Olympic trials have begun now that we’re within one year of the Vancouver Games in February of 2010. Most recently held were the US qualifier for curling. Making the US team were Debbie McCormick and her team for the women and John Schuster and his team for the men.

Schuster is a returning Olympian. He was part of the Bronze-Medal-winning team in Turin in 2006. This is McCormick’s first Olympic opportunity.

Curling is a game played on ice with teams of four players each, who take turns pitching a granite stone towards a target (called a house) on the ice. Team members help the stone along with brooms.

(photo credit: Newscom)

Post from: EveryJoe

Mccormick, Schuster Seal Olympic Curling Berths

January 25, 1924

It was held in France, 83 years ago!

But, of course, they didn’t know what it was while it was going on. The IOC just named it as such afterwards. Originally, the competition was called International Sports Week 1924.

Trivia: First event to be decided on was the men’s 500m speed skating where Charles Jewtraw (US) won the first gold.

There were 258 athletes (11 women, 247 men) of 16 nations competed in 16 events of 6 sports (Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Curling, Ice Hockey, Skating and Skiing).

Source: www.olympic.org

Post from: EveryJoe

When was the 1st Winter Olympic Games Held?

Bowls is like Curling and vice versa. Main difference, one is played on manicured grass and the other, on prepared ice. Plus! It is related to Bocce, which is normally played on dirt surfaces.

Eh. Sorry, but Chess on ice? I’m thinking it’s a game of marbles in a grand proportion.

I wonder how they train for such events.

Gah. Curling is the official sport of Saskatchewan? What has the world come to? I think I should visit that country and have a look around.

Post from: EveryJoe

Bowls vs Curling

Why is it an achievement? Murdoch and his team of Euan Byers, Warwick Smith, Ewan MacDonald and Peter Smith, are only the fourth Scottish team to hold the coveted title.

First ever was Perth’s Chuck Hay in the 1960s then 30 years after it was Perth’s Danny Smith’s turn in 1991. And then it was Stranraer’s Hammy McMillan in 1999.

After their disappointing loss against the US in the bronze medal play-off at the last Winter Olympics in Torino, this win fully compensated that medal loss. And Murdoch, after competing and winning against Canada that’s considered the best in the world, sees it as a mind-blowing experience and to be called, World Champion is a dream come true.

SOURCE

Post from: EveryJoe

Scotland’s David Murdoch: Newest World Champion Curling Skip

I was watching this game live on TV (and Live Blogging) and there was no mention of this streaker. Around the ‘net .. sites are reporting the initial “sighting” from the AP news item… but I kept wondering … was this guy .. Mark Roberts?

It is now confirmed – Yes it was

Streaker interrupts bronze medal curling game
Updated Fri. Feb. 24 2006 4:53 PM ET

Associated Press

PINEROLO, Italy — Notorious British streaker Mark Roberts has apparently struck again.

A man wearing running shoes, a rubber chicken taped over his genitals and a towel on his head came out of the stands during the Olympic bronze medal curling game Friday, earning some laughs from the British and American rinks before he was taken away by security.

An Italian press agency indentified him as Patrick Roberts, a 42-year from Liverpool who was also responsible for a streaking incident at Wimbledon, and said he was in police custody.

That description would seem to better fit Mark Roberts, a man with a history of streaking and ties to GoldenPalace.com, an online casino whose name was written on the Olympic streaker’s chest.

GoldenPalace.com has a history of interrupting major sporting events to seek publicity and has used Roberts in the past to crash the world swimming championship, Super Bowl, Real Madrid home opener, French Open tennis and UEFA Cup soccer final.

The casino also has used boxers as human billboards during fights and employed topless women to crash golf tournaments. And it had former NBA bad boy Dennis Rodman run with the bulls in Pamplona to raise money for MS research.

GoldenPalace.com has Canadian ties in that it is one of many gambling ventures licensed by the Quebec-based Kahnawake Gaming Commission. It has an office on the First Nation community near Montreal as well as in Antigua and England.

