For three years and 50 weeks, the only curling on most American minds is the curling done with an iron.
Then, every fourth winter, Olympic curling the sport re-appears on TV screens and for two weeks, Americans show a temporary interest again. From the harsh feedback heard by the U.S. curling team this week, Americans don’t like to lose - even in a sport so few understand.
When the U.S. men’s and women’s teams opened these Winter Games with losses in their first seven matches, four for the men and three for the women -Americans at home posted emails of protest. The U.S. women finally silenced those critics Friday, beating the Russian Federation, 6-4, on Debbie McCormick’s perfect shot on the final play of the match.
“It felt really good,” U.S. teammate Natalie Nicholson said. “I was really proud of Debbie for taking time for herself when it wasn’t feeling right. She wanted (the stone) to feel great in her hand. That’s what great players do. They stop. They re-assess until they feel great, and she made the shot she had to.
“I trust Debbie. She’s a great player, and we’re a great team. We have to keep plucking along. Even if we were undefeated at this point, we would still have to keep doing what we’re doing. We’d still have to be focusing on each game and not worry about anything else.”
On McCormick’s final shot, the stone - the 44 pounds of polished grained granite quarried in Scotland or Wales and with a handle attached - stopped right on target, giving the U.S. the points it needed to beat Russia in the 10th and last end of the match. In the last four U.S. losses - three by the men - the matches had been extended beyond regulation and each time, with a chance to win, the U.S. missed its last shot.
“We’ve had a couple of close games the last couple of days, so things are starting to go our way, and that’s good,” said Nicole Joraanstad. “It’s a long two weeks, so you can’t get discouraged with a couple losses, because nobody is going to go undefeated. There’s a lot of games to play. We just have to stay positive and optimistic and maybe if we play a smart game and continue to execute, then games will start going our way.”
The game she plays is foreign to most Americans except for citizens living in Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota where curling in many high schools is a varsity letter sport. In many Canadian cities, curling is included in the physical education program in elementary schools where children learn to curl when they are seven years old.
Still, in a sport that most American's know little about, a common question asked is, "What's with the brooms and those shoes?"
In the early days of curling, the brooms were made of hogs’ hair. In the game played today, the handles comprised of carbon-fiber, and the sponge-like attachment on the end is synthetic. Players’ brooms are often personal, and most are adorned with the names of players’ children for luck, or they carry words of inspiration. The shoes that players wear have a Teflon coating on one sole to allow the shoe to slide on the iced surface.
Ends are like innings in baseball, and there are 10 ends in a match, unless a tie game is extended beyond regulation. If a game is one-sided, it is ended early but only after a minimum of six ends have been played. The sliding stone curls or rotates slowly as it glides across the ice, and the sweeping motion of the brooms breaks down the pebbled surface and allows the stone to slide further and straighter. The goal, like in shuffleboard, is to have the stones stop inside the circles at the far end and to knock away the stones of the opposition.
At these Olympics, the curling arena is the most intimate of any of the venues, and the first rows of spectator seats are only eight feet from the ice. Every seat in the arena is filled for every game and, true fans that they are, they cheer good shots even by the opposition. Four matches are played simultaneously, only three feet apart, and after five ends, players nibble on fresh fruit while the ice is cleared and pebbled.
When losses start to pile up, team meetings are held just like in most sports. The U.S. women’s team met Thursday night.
“Every loss gets harder and harder, and harder,” said McCormick, who is the team’s skip, or captain. “We had a great team meeting, and we still believe in each other. We can do this. We’ve been in worse situations. Lots of times, we’ve played better with our backs against the wall. We know we can do this.
“I wanted to make sure everyone was staying positive. One thing we’re really working on this year is clear communication, being honest with each other. We’re at the Olympics, and we can’t leave anything on the table.”
When McCormick’s final shot was barely three-quarters of the way down the iced lane, she knew the stone was on target.
“I felt a big sigh of relief,” she said. “I definitely wanted to make that shot for the team. They played so great all game, and it obviously was a super-important shot. I took my time, made sure I was comfortable, and it felt great.
“I felt like we played a good, patient game. We were smart out there, and we made a lot of great shots. I think the girls did really well to hang in there and be patient.”
Yet, at the end, it came down to one final shot to finally remove the monkey from their backs.
“I feel like it is,” McCormick said. “I felt like I threw it really good. I played a great tenth end, tied. We tried to keep it clear, and we stuck to our game plan. It’s a relief, and I’m excited that we finally have one win, and we’ll continue to get some more wins here.”
