came to rest on the button.

I have to admit it was pretty awesome.  This is the biggest crowd I have ever seen watch curling and it was really cool to see every soul in the place standing and cheering.

Unfortunately, Team USA took it on the chin losing to Germany in the 10th. It was somewhat a sloppy game in the beginning with neither skip curling their best. As the match wore on, Andy Kapp, the German Skip found his game, executing a couple of very key double take-outs.  Team USA needed to steal two in the tenth to force an extra end but when that proved to not be in the cards, American skip John Shuster extended his hand to Kapp, conceding the contest.  

Next up for our Men's team is Norway and their whacky pants which would probably make even John Daly jealous.

Other winners in the first draw:  Sweden over Scotland and Switzerland over Denmark.

Canada in an Extra End

The Canada Norway game is tied after 10 ends and will play an 11th. The crowd is starting to rock and chant and the wave has even been busted out.

Our guys need to steal 2 in the 10th to say alive. Crowd is chanting USA.

Gonna be tough.

Sweeping in Curling

Dave Gilmer wants to know about sweeping, what it does and what the rules are asscoiated with it.

When the stone, which weighs 42 pounds, is thrown it spins.  Counter-clockwise spin is called an "Out Turn;" while clockwise spin is called an "In Turn."   The spin makes the rock curve or "curl" 4-8 laterally as it moves down the nearly 50 yards of ice. The analogy in golf would be playing a draw or fade....its very hard to play a straight ball.

By sweeping, the teams are able to affect the rate of spin on the rock. In essence, sweeping reduces the friction on the rock, which makes it spin less, and thus go straighter, as well as go farther.   So, sweeping helps a team control the trajectory of a thrown stone. The golf analogy would be "you have a breaking putt but you didn't hit it hard enough.....sweeping helps you "get" the ball to hole."

The rules governing sweeping are pretty simple:  a broom cannot touch the stone and the sweepers must sweep all the way across the width of the stone, ie they can't just sweep on one side of the stone.

Live Action update:  USA down 3-1 but should score 2 in this end. Canada looks awesome and the sold out crowd is really loud cheering for them. Its rockin'

Curling Scoring

My first question from the blog is from the Lost Southerner....he asks "Is it played on time or points?"

(Thank you Lost Southerner....you when The Adam Award....prize to be determined.)

The answer is .....drum role please....."Both"....sort of.

For those of you new to curling, let me try to explain the basics: 

Curling is a team sport with teams being made up of 5 people, 4 people actually play and each throw 2 stones per "End" which is sort of like an inning in baseball.  The "fifth" is an alternate. The players positions are named for the order in which they throw their stones: Lead, Second, Third, and Skip.  The Skip is like the captain or the quaterback and normally throws the final stones and is in charge of team strategy.

The target area for the Stones is called "The House." It looks like a bullseye (or the logo for Target). Scoring occurs at the end of an End, when all 16 stones have been thrown; however many stones Team A has in the House closer to the center (which is called The Button) than Team B's nearest stone is how many points Team A scores.

In other words, it is scored like Bocce.   The rings in the House have nothing to do with scoring - they just help the players tell which stones are closer to the Button.

At the  Olympics, the teams will play 10 End games. 

Each team is timed as well. They have 75 minutes of playing time. If they don't deliver their final stones in the 10th end in less than those 75 minutes, they lose. (This rarely happens but it does keep teams from taking a ridiculous amount of time to play)

 
More to come....

Questions?


Score update:  The US is down 1 after the first End.

Bagpipers are on the Ice!

Curling Starts in 15 Minutes!

The first draw of the Oympics is only moments way. Denmark, Germany, Scotland and Canada are warming up now. We should be on the ice shortly.

We are playing Germany on Sheet C.

Let's go boys!

I Need Some Help

One of my ideas behind doing this blog was to try to provide a resource to people not that familiar with curling. The curling competition begins tomorrow at 9am Pacific time, and my plan is to start explaining curling in general as well as to give a "non-curler" perspective to what is going on in the Olympic competition.

So, what I would like for you to do is to start asking questions about what you see. I will try to answer and post responses so that hopefully everyone's understanding of this great ancient Scottish game will increase.

I really would like for the audience to this blog to get a lot,  lot bigger.  So here is what I would like to ask:  can everybody please pick 5 people that I DO NOT know. And try to get them to start watching this blog. If they like it, ask them to get 5 more people on board, and do the same deal.  Chain-lettery kinda thing. (I'm actually a big student of network science and this could really work- the key is people you don't think I know!)

 I would really like this blog to morph into THE resource for people that are interested in curling but don't know a lot about it. 

If yall could help me spread the word, I would be most appreciative.


Competition starts in 9 hours!!!! I can't wait!!!

Finally at the Curling Venue

Competition starts tomorrow!

Ice is being prepared and teams are practicing.

Getting excited.

This is for you, Kerry Murphy

Today one of our Men's Curlers, Chris Plys, spent some time with Summer Sanders for the Rachel Ray show outside the Swiss House.  Topic of discussion:  Cheese.

Inside, the Swiss were rocking watching some downhill.  I've learned to tell the difference between  a good run and a crash....just from the sound.....kinda like the different sounds a golf crowd makes for a made putt and a missed one. We just don't have cowbells and Germanic chanting sounds in golf.....maybe we should.


On to the Curling venue.