GoldenPalace.com said nobody was available Friday for comment.

At the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, a Canadian man jumped off a board into the swimming pool during a diving event. The man, who was arrested and fined 2,000 euros ($3,225 Cdn), also had GoldenPalace.com on his chest and back, but the company said it didn’t put him up to the stunt.
© 2006 Bell Globemedia Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Here’s the NBC news item (the above picture was from this NBC article)

NBCOlympics.com – Torino Tracker – Is it cold in here, or is it just me?

….. Any doubt that curling has arrived was removed when the event was interrupted by a streaker.

During the fifth end break (curling’s version of halftime and/or a seventh inning stretch), a large and not-too-muscular guy ran out across the sheet. Nothing on except for the obligatory online gambling ad and a strategically-wrapped rubber chicken.

USA skip Pete Fenson had a chuckle, and so did Rogge. Less amused was chief referee Keith Wendorf, who tackled the offender.

An umpire mercifully covered him with a coat and he was led out of the arena by the Italian polizia.

I’m more pissed off that the entire event seemed to have gone unnoticed ON TV … than the actual streaking .. but C’mon Golden Palace … Streaking at the Olympics? C’mon! That’s bad dudes.

Post from: EveryJoe

Drats I missed this ..

UPDATE: THIS SCORE IS NOW FINAL!

Congratulations Team Canada / Team Gushue!
THANK-YOU GUYS! YOU PLAYED GREAT!

skip – Brad Gushue (aka 4th)
3rd – Mark Nichols
2nd – Russ Howard (real skip)
lead – Jamie Korab
Alternate – Mike Adam

Canada vs Finland

END 1 – FIN 2, CAN 0
END 2 – FIN 2, CAN 2
END 3 – FIN 2, CAN 3
END 4 – FIN 2, CAN 4
END 5 – FIN 3, CAN 4
END 6 – FIN 3, CAN 10
END 7 – FIN 3, CAN 10
END 8 – FIN 4, CAN 10
(concession after 8th ends)

TEAM CANADA WINS GOLD!

