Olympic Curling

It doesn't get more exciting than this when it comes to Olympic curling.

The final spot in the men’s medal rounds of the curling competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi came down to a round-robin tiebreaker between Great Britain and Norway. Both teams finished with 5-4 records through the nine scheduled games.

Interestingly, Norway defeated Great Britain in the head-to-head contest earlier in the Games, but the only tiebreaker at the Olympics is another match. 

It’s not the first time these two countries have faced off with plenty at stake, as Norwegian curler Haavard Vad Petersson told Associated Press writer Steve Douglas: "We've had about 200 battles against Murdoch. It's always close."

The Murdoch Vad Petersson was discussing is Great Britain's skip, David Murdoch. 

As to be expected, this tiebreaking contest was close as well, with Great Britain winning on the final throw 6-5.

Winner	Score	Loser
Great Britain	6-5	Norway

Result

With so much riding on the contest between Great Britain and Norway, getting off to a quick start took on an added importance.

That is exactly what Norway did in the first end with an early point.

To Great Britain's credit, it battled back immediately to tie the match at one through two ends, as the official Twitter page of Great Britain's Olympic team pointed out:

It set the tone for a back-and-forth affair, as the squads once again traded points in ends three and four:

The first potential game-changing end came in end five, as Norway picked up a critical two stones to grab a 4-2 lead. The good news for Great Britain was it had the hammer in the sixth end and a chance to respond, but it was blanked and it went into the seventh end still trailing by two.

Another scoreless end in the seventh set up a crucial eighth end with Great Britain controlling the hammer:

Great Britain handled the pressure brilliantly and tied the match at four with two critical stones. 

The stage was set—tie score in a tiebreaker match with a mere two ends separating one country from a spot in the semifinals of the Olympics.

Norway took advantage of the hammer in the ninth end and picked up a point. Great Britain held the ever-important hammer in the 10th frame but found itself trailing 5-4:

It got tenser as the final end progressed: 

Great Britain had a decision of Olympic-sized proportion to make on its last toss—go for the tie and force an extra end or go for two stones and the win, which was a riskier ordeal. The British elected to go for the win, and it was absolutely the right call.

It was arguably the shot of the Olympics so far and set up what should be a thrilling semifinals. Ollie Williams of the BBC certainly thought it was a historically excellent throw:

Great Britain won 6-5. 

Game Within the Game 

It’s one thing that Great Britain won the match, but the game within the game was what type of pants Norway would be wearing for the tiebreaker.

The team has thrilled the crowd with colorful patterns and even knee-high socks throughout the tournament. Andrew Catalon of CBS Sports and NBC Olympics alerted us to the Norwegian pants of choice for the match against Great Britain:

If the pants weren't impressive enough on their own, consider the fact that they caught the eye of BBC Sport even though the opponent was Great Britain: 

Alas, the pants did not bring Norway luck in the tiebreaking match, but they certainly left an impression in Sochi.

Going Forward

With the victory, Great Britain will match up with top-seeded Sweden on Wednesday in the semifinals. The winner will face off against the winner of the Canada and China game in the other semi.

Beating Sweden will be a tall task, as it finished with an incredible 8-1 record in the round-robin portion of the Olympics. It has looked like the best team throughout the tournament and will try to carry that momentum into the medal rounds.

If Great Britain was to get past mighty Sweden, a date with either Canada or China will be difficult as well. Outside of the pressure that comes with a gold-medal match, both the Canadians and the Chinese finished with 7-2 marks in round-robin play and have the talent to land atop the podium.

It’s time for the medal rounds.

Follow me on Twitter:

We've come to bury United States curling, not to praise it.

Truth be told, there isn't much to praise about the combined effort for the American men's and women's curling teams during the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Of the 18 combined games played, the United States won just three.

The men's team, led by skip John Shuster for a second straight Olympics, won just two of their nine matches. The women's team, led by skip Erika Brown and vice skip Debbie McCormick, who led the 2010 squad in Vancouver, won just one match in Sochi, being outscored 77-40 in the tournament.

Shuster spoke with NBC's Trenni Kusnierek after the team's final game in Sochi and was asked if he is disappointed to return to the Winter Games and put up such a poor result.

"I think I have a different perspective on the Olympics, honestly. If you can come here and prepare as hard as you can prepare and not leave anything on the table and compete with everything you have—that's something I think our team did—I'm proud to be an Olympian. It's obviously a bummer that the week went the way it did."

A bummer indeed.

Over the last two Olympic Games, curling has gone from something of a lark for many of us who followed the competition online to a sport that has grown immensely in popularity among the Winter Olympic events. The success of Team USA has not matched that interest, losing 29 of 36 combined games between the 2010 and 2014 Games. You don't need to know anything about curling to know that seven wins in 36 games is horrible. It's horrible.

That number is so horrible that much of the talk around the Olympic curling competition as the round-robin sessions came to a close has been about what to do with the future of the sport in America.

Andrew Catalon and John Benton, who have called the tournament for NBC, spent the entire end of Team USA's 6-3 loss to Switzerland discussing how the United States can develop a program that's more competitive on the world stage.

Benton, who has competed in the Olympics in the past and is now a coach in the USA Curling program, had some very candid thoughts during the USA telecast:

"Curling came up out of very social roots. It was a social game. It wasn't a high-performance sport to begin with. So this transition as it's become very popular in the Olympics has been a tough one and a painful one for a lot of countries to figure out how important winning medals is versus grassroots development and keeping people involved in the game.

It's not an easy question. It's one that I've spent a lot of time thinking about and I don't know that I have the answer, but I know that as long as we're an Olympic sport, you don't come here to socialize. You come here to win medals."

It is fascinating to watch this sport, or really any sport, transform in front of our eyes. The United States curling program needs a systematic change of philosophy, and those at the highest level are openly wondering how making that change would impact the entire sport.

NBC continued the conversation about the state of curling after the American men lost their final match—one of several this week they had a serious chance to win despite falling behind early—dedicating 10 full minutes, which felt like an eternity in television time, talking about the future of the sport in this country.

The discussion was amazing.

That conversation could be about any number of Olympic sports, but it's particularly fascinating given how popular curling has become over the last eight years in America.

Not only is there more interest in curling during the Olympics, but the popularity of the event in Vancouver led to an enormous increase in participation and interest at local curling clubs around America. Four years later, we are still far behind the other competing nations, and something has to give to ensure the popularity doesn't wane in four years' time.

The question for USA Curling, and the one posed several times by the NBC crew, is how you change the system without changing the enjoyment of the sport for those already involved. Curling is a very communal sport, where players get together with friends to just have a good time. The best groups of friends—in terms of curling quality, not in terms of friendships per se—end up competing at the national level, with the top few teams of that relatively elite American group going on to international competitions.

There are no All-Star teams in curling. This would be like sending the Knicks to the Olympics to represent America in basketball.

We're rooting for the Knicks of curling, folks.

The issue for curling aficionados is that sending All-Star teams would change the very dynamic of what makes the sport so much fun to play. It wouldn't be about the community anymore. It would be about winning.

