U.S. Curling Gets First Ever Win Against Canada

Let's move on to curling because this was another one toward the top of my list.

Um, had a great time watching the curling, and, and this might have been one of the, maybe the first thing we talked about, um, if not for all the, for Main and, uh, going down 5 minutes before we taped, but, uh, a huge win for the US women's team.

It was, uh, and I didn't realize this coming into the game, but The US women had never beaten Canada at the Olympics, which kind of stunned me.

Uh, they were 0 and 8, and that streak is now over, um, with a huge win.

Uh, and this match, uh, one thing that I really enjoyed about this was I was watching and uh Gold Zone had John Schuster in studio and he was doing a great job breaking it down, um, with uh Matt Eiseman and Jack Collinsworth in the morning hour on Gold Zone.

And he was talking about, I, did you see this part or were you watching the main broadcast for this game?

I was watching the main broadcast.

OK, so, so I really enjoyed him talking about um analytics and some of the decisions they were making.

So the US had an opportunity in, uh, I think it was the 8th end out of 10, um, where they, uh, they had the hammer and, um, Canada had one stone, uh, in the house, and they basically had a choice.

They could knock Canada out and blank the end, which means like no point.

For either.

Um, but if, but if they had done that, they would have kept the hammer for the next end, or they could score one point and go up by an additional point, uh, but give the hammer over to Canada.

And Schuster was talking about how, and this shouldn't be surprising, anyone who has, uh, watched an NFL game these days knows they've got all the grids and charts for like when do we go for 2 and should we kick a field goal here and whatnot.

But he was talking about how they absolutely have, uh, like a probability model with their coach on the sideline, and they're able to tell them.

OK, in this situation, we would rather be up 2 without the hammer instead of up 1 with the hammer.

And so it's just, I've learned so much about the strategy as we watch more games, and it's not surprising at all that that's a thing that they're thinking about, that they've already sort of done those analytics ahead of time, and I'm sure uh some of you people who are uh the, the take the points crowd who want the NFL coaches kicking.

Field goals might be thinking, well, it depends on the game and who and how you're playing in the matchups and, and I, yes, absolutely, there's a human element there also.

Um, but I just thought it was interesting, uh, hearing his perspective on all of that.

Um, and then the game was actually, it was, it was, uh, pretty dramatic.

I, so they, they ended up taking that point.

I was, uh, I, in that situation I was just talking about, um, to go up by 2.

But then they gave up 3 points in the 9th end.

So Canada took the lead.

Um, and then in the 10th end, which was very dramatic, Canada, uh, was attempting a takeout shot and they knocked one out, but they were hoping it would, uh, hit another stone out of the way and it slid right past.

Then the US actually ended up having, uh, sort of not, not too difficult of a shot to, to clinch it, and they landed it like right in the center of the button.

Um, so a big win and, uh, standings update.

The women are now 2 and 1.

Um, and so this is the same as the mixed doubles.

We spent the whole first week talking about where, um, there are 10 teams and they're gonna do a round robin, and after 9 games, the top 4 move on.

So the US is 2 and 1, and also they have played a tough schedule, um, not just Canada, but, uh , Korea, and I believe Sweden was the 3rd team, so they're, um, they're looking like they're in pretty good shape.

Yeah, this is a really, really exciting match.

Um, like you said, that , that final end where Canada's got that chance to, to, you know, knock both US stones out, they don't get it.

Um, if they, if they had knocked the one out and the US had that last shot with the hammer, they could have gone to an extra end.

Um, and this is why you bring up , you know, the, the, the analytics of giving the hammer back essentially to Canada in the 9th and so you, did you get it then in the 10th in that final end.

And then you get a chance to just like they did, you know, with your last stone, the house is basically wide open.

All you gotta do is just glide it in there really easy, put it dead center and you win the match and um, yeah, it seems like their strategy paid off for them.

Um, one small, uh, final note on this I want to make, the, uh, the, just about the intertwined, uh, nature of the US and Canada teams.

They are rivals, but they have some ties, and, uh, I actually just learned today that Team USA's coach, uh, Cathy Overton Clapham is herself Canadian, and, uh, she's had a decorated career, so I'm sure she has, uh, you know, friends on the other side, and, and I think all these teams, um, curl against each other, although the, uh, the curling you may think is.

Just one big happy family and everyone's friendly all the time, but it was getting, uh, it got spicy in the Sweden-Canada men's match.

So there are men's games today also, um, and the US, we should say the US men lost to Canada.

They are now 1 and 2, and struggling.

They're in much worse position to get out of the, uh, to get out of the, um, round robin and into the semifinals.

Um, but I think you saw this video also, um, Sweden, someone on Sweden was.

Accusing someone on Canada of touching the rock as he let it go.

I was relying on some tweets from John Cullen, who we had on our preview, uh, episode, and then somebody, uh, replied to him with a video.

But, um, basically, uh, a guy in Sweden was accusing a guy in Canada of, of, of some illegal touching, um, as I continue talking about NFL, uh, comparisons.

Uh, the guy from Canada told the guy from Sweden to f off.

The guy from Sweden said he was gonna show.

The guy, uh, video after the match.

