It is hard to believe that the Olympics are over! Most of us family and friends headed home a week ago Sunday, 2/28. Our men’s curling team came home on 3/1 so that they could participate in the Closing Ceremonies. After a year of preparation and planning, the two weeks of the Olympics flew by.
While the competitive results were not what we had hoped for, we are proud of our guys and how they represented the U.S. Not many athletes have the opportunity to represent their country in the Olympic Games. We are grateful and proud that our family members had such an opportunity.
As you can imagine, there has been a roller coaster of emotions throughout the two weeks at the Games and even upon our return home. The high of being at the Olympics, the low of watching our guys lose in such close games, the joy of seeing them win, the excitement to share with family and friends…it was all there. Upon returning home, we are grateful for the support of the curling community and fans, and encouraged by the growth in popularity of the game we love.
We have all been enriched by this experience. We’ve gained new friends, grown to appreciate even more our families and friends, and have a deeper understanding of what the Olympics are all about. Meeting athletes and families from different sports and countries was an unexpected gift. To share in their Olympic experience was incredible!
Thank you to the city of Vancouver, the Olympic Committee, the thousands of volunteers, and the people on the trains, buses, and street corners who were so hospitable and welcoming. We were overwhelmed by your kindness and support of the Games, the athletes, and families.
A special thank you to Proctor and Gamble for sponsoring the Family Home and the Thanks Mom Program. None of us could have anticipated what a special gift the P & G Home was and what an important part it would play in our time in Vancouver. It was truly amazing. Please support P & G product lines as they supported our U.S. Olympic athletes. Next time you shop, look for these brands: Tide, Safeguard, Pampers, Ariel, Always, Tampax, Whisper, Pantene, Mach3, Bounty, Dawn, Gain, Pringles, Charmin, Downy, Cascade, lams, Crest, Oral-B, Actonel, Duracell, Olay, Head & Shoulders, Wella, Gillette, Braun, and Fusion or the P & G distribution label.
And finally, thank you all for your support this year and throughout our time at the Olympics, it truly was the experience of a lifetime! Glad you came along with us!
Carrie Benton
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tourists for the Day - Submitted by Carrie
Many of the families and friends spent today touring the city of Vancouver and Whistler. It was nice to have an entire day to explore at our leisure.
Those who spent the day in Vancouver shopped, had lunch, and shopped some more. Those who visited Whistler took the long bus ride up the mountain and enjoyed great scenery. Whistler is quite expensive, so not as much shopping there as in the city!
At the end of the day, several members of our curling “family” ended up at the USA House which is a venue exclusively for Olympians past and present. Each Olympian is allowed 4 guest passes per day. Again, similar to the P & G house, the hospitality there was incredible with full bar and food service all day. Among the sponsors of the USA House are AT&T, Hilton, Coca Cola, Nike, and McDonalds. The entire team ended up meeting at the USA House after the busy day and were able to meet several Olympians.
Some members of the Curling Team were able to attend the USA vs. Switzerland hockey game. Very fun time! Other members chose to take in the curling tiebreaker game between Great Britain and Sweden in which Sweden defeated the defending World Champions to knock them out of the medal round.
Another busy day in Vancouver…just taking it all in!
Go USA!
Those who spent the day in Vancouver shopped, had lunch, and shopped some more. Those who visited Whistler took the long bus ride up the mountain and enjoyed great scenery. Whistler is quite expensive, so not as much shopping there as in the city!
At the end of the day, several members of our curling “family” ended up at the USA House which is a venue exclusively for Olympians past and present. Each Olympian is allowed 4 guest passes per day. Again, similar to the P & G house, the hospitality there was incredible with full bar and food service all day. Among the sponsors of the USA House are AT&T, Hilton, Coca Cola, Nike, and McDonalds. The entire team ended up meeting at the USA House after the busy day and were able to meet several Olympians.
Some members of the Curling Team were able to attend the USA vs. Switzerland hockey game. Very fun time! Other members chose to take in the curling tiebreaker game between Great Britain and Sweden in which Sweden defeated the defending World Champions to knock them out of the medal round.
Another busy day in Vancouver…just taking it all in!
Go USA!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
The Day After - Submitted by Carrie
Our Olympic Curling competition ended yesterday with two more losses. The guys are down, but grateful for this incredible experience. With the competition over for them, we will now be able to spend some time with them. Time with family and friends has been very limited for the athletes. We’ve seen the guys twice in over a week.
Each of the families has been spending time exploring the city. Of course we’ve all visited the Olympic Torch. The other places we’ve visited include Stanley Park, Granville Island, and the Vancouver Aquarium. Of course we’ve shopped for official Olympic souvenirs at any given opportunity as well with the USA Store and Hudson Bay Company store receiving nice chunks of our tourist cash!
While we are no longer in competition, it is fun to watch all of the different athletes competing in various sports. We’ve met so many people from all over the world. Today at lunch we met the parents of two of the Swedish women curlers. We also ran into a contingent of athletes from Poland at the Aquarium. The Vancouver Aquarium, by the way, is a fabulous place to visit!
Of course we’ve met many notable U.S. athletes as well. It is neat to share in the excitement of their families as they prepare for their events. It really brings the personal side of competition to life when you meet the wives, husbands, sons, daughters, and parents of these athletes. Everyone is so filled with pride for the accomplishment of a family member being on the U.S. Olympic Team. No matter the results of the competition, all of these athletes are winners!
Go USA!
Each of the families has been spending time exploring the city. Of course we’ve all visited the Olympic Torch. The other places we’ve visited include Stanley Park, Granville Island, and the Vancouver Aquarium. Of course we’ve shopped for official Olympic souvenirs at any given opportunity as well with the USA Store and Hudson Bay Company store receiving nice chunks of our tourist cash!
While we are no longer in competition, it is fun to watch all of the different athletes competing in various sports. We’ve met so many people from all over the world. Today at lunch we met the parents of two of the Swedish women curlers. We also ran into a contingent of athletes from Poland at the Aquarium. The Vancouver Aquarium, by the way, is a fabulous place to visit!
Of course we’ve met many notable U.S. athletes as well. It is neat to share in the excitement of their families as they prepare for their events. It really brings the personal side of competition to life when you meet the wives, husbands, sons, daughters, and parents of these athletes. Everyone is so filled with pride for the accomplishment of a family member being on the U.S. Olympic Team. No matter the results of the competition, all of these athletes are winners!
Go USA!
Monday, February 22, 2010
A Busy Sunday - Submitted by Carrie
While we had just one curling game today, our day was full of surprises and fun times. We had a tight game against Great Britain this afternoon. Our lineup was changed a bit again today as we had John Benton resting and Chris Plys taking the Lead position. We’re excited that things have worked out so that Chris has been able to play in a few games. What a great team effort. Unfortunately for our guys, the game didn’t turn out as we had hoped. We needed a steal in the tenth end to tie, but the skip from Great Britain made a perfect draw to win the game.
We have all been enjoying the Olympic experience. One activity that is quite popular is pin trading. There are many people who have pins to trade or give away. VISA for example has pins at every store. If you make a purchase using your VISA card, you receive a pin. There are official Vancouver pins representing every sport that are sold at each venue, or on the giant pin wall at the Hudson Bay Company store. Many sports also have their own pins. We have our Team USA 2010 Curling pins that people have been after. They will trade almost any of their pins to get one. We have a hot commodity! We’re almost out of pins as we also hand them out to the young U.S. fans that attend the curling games.
We’ve been fortunate to be able to spend quite a bit of time in the Proctor and Gamble Family Home. We’ve met current and former Olympians who have been gracious about having photos taken and signing autographs. Tonight the P & G Home was energized by the U.S.A. Hockey win over Canada. Several of the players came in after the game to visit with family and were greeted by applause from all of us in the house. Very cool! Again, support Proctor and Gamble products; what they are doing for our Olympic athletes and families is truly special.