Pete Fenson, who won a bronze medal at the 2006 Games in Turin, said during the telecast that it may be possible for USA Curling to have both.

"One of the only sports that I know of where the teams are self-formed and self-governing is curling. That's the way I've always played the game and that's the way we've all always done it, but maybe that's not the best way to do it. In every other sport that we know, the coach runs the team, selects the team and chooses the lineup. Maybe that's something that needs to be looked at.

I hear a lot from people who aren't happy with change is that it will stunt growth in the U.S. But the one thing they don't understand is that a high-performance program isn't necessarily about growth."

Benton echoed that point as well after the match, talking with Catalon about the growth of the sport and how that may be impacted by a more concerted effort toward success in the international competitions.

"I like what Pete said there. High performance is not necessarily about growth. As I think about it more, if we separate the two goals, and success at a high level becomes its own goal, if growth happens because of that, that's a great thing. But it doesn't need to be primary to what we do in high performance."

In other words, sending an All-Star team to the Olympics should have little impact on local enjoyment. Creating the structure to find the best players in an attempt to cultivate and prepare that talent for top-level competition should have no bearing on the fun and interest people in the sport currently share.

If you are the best skip at your local club, it doesn't mean you can't continue to play with your buddies. But if you want to make it to the Olympics, you're not bringing those schlubs along with you anymore.

Carmelo Anthony can represent the Knicks in the Olympics, but he's not going there with Raymond Felton and Cole Aldrich.

More to the larger point of the discussion, curling has come to a crossroads in America, where the sport has become popular enough during the Olympics that we actually get angry when our teams don't perform. In some sports, it's just nice to be there—nobody gets mad when the United States fails to medal in ski jumping or the doubles luge—but there seems to be this visceral reaction to when the curling team loses.

Why? Well, part of that is because we've been on this journey with the same characters before. Part of that is because the sport lends itself to armchair curlers thinking they can do better.

We probably can't, but the great thing about curling is that, unlike the ski jump or doubles luge, it's not that hard to try. The sport is wildly accessible in America these days and, truth be told, you could go to your local club to train like mad and get good enough in four years to make the Olympic team.

Vernon Davis of the San Francisco 49ers has been one of the many professional athletes who has caught the curling buzz, traveling to Vancouver and again to Sochi, and even being named honorary captain of the team.

Asked by Al Michaels on Monday on NBCSN if he might give a more serious look at curling in the future, even so far as to compete for a spot at the 2018 Olympics, Davis said, "the sky is the limit. Anything is possible. You know what, I think I will. I think I will. I enjoy it."

Now all we need to do is find three more people to join Davis in four years. For a sport at the point of significant change, the opportunity to find them should be here soon.

Day 10 at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi will be headlined by a number of critical events, including the free dance portion of the ice dancing competition and the men’s two-man bobsled, but it all kicks off on the curling ice.

Both the men and the women are battling for position in the round-robin portion of the Games, and three matches in Session 11 of the women’s side kicked off Day 10. The United States faced off with South Korea, Japan battled with China and Russia squared off against Great Britain.

Heading into Session 11, Canada has been the dominant squad in the women’s tournament.

The Canadians have yet to lose and are pacing a field that is very tightly contested from positions three through seven, with Sweden chasing Canada in second. Both Canada and Sweden have already qualified for the semifinals.

Here is a look at the early results:

Winner	Score	Loser
South Korea	11-2	United States
Great Britain	9-6	Russia
Japan	8-5	China

Winner	Score	Loser
Denmark	5-3	Norway
China	6-5	Great Britain
Switzerland	6-3	United States
Russia	8-7	Germany

Results 

Women's Round-Robin Session 11

It has been an incredibly disappointing Olympics for the American women.

The United States entered this match with South Korea with a 1-7 record and appeared destined to finish in last place for a second-consecutive Olympics.

Debbie McCormick commented on her team’s perseverance as the Games quickly draw to a close for her squad to Steve Douglas of the Associated Press (via ABC News): “We're not giving up. We finally got our mojo back, but unfortunately it was just a little too late.”

South Korea has also had a disappointing Olympics and entered the match at 2-5. However, the Koreans showed no early signs of trouble and jumped out to a commanding lead right from the get-go.

Terry Kolesar, the Director of Communications for USA curling, commented on the rough start for the Americans:

The United States finally got on the scoreboard in the third end after trailing 5-0 almost immediately, which caused a momentary sigh of relief:

It was only a temporary sigh though, as South Korea made quick work of the Americans in what amounted to an absolute blowout. At one point, South Korea extended its lead to 9-1 with two-point ends in the fifth and the sixth.

The teams did not even play the eighth, ninth or 10th ends.

The United States, in a match that could serve as a metaphor for the entire Olympics for the team, lost 11-2.

China and Japan were both part of the logjam in the middle of the women’s curling standings heading into their match with a 4-3 and 3-4 record respectively.

The two teams appeared as evenly matched as their positions in the round-robin standings would indicate in the early going.

Japan jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first end, but China had an answer with two points of its own in the second end. The squads once again mirrored each other in the third and fourth ends, with Japan picking up a point in the third and China drawing even with one in the fourth.

It was a back-and-forth affair throughout the middle ends after Japan picked up two points in the fifth. After trading single points for multiple ends, Japan held a 6-5 lead heading into the final two ends.

That's when Japan finally established some breathing room with a two-point ninth end.

With an 8-5 lead and control of the hammer, there was no way Japan was losing in the final end. Japan knocked out China for a critical win to the tune of 8-5.

The 4-3 Great Britain team needed a win over Russia to keep its semifinals hopes alive, but knocking off the host country in front of a partial crowd is always easier said than done.

The entire Great Britain team’s Twitter account was behind the team before the critical match even began:

Jumping off to a quick start is often important in pressure-packed games (just ask the Seattle Seahawks), and that’s exactly what Great Britain did with the first point in the second end. From there it was back-and-forth, which clearly set the stage for a close match:

The tension was palpable by the eighth end after a scoreless fifth, one point for Russia in the sixth and a scoreless seventh. The match was tied at three, and Olympic fortunes were hanging in the balance.

Great Britain held the hammer in the critical eighth end and completely took advantage with four points. It was an incredible end considering the pressure and the fact that Great Britain was virtually a road team in this match:

Not to be outdone, Russia answered with three points of its own in the ninth end to cut the lead to 7-6. The good news for skip Eve Muirhead and the British was that they held the hammer heading into the deciding 10th end.

That is all Great Britain needed, as it was able to hold on for a thrilling 9-6 win that came down to the last throw which earned the final two points.

Men's Round-Robin Session 12

On a day where only two results ultimately mattered, the on-ice action made sure we're in store for some extra curling in Sochi. Heading into Monday, the trio of Great Britain, China and Norway were playing for their tournament lives to a certain extent. In certain scenarios, all three countries could have been tied. In others, the round-robin standings would conclude without a tie.

In the end, Great Britain and Norway will have to break out the brooms in Tuesday's tiebreaking round. 

