N/A
Former NFL All-Pro defensive end Jared Allen has successfully transitioned to another sport, and he's hoping to take his talents to the world stage.
According to Rachel Blount of the Star Tribune, Allen has been competing in curling for the past five years and is set to compete in the U.S. championships this week in hopes of qualifying for the world championships in April. Allen said his ultimate goal is to be on the national team for the 2026 Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy.
"I thought curling was going to be a lot easier than it was,'' Allen said. "But I'm one of those guys who, once I start something, I'm going to see it through. Our goal at nationals is to beat as many teams as we possibly can and see where we land."
The 40-year-old trained under 2010 Olympian John Benton and is making his third appearance in the national championships. He's competing on a team led by Jason Smith, who was also on the 2010 U.S. Olympic team. Blount noted that Allen's current foursome, which also includes Hunter Clawson and Dominik Maerki, is 89th in the World Curling Federation's men's rankings.
Allen said he enjoys the different approach curling requires as opposed to football, which is a whole other level of intensity.
"It's so different than what we're used to as football players,'' he said. "I think that's what's kept me so intrigued. Like the short game in golf, it's a game of finesse. You have to think two shots ahead. And you have to learn how to control your body, your emotions, your heart rate. That took some time to reset."
Allen and Team Smith will be in action on Sunday in a tough matchup against a team led by 2018 Olympic gold medalist and five-time Olympian John Schuster.
Qualification for the Canada team at the World Men's Curling Championship will take place at the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier tournament.
The domestic event starts on Saturday in Kingston, Ontario, and the overall winners will feature for the Canadians in Scotland from March 28. A wild-card match will be completed on Friday for the final team slot at the Brier.
Kevin Koe is chasing his fifth national victory, with 16 teams divided into two pools. A round-robin format will see the top four from each pool go forward to the championship pool. This will then decide the final-four teams who will advance to the deciding play-offs on March 8.
Pool A (teams listed according to seeding, and listed in order of skipper, third, second, lead, alternate, coach/high performance consultant; hometown)
1. Northern Ontario, Brad Jacobs (Marc Kennedy, E.J. Harnden, Ryan Harnden, Lee Toner, Rick Lang; Sault Ste. Marie)
4. Alberta, Brendan Bottcher (Darren Moulding, Brad Thiessen, Karrick Martin, Patrick Janssen, Don Bartlett; Edmonton)
5. Newfoundland/Labrador, Brad Gushue (Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant, Geoff Walker, Jeff Thomas, Jules Owchar; St. John's)
8. Manitoba, Jason Gunnlaugson (Adam Casey [throws second], Alex Forrest [throws third], Connor Njegovan, Garry van den Berghe; Morris)
9. Nova Scotia, Jamie Murphy (Paul Flemming, Scott Saccary, Phil Crowell, Kevin Ouellette, Bruce Lohnes; Halifax)
12. Quebec, Alek Bedard (Louis Quevillon, Emile Asselin, Bradley Lequin, Daniel Bedard; Lacolle/Boucherville/Glenmore)
13. Prince Edward Island, Bryan Cochrane (Ian MacAulay, Morgan Currie, Mark O'Rourke, Ken Sullivan; Cornwall)
16. Nunavut, Jake Higgs (Dale Kohlenberg, Christian Smitheram, Ed MacDonald, Sheldon Wettig, Quentin Vanderschaaf; Iqaluit)
Pool B
2. Ontario, John Epping (Ryan Fry, Matthew Camm, Brent Laing, John Morris, Jim Wilson; Toronto)
3. Team Wild Card
6. Team Canada, Kevin Koe (B.J. Neufeld, Colton Flasch, Ben Hebert, Ted Appelman, John Dunn; Calgary)
7. Saskatchewan, Matt Dunstone (Braeden Moskowy, Catlin Schneider, Dustin Kidby, Adam Kingsbury; Regina)
10. British Columbia, Steve Laycock [throws third] (Jim Cotter [throws last], Andrew Nerpin, Rick Sawatsky, Brad Wood; Vernon/Kelowna)
11. New Brunswick, James Grattan (Paul Dobson, Andy McCann, Jamie Brannen, Chris Jeffrey; Oromocto)
14. Yukon, Thomas Scoffin (Trygg Jensen, Brett Winfield, Joe Wallingham, Wade Scoffin; Whitehorse)
15. Northwest Territories, Jamie Koe (David Aho, Shadrach Mcleod, Cole Parsons, Matthew Ng; Yellowknife)
The draw schedule is available here, per Curling Canada.