Go USA!
We have all been enjoying the Olympic experience. One activity that is quite popular is pin trading. There are many people who have pins to trade or give away. VISA for example has pins at every store. If you make a purchase using your VISA card, you receive a pin. There are official Vancouver pins representing every sport that are sold at each venue, or on the giant pin wall at the Hudson Bay Company store. Many sports also have their own pins. We have our Team USA 2010 Curling pins that people have been after. They will trade almost any of their pins to get one. We have a hot commodity! We’re almost out of pins as we also hand them out to the young U.S. fans that attend the curling games.
We’ve been fortunate to be able to spend quite a bit of time in the Proctor and Gamble Family Home. We’ve met current and former Olympians who have been gracious about having photos taken and signing autographs. Tonight the P & G Home was energized by the U.S.A. Hockey win over Canada. Several of the players came in after the game to visit with family and were greeted by applause from all of us in the house. Very cool! Again, support Proctor and Gamble products; what they are doing for our Olympic athletes and families is truly special.
Go USA!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Two In A Row - Submitted by Carrie
Another big win for Team USA today! We played well today with another different line up configuration. Everyone is contributing in a true team effort and we’re so proud of all of them!
All of the next group of family and friends have arrived. We had a great time at the curling game this morning. The newcomers in the group enjoyed the atmosphere of the curling venue. From the opening video that displays scenes from the Olympics, to the supportive chants of U.S. fans all over the venue, to the bagpipes piping the teams out to their respective sheets of ice, the experience brings home the fact that we are at the Olympics! Curling in a packed venue of 6,000 screaming fans is not something we experience in the U.S.
The city is really buzzing now as people stream in for weekend events. While every place we go is congested and lines are long, it is fun to meet people from all over the world. The city has done a fantastic job of hosting the Olympics by utilizing volunteers from all over the world including the U.S. There are over 3000 police personnel from all over Canada keeping us safe.
Vernon Davis, San Francisco 49ers All Pro tight end arrived on Friday! He met with the men’s and women’s teams having been previously named the U.S. Curling Team Honorary Captain. Both the men’s and women’s teams have won two games in a row since his arrival. Mr. Davis was very personable and tolerant of all the fans who wanted his autograph and picture. What a great guy!
Big game tomorrow! Go USA!
All of the next group of family and friends have arrived. We had a great time at the curling game this morning. The newcomers in the group enjoyed the atmosphere of the curling venue. From the opening video that displays scenes from the Olympics, to the supportive chants of U.S. fans all over the venue, to the bagpipes piping the teams out to their respective sheets of ice, the experience brings home the fact that we are at the Olympics! Curling in a packed venue of 6,000 screaming fans is not something we experience in the U.S.
The city is really buzzing now as people stream in for weekend events. While every place we go is congested and lines are long, it is fun to meet people from all over the world. The city has done a fantastic job of hosting the Olympics by utilizing volunteers from all over the world including the U.S. There are over 3000 police personnel from all over Canada keeping us safe.
Vernon Davis, San Francisco 49ers All Pro tight end arrived on Friday! He met with the men’s and women’s teams having been previously named the U.S. Curling Team Honorary Captain. Both the men’s and women’s teams have won two games in a row since his arrival. Mr. Davis was very personable and tolerant of all the fans who wanted his autograph and picture. What a great guy!
Big game tomorrow! Go USA!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
A Big Win! - Submitted by Carrie
Our guys played a strong game today to come up with a nail biting win! Tied up again in the tenth end, but this time it ended there with Team USA in the win column! We’re proud of all the guys on our team, and win or lose feel they are representing our country well.
It was a busy day in our household as the first week’s guests are leaving and the new guests are arriving tonight and tomorrow! A whole new batch of people to explore the beautiful city of Vancouver and experience the Olympics.
I met some great folks from NBC today at the curling game. As many of you know, I tend to pace a lot during curling games. On one of my trips around the arena I sat down for a bottled water and began to chat with some gentlemen who are here working for NBC. They were very nice guys who were excited to be seeing curling for the first time. They gave me two tickets to the ice dancing competition tonight! Friend Kim and niece Cailin went to the ice skating venue and were thrilled with their awesome seats. Thanks NBC!
We have two members of our group will be going up to Whistler tomorrow to watch the Bobsleigh competition. Athletes and families often times have access to tickets for events if available. They don’t know what tickets are available or how many until the day before, so it can get complicated with schedules. It worked out that Kim and Lori can go to Whistler after our 9:00 a.m. game. The rest of our group will likely explore the city, check out the Olympic sites, and visit the P & G Home for the first time.
Keep those positive thoughts coming out this way. We appreciate your support very much.
Go USA!
It was a busy day in our household as the first week’s guests are leaving and the new guests are arriving tonight and tomorrow! A whole new batch of people to explore the beautiful city of Vancouver and experience the Olympics.
I met some great folks from NBC today at the curling game. As many of you know, I tend to pace a lot during curling games. On one of my trips around the arena I sat down for a bottled water and began to chat with some gentlemen who are here working for NBC. They were very nice guys who were excited to be seeing curling for the first time. They gave me two tickets to the ice dancing competition tonight! Friend Kim and niece Cailin went to the ice skating venue and were thrilled with their awesome seats. Thanks NBC!
We have two members of our group will be going up to Whistler tomorrow to watch the Bobsleigh competition. Athletes and families often times have access to tickets for events if available. They don’t know what tickets are available or how many until the day before, so it can get complicated with schedules. It worked out that Kim and Lori can go to Whistler after our 9:00 a.m. game. The rest of our group will likely explore the city, check out the Olympic sites, and visit the P & G Home for the first time.
Keep those positive thoughts coming out this way. We appreciate your support very much.
Go USA!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Things Olympic - Submitted by Carrie
Hard to write tonight. Another tough extra end loss today. It seems that the "curling gods" are not on our side so far. We are proud of our guys and how they are handling this difficult and unexpected situation. They are truly inspirational to all of us here watching them as they are not quitting. They are looking forward to the next game with an expectation of winning it. Go USA!
We had an opportunity to explore the city a bit more today. Spent some time at the P & G Home, did some shopping, and went to see the Olympic Flame! It was incredible to see the flame and the Olympic rings at night. Really brings home the feeling of the Olympic Games. Wins and losses are part of it, but it is so much bigger than that. To represent your country in international competition like this is truly an honor.
During our shopping trip we stopped by a small jewelry shop where we met the artist who designed the Olympic Medals for the Vancouver Games. I purchased a jewelry piece she designed with similar design elements to the medals. It was interesting to hear her describe the creative perspective behind the design concept of the medals.
In addition to the small shops, we also visited the Hudson Bay Company store in downtown Vancouver. It took 30 minutes to get into the store. Once inside it was a jungle of people, merchandise, and more lines! Again though, people were friendly and helpful and the experience was actually quite fun.
It continues to amaze us just how much we are enjoying meeting new people from around Canada and the world! There is a camaraderie among the fans that is really neat. While there is competition, we are all supportive of each other and excited to meet one another.
Go USA!
We had an opportunity to explore the city a bit more today. Spent some time at the P & G Home, did some shopping, and went to see the Olympic Flame! It was incredible to see the flame and the Olympic rings at night. Really brings home the feeling of the Olympic Games. Wins and losses are part of it, but it is so much bigger than that. To represent your country in international competition like this is truly an honor.
During our shopping trip we stopped by a small jewelry shop where we met the artist who designed the Olympic Medals for the Vancouver Games. I purchased a jewelry piece she designed with similar design elements to the medals. It was interesting to hear her describe the creative perspective behind the design concept of the medals.
In addition to the small shops, we also visited the Hudson Bay Company store in downtown Vancouver. It took 30 minutes to get into the store. Once inside it was a jungle of people, merchandise, and more lines! Again though, people were friendly and helpful and the experience was actually quite fun.