The British and Norwegians both blew their opportunity to advance without incident with disappointing performances in Session 11. Great Britain allowed China to become the third country to advance to the semifinals, as skipper Rui Liu scored a point in the 10th end to give the Chinese a 6-5 victory.

China, with a surprising 7-2 record, finishes as the third seed by virtue of its round-robin loss to Canada. The upstart country will have an opportunity to atone for its loss against Canada in the elimination round. Still, it would be a mild surprise for the Canadians, arguably the world's best at curling, to go down in defeat before the gold-medal round.

Rank	Team	Played	Victories	Defeats
1	Sweden	9	8	1
2	Canada	9	7	2
3	China	9	7	2
4	Norway	9	5	4
4	Great Britain	9	5	4
6	Denmark	9	4	5
7	Russian Fed.	9	3	6
8	Switzerland	9	3	6
9	United States	9	2	7
10	Germany	9	1	8

The loss for Great Britain left it scoreboard watching, so to speak. And a shockingly disappointing performance from Norway kept the tie-breaking hopes alive. Norway managed only three points in a 5-3 loss to Denmark, failing to score in the 10th end in its comeback effort. 

Rasmus Stjerne Hansen of Denmark skipped a scintillating match, hitting a 98 percent conversion rate to lead all curlers. Stjerne Hansen and Troels Harry helped carry Denmark despite a sterling 91 percent accuracy rate from the Norwegians. Although Denmark had no chance of advancing to the elimination round, its surprising victory earns a sixth-place finish and helps create intrigue.

Tuesday's tiebreaker will be a rematch of a thrilling 7-6 victory for Norway in Session 10, but these countries have quite the history. 

"We beat them in the round robin, we lost to them in the Europeans a couple of months ago," Norway curler Haavard Vad Petersson told the Associated Press (via Boston Herald), "so it's going to be a close one."

The day's other results were ultimately inconsequential. Russia scored a 8-7 victory over Germany to earn a seventh-place finish, while consigning the Germans to being the only country with just one win. The United States' disappointing showing in Sochi concluded with a 6-3 loss to Switzerland. The Swiss finished in seventh place and the U.S. in ninth.

Women's Round-Robin Session 12

 Just hours after the men wrapped up their round-robin proceedings in Sochi, the women's side opened with far more countries possibly getting involved in the semifinals. In the end, five different countries were within one match victory of possible advancement but no tiebreakers proved necessary. 

Canada and Sweden, the two monoliths of this event thus far, were joined Monday by Switzerland and Great Britain to round out the semifinal field. The top-seeded Canadians, who went 9-0 in round-robin play, will face Great Britain. Sweden faces Switzerland, as the Swiss get the good fortune of the No. 3 spot thanks to their head-to-head victory.

Of course, getting to the final four meant closing the door on other competitors. Sweden helped out its fellow finalists with an 8-4 dispatching of Japan, scoring three points over the final two ends to stretch out an otherwise competitive match.

Swedish vice skip Maria Prytz struggled with her accuracy throughout the match, hitting only 67 percent for the game. But she was matched every step of the way in her inaccuracy by Ayumi Ogasawara (56 percent), leaving both sides feeling as if they blew opportunities. The Japanese are especially heartbroken, as they finish 4-5 with multiple tiebreakers. They are awarded a fifth-place finish overall.

Meanwhile, Denmark had all but been eliminated heading into Session 12 but still tried keeping whatever slim hopes it had alive. A torrid, three-point 10th end forced extra play between the Danes and Great Britain, which could have clinched a semifinal spot outright with a win. Instead, a one-point 11th end for Denmark had the British staring immediately at scores and hoping they would not have to participate in a tiebreak.

Rank	Team	Played	Victories	Defeats
1	Canada	9	9	0
2	Sweden	9	7	2
3	Switzerland	9	5	4
4	Great Britain	9	5	4
5	Japan	9	4	5
6	Denmark	9	4	5
7	China	9	4	5
8	Korea	9	3	6
9	Russian Fed.	9	3	6
10	United States	9	1	8

"I'd rather lose that game there than the last game of the championship," skip Eve Muirhead told BBC Sport. "At this stage of the competition, everyone is there for the taking. The rest will do us good [on Tuesday]. The guys have got a play-off so we'll watch a bit of that, chill out and look forward to the semi-final."

Switzerland's journey to the semifinals was paved through one of its best performances in Sochi thus far. With China continually unable to knock out scoring opportunities, Switzerland pulled ahead early and held a lead throughout in its 10-6 victory to advance.

The overall scoring was not due to a spectacular individual performance. No Swiss curler had an accuracy rate better than 82 percent, and the overall team accuracy was just 76 percent. But the timing of the accurate rocks were just enough to sneak them into the semis.

In other action, Canada finished off its undefeated run through group play with a 9-4 win over Korea. The Koreans pulled ahead early 4-1 through the first three ends, but Canada shut the door the rest of the way for a typically dominant performance. 

As the qualification round of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi winds down, one thing is clear for those proudly donning the red, white and blue of the United States.

America, you stink at curling.

How bad has it been? This bad:

It didn’t have to be this way.

Both the men and women of Team USA had high hopes coming into Sochi.

And why shouldn’t they? Curling has grown absurdly popular over the last few Olympic Games, and America loves its sports as much as anyone.

The people were ready to watch and cheer, even if it meant getting up at odd hours in the night to do it:

But there’s been little to cheer for in Sochi, and even less reason to sleepwalk through the work day to see it as it happens.

In fact, the only reason one might consider watching these guys and gals is to see those crazy pants the Norwegian men wear while they’re kicking butt and taking names.

Look, the U.S. men had a tough time qualifying for Sochi, but they did so in fine fashion. There was legitimate reason to believe they could do better than terrible. 

Led by veteran John Shuster, the U.S. men’s curling team won five straight games after opening last December’s eight-team Olympic Qualification Event with a 2-2 record. Only two teams would qualify for the Olympics from that event, so the Americans needed to play their best to have a chance at it.

And they did.

But now it seems like they did their best work back in 2013. Because since the action has started in Sochi, they’ve posted a dismal 2-6 record and were eliminated from the playoff portion of the competition on Sunday with tough losses to Canada and Sweden.

The ladies have been even worse.

While the fairer sex (or at least the more vociferous one) was supposed to be the most competitive team sent to Sochi by the U.S., the women have been locked into last place since the start of things.

The women’s team was ranked fifth in the qualifying standings at the end of 2012, an impressive feat for a country that had earned but one medal total in the sport, a 2006 bronze captured by the men.

But the women have been crushed in Sochi by the top teams in the world. They’ve posted a 1-7 record and were knocked out of the playoffs almost as fast as something like that can happen.

The icing on the cake? What was supposed to be America’s best curling team, the women, is the one that made Olympic history in how bad they’ve been. That’s right.

They were absolutely brutalized by an Olympic-record seven-point end in a 12-3 loss to Great Britain last Wednesday, something that shows just how far behind the field they are in international competition. Even worse, the U.S. women finally put up a reasonably good showing against Canada, but only after they had been eliminated from contention.