Koe would move clear of Randy Ferbey, Ernie Richardson and Kevin Martin with the most wins at the competition if he can skipper his team to glory.
The 45-year old first won the Brier in 2010, and he's continued to collect gold medals at regular intervals throughout the last decade.
A two-time world champion, Koe will believe he can make it a hat-trick of global gold victories if his team win another national crown.
Alberta's Brendan Bottcher could deny Koe if he helps his team to victory after claiming silver in the past two years.
Brad Gushue will make his 17th appearance at the event, and his strong pedigree saw him collect the title in 2017 and 2018.
The 39-year-old will join an elite band of three-time winners if he leads the Newfoundland/Labrador team to the top of the podium.
The Simpsons did it yet again.
As ESPN's Darren Rovell pointed out, the show with a history of accurately predicting future occurrences forecasted that the United States would defeat Sweden to win a gold medal in curling, which happened on the final Saturday of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea:
The Simpsons failed to completely hit on this one. The U.S. men, rather than a team featuring men and women, beat Sweden in real life, and none of the Americans rocked a sling during the match-winning throw.
Still, you can't blame show producer Rob LaZebnik for taking a victory lap after the U.S. won its first gold in the event:
What will The Simpsons get right next?
[YouTube, Twitter]
The United States men's curling team's win at the 2018 Winter Olympics was so surprising there was a notable misspelling on their gold medals.
Per ESPN's Alyssa Roenigk, the U.S. men received gold medals with "women's curling gold medal" engraved on them:
The American team defeated Sweden 10-7 to earn the country's first Olympic gold medal in curling. It's also the United States' first medal in the sport since taking home a bronze in 2006.
It was also the United States' ninth gold and 23rd medal overall as the Games from Pyeongchang, South Korea, come to a close on Sunday.
Japan beat Great Britain 5-3 to secure bronze in women's curling at the 2018 Winter Olympics on Saturday.
In a tense match, Japan skip Satsuki Fujisawa had steered her team into a 4-3 lead going into the final end. Her opposite number, Eve Muirhead, then opted to go for the win with her final stone instead of settling for an extra end.
Here's a look at the medal table following this third-place finish for Japan and a recap of another fascinating match at the Gangneung Curling Centre.
Japan Edge Past Great Britain
In the first end, Muirhead was happy to take one point instead of blanking it out, while in the second some smart play from Team GB limited Japan to a solitary point of their own.
As Colleen Jones of CBC noted, Fujisawa nearly overran a straightforward shot for one, but it clung on:
The cagey pattern of the match continued in the third end, as Great Britain were unable to set things up with the hammer. An error from Muirhead with the last stone then saw her rink take one, when they would've preferred to blank the end.
It meant the Great Britain skip had made a similar mistake a couple of times already in the match, with nerves seemingly an issue at this early stage in the bronze-medal contest.
Japan were unable to capitalise, though, as some more smart defensive play from their opponents meant only one was on offer for them in the fourth end.
In the fifth, Muirhead was a little unlucky not to get two, as she drew a delicate shot into the house with her final stone and nudged towards the button off a Japan marker. However, the Japan stone pushed another Team GB one away, meaning it was another one-point stanza.
As the Press Association's Mark Staniforth noted, neither side were giving an inch:
The tension was still there after the midpoint break, with Japan unable to score with the hammer and Team GB unable to steal. It meant that, with just three ends to go, Great Britain were able to preserve their 3-2 lead.
The contest was on a knife edge at this juncture:
Japan appeared to be growing in confidence as the match moved on, and after levelling things up at 3-3, they picked up a steal of one in the penultimate end.
Muirhead missed a plant to blank the end, as a tremendous setup shot from Fujisawa applied the pressure to her opposing captain. Britain had the hammer in the final end, but they trailed 4-3. As BBC Sport's Alasdair Lamont noted, it was a big error:
It meant a point was needed for Team GB in the last end, and after 15 of 16 shots were played, they were in place to do exactly that, with Muirhead throwing last.
Yet instead of playing conservatively and taking the match into an extra end, she went for a risky shot that would've give Great Britain the two points needed to win.
The bold strategy didn't pay off, though, as Muirhead knocked the Japanese stone into scoring position and one of her own out.