It continues to amaze us just how much we are enjoying meeting new people from around Canada and the world! There is a camaraderie among the fans that is really neat. While there is competition, we are all supportive of each other and excited to meet one another.
Go USA!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Go Team USA! Submitted by Carrie
We began today relaxing and exploring our neighborhood. We were glad to find a shopping mall within walking distance (just a few blocks!). We don’t have a rental car as everyone is discouraged from renting cars because you can’t drive to/park at any of the venues.
One of the primary stores carrying official Olympic merchandise is the Hudson Bay Company. Their downtown store has had lines two blocks long to get in! We found a “Bay” store in the mall by our house and were able to purchase a few fun souvenirs. We still intend to stand in line at the “big store” but on another day.
We headed off to the venue at noon for our 2:00 p.m. draw. Another capacity crowd was in attendance despite the fact that Canada didn’t play in this draw. The crowds have been amazing and we’ve met many new friends. What an incredible experience!
We have been handing out our team pins to people we meet from the U.S.A. and to folks who have befriended us during our games. In addition to the U.S.A. fans, we’ve given pins to two priests from Great Britain who are curling fans, lots of Canadians who have been so kind to us, and some fun fans from China who sat by us the other night. Everyone seems pleased and excited to get one of our pins! It brings a whole different kind of energy to game day!
The game didn’t start off too well today as the guys struggled a bit, but we sure made a comeback by scoring an important deuce and then further capitalizing on opportunities to take the lead in the late ends. We held the lead going into the tenth end, but a win was not meant to be again today as we lost in another extra end game.
Our guys are doing well and maintaining their confidence. It was great to be able to spend time with them after the game. The entire team came to the Proctor & Gamble Home for dinner with all of us family and friends. It was nice to relax with them and visit with them for the first time since our arrival. I’ll say yet again that it is hard to believe what Proctor & Gamble is doing for the athletes and families.
We met hockey legend John Mayasich at the Proctor & Gamble Home! What an honor! We are hoping some of his Olympic magic rubs off on us – Silver in 1956 and Gold in 1960 for the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team!
Keep the good thoughts and messages coming. We all appreciate your support very much! On to victory tomorrow morning! Go Team USA!
One of the primary stores carrying official Olympic merchandise is the Hudson Bay Company. Their downtown store has had lines two blocks long to get in! We found a “Bay” store in the mall by our house and were able to purchase a few fun souvenirs. We still intend to stand in line at the “big store” but on another day.
We headed off to the venue at noon for our 2:00 p.m. draw. Another capacity crowd was in attendance despite the fact that Canada didn’t play in this draw. The crowds have been amazing and we’ve met many new friends. What an incredible experience!
We have been handing out our team pins to people we meet from the U.S.A. and to folks who have befriended us during our games. In addition to the U.S.A. fans, we’ve given pins to two priests from Great Britain who are curling fans, lots of Canadians who have been so kind to us, and some fun fans from China who sat by us the other night. Everyone seems pleased and excited to get one of our pins! It brings a whole different kind of energy to game day!
The game didn’t start off too well today as the guys struggled a bit, but we sure made a comeback by scoring an important deuce and then further capitalizing on opportunities to take the lead in the late ends. We held the lead going into the tenth end, but a win was not meant to be again today as we lost in another extra end game.
Our guys are doing well and maintaining their confidence. It was great to be able to spend time with them after the game. The entire team came to the Proctor & Gamble Home for dinner with all of us family and friends. It was nice to relax with them and visit with them for the first time since our arrival. I’ll say yet again that it is hard to believe what Proctor & Gamble is doing for the athletes and families.
We met hockey legend John Mayasich at the Proctor & Gamble Home! What an honor! We are hoping some of his Olympic magic rubs off on us – Silver in 1956 and Gold in 1960 for the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team!
Keep the good thoughts and messages coming. We all appreciate your support very much! On to victory tomorrow morning! Go Team USA!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
First Day of Olympic Competition - Update by Carrie
While the wins didn’t come today, the first day of competition was very exciting! We were ready to cheer our team on in their first two games of the Olympics.
The morning began early…suggested arrival to venue was two hours before the game which meant 7:00 am. We fudged a little and got there at 7:30. It was good to get there early as by 8:00 it was taking 45 minutes to get through the security check points and into the venue. If you got there after 8:00 you missed the first few ends. We actually enjoyed getting there early and meeting up with more family and friends. Highlight among the family was Patrick Plys (Chris’ Dad) with his face and head painted Red, White, and Blue! The rest of us sported face stickers, U.S.A. flags and plenty of patriotic bling!
Our first game was against Germany. Andy Kapp and crew have been around International competition for a while. We’ve heard they are favored for a bronze in this competition. Andy had an awesome game at skip and took advantage of every opportunity by making some great shots. It’s always fun to watch good shot making in curling, even if it isn’t by your own team.
After the game we made our way down to the Proctor and Gamble USA Home where we enjoyed another nice lunch and met up with the rest of our curling family and friends. We hung out in the internet café and connected with the folks back home via facebook and email. Again, what an awesome facility that Proctor and Gamble sponsors for us. So nice to have somewhere to relax between games.
We headed out early to the 7:00 p.m. draw against Norway as we heard that there was to be an official opening ceremony of sorts at the curling venue. We were able to see most of the ceremony which included both the men’s and women’s teams from all of the countries competing here in Vancouver.
The game against Norway was well-played by both teams. A very fun game to watch. While we would have liked to come away with the win, it was nice to see our guys play well and have fun with the game they all enjoy so much. The arena was incredible with chants going through the crowd for all teams at various points throughout the night. And people say curling isn’t exciting! Wish everyone could have seen the games we saw tonight and felt the excitement in the arena. Amazing!
Go U.S.A.!
The morning began early…suggested arrival to venue was two hours before the game which meant 7:00 am. We fudged a little and got there at 7:30. It was good to get there early as by 8:00 it was taking 45 minutes to get through the security check points and into the venue. If you got there after 8:00 you missed the first few ends. We actually enjoyed getting there early and meeting up with more family and friends. Highlight among the family was Patrick Plys (Chris’ Dad) with his face and head painted Red, White, and Blue! The rest of us sported face stickers, U.S.A. flags and plenty of patriotic bling!
Our first game was against Germany. Andy Kapp and crew have been around International competition for a while. We’ve heard they are favored for a bronze in this competition. Andy had an awesome game at skip and took advantage of every opportunity by making some great shots. It’s always fun to watch good shot making in curling, even if it isn’t by your own team.
After the game we made our way down to the Proctor and Gamble USA Home where we enjoyed another nice lunch and met up with the rest of our curling family and friends. We hung out in the internet café and connected with the folks back home via facebook and email. Again, what an awesome facility that Proctor and Gamble sponsors for us. So nice to have somewhere to relax between games.
We headed out early to the 7:00 p.m. draw against Norway as we heard that there was to be an official opening ceremony of sorts at the curling venue. We were able to see most of the ceremony which included both the men’s and women’s teams from all of the countries competing here in Vancouver.
The game against Norway was well-played by both teams. A very fun game to watch. While we would have liked to come away with the win, it was nice to see our guys play well and have fun with the game they all enjoy so much. The arena was incredible with chants going through the crowd for all teams at various points throughout the night. And people say curling isn’t exciting! Wish everyone could have seen the games we saw tonight and felt the excitement in the arena. Amazing!
Go U.S.A.!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Family & Friends Arrive in Vancouver
After months of preparing, family and friends of the U.S. Olympic Men’s Curling Team are arriving in Vancouver just in time for the first draw of the competition on Tuesday, 2/16. I am Carrie Benton, wife of John Benton who plays Lead on Team U.S.A. I will be posting a daily blog, and from time to time will have other family members and friends submit to the blog as well. We’ll try to give you an idea of what we as family members and friends are experiencing here at the Olympics.