Oh, and they still lost, 7-6. 

“It’s not like we’ll leave here thinking that we don’t belong here,” Erika Brown, a veteran of Team U.S.A. said, via the Minneapolis Star Tribune's Chip Scoggins. “Unfortunately, we didn’t perform like we know we can.”

But fret not, America, because the honorary captain of Team USA curling, NFL player Vernon Davis of the San Francisco 49ers, has been rallying the troops via social media.

Of his tiny handful of curling posts, Team USA’s fearless (and quiet) leader might have already prepared an excellent exit strategy for this year’s teams via Instagram:

That’s right. It’s time to turn around and walk away.

Maybe 2018 will be different.

The best action in curling is still yet to unfold across the ice in Sochi during the 2014 Winter Olympics, as the world's best gear up for a packed slate on Day 9.

The round-robin section of the curling tournament in this year's Games is still going on during Sunday and Monday. After that the men and women will both have a day off before the qualifying nations compete in the knockout round.

There were plenty of matches on the slate for Saturday as Great Britain took on South Korea, Canada faced Japan and China played Sweden on the women's side. For the men, we saw Canada take on Great Britain, Sweden play Germany and Denmark face Switzerland.

Many men's teams embark on a double-header for a busy Sunday slate on the ice, while there are four matches on the women's side.

Let's break down those matches.

Men's: Team 1	Score	Team 2
Women's: Team 1	Score	Team 2
Sweden	8-4	Russia
Great Britain	6-7	Norway
USA	6-8	Canada
Norway	5-3	Switzerland
China	8-9	Canada
Germany	3-6	Denmark
USA	4-6	Sweden
Sweden	5-4	Russia
Japan	9-7	Switzerland
Denmark	4-7	South Korea
USA	6-7	Canada

Results for Day 9

Men's Round-Robin Session 10

Following Sunday's early session for the men, a very clear hierarchy is beginning to be established with only two more sessions remaining. Four of the 10 countries in the round-robin field have played eight matches. While that still leaves six countries to even out the field in Session 11, there were some critical results that very well could decide the elimination-round competitors.

Canada is one win away from clinching a semifinal berth after Sunday's 8-6 win over the United States, but the contest was far more competitive than either side would have expected. The United States, mostly playing out its string in Sochi, had little hope of overcoming the typically elite Canadians to most observers.

Canada got out to a 3-0 lead in the first two ends as well, seemingly putting itself well on its way to an easy win. But the U.S. roared back. Consecutive two-point ends in the third and fourth gave the Americans a lead, and they continually came back against the Canadian push. A two-point fifth put Canada back ahead 5-4—right before the United States tied it in the sixth and took a one-point advantage in the eighth to put Canada's back against the wall.

Rank	Team	Played	Victories	Defeats
1	Sweden	8	7	1
2	China	7	6	1
3	Canada	8	6	2
4	Great Britain	8	5	3
5	Norway	7	4	3
=6	Denmark	7	2	5
=6	Switzerland	7	2	5
=6	United States	7	2	5
9	Russian Fed.	8	2	6
10	Germany	7	1	6

As they have throughout most of these Olympic Games, however, Brad Jacobs and Co. thrived in the clutch. They scored two points in the eighth to move back into the lead and held on to steal another point in the tenth to finalize the scoring. The victory was Canada's sixth in eight matches, keeping it one match ahead of Great Britain and Norway. It will take a near-miracle to keep the Canadians out the semifinals now.

Sweden, meanwhile, became the first country to lock itself into the semis with an easy 8-4 win over Russia. The Swedes locked up the victory in only nine ends, continuing the trajectory of both countries' curling runs thus far.

With a win over the United States in Session 11, Sweden would put itself in good position for a top overall seed. China still has just one loss, but with sessions against Great Britain and Canada upcoming, it stands to reason the loss total will at least double. 

Russia has only two curling victories and is officially eliminated from possible advancement. This is mostly not a surprise, despite a home-ice advantage.

In Session 10's final clash, Norway kept the uncertainty rolling at the top of the standings. Its point in the 10th end gave the Norwegians a 7-6 victory over Great Britain, dropping both countries to three losses apiece. Great Britain holds an advantage having played eight matches already, but this was an absolutely vital triumph for Norway.

It was a back and forth match throughout. Only once did either side score in back-to-back ends, with Thomas Ulsrud coming up huge for his country with a 91 percent conversion rate. 

Women's Round-Robin Session 10

Two qualifiers down, two to go on the women's side following Sunday's 10th session. Where on the men's side only four countries have played eight matches, the women have only four sides that haven't.

Canada continued its undefeated rampage through the field against the United States, but the battle of North American countries was far closer than anyone expected. Heading into Sunday's session with only one victory, it stood to reason the U.S. would just be waltzed over by the high-powered Canadians. And taking a 3-0 lead through the first two ends, it was starting to look that way.

Much like their male counterparts, however, the Americans showed some pride to battle back. They scored three points in the third end and kept trading off one-point runs to keep the match close. When Canada pulled ahead 6-4 going into the eighth end, the United States could packed it in. Instead, one-point ends in the eighth and 10th sent the match to an extra period.

While Canada prevailed with the hammer, it was one of the United States' best efforts of these Games. As noted by Debbie McCormick, the U.S. has been building to figure out what it's been doing wrong. 

“It’s not that we can’t pinpoint what happened,” McCormick said, per the State Journal. “We know it was a lot of rock placements, lost opportunities, but we haven’t lost the fire. We’re not giving up; we still want to play our best.”

Rank	Team	Played	Victories	Defeats
1	Canada	8	8	0
2	Sweden	8	6	2
=3	China	7	4	3
=3	Great Britain	7	4	3
5	Switzerland	8	4	4
6	Japan	7	3	4
=7	Denmark	8	3	5
=7	Russian Fed.	8	3	5
9	Korea	7	2	5
10	United States	8	1	7

In one of the higher-scoring matches of the event thus far, Japan and Switzerland also found themselves heading to an extra end. The two countries were evenly matched coming in, both hanging around the middle of the pack and hoping to sneak into the semifinals.

The Swiss started out with a 2-0 lead in the first two ends, but Japan went on a 5-0 run in the next three. Which was followed by three points from Switzerland in the sixth. And two points by Japan in the seventh. It was an at-times sloppy but still thrilling match that saw points aplenty down to the final ends, which saw Switzerland send the match to an extra end to figure everything out.

Much like Canada, though, the Japanese survived. Each of the two countries now have four losses and will watch intently to see how Great Britain and China do going forward. 

Having to watch a whole lot of the field following Sunday's session is the home country Russia, which has to be heartbroken following its 5-4 loss to Sweden. The Russians played a sterling, conservative match to keep the Swedes off the scoreboard as much as possible, taking a one-point lead going into the 10th and final end.

But finally given the opportunity to flash their patented aggression, Sweden struck with two points. With a 6-2 record, Sweden has now locked itself into the semifinals. A little help from Great Britain and China would help the Swedes capture the No. 2 seed. 

