Curling Rocks!

Today we are off to our second Olympic event: Men's Curling. We decided to get curling tickets because, after ice hockey, this is one of the most popular sports in Canada. Our tickets were for the first day of competition for curling and we will get a chance to see four games being played simultaneously.

The venue for curling is located in the Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver at the newly built Vancouver Olympic Centre. While waiting in line, we met the fiance and the parents of Chris Plys, the alternate on the men's USA curling team. Hailing from Minnesota, the Plys did a great job of explaining the rules as we waited the 45 minutes to get through security. Mr. Plys showed his patriotism by painting his entire head red, white and blue.

The Vancouver Olympic Centre


Mr. and Mrs. Plys


Go USA!


...And This Is The House

The four games going on were (from top to bottom): Great Britain vs. Sweden, Norway vs. Canada, Germany vs. USA, and Switzerland vs. Denmark. The only two men's teams we didn't see play were Japan and China.

Inside the Vancouver Olympic Centre

Cheering for the Americans

The Deliberation

A Pretty Good Shot from the US Team

The Germans and Americans Sweeping the Ice

Curling is sort of like bocce on ice. Team members spend a lot of time talking with one another strategizing over the next shot. The only thing missing was the beer in hand. You gotta love the Norwegians and the fashion statement they made by wearing harlequin print pants.

Crazy Pants and Americans Talking

The Rock is in the House

The Americans and Germans had a pretty close game going on until the 8th end. The turning point was when both teams had a rock so close to the center of the house that the officials needed to bring out special measuring equipment. Unfortunately the German stone was closer by hair.

Measuring the Distance

The Canadians do love their curling. We thought that the event would be pretty sedate; nothing could be further from the truth. The Canadians all had their cow bells and the crowd cheered wildly every time the Canadians had a good shot. (They even did the wave around the arena!) The Canada/Norway game was tied after 10 ends, so an additional end needed to be played to break the tie. As luck would have it, the Canadians prevailed 7-6 and all the spectators were happy (except those from Norway)!

The Canadian Maple Leaf Heads

The Scores for Round Robin Session 1