I arrived in Vancouver on Sunday with our two family friends Kim Leppanen and Lori Klingelhoets. Our trip started off with a packed airport and slow lines at Minneapolis St. Paul Airport, but employees were helpful and full of excitement when we told them of our reason for travel! Our plane included many folks traveling to the Olympics.
We arrived to find the Vancouver airport decked out in Olympic fare, so the excitement started to build. We were finally in Vancouver! Media were everywhere and crowds had gathered. We were pretty sure they weren’t there to greet us…we just happened to arrive moments before the Canadian Men’s Olympic Hockey Team!
The welcome we’ve received has been wonderful. Everyone at the airport was very helpful. There were volunteers every few feet it seemed! They helped us navigate our way through customs and the airport and out to the Canada Line train that took us to our rented home. We, like many Olympic families, have rented a home in Vancouver. Our home is lovely!
We explored Vancouver a bit today. We found the Proctor and Gamble Team USA Family Home which is a venue where U.S. athletes and their family and friends can meet up to have lunch or dinner, watch the Olympics in viewing lounges, enjoy a massage, use the internet café, hang out or even do your laundry! We met Theresa Miller, mother of the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team goaltender Ryan Miller and were able to applaud Bryon Wilson, who won the bronze medal in Freestyle Skiing-Men’s Moguls, when he arrived at the P & G House. It’s going to be great to meet other Olympic athletes, families, and friends! What an awesome gesture of support by Proctor and Gamble. Be sure to use their products!
We found the U.S. Olympic Store which sells all of the U.S. Olympic clothing you’ve been seeing on television. We saw the Official Olympic Store, but the line to get into the store was a city block long! We’ll head to that store early some morning before the lines get too bad. We want to see the large Quatchi mascot they have in that store!
We ended our day by checking out the curling venue. There were passes available for family members to watch the closed practice session. It was neat to see the venue before we actually begin play. There were other family and media in attendance, and Princess Anne even stopped by!
We’ve navigated our way around the city fairly well using the Canada Line Train system along with a lot of walking. We’re resting up tonight anticipating our early morning tomorrow. Spectators are encouraged to get to their sport’s venue up to two hours before game time as all venues have security check points to go through. With a 9:00 a.m. game scheduled, we’re in for an early morning.
I arrived in Vancouver on Sunday with our two family friends Kim Leppanen and Lori Klingelhoets. Our trip started off with a packed airport and slow lines at Minneapolis St. Paul Airport, but employees were helpful and full of excitement when we told them of our reason for travel! Our plane included many folks traveling to the Olympics.
We arrived to find the Vancouver airport decked out in Olympic fare, so the excitement started to build. We were finally in Vancouver! Media were everywhere and crowds had gathered. We were pretty sure they weren’t there to greet us…we just happened to arrive moments before the Canadian Men’s Olympic Hockey Team!
The welcome we’ve received has been wonderful. Everyone at the airport was very helpful. There were volunteers every few feet it seemed! They helped us navigate our way through customs and the airport and out to the Canada Line train that took us to our rented home. We, like many Olympic families, have rented a home in Vancouver. Our home is lovely!
We explored Vancouver a bit today. We found the Proctor and Gamble Team USA Family Home which is a venue where U.S. athletes and their family and friends can meet up to have lunch or dinner, watch the Olympics in viewing lounges, enjoy a massage, use the internet café, hang out or even do your laundry! We met Theresa Miller, mother of the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team goaltender Ryan Miller and were able to applaud Bryon Wilson, who won the bronze medal in Freestyle Skiing-Men’s Moguls, when he arrived at the P & G House. It’s going to be great to meet other Olympic athletes, families, and friends! What an awesome gesture of support by Proctor and Gamble. Be sure to use their products!
We found the U.S. Olympic Store which sells all of the U.S. Olympic clothing you’ve been seeing on television. We saw the Official Olympic Store, but the line to get into the store was a city block long! We’ll head to that store early some morning before the lines get too bad. We want to see the large Quatchi mascot they have in that store!
We ended our day by checking out the curling venue. There were passes available for family members to watch the closed practice session. It was neat to see the venue before we actually begin play. There were other family and media in attendance, and Princess Anne even stopped by!
We’ve navigated our way around the city fairly well using the Canada Line Train system along with a lot of walking. We’re resting up tonight anticipating our early morning tomorrow. Spectators are encouraged to get to their sport’s venue up to two hours before game time as all venues have security check points to go through. With a 9:00 a.m. game scheduled, we’re in for an early morning.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Getting Down to Business
Hello all! It's been a busy competitive season and that's kept me from getting new posts out here for a while. I plan on trying to keep this more up to date now that we're just 45 days away from Vancouver!!! It's time to get down to business!
Actually, we made that assertion about a month ago and really started to put things together for our Olympic push!
After struggling through most of our early WCT season, we started to make some progress starting at the first Grand Slam in Ontario. This was a tough event and we played a number of teams that we were likely to see in Vancouver. Our record was 2-4, but we were just a couple of shots away from being 4-2. After that event we met as a team with our coaching staff and came up with a clear plan of what needed to improve in the time remaining before the Games.
From there we played in WCT events in Brooks-Alberta, Duluth-MN, and Brantford-Ontario. In each successive event we seemed to get closer and closer to playing at a top level. In fact, we started to beat some teams that many might say that we had no shot against. But we again failed to qualify for the final 8 in any of them. Missing out by just one game in most cases! Doing our best to stay positive, we moved on with the ultimate prize still in mind.
Finally a breakthrough! It was at one of our favorite events in the U.S. .... the Curl Mesabi Classic in Eveleth-MN. After a disappointing loss in our first game, we rallied and rattled off 6 wins in a row to win the Event! Our last three games were our best of the season and we feel like we're really starting to click again!
Coming off of our most successful outing of the year we headed to Green Bay for our last camp before "The Big Show". This camp involved a ton of media appearances and a trip to an elementary school to speak to some kids! What an experience! We also met with coaching staff to start finalizing plans and schedules for Vancouver. Pete Fenson's team also made the trip and agreed to scrimmage us for three games. We again had a rough start in the first game, but came back to win the next two...giving us bragging rights for the weekend! Thanks to Pete and his team for making the trip! It was a great camp and sets us up well for the last two events of our season.......both are Grand Slam WCT events in Canada, which is the level of competition we need to be seeing heading into the Games.
First up is "The National" in Guelph, ON and second is the "The BDO Open" in Winnipeg, MB. Both look to be great events and we're looking forward to surprising a few people as we head into our final stages of preparation.
I should also mention the crazy fun of being involved with many, many, media events and appearances over the last few months! At some point all of us have had newspaper or TV interviews with local and national media. Some of us have also been involved in appearances on National TV shows. It's hard to imagine it being much more fun than this, but we are all sure that in 45 days it will be!
More to come from the road....until then.....good curling!!!
Actually, we made that assertion about a month ago and really started to put things together for our Olympic push!
After struggling through most of our early WCT season, we started to make some progress starting at the first Grand Slam in Ontario. This was a tough event and we played a number of teams that we were likely to see in Vancouver. Our record was 2-4, but we were just a couple of shots away from being 4-2. After that event we met as a team with our coaching staff and came up with a clear plan of what needed to improve in the time remaining before the Games.
From there we played in WCT events in Brooks-Alberta, Duluth-MN, and Brantford-Ontario. In each successive event we seemed to get closer and closer to playing at a top level. In fact, we started to beat some teams that many might say that we had no shot against. But we again failed to qualify for the final 8 in any of them. Missing out by just one game in most cases! Doing our best to stay positive, we moved on with the ultimate prize still in mind.
