Olympic Curling - Men’s Bronze Match

I will be semi-live blogging for this game, as I am watching it live ….

UPDATE: THIS SCORE IS NOW FINAL - USA WINS BRONZE

Great Britain vs United States

END 1 - GBR 0, USA 1
END 2 - GBR 1, USA 1
END 3 - GBR 1, USA 4
END 4 - GBR 2, USA 4
END 5 - GBR 2, USA 4
END 6 - GBR 2, USA 6
END 7 - GBR 5, USA 6
END 8 - GBR 5, USA 7
END 9 - GBR 6, USA 7
END 10 - GBR 6, USA 8

USA GETS THE BRONZE MEDAL

FINAL: United States 8, Great Britain 6
Results

~~~ Tidbits While I am Watching this game ~~

GBR vs USA continued
* End 10 .. Fenson #2 - Final Stone .. looks good - weight good .. line is good .. USA WINS! Draws to the button!
* End 10 - That stone hit the 12ft and might be a little too much .. but could be a draw for a win around GBR’s yellow ..
* End 10 - Murdoch #2 .. final stone .. wants it at the top of 8 ft this time in the house for 2
* End 10 - Fenson #1 .. ditto .. peel .. and GBR calls a timeout to think about their last shot
* End 10 - Murdoch #1 .. same ole same ole - high guard
* End 10 after 6 rocks .. Same situation, GBR has one in the house in the 4ft behind the line, and 1 high guard, but it’s pretty much not a factor. USA has been peeling the front guards away.. Murdoch #1 coming..
* End 10 after 5 rocks .. yellow has one in the house and placing high guards .. red is removing the guards.
* End 9 Murdoch #2 draws to the button! and takes a point, leaving them only 1 point down in the 10th but he does not have last rock.
* End 9 Fenson #2 peels away the yellow rock that was counting 1 … now red counts 3
* End 9 Murdoch #1 draws between the guards and falls in the 8ft behind the front red . but, can see a little?
* End 9 after Fenson’s first shot there are 2 reds .. on the front 12ft right of center, and 12 ft back halfway left of center. Murdoch is thinking draw behind the front guard and his own yellow in front of the house
* First of all, the last section I meant 8th end last 4 shots.. where *** is oops

NBC Wondering why their Olympic Ratings Are Low?
* The Sports Law Blog seems to think they know the answer, although .. I thought it was American Idol and Survivor!

GBR vs USA ..continued
*** (s/b End 8 / originally posted as End 7)
* End 8. That was interesting - it almost worked! Pete tried to draw from the other side to bump the yellow slightly and leave the shooter to count for 2 .. it just missed the shot rock, he made the bump .. but the shooter rolled back behind the GBR yellow stone .. Nice try!
* End 8 Murdoch #2 tried to do the same, had the line and the curl but not enough weight. what will Fenson do now? I don’t see a shot.
* End 8 Fenson #1 - perfect draw around the guard to the button and freeze in front of the yellow which, bumped the other red back about a foot
* End 8 Murdoch #1 - after 4 rocks .. there are 2 reds in the house - on behind the line on the 2/4 ft line, and one in the front 8ft. A yellow is frozen in front of it, counting 1. David Murdoch makes a perfect high guard on the center line
***
* End 7 - Fenson #2 shot was not memorable / Murdoch #2 hit takeout and rolls to count 3 .. it’s a new game!
* End 7 - After Fenson’s first shot, there are 5 rocks in the house, counting 1 red USA, Murdoch takes out the the top red guard in the house and now 3 yellow and 2 red in the house. USA is calling a time out as the next two shots could be pivotal for this game
* End 6 - Murdoch #2 - off the broom. Did take the shot rock out but rolled out of play. “His expression tells the story”. Chance to get two by Fenson … // Well, I was thinking takeout, but a draw to the 4ft worked!
* End 6 - Fenson #1 - Murdoch missed. He tapped his yellow a little back (could still be shot rock) but wide open. The shooter remained in the front 8. // single Takeout - USA now counting two (still 4 rocks in the house)
* End 6 - Murdoch #1 - first - Time out call by GBR ..there’s 4 rocks in the house, two each, split each on 4 ft (red front/yellow back) and on 8ft (yellow front/red back). Positions to the button are almost identically matched. Murdoch is concerned about tapping and leaving room for a double, or if better to guard and avoid chance to give up more points.

Efficiency Statistics after 5 ends
* skip - GBR 73%, USA 83%
* 3rd - GBR 80%, USA 88%
* 2nd - GBR 83%, USA 90%
* lead - GBR 90%, USA 81%

Most popular BIO on the NBC Olympics Site
* According to NBC .. is Team USA’s Women’s Curling skip Cassie Johnson! “Youth and beauty go a long way. Plus, I think people relate to Cassie and that down-to-earth, girl-next-door persona. She certainly breaks any stereotype people might have about curling too. .. Don Wittman and Joan McCusker were also commenting on how many viewers in both Italy and Japan have been catching the curling games. Also, between hockey and curling, Finland viewers are glued to their TV’s … All good for the sport of curling!

GBR vs USA .. continued
* 2nd Warwick Smith for GBR just made a GREAT takeout to clean house of 3 reds, leaving a yellow and the shooter rolled out.

When I’m live blogging here..
* Basically, after my first post, I am in ‘edit’ mode. After I type something I just click the “Save and Continue Editing Button” EG I’ll push it now // I am back. If I continue on the same sentence, I am placing forward slashes for those NOT watching me live blog.

The Gold Medal Game
* The Education Minister of Newfoundland and Labrador is a curling fan I guess .. all the schools are being closed at NOON to watch the final

GBR vs USA - The Plays
* End 4 - Murchoch #2 has to draw to the button, and can’t miss .. red currently counting 2 .. // and he does.. GBR point
* End 4 - Fenson #1 peeled the only yellow in the house, and there are 4 red stones left
* End 3 - Murdoch’s last rock being called a miss .. it was draw to the button and just tapped but, it looks like a great shot by Fenson could get 4 // he gets 3 …
* End 3 - Commentators do not like Fenson’s call on his first rock .. could be helping Murdoch if he misses, although he is trying to cement 3 .. // he made the shot. there is basically 2 red on the button, and 1 yellow just behind it.
* End 2 - Fenson’s #2 draw to 4/8ft line, at the T-line counting 2. Murdoch is going for the hit and roll .. and just nudge to lie shot rock .. // he made the shot!
* End 2 - Pete Fenson’s first shot did a nice bump, to push his other red to the 4ft, David Murdoch finally missed a shot and took the top guard out
* End 2 - GBR has not missed a shot yet .. and is getting nice hit and rolls etc
* End 1 - I think Pete Fenson wanted to clean house on his last shot and keep last rock, but instead did a nose hit takeout
* GBR is yellow and USA is red ..

Anybody out there?
* Just leave me a comment if you want me to beef up the commentaries :)