In less stressful action, Denmark scored a 7-4 victory over South Korea. While there is a slight chance Denmark has a chance to move forward, it's likely that both countries are just playing out their string. 

Men's Round-Robin Session 11

Suffice it to say Monday will be an awfully important day on the ice for Great Britain, Norway and China. Those are the three countries competing for just two spots in the semifinals after Session 11 in Sochi, as Canada became the second locked-in qualifier following its extra-end victory against China.

The Canadians, typically favored in all forms of curling, found an upstart Chinese team as difficult if not more than they have been throughout their time in Sochi. After Canada pulled ahead 2-0 in the second end, China went on a 6-1 run that put the favorites into desperation time going into the seventh inning.

For the second straight time on Sunday, Jacobs helped lead his country back amid a close finish. Canada answered the Chinese with a 5-0 jaunt in the seventh through ninth ends, giving it a 8-6 lead and putting China's chances of locking itself into the semis in danger. Rui Liu and Co. managed a two-point 10th end to send Canada to its second extra-end match of the day, with the Canadians pulling it out with a one-point victory.

Scott Russell of CBC Sport noted a beautiful draw played by Jacobs to help give Canada the victory:

With seven victories, Canada is locked into the semifinals. No matter what happens Monday, it will not meet first-place Sweden until a potential gold-medal match.

China, meanwhile, goes from on the precipice of a clinch to possibly playing for its life. Though the Chinese have only two losses (equal to Canada), a loss to Great Britain combined with a Norway victory over Denmark would create a three-way tie for third and fourth. There are tiebreakers added into the slate, China would certainly prefer to avoid that fate altogether.

Norway kept its hopes alive with a mostly uneventful 5-3 victory over Switzerland. Neither side scored more than one point in a single end, and Norway never trailed against the Swiss, who are just 2-6 thus far.

Rank	Team	Played	Victories	Defeats
1	Sweden	9	8	1
2	Canada	9	7	2
3	China	8	6	2
4	Great Britain	8	5	3
4	Norway	8	5	3
6	Denmark	8	3	5
7	Russian Fed.	8	2	6
7	Switzerland	8	2	6
7	United States	8	2	6
10	Germany	8	1	7

Despite the lack of eventfulness, the Norwegians probably want to make sure they're at the top of their game for their final round-robin contest. Denmark is only 3-5, but it had no trouble scoring a 6-3 win over Germany. 

Similarly breezy was Sweden's 6-4 win over the United States. The Swedes finish round-robin play with the best record at 8-1 and have to be considered prohibitive favorites. The United States, on the other hand, will try to avoid a bottom-two finish against Switzerland on Monday. 

Full Olympic curling schedule can be found at NBCOlympics.com

Round-robin curling action continues at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia on Day 4.

Women's Curling Session 2

The women kicked things off with four pivotal showdowns, headlined by Team USA taking on host nation Russia in what turned out to be Tuesday morning's most thrilling matchup on the ice.

Without further ado, let's take a look at the latest results.

Winner	Score	Loser
Canada	9-3	Sweden
Switzerland	7-6	Denmark
Korea	12-7	Japan
Russia	9-6	USA

Ahead of the clash with Russia, three-time Olympian and current U.S. women's skip Erika Brown stressed the importance of her squad keeping their nerves in check during the big moments throughout the Winter Games, per TeamUSA.org's Amanda Manci:

Our coaching staff and the support we've received have been tremendous to put us in a position to finally get up there and win a medal. It’s important to perform under pressure. Managing the stress and adrenaline of the situation is what will separate teams.

However, during the fourth and fifth ends on Tuesday, it was Russia who were able to manage their adrenaline better than Team USA, scoring four quick points to erase a 3-1 deficit and take a 5-4 lead. 

Unsurprisingly, the crowd inside the Ice Cube Curling Center was delirious.

The Americans would respond and level in the sixth but with the crowd behind them, Russia would again take the lead, moving ahead 7-5 in the seventh end. 

Team USA would narrow the gap in the eighth end but Russian skip Anna Sidorova would put the game away with two big points in the ninth end to seal the deal for the hosts. 

Meanwhile, Japan and Korea were engaged in a spellbinding back-and-forth battle as well.

Japan would go ahead 2-0 in the first end, but wound up watching helplessly as Korea came storming back in the second end, tying the score before moving ahead 4-3 in the fourth. The two squads would swap the lead a couple of more times before Korea took control late, turning a 7-7 deadlock into a 12-7 advantage.

Switzerland, coming off an impressive 7-4 victory over the United States on Day 3, looked strong in the early goings against Denmark. However, the Danes weren't content to roll over one day after falling 7-4 to Russia in their opening game, rallying to score twice in the fourth end to knot the score up at 3-3. 

Trailing 6-4 after eight ends, Denmark rallied yet again to level the game at 6-6.

But the Swiss would take advantage of the hammer in the 10th end to steal a 7-6 victory, their second of the round-robin.

Meanwhile, Sweden, who survived Great Britain on Day 3, had no answer against Canada on Tuesday, falling into an early 4-1 that they would never recover from. Canadian skip Jennifer Jones and her teammates were zeroed-in from the outset and secured another impressive win, just one day after trouncing China 9-2. 

The 9-3 win in eight sets means Canada improves to 2-0 in round-robin play. 

If the first two days of competition are any indication, both Canada and Russia will be awfully tough to beat the rest of the way. 

Based on how dominant Jones and the rest of the Canadian women have been, the reigning Olympic silver medalists look poised to take home gold in 2014.

Women's Curling Session 3

Women's curling round-robin Session 3 featured two close contests and two blowouts. The dominant teams are beginning to gain consistency and show their true form as they pull away from the pack.

Here's a look at the results from this session:

Winner	Score	Loser
Great Britain	12-3	United States
Switzerland	8-6	South Korea
Japan	8-3	Denmark
China	7-5	Russia

We are beginning to see separation from the top teams and the bottom-dwellers, as the standings continue to take shape:

Rank	Team	Played	Victories	Defeats
1	Switzerland	3	3	0
2	Canada	2	2	0
3	Russia	3	2	1
4	China	2	1	1
4	Great Britain	2	1	1
4	Japan	2	1	1
4	South Korea	2	1	1
4	Sweden	2	1	1
9	Denmark	3	0	3
9	United States	3	0	3

China took on host Russia in the most nail-biting match in Session 3. Russia started fast, gaining a lead of three stones to one through five ends. However, China's skip Bingyu Wang rallied the team, scoring two stones in the sixth end and three in the eighth.

After one Russian point in the ninth, the score sat at 6-5 in China's favor heading into the final end. Russia was unable to tie things up, as China—holding the hammer—scored one final point, effectively ending the match with a 7-5 victory.

Switzerland took on South Korea in a similar type of match. After a defensive struggle in the early goings, South Korea held a 2-0 lead heading into the fifth end.

That's when Switzerland and skip Mirjam Ott took over. The team scored two stones in the fifth and another three in the sixth to take a 5-2 lead. Over the next three ends, the teams traded two stones, with South Korea coming out on top in the seventh and ninth ends and the Swiss topping the Koreans in the eighth.