Finally a breakthrough! It was at one of our favorite events in the U.S. .... the Curl Mesabi Classic in Eveleth-MN. After a disappointing loss in our first game, we rallied and rattled off 6 wins in a row to win the Event! Our last three games were our best of the season and we feel like we're really starting to click again!
Coming off of our most successful outing of the year we headed to Green Bay for our last camp before "The Big Show". This camp involved a ton of media appearances and a trip to an elementary school to speak to some kids! What an experience! We also met with coaching staff to start finalizing plans and schedules for Vancouver. Pete Fenson's team also made the trip and agreed to scrimmage us for three games. We again had a rough start in the first game, but came back to win the next two...giving us bragging rights for the weekend! Thanks to Pete and his team for making the trip! It was a great camp and sets us up well for the last two events of our season.......both are Grand Slam WCT events in Canada, which is the level of competition we need to be seeing heading into the Games.
First up is "The National" in Guelph, ON and second is the "The BDO Open" in Winnipeg, MB. Both look to be great events and we're looking forward to surprising a few people as we head into our final stages of preparation.
I should also mention the crazy fun of being involved with many, many, media events and appearances over the last few months! At some point all of us have had newspaper or TV interviews with local and national media. Some of us have also been involved in appearances on National TV shows. It's hard to imagine it being much more fun than this, but we are all sure that in 45 days it will be!
More to come from the road....until then.....good curling!!!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
GB Training Camps End on a High Note
Time to Blog again!
Last weekend was our last summer camp in Green Bay.
From our first camp in May until now, we've made steady improvements. Lots of ice time and physical training sessions have made a huge difference!
We spent our last weekend tying up a few details and trying to celebrate our accomplishments with a trip to the Green Bay Packers "Family Night" game at Lambeau Field. However, Mother Nature had other plans. We were in our seats (6th row on the 50 yard line!) for about 20 minutes before the lightning storm sent us all scurrying into the concourse! As it turned out, they ended up canceling the event. We did get to watch the fireworks from the hotel though! Not all was lost!
We also got a chance to work with a professional photographer, which was very nice. We should end up with plenty of stock photos to use for the rest of the Olympic run!
As many of you already know, we also launched a new team website: www.teamusacurling2010.com
We're very happy with the site and are looking forward to adding information and functionality there as the season goes on. Included in this will likely be a team store where fans can help support the team and our families by purchasing team pins, apparel and novelty items. Check back there frequently for updates.
Our next step is to finalize our training with a trip to Lucerne, Switzerland where we'll get more ice time and scrimmage against some top European competition. I am personally looking forward to the trip because it will be my first venture overseas!
Things will start getting very interesting in September. The Start of the new WCT season will be upon us and we'll be spending 19 days on the road for competition. First off to the Shorty Jenkins Classic in Ontario, then Oslo, Norway for the Oslo Cup, then back to Lucerne where we'll train for a few days and then head to Basel, Switzerland for another event! Whew!
Well, that's about all for now. As things get moving with our schedule, I'll try to keep the blogs coming.
Thanks to everyone! Only 184 days to Opening Ceremonies!!!
Last weekend was our last summer camp in Green Bay.
From our first camp in May until now, we've made steady improvements. Lots of ice time and physical training sessions have made a huge difference!
We spent our last weekend tying up a few details and trying to celebrate our accomplishments with a trip to the Green Bay Packers "Family Night" game at Lambeau Field. However, Mother Nature had other plans. We were in our seats (6th row on the 50 yard line!) for about 20 minutes before the lightning storm sent us all scurrying into the concourse! As it turned out, they ended up canceling the event. We did get to watch the fireworks from the hotel though! Not all was lost!
We also got a chance to work with a professional photographer, which was very nice. We should end up with plenty of stock photos to use for the rest of the Olympic run!
As many of you already know, we also launched a new team website: www.teamusacurling2010.com
We're very happy with the site and are looking forward to adding information and functionality there as the season goes on. Included in this will likely be a team store where fans can help support the team and our families by purchasing team pins, apparel and novelty items. Check back there frequently for updates.
Our next step is to finalize our training with a trip to Lucerne, Switzerland where we'll get more ice time and scrimmage against some top European competition. I am personally looking forward to the trip because it will be my first venture overseas!
Things will start getting very interesting in September. The Start of the new WCT season will be upon us and we'll be spending 19 days on the road for competition. First off to the Shorty Jenkins Classic in Ontario, then Oslo, Norway for the Oslo Cup, then back to Lucerne where we'll train for a few days and then head to Basel, Switzerland for another event! Whew!
Well, that's about all for now. As things get moving with our schedule, I'll try to keep the blogs coming.
Thanks to everyone! Only 184 days to Opening Ceremonies!!!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Worlds recap and next steps.
Hello once again. I haven’t blogged for a while. The team took some much needed time off after our amazing season ended at the World Championships in Moncton.
We ended up with a 5th place finish at Worlds. After the round robin had concluded our record was 7-4, which was good enough to put us in a 4 way tie for third place. We then faced Norway in a tie-breaker while Switzerland and Germany faced off in the other match to fill out the final four. (Scotland and Canada had already advanced to the number one and number two seeds in the playoffs.)
Unfortunately we just didn’t play very well in the tie-breaker. As it was for most of the week, the ice was quite tricky to read and we didn’t adjust to it very well. On top of that, Norway brought their A-Game to the ice that day and took advantage of every mistake we made. Needless to say, the match ended early and our dream season had come to an end.
As disappointing as it was to be done, we were able to come away from the experience with a number of positives. First and foremost, we didn’t ever play our best game that week and were still in position to make the final four. We feel that bodes well for us and what might be possible in the future. Secondly, we exceeded the expectations of many who felt that we’d finish at the bottom of the standings. I think we opened a few eyes. Lastly, we came away with a good list of things we can improve on....we really learned quite a bit.
So the next step will be to take that list and apply it in our training camps, which start at the end of May. We’ll be spending 2 to 3 long weekends a month at camp and have a great team of coaches to work with. I am really looking forward to the concentrated effort and year round access to the ice that we’ll have this year. Not to mention getting in great physical shape.
In addition to the camps, we’re busy setting up appearances and working on sponsorship efforts. These efforts will help to offset some lost income that the team members will stand to incur over the next year. There is also an effort to help family and friends raise funds to defray expenses for the trip to Vancouver. As it turns out, the Olympics can be a spendy proposition!
We’re also working at finalizing our competition schedule for next Fall and Winter. As I have mentioned previously, it is likely that we’ll be competing in a number of events overseas and in Canada. These events will provide us with the level of competition that we will need to prepare for our time in Vancouver.
So I think I can speak for the whole team when I say that we’re very anxious to get to work! Nobody wants to be on that podium more that we do!
We ended up with a 5th place finish at Worlds. After the round robin had concluded our record was 7-4, which was good enough to put us in a 4 way tie for third place. We then faced Norway in a tie-breaker while Switzerland and Germany faced off in the other match to fill out the final four. (Scotland and Canada had already advanced to the number one and number two seeds in the playoffs.)
Unfortunately we just didn’t play very well in the tie-breaker. As it was for most of the week, the ice was quite tricky to read and we didn’t adjust to it very well. On top of that, Norway brought their A-Game to the ice that day and took advantage of every mistake we made. Needless to say, the match ended early and our dream season had come to an end.
As disappointing as it was to be done, we were able to come away from the experience with a number of positives. First and foremost, we didn’t ever play our best game that week and were still in position to make the final four. We feel that bodes well for us and what might be possible in the future. Secondly, we exceeded the expectations of many who felt that we’d finish at the bottom of the standings. I think we opened a few eyes. Lastly, we came away with a good list of things we can improve on....we really learned quite a bit.
So the next step will be to take that list and apply it in our training camps, which start at the end of May. We’ll be spending 2 to 3 long weekends a month at camp and have a great team of coaches to work with. I am really looking forward to the concentrated effort and year round access to the ice that we’ll have this year. Not to mention getting in great physical shape.
