There Used To Be Clocks Here

Somewhere Pete Fenson Is Crying

1 Comments Published on 2.20.2010 by Brian Harrison

Come for the basketball analysis, stay for the curling.
If you're following me on Twitter (@BH_Orange44) you know I love many things. One of which happens to be Olympic Curling. Why do I enjoy this? Who knows. It is awesome however. I genuinely think it's cool because it is a sport you could play for gold medals or play with a beer in your hand. I first remember watching curling during the 2002 Olympics in Orange::44 Correspondent John Brennan's dorm room in DellPlain Hall my freshman year at Syracuse University, and I've loved it ever sinse. Coincidentally enough, also my first time drinking a Sam Adams, but that's another story. Either way, I've loved curling every time they are televised. Interesting as well, this notebook actually has a history of covering curling in the Olympics thanks to founder Matt Glaude, now of Hoya Suxa, and friend of the blog Dave Pearson. Therefore, although we have already seen the United States play five games thus far, it is time to fill you in on what's going on north of the border.
The favorites in this game were Great Britain to take the gold, Canada to take the silver, and Norway to take home the bronze medal. Things have shaken out differently as teams have already played four or five games and the standings are interesting:
1. Canada (5-0)
2 Norway (4-1)
3. Sweden (3-1)
4. Switzerland (3-2)
5. Great Britain (2-2)
6. Germany (2-3)
7. China (1-3)
7. France (1-3)
9. Denmark (1-4)
9. United States (1-4)
As you can see, Canada is playing well on the home ice, while Great Britain has fallen on some hard times. But none as hard as the United States, who started the games going 0-4 on four missed game winning shots in three extra end games by their Skip John Shuster. Shuster has become a pop culture phenomenon as of late because of his less than stellar curling. The internets are a cruel mistress and when it comes to the combination of national pride and unmitigated failure, the mixture is quite deadly. People had a good time changing his Wikipedia page, "Shuster" became a verb, and #Shustered made it's way around twitter to describe someone falling short or something that failed. If only John was doing better he'd still be fancy free like in this video from The Colbert Report below.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Skate Expectations - Curling Team Tryouts - Colbert vs. Shuster
http://www.colbertnation.com/
Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorSkate Expectations

Sadly for Shuster, before yesterday's match versus France in favor of alternate Chris Plys. USA subsequently won that match 4-3 by stealing a point in the 10th and final end. The reason was the bad performance of the US team in their first four games. Jason Smith, the Vice Skip, has been shooting brilliantly in the entire games and has taken to being the forth shooter and it paid off for the US against France.

The US Results so far are as follows:

Game 1: US* 5 v. Germany 7
Game 2: US* 5 v. Norway 6 (11 ends)
Game 3: US 6 v. Switzerland* 7 (11 ends)
Game 4: Denmark* 7 v. US 6 (11 ends)
Game 5: France* 3 v. US 4

And now we break down the levels of competition based on what we've seen so far into chances of making the medal rounds and talent:

Elite (Are in for the long haul. Will drink with you all night and end up at the diner stealing your bacon. Canadian bacon.)
Canada, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland
These teams are sitting pretty right now, as they are in the top four and are curling really well. Canada is on their home ice, Norway looks good, Sweden is just happy to be there, and Switzerland is indifferent. These teams are in control of their own destiny.
Game to watch for: Canada v. Great Britain Sunday Feb. 21 at 10:00pm EST.

Alright (Good for most of the night. They will drink for a while but will disappear without saying goodbye because their lady friend texted.)
Great Britain, Germany
Germany played a brilliant game against the US, and Great Britain is comprised of players from Scotland, the birthplace of the game, but have just come up short. These teams could get hot but are definitely on the bubble.
Game to watch for: Germany v. Great Britain Monday Feb. 22 at 10:00pm EST.

Not Good (Leaving early. Won't drink the shots you bought them and will sip the same beer for an hour while you plow ahead.)
China, France, Denmark, United States
The US has really had a disappointing route, losing three of their four games by simply missing routine or simple shots. China is relatively new at the sport, Denmark doesn't have cool pants and their only win was against a US team that failed to hit a final shot. France sucks at most things. These teams will really have to hope for the teams at the top to start sucking for them to even remotely have a chance.
Game to watch: The remaining US games.
Feb. 20 12:00pm EST v. Sweden
Feb. 21 5:00pm EST v. Great Britain
Feb. 22 12:00pm v. Canada
Feb. 23 10:00pm EST v. China

The ladies are not doing much better at 1-3, but they have a chance to move up more than the men do. Either way, it's exciting stuff. Enjoy the curling tweets, catch the curling fever (not an STD), and if you fancy, you too can own the lucky Norway curling pants, you can purchase them right here.


We now return you to your regularly scheduled SU sports analysis. For now. Lacrosse Weekly starts up soon. In the meanwhile, I was on Matt Mc's Sports Fix yesterday talking about the Georgetown game, so go here and download the podcast, or just click here.

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1 Responses to “Somewhere Pete Fenson Is Crying”

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