The Swiss led 7-6 heading into the final end. With South Korea holding the hammer, it appeared as though they would tie things up. However, their final rock missed the mark, as Switzerland earned one more stone, producing a final score of 8-6.

Team USA was a disappointment once again, as they conceded to Great Britain after the sixth end. The United States were clobbered here by a score of 12-3, in which Great Britain scored an Olympic recod seven points in one end.

In the session's final match, Japan crushed Denmark by a score of 8-3. Japan caused its opponent to concede the match after eight ends.

Men's Curling Session 3

Men's round-robin Session 3 was extremely eventful and full of exciting twists and turns on Tuesday. With three-of-four matches completing within one stone of each other, the competition continues to become more compelling with each passing day.

Here's a look at Tuesday's results:

Winner	Score	Loser
Sweden	7-6	Canada
China	9-4	United States
Great Britain	7-6	Germany
Norway	9-8	Russia

After the Session 3 matches concluded, the standings were shuffled. One thing did not change; however, as Sweden remains at the top of the chart:

Rank	Team	Played	Victories	Defeats
1	Sweden	3	3	0
2	China	2	2	0
2	Norway	2	2	0
4	Great Britain	3	2	1
5	Denmark	2	1	1
5	Switzerland	2	1	1
7	Canada	3	1	2
8	Germany	2	0	2
8	United States	2	0	2
10	Russia	3	0	3

Norway took on host Russia in one of the more exciting matches of the day—however, it did not start out in such a manner. Norway got out to a huge lead, as the team earned five stones to Russia's one through the first four ends.

The teams traded two-stone ends through the eighth and neither posted a score in the ninth. Russia entered the 10th end needing a miracle four stones to come away with the tie. Skip Andrey Drozdov almost got them there, as his flawless accuracy earned them three.

Russia's comeback bid fell just short, as the team finished the match losing by a score of 9-8.

Canada looked to right the ship against powerhouse Sweden on Tuesday. Entering the contest with a 1-1 record, the Canadians did all they could to avoid a second-straight loss.

In a back-and-forth battle with the Swedes, the match entered the 10th end tied at six stone a piece. However, Sweden held the hammer and put it to good use in the final end, earning a crucial stone which gave them the 7-6 victory.

Canadian skip Brad Jacobs spoke of the entertaining matchup with the Swedes during an interview with The Globe and Mail:

It was a well-played game by both teams and I'm sure it was great entertainment for the fans here and back home. We are playing well and getting better every game. It is a marathon and one game a day. We know it's a marathon and we're ready.

Great Britain and Germany also brought a dazzling performance to spectators, as these teams delivered a highly contested matchup.

After the eighth end, Great Britain found itself down two stones. They scored one in the ninth to tie the score and entered the 10th holding the hammer. Skip David Murdoch was steadfast when it mattered the most, earning a stone in the final end to come away victorious over the Germans by a score of 7-6.

The United States, however, continues to struggle.

Team USA has yet to win one match in the 2014 Olympics, continuing their drought with a 9-4 defeat at the hands of China on Tuesday. This team simply has not looked sharp over their firsts two contests and will need a miracle if they are to climb back into contention.

Vice skip Jeff Isaacson spoke of skip John Shuster's efforts in the team's second loss during an interview with Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune. Said Isaacson, "We've got to get [Shuster] a little more confident out there. I don’t think he had his best game. But we’ll just try and calm everyone down and try and get on the same page."

That will certainly have to happen quickly, as Team USA finds their Olympic run spiraling out of control.

Follow Bleacher Report Featured Columnist Patrick Clarke on Twitter. 

Easily one of the most captivating sports of the Olympics has officially begun. 

The start of Day 3 in Sochi returned Olympic curling into our lives, and right off the bat, several countries looked to be in gold-medal form already. 

On the men's side, China, Canada, Switzerland and Great Britain earned wins to move to 1-0 in round-robin play. Here's a look at the full results from the first session of the 2014 Games:

Winner	Score	Loser
China	7-4	Denmark
Canada	11-8	Germany
Sweden	7-5	Switzerland
Great Britain	7-4	Russia

The most compelling opening match featured Sweden—the 2013 world champions—and Switzerland—the 2013 European champions. Led respectively by Niklas Edin and Sven Michel, both countries are legitimate contenders to advance out of round-robin play into the semifinals. 

It all lived up to the hype. 

Switzerland grabbed the 3-2 lead with a point in the sixth end, but that gave the hammer to Sweden, and Edin wouldn't let that opportunity slip through his fingers. The 28-year-old skip delivered a tremendous throw on the last rock of the seventh end, notching three crucial points for the Swedes. 

It was a shot so good, in fact, it drew fans away from Matthew McConaughey and True Detective—and made them confuse Russia with Switzerland: 

Sweden stole the eighth end to grab an extra point and held on for an enthralling victory after Switzerland grabbed two points back in the ninth. The win meant no outbursts from Edin, who talked about keeping his infamous temper in check before the match, via the Associated Press (h/t NBCOlympics.com):

I have a hot temper when it matters to me. So you might see that this week. Now I know you need to stick together in all situations. And if anyone loses their temper, it makes it harder for the rest of the team.

Most of the other matches featured no-nonsense victories. Germany made things interesting by stealing two points in the ninth before playing very well in the last end, but Brad Jacobs and Canada—who are favorites for gold—were simply too good. 

David Murdoch and Great Britain looked terrific while making fairly easy work of host nation Russia, and a late comeback from Denmark wasn't enough against China, who finished with a tremendous shooting percentage of 89 percent per Sochi2014.com. 

As one fan pointed out, Canada and China were especially impressive in their victories:

Really, though, there were impressive performances all around, and one thing was evident from the opening session: We're in line for a thrilling tournament from Sochi. 

The men's second session provided as much—if not more—excitement than Monday's first session. With two close contests and two decisive victories during this round-robin session, viewers were rewarded with a dazzling show from the participating countries.

Here's a look at the results from the second session of round-robin play:

Winner	Score	Loser
Norway	7-4	United States
Denmark	11-10	Russia
Switzerland	5-4	Canada
Sweden	8-4	Great Britain

The most compelling contest featured Denmark against host Russia. Denmark came away with a thrilling 11-10 victory, as the match was extended into an extra end.

Russia started strong, scoring two stones in the first end and three in the second to jump out to a 5-0 lead. However, the resurgent Denmark and skip Rasmus Stjerne Hansen climbed back into the contest with two stones in the third end and three in the fifth.

Entering the eighth end, the score was tied at seven apiece. Russian skip Andrey Drozdov was able to pull away with two stones to take the late lead. However, with Denmark scoring three stones in the ninth end, Russia found itself trailing going into the final end.

Drozdov put up the one point necessary in the 10th end to tie the match at 10. This forced the extra end and a dramatic conclusion that captured the public's attention:

With everything on the line, Denmark was able to claim the match's final stone to earn the victory and move to 1-1 in round-robin play.

A strong Canadian team was given all it could handle in Session 2 against Switzerland. Canada had already earned a victory in the earlier session and the Swiss were looking to claim their first.