In addition to the camps, we’re busy setting up appearances and working on sponsorship efforts. These efforts will help to offset some lost income that the team members will stand to incur over the next year. There is also an effort to help family and friends raise funds to defray expenses for the trip to Vancouver. As it turns out, the Olympics can be a spendy proposition!
We’re also working at finalizing our competition schedule for next Fall and Winter. As I have mentioned previously, it is likely that we’ll be competing in a number of events overseas and in Canada. These events will provide us with the level of competition that we will need to prepare for our time in Vancouver.
So I think I can speak for the whole team when I say that we’re very anxious to get to work! Nobody wants to be on that podium more that we do!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
From Coast to Coast, Eh?
I have to tell you all that if you've never been to Victoria island in BC, make plans to get there soon! What a beautiful place. Rolling hills and small mountains covered in green and lush forests. Unfortunately, nobody remembered their cameras so I have only this one cell phone pic that is not very good but it is the view out the back of our hotel.
Oh yeah. We did do some curling out there as well!
The event lived up to expectations. So many very good teams! It was a real blast to be playing against guys that we've been watching for so many years! We played pretty well for the most part, but did run across a few things that need cleaning up. Our round robin record was 3-1, which was good enough to get us into the quarter finals! Qualifying in an event at this level is a great thing leading up to the Worlds! We ended up losing the quarter final game to Wayne Middaugh who went on to win the event. We're very pleased with the results and are looking forward to our chances at Worlds next week.
So we leave for Moncton, NB tomorrow afternoon.
On Thursday we'll get some private ice time at a local club. Then on Friday we'll have a team meeting, team practice at the arena and the opening banquet. Opening ceremonies and our first game will be Saturday. You should be able to find out about Webcast coverage and scoring at the usual places:
http://www.usacurl.org/curlingrocks/
http://www.universalsports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=23000&KEY=&SPID=11662&SPSID=95615
as well as:
http://www.seasonofchampions.ca/2009worlds/
Wish us luck and enjoy!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The New Road to Vancouver!
Welcome to the Team Shuster blog.
It seems like this might be a better way to keep you all informed. I'll send the link to this blog any time I post an update and you can always come back here to find links to our events and other information.
Now to get you up to speed.
Our first camp in Green Bay went very well. This camp was designed as a World Team Prep and Olympic introduction. Our team and Debbie McCormick's team (the women's Team USA) spent time in meetings with our new "Team Around The Team" or TATT. This Team includes:
Mark Swandby - USCA Men's Team Leader (logistics and planning)
Scott Higgins - USCA Coaching Development Director
Ed Lukowich - USCA Athletic Development Director (strategy and tactics)
John Coumbe-Lilley - USCA Sports Psychologist (psychology and communication)
Roger Schmidt - USCA Technical Coach (delivery and team systems)
John Crawley - USOC National Team Technical Support Coordinator
This highly qualified team of coaches spoke about our upcoming year and the challenges that we will face. The general tone of the discussion was that the TATT is meant to be a resource and partner for both teams as we go through the year.
One of the inspirational themes of the weekend was "Fight for the Podium!". We watched a great video of the behind-the-scenes story of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" hockey team, which was quite a bit different than the Hollywood version. There were some very interesting parallels from that story that we could draw from today.
We had two on-ice sessions running some drills and working on team systems. We also had some video tape work done on our deliveries. Time well spent.
The highlight of the weekend was our dinner Saturday night at Bret Favre's Steakhouse where both teams and the TATT were joined by Mark Murphy, current President of the Green Bay Packers. We enjoyed a wonderful meal and Mr. Murphy shared some of the Packer's vision for "winning organizations" as well as some stories of his playing career with the Washington Redskins under Joe Gibbs.
All-in-all a very good start to our quest for Gold! Trust me, we ARE NOT just satisfied to be going.
The most important component of the weekend was, without a doubt, our first look at a revised training schedule for the next year. The goal of the schedule is to make sure that we are the best prepared curling team in Vancouver! Essentially, once we return from the World Championships in Moncton, we'll have a short time off and then we'll be on a two weekends-on and one weekend-off schedule right through August! Most of that time will be spent in Green Bay. However, there looks to be a couple of trips to other training centers on the Schedule as well......San Diego and Colorado Springs are both possibilities.
In August our competition schedule will begin in earnest. It looks like we'll be spending some time overseas. I am not at liberty to say where just yet but I can say that Europe and the Pacific Rim are in the mix! As you might expect, we'll also be spending a fair amount of time in Canada again. However, the level of competition will be considerably higher on average than we saw this year. As of now, we're scheduled to play in all four Grand Slam of Curling events. The Grand Slam is a series of four WCT events that host the best in the world to play for some serious cash! All are usually televised in Canada. Very exciting stuff!
Some other things of note:
5th man - after much deliberation and discussion, we decided on a new 5th man to join us on this journey......Chris Plys. As you might remember, we had a few battles against Chris this year. Because Chris is from Duluth and has played with John, Ike and Smitty before and the fact that he is a great curler with a Jr. World Championship (2008) and a Jr. World Bronze (2009) to his name, he became the logical choice. We're very excited to have Chris join the team!
Olympic Coach - this is a longer story, but the short version is that Olympic Coaches need to be qualifed to make the trip. Unfortunately, Brian Simonson doesn't yet have the qualifications. so Brian will make the trip to Worlds with us, but he will be transitioning his duties over to our new coach, Phil Drobnick. Phil is a longtime friend and curler from the Iron Range and surprise, surprise, he was Chris Plys' coach! Kind of makes sense, huh? Phil will bring a wealth of World experience with him from his last few years with Chris' team.
Okay, almost done. So we're off and running as Team USA! We head out tomorrow for Victoria, British Columbia for the last WCT event of the year. The Bear Mountain Arena Curling Classic! Many of the teams that we'll see in Moncton will be at this event, so it will be a good test for us. Online scoring should be available and I have posted the link to the right.
Thank you all so much for the support. More to come.....
John Benton
Team USA
It seems like this might be a better way to keep you all informed. I'll send the link to this blog any time I post an update and you can always come back here to find links to our events and other information.
Now to get you up to speed.
Our first camp in Green Bay went very well. This camp was designed as a World Team Prep and Olympic introduction. Our team and Debbie McCormick's team (the women's Team USA) spent time in meetings with our new "Team Around The Team" or TATT. This Team includes:
Mark Swandby - USCA Men's Team Leader (logistics and planning)
Scott Higgins - USCA Coaching Development Director
Ed Lukowich - USCA Athletic Development Director (strategy and tactics)
John Coumbe-Lilley - USCA Sports Psychologist (psychology and communication)
Roger Schmidt - USCA Technical Coach (delivery and team systems)
John Crawley - USOC National Team Technical Support Coordinator
This highly qualified team of coaches spoke about our upcoming year and the challenges that we will face. The general tone of the discussion was that the TATT is meant to be a resource and partner for both teams as we go through the year.
One of the inspirational themes of the weekend was "Fight for the Podium!". We watched a great video of the behind-the-scenes story of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" hockey team, which was quite a bit different than the Hollywood version. There were some very interesting parallels from that story that we could draw from today.
We had two on-ice sessions running some drills and working on team systems. We also had some video tape work done on our deliveries. Time well spent.
The highlight of the weekend was our dinner Saturday night at Bret Favre's Steakhouse where both teams and the TATT were joined by Mark Murphy, current President of the Green Bay Packers. We enjoyed a wonderful meal and Mr. Murphy shared some of the Packer's vision for "winning organizations" as well as some stories of his playing career with the Washington Redskins under Joe Gibbs.
All-in-all a very good start to our quest for Gold! Trust me, we ARE NOT just satisfied to be going.
