Curling fans unite!

[Umbrella]

I was curious how many curling fans we have here. I've been a fan since Nagano, and starting curling when I moved to Colorado. With the US Nationals just completed, the Tim Burton Brier going on right now, and the Worlds starting in a couple of weeks, I thought this could be a thread to discuss.

Right now, on the men's side, John Shuster's team won nationals, and will represent the US in Worlds. Jamie Sinclair's team won, but Nina Roth's team will represent the US in Worlds. How is this possible? Well, US curling has a convoluted system they use to pick their teams for international competition. It is somewhat like the old BCS system. Basically, there is something called Order of Merit, or OOM, which ranks every team in the world who competes in an eligible competition. Depending on the level of competition, you receive more points based on the higher level. So even though Sinclair beat Roth at Nationals, her team didn't meet the requirements based on rankings to be our representative. The reasoning for this rule is so that some club team doesn't get on a hot streak, win nationals, and then get embarrassed on an international stage. Obviously, this is controversial within the US curling community.

The other big controversy is the HPP, or High Performance Program. What this does is that US Curling hand picks 3 men's and women's teams, and 2 junior men's and women's teams, and provides them with all the funding. So these teams get to travel to all the bonspiels (tournaments) which provide good points for OOM. As you can imagine, there are an awful lot of curlers in the US who hate this system. There are a ton of politics involved. For example, Shuster, who has been the dominant male in the US for quite some time, just got picked for the HPP last year. And this year was the first year that one of the HPP's women's teams won Nationals. And Shuster is the only HPP team to ever win Nationals. So that means that HPP funded teams have only won 2 of the 9 Nationals since the system was implemented.

[Young Drachma]

The Golden Scribe for longest Curling post in FOFC history goes to...

[Julio Riddols]

I love curling, would like to see it become more popular. It is very strategic and precise and I love that. Used to play the curling game on Xbox Indie Arcade all the time.

Wish I could actually get into the sport, but I live way too far south to do that I think.

[Butter]

All I know is John Shuster sucks and his team sucks.

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

I love curling, would like to see it become more popular. It is very strategic and precise and I love that. Used to play the curling game on Xbox Indie Arcade all the time.

Wish I could actually get into the sport, but I live way too far south to do that I think.

You'd be surprised. There are curling clubs in places you wouldn't expect. Just in North Carolina, there are clubs in Charlotte, Wilmington, and Durham.

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by Butter

All I know is John Shuster sucks and his team sucks.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we have anyone better right now. To be fair, he's been pretty good of late, He's currently ranked #15 in the world, after winning the bronze medal in last year's Worlds and making the quarterfinals of the Canadian open this season. But after back to back Olympic flame outs, which is the only time most people see him, I wonder if that's in his head, since it's looking very likely he will be back in the games next year. I'm hoping that now he is getting year round support from US Curling, maybe he will continue improving, and not fall apart in the big moments.

Brady Clark whooped up on him last year, beating him 3 times at Nationals, but due to the reasons I listed, wasn't chosen to compete for team USA. This year, he hasn't been as good. Plus, he's not one of the HPP teams.

Heath McCormick has been pretty good this year, but sucked at Nationals. If he would have finished ahead of Shuster and in the top 3 at nationals, he'd be going to worlds.

[NoSkillz]

Big curling fan here as well but I'm Canadian so perhaps that is to be expected. That said, I'm 43 years old and didn't throw my first rock until 2011, like you getting interested in the game by watching the Olympics, specifically Cheryl Bernard (meow!) skip Team Canada in the Vancouver 2010 games.

I play two nights a week during the winter, skipping a team in a mixed league and playing 2nd on a men's league team.

Great game...lots of strategy and it's a much better workout than most would expect due to the sweeping.

[Julio Riddols]

Originally Posted by Umbrella

You'd be surprised. There are curling clubs in places you wouldn't expect. Just in North Carolina, there are clubs in Charlotte, Wilmington, and Durham.

Damn, too far west for me, but if they ever have one in Asheville..

[CrescentMoonie]

I always enjoy watching curling, but have never taken the time to truly learn what the deuce is going on. Any recommendations for a good introductory video?

[NoSkillz]

Originally Posted by CrescentMoonie

I always enjoy watching curling, but have never taken the time to truly learn what the deuce is going on. Any recommendations for a good introductory video?