FINAL: Canada 10, Finland 4
Results

Here are the stats..

~~~ Tidbits while I am live blogging, latest on top ~~~

FIN vs CAN – 2nd half
* End 8 – Markku #1 repeat .. Gushue #2 Repeat .. Markku #1 draw to the button and they shake hands!
* End 8 – Gushue shot #1 .. FIN counting 1 .. and removed by Brad
* End 8 – He made it the double :)
* End 8 – what to do? Surrrree let Mark make the double! He’s practically made everything else he’s tried! he’s 96% after 7 ends
* Don Wittman just mentioned that there is an Olympic rule that teams in curling must play at least 8 ends although, we already know that isn’t the case because we’ve seen a concession after the 6th and 7th during round robin games .. he probably meant Medal games … ?
* End 7 – Gushue #1 – broke the mold – took out the guard and the one in the house .. nice shot :)
* End 7 – Booooring .. but the safest move for Team Canada … Peel all the guards away and don’t let more than 2 rocks remain after the hogline
* End 6 – Geez .. Gushue’s final stone too much weight and went through the house … but! Still count . SIX? Wow!
* End 6 – MARKKU! NO!! a costly mistake, didn’t make it around the top guard, and actually pushed another yellow into the house! Gushue could end the game here…
* End 6 – Gushue took it out – now lie 5
* End 6 – Markku #1 – drew around all the guards and needed to freeze at the center rock. It just didn’t curl enough and while he made shot? (or maybe not) his rock is visible
* CBC is pretty current with the news … with a write up after end 5
* End 6 – Gushue is calling lots of movement and // HOLY CRAP! Mark Nichols just made a perfect triple takeout and didn’t even move any other yellows in play … lol .. If there were 3 Stars in this game – he’d be Star #1 and Star #2 .. (one for his takeouts and one for his draw shots!)
* End 6 – good shooting by Jamie Korab .. one yellow on the button, and right now (like before) there are no shortage of rocks in play – well, except that one – that Russ Howard just double tapped out the back

Here are the Efficiency percentages after 5
* skip – FIN 53%, CAN 68%
* 3rd – FIN 50%, CAN 98%
* 2nd – FIN 73%, CAN 68%
* lead – FIN 85%, CAN 95%

FIN vs CAN … continued
* How am I doing? This looks like Chris’ shot just BEFORE the measurement
* End 5 – At least 1, measurement in play
* End 5 – Gushue’s last rock tried to repeat Markku, and freeze up to him .. he managed to squeeze through, but a little roll keeps him counting 2nd .. Markku has final stone.
* End 5 – Markku just made a Greeeeat rock squeezing between the 5 guards at the top of the house and took out the 1st stone of Canada at the button .. with a clean takeout – now – they are counting two
* Chris – this picture pretty much shows what each End has been .. house full of stones!
*
* End 5 – Russ Howards “safe” shot to put another guard was not only light, but seemed to have picked up some debris and over curled. You know .. it’s been a while since I curled, but most of the times (for me) it was just happening when you didn’t sweep the bottom of the stone before throwing it – don’t you find? What do you think? Bad Rink? or Bad Curler forgetting to clean stone? Hmmmm
* End 4 – Markku #2 – tried to get around but slightly ricochet off the side of the guard .. otherwise a great shot .. and holds Canada to just 1
* End 4 – Gushue #2 another block guard outside the house, there are 3 guards now, and 7 rocks in the house
* End 4 – Markku #1 – bumps out a double tap/raise to get the yellow out to the 8/12ft line and he’s in 2nd shot.
* End 4 – The commentators do not seem to approve of Markku’s decisions and “wild” risky shots! Of course, if it were anybody else ..
* End 4 – I am in awe of Mark Nichols – after 8 shots in 4 ends, he’s still at 100% efficiency. Currently, the 2 yellows at the button – his. There are 2 reds behind it and another yellow.

BTW .. Chris is Broadcasting!
* End 5 – during measurement – CBC just showed someone taking a picture with their camera .. was that you Chris? ;-)
* As promised, Chris is taking some great pictures and uploading them to the following URL
http://www.splashblog.com/curling/

FIN vs CAN – game play
* Markku #2 makes a nice bump and comes up to cut off the steal of 4 to only 1,,
* Gushue #2 draws to the outer rim .. counting 4? Markku cannot afford to miss (fingers crossed though!)
* Markku! Markku! oh no .. what a miss – not only didn’t he make it around the guard – he bumped Canada’s yellow stone into the 8/12ft area down center line. Canada counting 3 but, open.