The most important component of the weekend was, without a doubt, our first look at a revised training schedule for the next year. The goal of the schedule is to make sure that we are the best prepared curling team in Vancouver! Essentially, once we return from the World Championships in Moncton, we'll have a short time off and then we'll be on a two weekends-on and one weekend-off schedule right through August! Most of that time will be spent in Green Bay. However, there looks to be a couple of trips to other training centers on the Schedule as well......San Diego and Colorado Springs are both possibilities.
In August our competition schedule will begin in earnest. It looks like we'll be spending some time overseas. I am not at liberty to say where just yet but I can say that Europe and the Pacific Rim are in the mix! As you might expect, we'll also be spending a fair amount of time in Canada again. However, the level of competition will be considerably higher on average than we saw this year. As of now, we're scheduled to play in all four Grand Slam of Curling events. The Grand Slam is a series of four WCT events that host the best in the world to play for some serious cash! All are usually televised in Canada. Very exciting stuff!
Some other things of note:
5th man - after much deliberation and discussion, we decided on a new 5th man to join us on this journey......Chris Plys. As you might remember, we had a few battles against Chris this year. Because Chris is from Duluth and has played with John, Ike and Smitty before and the fact that he is a great curler with a Jr. World Championship (2008) and a Jr. World Bronze (2009) to his name, he became the logical choice. We're very excited to have Chris join the team!
Olympic Coach - this is a longer story, but the short version is that Olympic Coaches need to be qualifed to make the trip. Unfortunately, Brian Simonson doesn't yet have the qualifications. so Brian will make the trip to Worlds with us, but he will be transitioning his duties over to our new coach, Phil Drobnick. Phil is a longtime friend and curler from the Iron Range and surprise, surprise, he was Chris Plys' coach! Kind of makes sense, huh? Phil will bring a wealth of World experience with him from his last few years with Chris' team.
Okay, almost done. So we're off and running as Team USA! We head out tomorrow for Victoria, British Columbia for the last WCT event of the year. The Bear Mountain Arena Curling Classic! Many of the teams that we'll see in Moncton will be at this event, so it will be a good test for us. Online scoring should be available and I have posted the link to the right.
Thank you all so much for the support. More to come.....
John Benton
Team USA
Thursday, March 5, 2009
“So really, what’s next?” you ask.
What an incredible week this has been. I have been overwhelmed by e-mail, phone calls and the like! More good friends and supporters than I ever knew!
Along with all of that activity has been the beginnings of planning our next year, which looks to very busy indeed. Eventually, I’ll be moving this update to a blog which will chronicle our year. The blog will be available via our team website which is already under construction. But for now, I will give you a brief sketch of the next month or so:
March 13-15 – World Team Prep Camp – Green Bay, WI
March 25-29 – Bear Mountain Cash Spiel – Victoria, BC
April 1-13 – Ford Men’s World Curling Championships – Moncton, NB
April 18-19 – World Debrief and Analyze – Duluth, MN
May 2-3 – Olympic Orientation – Colorado Springs, CO???
After that the penciled in dates make it look like we’ll be busy at least two weekends per month right up to the Olympic Games themselves next February!
Family, friends and co-workers have already set plans in motion to come watch us in Vancouver. Tickets have not yet gone on sale, but all the information you need can be found at www.vancouver2010.com. Looks like the best way to go will be to rent some housing either in Vancouver or Seattle.
You’ll probably get sick of hearing me thank you all but the response has been nothing short of incredible!
So Thank You again everyone!
More to come . . .
John Benton
Team USA
Along with all of that activity has been the beginnings of planning our next year, which looks to very busy indeed. Eventually, I’ll be moving this update to a blog which will chronicle our year. The blog will be available via our team website which is already under construction. But for now, I will give you a brief sketch of the next month or so:
March 13-15 – World Team Prep Camp – Green Bay, WI
March 25-29 – Bear Mountain Cash Spiel – Victoria, BC
April 1-13 – Ford Men’s World Curling Championships – Moncton, NB
April 18-19 – World Debrief and Analyze – Duluth, MN
May 2-3 – Olympic Orientation – Colorado Springs, CO???
After that the penciled in dates make it look like we’ll be busy at least two weekends per month right up to the Olympic Games themselves next February!
Family, friends and co-workers have already set plans in motion to come watch us in Vancouver. Tickets have not yet gone on sale, but all the information you need can be found at www.vancouver2010.com. Looks like the best way to go will be to rent some housing either in Vancouver or Seattle.
You’ll probably get sick of hearing me thank you all but the response has been nothing short of incredible!
So Thank You again everyone!
More to come . . .
John Benton
Team USA
Sunday, March 1, 2009
WHAT A DREAM!
That phrase started out as one of Ike's (Jeff Isaacsons) rare but funny sarcastic statements about our team.
We'll it now has much more meaning than that!
YES, YES, YES!!! We did it!
Team Shuster is the 2009 US National Champion and 2010 Men's Olympic Team! WE ARE GOING TO VANCOUVER!!!! WOOOOOOHOOOOO!
Even as I write this it still hasn't quite hit me yet. Lots of great e-mails, phone calls, and facebook messages. Lots of happy tears and a whole bunch of planning to do.
I wanted to write this right away today to let all of you know how special your support has been to me and the team. I am truly blessed with a wonderful family and great friends and coworkers who have stood by me in this dream through the tough times and the good times. I realize that I am very fortunate to be able to live my dream and understand that it is not nearly possible without the sacrifices and support of others. YOU ARE ALL PART OF THIS BIG THING. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.
I also want to give special thanks to my devoted wife Carrie. She has really made life pretty easy for me and has never asked me to give up on this when there are many times that she had every reason to. Thank you for sticking it out with me honey. I love you.
So what now? LOTS! There are new goals and new dreams to fulfill. In the immediate plan is our trip to the World Championships in Moncton, NB.
I'll keep you all up to date on our progress. Thanks again for everything!
Team Shust.......
TEAM USA!!!!! :)
We'll it now has much more meaning than that!
YES, YES, YES!!! We did it!
Team Shuster is the 2009 US National Champion and 2010 Men's Olympic Team! WE ARE GOING TO VANCOUVER!!!! WOOOOOOHOOOOO!
Even as I write this it still hasn't quite hit me yet. Lots of great e-mails, phone calls, and facebook messages. Lots of happy tears and a whole bunch of planning to do.
I wanted to write this right away today to let all of you know how special your support has been to me and the team. I am truly blessed with a wonderful family and great friends and coworkers who have stood by me in this dream through the tough times and the good times. I realize that I am very fortunate to be able to live my dream and understand that it is not nearly possible without the sacrifices and support of others. YOU ARE ALL PART OF THIS BIG THING. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.
I also want to give special thanks to my devoted wife Carrie. She has really made life pretty easy for me and has never asked me to give up on this when there are many times that she had every reason to. Thank you for sticking it out with me honey. I love you.
So what now? LOTS! There are new goals and new dreams to fulfill. In the immediate plan is our trip to the World Championships in Moncton, NB.
I'll keep you all up to date on our progress. Thanks again for everything!
Team Shust.......
TEAM USA!!!!! :)
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Rocky Mountain High?
Hello all.
Well,, we’re almost there! Tomorrow we leave for Denver to begin the last leg of our journey to Vancouver!
The last two weeks have been filled with much planning and organizing for our ten day trip. Hotel rooms, rental cars, new equipment and uniforms and the addition of a coach were at the top of the list. On that note I should mention that our new coach is Brian Simonson of Chisholm, MN. Brian has been around curling for many years and is a close friend to the Shuster family and is familiar with all of the guys on our team. Brian even spent a few years playing with and against my brothers Michael and Tim so I have had a chance to get to know him as well. Brian is also part of a team that recently won the U.S. Senior Nationals. For Brian this will be third time and will be representing the U.S. at senior worlds. We’re very excited to have him join us in Colorado and bring his knowledge and objective viewpoint to the team.