Team USA beat Sweden to win the gold medal in the men's curling at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on Saturday.
The U.S. Olympic team won 10-7 and all-but sealed gold after skip John Shuster doubled the team's tally on one stone, with the scores tied at 5-5 in end 8. Shuster's moment was in stark contrast to the performance of Swedish skip Niklas Edin, who was well below his usual high standards.
The U.S. Olympic Team confirmed the significance of the win:
Here is the updated medal tracker:
Sweden finished end 2 with a pair of stones in the house, good for a 2-0 lead. However, Team USA was 3-2 in front by the start of end 5, thanks to a smart steal.
It was looking good for the U.S. early in the end, with three stones in the house, including one closest to the centre. The pressure was on Edin, but the skip couldn't take out the stone he wanted, unlike U.S. vice Tyler George, who left Sweden lying four against after a fine shot aided by some strong sweeping from John Landsteiner.
George put another stone in the tee line, with Team USA also having a stone directly over the centre line, limiting Sweden's options somewhat. The mistake came when vice Oskar Eriksson put too much weight on his shot, knocking the stone off the centre line, but sending it straight through, instead of into the others in the house.
Things changed when Shuster didn't set a guard close enough to the house, allowing Edin to place a stone in the button. It was a stone Shuster couldn't knock out of the way.
A smart shot from Edin let Sweden take the end with two in the house and go 4-3 in front.
Yet it was Edin who made the next mistake, knocking a U.S. stone out of the button but sending his shot too far beyond to the edge of the house. It left Shuster with plenty of room to send the Hammer down and leave Team USA two in and 5-4 in front.
The next end saw a superb shot from Matt Hamilton, as he took out two Swedish stones and left one in the house for the U.S.
However, it was Sweden who eventually won the end, with Edin settling for one to tie the scores.
Edin had kept his country in it, but one leg later another costly error left the door open for Shuster, who duly took the opportunity for five and put Team USA 10-5 ahead and on the brink of gold.
The team's official Twitter account sensed the end was near:
So it proved even though Sweden didn't initially concede and played most of the next two ends before collecting the silver medal.
Beating Canada and Sweden en route to gold leaves no doubt Team USA have been worthy winners of this event.
With only a couple days left in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the race is heating up for each country to secure as many medals as possible in the events remaining.
Tonight, more medals will be handed out in alpine skiing as well as curling, cross-country skiing, men's hockey and snowboarding.
Before we take a look at the remaining schedule for today, here's a look at the updated medal tally for each country after this morning's events:
Friday Schedule Highlights (Eastern Time)
Alpine Skiing
10:28 p.m. - Team Event Small Final
10:34 p.m. - Team Event Big Final
Curling
1:35 a.m. - Men's Final (United States vs. Sweden)*
Cross-Country Skiing
12 p.m. - Men's 50-kilometre Mass Start
Hockey
7:10 a.m. Men's Semi-final (Canada vs. Germany)
Snowboarding
8 p.m. - Men's Big Air Final
12:28 a.m. - Women's Parallel Giant Slalom Small Final*
12:30 a.m. - Women's Parallel Giant Slalom Big Final*
12:34 a.m. - Men's Parallel Giant Slalom Small Final*
12:37 a.m. - Men's Parallel Giant Slalom Big Final*
*Events start on Saturday, February 24
For the schedule in full visit the Pyeongchang 2018 website.
The action can be streamed via the NBC Sports app.
With the games wrapping up this Sunday, you can view the remaining schedule for this weekend's slate of action here.
Men's Big Air
Anna Gasser of Austria successfully captured the first-ever Olympic gold medal in women's snowboard big air, and now it's time for the men to cement themselves in history as well.
Competing for the inaugural gold medal in the event will be Canadians Max Parrot and Mark McMorris. The pre-Olympic favorite, Norwegian sensation Marcus Kleveland, was eliminated early on during the qualifying heats, leaving the competition wide open.
Parrot and McMorris may not have expected themselves to be considered favorites in this event, but both have already tasted some success in this year's games. Parrot earned silver in the slopestyle, while McMorris earned the bronze in the same event.
Both snowboarders should be able to find a spot on the podium in the big air once it's all said and done.
Men's Curling Final (United States vs. Sweden)
While the men's big air will surely make some Olympic fans' jaws drop with some death-defying tricks, there is no Olympic event more exhilarating than curling. And now that the men's event comes down to a gold-medal showdown between the United States and Sweden, the stakes couldn't possibly get any higher.