* Gushue #1 taps his front yellow guard to bump the red out of the house, and now counting 2 with a little guarding. But, “U-15″ makes all these types of draws.. I think he will make it.
* Speaking of Nichols .. after 6 shots each .. both he and Korab are 100% efficiency. Finland’s 2nd (Kalle Kiiskinen) and 3rd (Wille Makela) are at 88% which, is hard to figure out – because I don’t think they’ve missed any shots either! Must be one of those ‘weighted’ judging decisions when a takeout doesn’t roll 100% as wished
* Fight! Fight! Fight! – Russ Howard wanted a measurement to see if they counted 3, but Finland took offense it seemed. From the camera (over the button) it’s hard to tell exactly but it looked like red beat yellow. Mark nichols looked at it and said same thing .. Gushue called off the measurement.
* End 2 – Markku last rock – almost, but not quite… Canada now counting 1 .. might need a measurement as Gushue draws his last rock draws to the button
* End 2 – Gushue #1 lol .. tried the double take out, he replaced the top red with yellow, the red bumped out the 2nd red that he wanted out but, stuck .. There are 5 rocks on the outer 12ft line and a yellow .. Yet.. Markku is considering cleaning house and hope for 3?
* End 2 – Markku #1 draws nicely around one of the 12 ft guards, but only taps back the 8ft yellow to the back 12ft outer line
* End 2 – first 6 shots.. nice draws, nice takeouts .. before the skip.. we’ve got 3 reds (finland) on the outside 12ft circle lines and 2 yellows (canada) one in 12 ft and one in 8 ft .. Both yellow seem nicely guarded by red
* End 1 – Markku #2 – made it, but a break for both teams.. only 2
* End 1 – Gushue #2 – light weight .. but might be counting 2nd shot.. but 2 or 3 points by Markku looks possible
* End 1 – Markku #1 .. draw behind Gushue’s rock on last shot, touching 8/12ft line
* End 1 – Gushue #1 .. miss, curled too much and took out the front guard, but rolled to the left in the 12ft
* End 1 – after the first 6 rocks, I predict we are going to see some great draws by Finland and great take-outs by Canada .. and great hit and rolls by both teams!

The Basics..
* These teams have also played each other in late 2005, and Team Gushue won 9-3 .. I’m looking for the link to the statistics .. between ends.
* Finland starts with the hammer
* If you recall, these teams played each other in Session 8 and Team Finland beat Team Canada 8-7
* I am just going to refer to the curlers by their last name, except for skip of Finland who I’ll just call MARKKU UUSIPAAVALNIEMI as either “Markku” or “U-15″

Post from: EveryJoe

Olympic Curling – Men’s Gold Match

Starts in less than 1 hour … do you have your popcorn ready? Are the kids out of school now in N.L.? Are you watching it on the Big Screen T.V.?

Thanks Marcos Tulio for the pic

Post from: EveryJoe

Countdown – Olympic Curling – Men’s Gold Match

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 :)

Post from: EveryJoe

Olympic Curling – Men’s Bronze Match

Here’s How it went:

END 1 – SWE 0, SUI 0
END 2 – SWE 2, SUI 0
END 3 – SWE 2, SUI 2
END 4 – SWE 3, SUI 2
END 5 – SWE 3, SUI 2
END 6 – SWE 4, SUI 2
END 7 – SWE 5, SUI 2
END 8 – SWE 5, SUI 4
END 9 – SWE 6, SUI 4
END 10 – SWE 6, SUI 6
(extra end)
END 11 – SWE 7, SUI 6

CONGRATULATIONS LADIES

It was great watching you ALL play in the Finals!

Sweden – Gold Champions
Skip – Anette Norberg
3rd – Eva Lund
2nd – Cathrine Lindahl
Lead – Anna Svaerd
Alternate – Ulrika Bergram

Switzerland – Silver Champions
Skip – Mirjam Ott
3rd – Binia Beeli
2nd – Valeria Spaelty
Lead – Michele Moser
Alternate – Manuela Kormann

Anette Norberg is now the 2nd person in history to be both the WORLD Champion and the OLYMPIC Champion at the same time .. (after Canada’s Sandra Schmirler being the first).

I bet there’s gonna be a lot of new “Hearts on Fire” after this win! :D

CBC News

Post from: EveryJoe

Olympic Curling – Women’s Final

Here’s How it went:

END 1 – CAN 4, NOR 0
END 2 – CAN 5, NOR 0
END 3 – CAN 5, NOR 1
END 4 – CAN 5, NOR 2
END 5 – CAN 9, NOR 2
END 6 – CAN 9, NOR 4
END 7 – CAN 11, NOR 4
END 8 – CAN 11, NOR 5
(concession after the 8th end)

CONGRATULATIONS TEAM CANADA WOMEN!

Congratulations Team Kleibrink!
It was great watching you play in the Olympics!

Skip – Shannon Kleibrink
3rd – Amy Nixon
2nd – Glenys Bakker
Lead – Christine Keshen
Alternate – Sandra Jenkins
Coach – Daryl Nixon

That now brings Canada’s Medal count to 18 .. Go Canada Go!

The women’s final GOLD game (Sweden vs Switzerland) will be later today at 17:30 local time (11:30 am ET)

CBC News

Post from: EveryJoe

Olympic Curling – Team Canada Women gets the Bronze!