Looks like we made it!!!

“Looks like we made it!”

All I can say is wow! We’re moving on to Denver!


What a week! All of the work we put in this year finally came together. We’re “peaking” at the right time.

We really went about things one game at a time and found a good rhythm. We ended up with an 8-1 record, which is quite an accomplishment considering how tough the field was at this event. And actually our one loss came to the Disher team in a game that didn’t really have any significance due to the fact that we had both qualified by that time. We ended up playing just 6 ends in that game for fun.

Our most dramatic win came late in the week against team Fenson (John Shuster’s old team and the reigning Olympic Team). We were 6-0 at the time and knew that by winning this game we’d likely be assured of advancing. The game was very well played on both sides and we were all tied up going into the last end where we had the advantage of last stone. When we got to that last stone, team Fenson was counting one point near the center of the rings and it was behind cover so we could not remove it. So we had to put one in there closer to the center for the win. John let the rock go and Jeff and I began sweeping immediately. We swept the entire length of the ice with John and Jason screaming at the top of their lungs. The rock came into the rings and with the last few strokes of our brooms the rock stopped right next to the Fenson stone. It was close, but we weren’t absolutely sure we’d made it so the officials had to measure to see who was closest (a common occurrence in curling but very dramatic on the last shot of a game). Our stone ended up ¼ inch closer than theirs! A game of inches!

That win assured us of advancing to the Trials! Whew!

So we now begin getting ready for the final stage on the road to the Olympics in Vancouver! Yes, this is now a very real possibility! The final trials are a similar event with a 10 team round robin, only this time there is a playoff between the top 4 teams at the end of the week. It is called the “Page Playoff” system. For more information on how this works, please see this Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Page_playoff_system

The first item on the agenda is a pre-trials training camp in Green Bay this weekend which is being hosted by the USCA and USOC. A very exclusive event for 4 Men’s and 4 Women’s teams that have qualified for Denver.

Also on the agenda are the usual plans for new uniforms, Flights, Hotel, Rental Cars, etc. for the team, family members and friends for the 10 day trip to Denver. Lots to do!

Anyone interested in attending the event can find all of the necessary information at the Denver Sports Commission’s website:
http://www.denversports.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=128&Itemid=55

And / Or the usual USCA Website:
http://www.usacurl.org/curlingrocks/

A very special thanks to our families, friends, and sponsors. This really would not be possible without all of the support we’ve gotten this year. You are all part of this team!

Of course I’ll keep you updated on all of the happenings in the next few weeks as we train, plan, and raise funds for the trip.

ON TO THE TRIALS! WOO HOO!