This defensive matchup started with four scoreless ends, as the teams fought for position. Switzerland finally broke the ice in the fifth end, as skip Sven Michel came away with three stones to take the lead.

Canadian skip Brad Jacobs came surging back in the sixth end. Canada put up two stones, closing the gap to a 3-2 score. After trading one-stone ends in the seventh, eighth and ninth, the teams entered the final end with Switzerland on top by a score of 5-3.

Team Canada did its best to even the score, but was only able to come away with one stone in the 10th, securing a much-needed victory for Switzerland.

The other two matches featured decisive victories, as Sweden and skip Niklas Edin defeated Great Britain by a score of 8-4 after nine ends. The Swedes move to 2-0 in round-robin play, while Great Britain drops to a 1-1 record.

Norway faced the United States in the final match of Session 2, and got off to a great start, posting two stones in the first end and three in the second. They accrued an early lead and did not look back, defeating the Americans by a score of 7-4.

Norway received attention not only for their curling ability but also for their stylish uniforms:

According to Chris Jasurek of the Epoch Times, with the Americans down three with Norway holding the final shot going into the final end, skip John Shuster told his teammates, "We have to go crazy at the end here."

Unfortunately, that didn't happen, as he missed everything with his first rock and had to concede the match.

Norway and skip Thomas Ulsrud look strong and figure to be a big factor in the competition, moving to a 1-0 record. On the other hand, the United States must regroup after falling to 0-1 and sitting tied for eighth place in the standings.

Winner	Score	Loser
Canada	9-2	China
Switzerland	7-4	USA
Russia	7-4	Denmark
Sweden	6-4	Great Britain

Monday's second session began with a boom in Sochi as the women curlers got their campaigns underway, China and Canada the first two nations up on the slate.

What wasn't surprising was the fact that it was the Canadians who came out on top. What is more surprising is the scoreline by which Jennifer Jones led her team past their Asian counterparts, winning 9-2 after China's concession in the seventh end.

The official Canadian curling Twitter account praised leader Jones for her performance:

Things looked like they might be within reach for skip Bingyu Wang and her teammates, who were 3-1 down after four ends. However, a push for the kill from Team Canada meant that the fifth end closed with a 6-1 lead, the match all but done at that stage.

Following that demolition, it was a much more tightly drawn encounter that followed between Switzerland and the USA, where Ken Tralnberg's Swiss side managed to come back from 2-0 down after three ends, eventually winning the match 7-4.

Despite her ironic name given the context, Anna Swisshelm was actually the most dangerous of the USA's athletes, maintaining an 88 percent accuracy in the encounter, but that wasn't enough to overcome the double threat of Mirjam Ott and Carmen Schafer.

After suffering that initial setback, the fourth and fifth ends saw Switzerland notch five points to USA's zero, setting the Europeans right on their way to a well-deserved and determined win.

Russia managed to beat Denmark by an identical scoreline, again coming back from an initial deficit to earn the much-needed win and get their tournament started in the right manner.

Instead of a burst-filled outing, though, this was a much calmer, consistent display from the Russians. They won more than one point in just two of their ends, but spread the dominant trait throughout their performance, scoring in five of the 10 ends.

Ekaterina Galkina stood out in the 7-4 victory as a special source of inspiration, averaging 91 percent accuracy, hence her high priority in the Russian order.

And lastly, it was Sweden's turn to follow the example of their male counterparts and begin with a spring in their step, Great Britain crumbling 6-4 under the pressure of the European foes.

Skip and vice-skip, respectively, Margaretha Sigfridsson and Maria Prytz led with aplomb, with Claire Hamilton the only other participant able to boast a higher accuracy in the matchup. 

It took the Britons four ends to get their first point on the board, but the damage was undoubtedly done by that stage the Swedes boasting a 3-0 lead by the time the third end had finished.

It did look as though hope was alive, however, with Eve Muirhead managing to bring her side back level at 3-3, but a second wind for the Swedish would ultimately result in defeat following a British concession.

The Winter Olympics are just days away, which means it's time, America, to pull those brooms out of the garage and get sweeping. Curling is back!

Curling, the Olympic sport where competitors alternate sliding round stones down a sheet of ice to earn points for whoever gets closest to the middle of a large target area, took the world by storm four years ago during the Winter Games in Vancouver.

Curling has everything you would want in a winter Olympic sport. Every throw—is it a throw or a toss…or a push…a slide…? I should probably know this—provides drama, especially as the competitors near the completion of each end*.

(*A quick primer/reminder: Each match consists of 10 ends, which is similar to an inning in baseball. Teams alternate sliding eight rocks down the sheet to see which team finishes closest to the center. Every stone closer to the center than the opponents' nearest stone earns a point. The team with the most points after 10 ends wins.)

There is an incredible amount of strategy involved in each end, as blocking and screening are an integral part of winning. The crowds can get incredibly raucous, making the entire competition feel like a giant party on ice. And the personalities! Who would have thought that men and women sliding on the ice could be so…so…cool?

The original idea for this article was to figure out what this year's curling will be. It turns out, curling may just be the next curling, given the growing popularity of the sport and the limited selection of Winter Olympic events that have the same kind of communal experience for both the athletes and the spectators.

Heck, even NFL All-Pro J.J. Watt said during the Pro Bowl that he's excited to watch hockey at the Olympics (Watt grew up playing hockey), as well as curling. When you have NFL players going on national TV advocating for your sport, plus the Internet geeks like me who love it, you've got a winner.

Polish up your stones, because curling is back in a big way.

I had the chance to chat with Andrew Catalon, who will be heading over to Sochi to call much of the curling play-by-play action for NBC this year. Catalon is one of the holdovers from last Olympics, so I asked him about the difference between this year's coverage and how they covered the event four years ago.

Plus, I asked him what I tried to find…is there anything that can become the "next" curling?

Bleacher Report: First, in my search to figure out which sport will be the next curling, I realized that...there isn't one. Curling is the next curling. There is no other winter Olympic sport with as much personality and flair that people can play as easily on a recreational level around the world.

Is that the allure to curling as an Olympic sport, or have I wildly oversimplified things?

Andrew Catalon: Looking at the roster of Winter Olympic sports, I don't see a "next curling." There's such a charm to the sport that it's hard to compare it to others. And while there's an increase of curlers in the U.S. and more non-Olympic television coverage, it is still viewed as a "once every four years event."

I hope that changes because I do believe there's a market for it, but for now, that remains the reality of it, and that's also what makes it such a hit at the Olympics.

B/R: The best I can come up with in the "next curling" category is luge relay, which sounds somehow more ridiculous than doubles luge, if at all possible.

Why do the Summer Games seem to have a ton of kitschy sports but the Winter Games just has curling? Am I giving too much credibility to a cross-country skiing event where competitors stop to shoot things?

AC: I think part of it is based on the pure volume of sports in the summer compared to the winter. There are so many events in the Summer Olympics that a few are bound to become the "next big thing." Team handball is something I could see picking up steam in the U.S.