So anyway, it comes down, Canada did beat Sweden 8-6.

Uh, and John Cullen in his tweet, he said, uh, I think it'll take a really obvious example of it for an official to remove it, but a veteran move here from the Swedes in a big game, it's something the Swedes would have picked up that Mark did on tour and waited for the highest leverage moment to call it out.

So yeah, anytime guys are shouting expletives at each other across the curling sheet, uh, I'm, I'm more interested in their future games for sure.

Yeah, and you, you said he was accused.

I mean , there was video evidence going around online.

He actually, he actually did this thing that, that he was being accused of.

Like, it's like he was, it was more that he was pointing out, hey, you're doing this illegal thing more than saying, I think you're doing it.

It's like, no , there's like definitive proof circulating online, video evidence, like, like the guy said he was in a show after the match where, yeah, he's, he's touching the stone, very slightly, and it's, and it's, it looks, you know, it's really, really, um, clever or not clever, but, you know, it's really, really, uh.

Uh, he's really, uh, sneaky with it, I guess is the word I should use, you know, he's, it's just a couple of fingers in the back of that stone for a little extra edge.

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But on the topic of um kind of some controversy here, 11 last thing I saw, um, early this morning in the curling was, um, the Swiss men's skip.

So apparently, the crowd, if you've been watching the curling, you've noticed the crowd's pretty boisterous.

This is something that I've been thinking about, um, because you hear that, you hear the sport of curling referred to as chess on ice, and, um, You know, you think, OK, you're gonna want, you know, real concentration.

Obviously, it's like, you know, you're really trying to guide that stone in and and curl it precisely, and so, you know, but at the same time, there's 4 matches going on all at once, um, all in different, uh, you know, sheets in, in the same arena, and so, I was watching one game, I forget what it was, I think it might have been the Canada match, where the Canadian guy is just screaming, and I'm like, that's gonna be so, like, he's yelling instructions to his teammate on the other end of the sheet.

Which he's got to do, but I'm like, that's gotta be so annoying if you're the guy on the either side of him, you know, like, hey, I'm trying to concentrate here and this guy's just yelling, right?

But it's, you know, it's part of the game.

So, the crowd though has also been quite loud, and so apparently, uh, World Curling has been encouraging the fans to be a little quieter, to, to, to dial back their excitement, and there was a comment on Instagram from Yannik Schwaler, the skip of the Swiss men's team.

And uh he, yeah, he he said that the world curling was trying to discourage loud cheering, and then he said in response, quote, let them go nuts, it's what curling needs.

So it's like this interesting, you know, we're talking about, uh, there's always this, you know, this talk of, uh, in all different sports, you know, should, uh, how do you modernize the game and get people more involved and You know, I think it's like, uh, I guess the, the, the comparison might be the Waste Management Open golf tournament versus the Masters, right, where the Masters, you know, patrons, as they say, are, are all permit proper and, you know, they're, they're all good golf fans and the waste management guys in Phoenix are, you know, screaming and yelling and throwing beers on the green.

So, um, what, you know, it seems like world curling wants one approach, but some of the players might want a different approach.

Yeah, curling does seem ripe for a uh Happy Gilmore style movie about the, the, the, you know, outsider curling superstar who comes or comes in and becomes a superstar.

Um, yeah, so I'll, I'll actually say my very limited, uh, curling experience here at not as a, not as a curler, but as a journalist covering it.

Um, I, I did cover the 2018 Olympics, and so I have attended one curling match in my life, uh, which John Schuster was a skip for, um, and it was the same thing.

There were 4 matches going on and I was paying attention to the um US match, and the Olympics were in Korea, and the Korean team was on a different sheet, and it was crazy.

I had that same reaction, like the fans were just going nuts the entire time.

And then that game ended first, if I remember correct, and all the fans just like left.

They weren't even like sitting there to take care of it, like, clearly they were there for the one game, um, and it was like a little distracting, and I, I think I, I want to go back and find, uh, that story or the quotes from it, but I think the guys on the team were like, yeah, that.

Curling, like it just kind of happens.

Um, and I'll say I, I've been to plenty of sporting events, like I've been to the NCAA wrestling tournament where you've got like, you know, 8, 12 mats out at once, and like all of the fans from Oklahoma are like screaming about one thing and all the fans from Penn State are screaming about something else, and like sometimes that's just some of these sports, like I would say the athletes are used to it and they probably get in the zone where like, uh, they're so used to their, their teammates' voices that, uh, you know, if your skip is calling out or somebody is screaming.

You to sweep, like you just pick up the frequency of them, uh, screaming at you ahead of the crowd roar or like you, you almost like if some guy from Sweden is yelling two sheets away, you don't hear it quite the same way.

So I, I, I would assume that they're used to it.

But, but yeah, I, I hate this, uh, about telling the crowds to pipe down, like that doesn't seem right at all.

Like that's, especially on this stage, like, let's make curling fun and, and it feels like the, you know, the excited crowds and the enthusiasm is all definitely a plus for, I'd say all of these sports here.

Yeah, I, I, I hope, uh, I hope the fans don't listen, but yeah, we'll see what happens.