My wife Carrie has been busy setting up her plans with family who are tentatively planning trips out to watch. She will also be working with the USCA as a media liaison during the week so she will be able to keep busy! (She can’t bear to watch sometimes J) A note to those of you who would like more frequent updates while were in Denver: Carrie has her own e-mail list that she sends to with day to day updates from a fan’s perspective. If you are just dying to get all of the “dirt of the day” from Denver, just send a note to Benton@augsburg.edu to have her add you to her list.
Mixed in with the planning have been many phone and e-mail conversations with my teammates. We all have spent some time on individual practice to keep in tune. But again, we’re well beyond “tweaking” time. Now it’s just time to go play!
Overall, the team seems to be in that workman like mode that we’ve been in for the last month or so. We really just want to get started.
For your convenience I have attached the detailed draw schedule so you can figure out when we play and who.
There has been a little buzz in the media about the trials in general and I would expect that to continue and probably pick up as next week starts to unfold. Here are a couple of nice pieces from this week.
(nice video piece from Duluth) http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S795185.shtml?cat=10348
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/18/us-curling-olympic-trials-in-broomfield-at-a/?partner=RSS
http://curling.teamusa.org/news/article/9867
As far as live coverage goes, you will have the usual line scoring and standings updates at: http://www.usacurl.org/curlingrocks/
In addition there will be information on that site about an “Audiocast” over the web. There will likely be one for every set of games. It usually requires Winamp, but I’m not sure this year. They should have detailed instructions available on the site.
And of course, the big announcement was that NBC will be airing 12 hours of LIVE coverage from Denver on their 24 hour sports station NBC Universal! You will also be able to pick these games up on www.UniversalSports.com.
And for the 100th time, we all thank you and our sponsors for every bit of support you have given us. You really have no idea what it means! Keep it coming!
Thanks again. Wish us luck.
John Benton
Well,, we’re almost there! Tomorrow we leave for Denver to begin the last leg of our journey to Vancouver!
The last two weeks have been filled with much planning and organizing for our ten day trip. Hotel rooms, rental cars, new equipment and uniforms and the addition of a coach were at the top of the list. On that note I should mention that our new coach is Brian Simonson of Chisholm, MN. Brian has been around curling for many years and is a close friend to the Shuster family and is familiar with all of the guys on our team. Brian even spent a few years playing with and against my brothers Michael and Tim so I have had a chance to get to know him as well. Brian is also part of a team that recently won the U.S. Senior Nationals. For Brian this will be third time and will be representing the U.S. at senior worlds. We’re very excited to have him join us in Colorado and bring his knowledge and objective viewpoint to the team.
My wife Carrie has been busy setting up her plans with family who are tentatively planning trips out to watch. She will also be working with the USCA as a media liaison during the week so she will be able to keep busy! (She can’t bear to watch sometimes J) A note to those of you who would like more frequent updates while were in Denver: Carrie has her own e-mail list that she sends to with day to day updates from a fan’s perspective. If you are just dying to get all of the “dirt of the day” from Denver, just send a note to Benton@augsburg.edu to have her add you to her list.
Mixed in with the planning have been many phone and e-mail conversations with my teammates. We all have spent some time on individual practice to keep in tune. But again, we’re well beyond “tweaking” time. Now it’s just time to go play!
Overall, the team seems to be in that workman like mode that we’ve been in for the last month or so. We really just want to get started.
For your convenience I have attached the detailed draw schedule so you can figure out when we play and who.
There has been a little buzz in the media about the trials in general and I would expect that to continue and probably pick up as next week starts to unfold. Here are a couple of nice pieces from this week.
(nice video piece from Duluth) http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S795185.shtml?cat=10348
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/18/us-curling-olympic-trials-in-broomfield-at-a/?partner=RSS
http://curling.teamusa.org/news/article/9867
As far as live coverage goes, you will have the usual line scoring and standings updates at: http://www.usacurl.org/curlingrocks/
In addition there will be information on that site about an “Audiocast” over the web. There will likely be one for every set of games. It usually requires Winamp, but I’m not sure this year. They should have detailed instructions available on the site.
And of course, the big announcement was that NBC will be airing 12 hours of LIVE coverage from Denver on their 24 hour sports station NBC Universal! You will also be able to pick these games up on www.UniversalSports.com.
And for the 100th time, we all thank you and our sponsors for every bit of support you have given us. You really have no idea what it means! Keep it coming!
Thanks again. Wish us luck.
John Benton
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
In the land of Green ($$$) and Gold!
Well, after a very short week we made a quick trip to Green Bay for the “Pre-Trials” games over last weekend. The games included four men’s and 4 women’s teams that have qualified for the trials. This was a “Competition / Camp” that allowed us to play 6 games over the 3 days. Each game had a different format (Skins, Moncton, Doubles, Normal). I’ll spare you the agony of explaining all of the differences. Just know that the formats were all designed to force us to play more offense and harder shots. The other twist is that each game was broken into 3 “Sets” much like tennis and each set won was worth points that translated into dollars! To make a long story short, in our 6 games there was a total of 18 sets available to win. We ended up winning 14 of the 18 sets and were named the “Pre-Trials” champion!
In addition to the competition there were USOC Trainers, Coaches and Officials present which allowed us to get some insight on the direction that the USOC wants to see curling move. It also afforded us some time with the trainers to work on advanced exercises and stretching techniques to help us stay fit over the 10 day event in Denver. We also did a series of “Functional Movement” tests that we will repeat over time. These test balance, agility, and mobility and are used in many other sports to set a baseline for fitness. For instance, in Pro-Football a minimum score on these tests is a 17 for the NFL to even consider a person for playing. Our individual high was 16 and the low was 14 so we have some work to do in these areas. All very interesting stuff that I never thought I’d be talking about in the same breath with curling! J
BIG NEWS! The long awaited announcement about Broadcast coverage from Denver! NBC will be airing 12 hours of LIVE coverage from Denver on their 24 hour sports station NBC Universal! Of course NBC Universal is only found on cable in limited markets, but do not fear….you will also be able to pick these games up on www.UniversalSports.com. The 12 hours will only be the Semi-Finals and Finals but at least it’s something! For more information look here: http://www.usacurl.org/curlingrocks//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=601&Itemid=1
Otherwise travel plans have all been settled and we’re just about ready for our trip. Just trying to get our finances in order and we’ll be set.
I’ll check in one more time next week before we go.
Thanks as always for all of the well wishes and support!
John Benton
Team Shuster
In addition to the competition there were USOC Trainers, Coaches and Officials present which allowed us to get some insight on the direction that the USOC wants to see curling move. It also afforded us some time with the trainers to work on advanced exercises and stretching techniques to help us stay fit over the 10 day event in Denver. We also did a series of “Functional Movement” tests that we will repeat over time. These test balance, agility, and mobility and are used in many other sports to set a baseline for fitness. For instance, in Pro-Football a minimum score on these tests is a 17 for the NFL to even consider a person for playing. Our individual high was 16 and the low was 14 so we have some work to do in these areas. All very interesting stuff that I never thought I’d be talking about in the same breath with curling! J
BIG NEWS! The long awaited announcement about Broadcast coverage from Denver! NBC will be airing 12 hours of LIVE coverage from Denver on their 24 hour sports station NBC Universal! Of course NBC Universal is only found on cable in limited markets, but do not fear….you will also be able to pick these games up on www.UniversalSports.com. The 12 hours will only be the Semi-Finals and Finals but at least it’s something! For more information look here: http://www.usacurl.org/curlingrocks//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=601&Itemid=1
Otherwise travel plans have all been settled and we’re just about ready for our trip. Just trying to get our finances in order and we’ll be set.
I’ll check in one more time next week before we go.
Thanks as always for all of the well wishes and support!
John Benton
Team Shuster
Monday, February 2, 2009
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!
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!
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