Here's a fun little two minute introduction to curling. Any other questions, just ask away!

[nilodor]

The video above is a good intro, one of the bigger other rules is the free guard zone. Basically it means that during play of the first 4 stones in an end, rocks outside of the house (the rings) cannot be removed. This has drastically changed curling strategy because before you could peel (remove) both a guard (rock short of the rings) and your own stone leaving no rocks in place. So it wasn't uncommon for teams to score early, then basically try to run the other team out of rocks for the rest of the game.

[britrock88]

Started curling when I moved to ND in late 2012/early 2013. Now curling in Madison. Got routed by Kroy Nernberger a couple times this season.

[Ryche]

I curled a few times here in Denver when the curling club was still at the Ice Ranch. Haven't made it to the new facility yet.

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by Ryche

I curled a few times here in Denver when the curling club was still at the Ice Ranch. Haven't made it to the new facility yet.

I haven't been there yet either, but my team is looking to play in a spiel up there next year.

And for you NoSkillz, here's a video with Cheryl and John Morris to introduce the basics.

[Kevin]

I've been a fan since I was 10, but have only been curling actively for the last 18 years. I play twice per week (usually at skip) and have been on the board of my club for 16 years.

I'm actually going to take in a couple of games tonight at the Elite 10, a Grand Slam event.
Elite 10

[Umbrella]

I just found out both the men's and women's worlds are going to be televised. Universal HD and NBCSN will be covering the games. I think most of the NBCSN games will be tape delay though.

[NoSkillz]

Originally Posted by Umbrella

I just found out both the men's and women's worlds are going to be televised. Universal HD and NBCSN will be covering the games. I think most of the NBCSN games will be tape delay though.

Benefits of being a curling fan in Canada - EVERYTHING is televised! They will have full day coverage of every draw on TSN most likely...

[Umbrella]

US is 3-3 so far in the Worlds. If they can beat Japan today, they will be back into playoff contention.

And as much as we like to dog Shuster here, he's actually playing pretty well. As of now, he's the third ranked skip in the tournament. Where we are playing poorly is at the front end, and both our lead and second are ranked in the bottom half of the tourney.

[Umbrella]

US now 6-3 and in 4th place, but struggling with a bad Netherlands team. They still have to play Sweden, which is a probable loss, so this is a must win game to make the playoffs.

Granted, even if they make the last playoff spot, they get to face Canada, who is just steamrolling everyone.

[nilodor]

Originally Posted by Umbrella

Granted, even if they make the last playoff spot, they get to face Canada, who is just steamrolling everyone.

The crazy thing is there are 3 or 4 rinks in Canada that are just as good as the Brier or Scotties champion. Hell some of the best rinks can't even earn the right to represent their province. I sometimes wonder how well the other rinks would do in the world championship if multiple Canadian entries were allowed.

[Umbrella]

Maybe the Swedish team could compete with them, but it would probably be 8 teams from Canada, and 4 others.

US did clinch a playoff spot, and assuming they lose to Sweden, will play Canada in the semi-finals. All in all, not a bad showing for the team.

[Ryche]

Originally Posted by Umbrella

Maybe the Swedish team could compete with them, but it would probably be 8 teams from Canada, and 4 others.

US did clinch a playoff spot, and assuming they lose to Sweden, will play Canada in the semi-finals. All in all, not a bad showing for the team.

They actually have a different playoff format. Canada and Sweden play first with the winner moving to the championship. Switzerland and USA then play with the winner playing the loser of the first match. The winner of that is the second team in the championship.

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by Ryche

They actually have a different playoff format. Canada and Sweden play first with the winner moving to the championship. Switzerland and USA then play with the winner playing the loser of the first match. The winner of that is the second team in the championship.

Yep, you are right, my bad. The US upset of Sweden at the end of pool play was quite the shocker. Unfortunately, we couldn't muster anything against Switzerland, and finished off the podium.

[Umbrella]

I finally got my first bonspiel bracket win this weekend. We went 4-1, winning the "C" bracket championship by one in the final end. We have a Canadian team that comes every year, and have won every year but one. They were the champs yet again. However, they are a blast to play against, and even more fun to go out partying with. We had a great time.