I have announced luge relay and it's a great addition, but the Summer Games are so much larger and therefore there are more opportunities to find a breakout event.

B/R: Your career has really taken off since last Winter Olympics, most notably calling some huge college basketball games recently for CBS. Seriously, how much do you owe your career to stones, brooms and crazy pants?

AC: There's no question curling opened a lot of doors for me, and I would be lying if I said I saw that coming. I've had some incredible opportunities, especially with the NFL and NCAA basketball on CBS, and I owe a lot of it to a sport played with brooms and stones. It's easy to joke about it, but I truly am grateful.

B/R: Are you concerned curling could be like poker, four years past its boom? In other words, is there a fear curling has jumped the shark? And if so, what kind of skis would that jump use? Could that become an Olympic sport?

AC: Based on the reaction I'm already getting on Twitter, I do not think curling is past its boom. I like poker, but it seemed like there became too much of it on TV. Even though there are more curling games on TV, it's still a bit of a hidden gem.

B/R: I remember after the last Winter Olympics you told me you couldn't really get a sense during the event how big of a cult hit curling had become in the United States.

Four years later, with social media the way it is and NBC streaming everything live online, do you expect even more excitement about the sport this time around?

AC: I think there are several factors that could make curling in Sochi even bigger than it was in Vancouver. First, social media is a larger part of the world these days, so the cult following can/should grow.

Second, John Shuster is back. He was such a lightning rod in Vancouver, and for him to recover and find his way back to the Olympics four years later is remarkable. He's re-written the script by getting back, but can he finish it off by earning a medal? I know that sounds somewhat dramatic, but I think he will be a big story again.

I do think the sellout crowds in Vancouver enhanced the product, and I realize it may be different in Sochi. But I still think it's going to be a big few weeks for curling.

B/R: Shuster had, shall we say, a horrible experience in Vancouver. With him back this year, be honest, how panicked should we be as American curling diehards? (Note: I loved curling in the Olympics and played online almost religiously for some time but have not watched one live event since the gold-medal match four years ago. Does that still qualify me as a diehard?)  

AC: As I mentioned, the fact that John is back here again is incredible. He took a beating in Vancouver and could have very easily walked away, but he made it back. He's already proven a lot just to get back here. And now I'm very anxious to see how he does the first time the game is on the line.

Keep in mind that John Benton was Shuster's teammate in Vancouver and Shuster beat Pete Fenson in the finals of the Olympic trials. So we should get some great insight from our team.

And there's no doubt you can put "curling diehard" on your resume...

B/R: Are there any expectations for the U.S. to medal? Are we just there to be group-stage fodder for the more traditional curling powerhouses? Can Shuster exorcise the curling demons?

AC: Here's the thing—if Shuster gets hot, he can beat anybody. He has beaten some of the favorites before, and he's very capable of doing it again. That said, the U.S. men are still a big underdog. The U.S. women can be a dangerous team. They have a lot of experience, and if they get a couple of breaks, they could be in position to medal.

B /R: You mentioned your NBC partners in John Benton and Pete Fenson. NBC has really responded to the attention curling received last time around. This year, the Peacock is assigning a team of six on-air announcers to cover the events on the sheet. (Sheet or sheets? Is the entire thing one sheet, or is each individual playing surface its own sheets?) 

AC: I would go with each team is on a separate sheet.

B/R: Last time around, you worked with Don Duguid and Colleen Jones in the booth, which created something of a "kid sent to stay with his crazy aunt and uncle" vibe to the telecast. Without a doubt the rapport between the two of them, and the way you balanced the mayhem, certainly added to the experience for the viewers.

This time, NBC has seemingly gone more analytical, or at least more curling focused, with former American Olympians Benton and Fenson alongside you and Jason Knapp doing play-by-play (stone-by-stone, perhaps?), with Trenni Kusnierek taking over for Elfi Schlegel as a sideline reporter. 

What should the viewers expect from the telecast this time around, given that you are the veteran now? Are you concerned about losing the magic that made 2010 so campy and fun?

AC: Great question. The dynamic with Don and Colleen was unlike any other booth I've been a part of. First, Don and I still keep in touch, and I consider him a great friend.

You had Don playing the role of your wild Canadian uncle and Colleen asking Wayne Gretzky if naked curling should be a sport. There were some priceless moments in that booth.

We all got along, but we all disagreed with each other too. It was like Thanksgiving dinner when you invited your crazy relatives over to eat. Except we were all watching curling together, and I'm going to miss that.

I don't think it's possible to recapture that dynamic, so this year will be different. But I've worked with John and he is very knowledgeable, and I look forward to working with Trenni and putting it all together. We'll have fun and find our own chemistry. Plus, Fred (Roggin) is hosting again, so I'm sure we'll have some one-liners shot back and forth across the many time zones we'll be apart.

B/R: Do you have any plaid, rainbow or zig-zag suits you will be wearing to fit in with the regulars?

AC: Conversations have already taken place on that front. You very well could see a curling announcer from New Jersey rocking some crazy pants.

With the Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings (the Olympic curling trials for the Canadian team) over and the 2014 Canadian men's curling team set, there are a few things we can expect from Brad Jacobs and his team.

Jacobs will represent Canada at the Sochi Olympics after beating John Morris on Sunday, Dec. 8.  Jacobs and his team won 7-4 and were able to go up 2-0 early, but Morris and his team tied things at 3-3 later on.  After that, Jacobs went up 5-3 and made a big double to end things.

From what we've seen from this team so far, there are a number of things to expect.

In terms of performance, expectations are going to be very high for Jacobs.  He went 7-0 during the round-robin stage, and according to Jim Bender of the Winnipeg Sun, it was the first time that any Canadian team had gone through a trials week without a single loss.

This team continues to get better, which is a very good sign for Canada entering the 2014 Winter Olympics.  Jacobs had his best year ever in the 2012-13 season, going to the finals in the Canadian Open and semifinals in the Players' Championship.  Now, with that undefeated record in the trials, it's hard to not like this team's odds in Sochi.

A big reason for their success is likely because of the team's familiarity with one another.  Jacobs has worked with E.J. Harnden and Ryan Harnden since the 2008-09 season, when Jacobs officially moved to skip.  Ryan Fry is relatively new, coming in last season, but the team has been very successful since he joined.

There will likely be a number of gutsy shots from Jacobs during the Olympics, as that's what he's becoming known for.  He took a number of risky shots during the Roar of the Rings, including that huge big-weight double to end win the battle against Morris.  According to the Canadian Press via TSN, Jacobs had this to say about the decision:

"You're throwing that double to win the game," he said after beating John Morris 7-4.

He said his third, Ryan Fry, told him it was coming.

"Fry said it to me, 'You're going to have a double either way here and we're playing it.' So my mind was already wrapped around some big weight shot before I even threw it."

Coach Tom Coulterman must be doing something right, as this team is red hot right now and not afraid to take risky shots.  This is a very entertaining team to watch, and if Jacobs can keep up this level of play entering the Olympics, then his squad could very well be bringing back a gold medal to Canada after it's all over.