Maybe curling isn't the most adrenaline-pumping event in the world, but it sure is entertaining. The U.S. team finds itself in a precarious position. On one hand, it will compete in its first Olympic final. On the other, the pressure is on to secure gold.
For the first time since 1998, Canada will not be playing in the gold-medal match, thanks to the United States. In the past two Winter Olympics, the United States won a combined four games, and the only time America has won a medal in curling was in 2006 (bronze).
No matter what happens tonight (or early tomorrow morning for some of you) the United States will make history. Nevertheless, the team will be looking to take home the gold.
Sweden will face off against South Korea for the gold medal in women's curling at the 2018 Winter Olympics after they defeated respective semifinal opponents Great Britain and Japan on Friday.
Great Britain did their utmost to stay within reach of gold but will fight for a second consecutive bronze after the Swedes overpowered them to become back-to-back gold-medal finalists.
The bronze-medal matchup between Japan and Great Britain will take place on Saturday morning (6:05 a.m. ET) before the gold-medal decider later in the evening (7:05 p.m. ET).
A scoreless first end suggested the meeting between Great Britain and Sweden would be a close one, with the former having been made to settle for what was a disappointing bronze at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
There was small controversy in the second end when Britain's Anna Sloan slightly slowed the path of a ricocheting stone on her turn, although Sweden were sporting to settle for shifting the stone a few inches further from the house.
Sweden's good nature ended there, though, and they made up for missing a score in the first end with a double take-out in the second thanks to Anna Hasselborg's expertly judged hammer.
Great Britain would have pulled level in the third end were it not for a woefully overthrown stone from captain Eve Muirhead, per the Press Association's Mark Staniforth:
Neither team could afford such a slip, but Sweden returned the favour an end later. Sportsbeat's James Toney commented on Hasselborg's own error in judgement as her final stone just stayed inside high on the right:
The British then recorded an ideal finish before the half-time break as Muirhead pulled off a hugely difficult shot to score two and pull level. It looked as though Hasselborg had done enough to tuck her last red out of the way behind Britain's yellow, but the latter's captain knocked the opposition out to score two and head in 3-3 at the interval.
The Swedes always looked one step ahead, however, and took a 6-3 lead as Hasselborg continued to blast any obstacles out of her path, but the worst was yet to come.
Muirhead fell just short in attempting to bypass the guard with her final stone of the seventh end, leaving Sweden to notch their first triple of the match. Curling writer Derek MacEwen noted Britain's fleeting gold-medal chances:
Sweden illustrated their quality in the eighth end, when a superb Sloan stone put Britain in sight of a potential triple only for Sara McManus to take out two in one. Muirhead nevertheless played a brilliant shot—albeit too weak to manage a three—through the eye of the needle to bounce Sweden out of the house and reduce their lead to 8-5 with two ends left.
Great Britain's hopes of a revival were officially extinguished when the superior Swedes outmanoeuvred them to a tee, rounding off a pristine performance with a two and ending Muirhead's hope of clinching Olympic gold.
South Korea could hardly have hoped for a more opportune start to proceedings in their semi-final clash with Japan. Kim Eun-jung's shot pulled off a three-pointer at match's beginning, per CBC's Devin Heroux:
Skip Satsuki Fujisawa hit back with a double take-out in the second end to respond, and the pair exchanged one-pointers in the third and fourth ends, with the Koreans led 4-3 heading into the fifth.
Japan left themselves open to a clear-out before going in for the break, and Kim once again made them pay, as the BBC's Alasdair Lamont noted a three-point for the hosts with five ends remaining:
South Korea were more ruthless with the hammer in their possession, and while another single for Japan in the sixth end saw them again reduce the deficit to two points, they were struggling to reel their opponents in.
The hosts continued to chip ahead through Kim and drew for a single in the eighth end, but Japan all of a sudden opened the match up for a climactic finish by landing with their hammer to score a double in the ninth end.
The pair were forced to an extra end after Korean skip Kim just overhit her attempt to clear Japan's stone from the house. However, she made up for it with a brilliant penultimate stone in the decider, leaving Japan with too much work to do with their final attempt.
South Korea's team have kept a strong front throughout this competition but were reduced to floods of tears when Kim landed closer to home with her final stone to seal an 8-7 win and book their place in the gold-medal matchup.
