Registered: Mar 2009
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Originally posted by TJNCJ
When will the US teams start developing monster front ends like the Canadians (men and women). Brady can lead the skips in percentages but when the front end are both 12th it is tough to compete.

I mean that as no offense to our guys, but the US needs to find guys who want to commit to be good front end players and not added in after a skip and vice get together.

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Registered: Jan 2005
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quote:

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Originally posted by Frykenstein

TJ ... Also don't understand what point Fenson illustrates. He's skipped at Worlds or Olys 6 times in the last decade and made the playoffs 3 times. Polo has always been at 2nd. Lead has been Shuster (4x), George, and Brunt. Their RR records were at best 8-3 (Shuster in '05, Tyler in '10), and at worst 2-7 (Shuster in '03). They went 3-8 w/ Brunt in 2011.

Is there a pattern here I'm not seeing?
mf

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Registered: Dec 2005
Location: New York
Posts: 592

My Hand selected team, Gemmell, Clark, And George, or if he's interested Plys.. Then the skip thats a little trickier, the last great closer we had was Tim Sommerville, he had some issues but the dude could finish. The greatest shot in USA curling history was his shot against Japan.

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Registered: Dec 2005
Location: New York
Posts: 592

You just can't lose to Russia, feel bad for the guys, pressure had to be crazy. They should hold thier heads high and finish with big win over Norway and DA Pants....

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Registered: Nov 2008
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I never meant these guys aren't committed, obviously they are. They are national champions and excellent curlers. The last thing I meant to do was put their accomplishments down.

My point is who other than the mentioned Polo and Rojeski said I am going to be the best sweeper, the best front end in the US?

What if we had some great curlers committ to be the next Huff and Puff or Weagle with her magical tick shot? We have talent, I just think it is too diluted to compete for medals.

TJ

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location: US - CT
Posts: 1431

There is still a (slim) chance to make it to the Olys direct. Switzerland would need to lose the next two (Japan, Czech) and Czech Republic would need to not make the playoffs. And we need to beat Norway of course.

Right now with two draws left
Denmark 6-4
Czech Republic 6-4
Norway 5-4
Sweden 6-4
they are all fighting to make a TB for the 3 and 4 spot.

Remaining games:
SUI v JPN DEN v CAN USA v NOR FIN v SCO
CHN v FIN NOR v RUS CAN v SWE SUI v CZE

JH
not quite time for the fat lady, but she is warming up her voice.
GO JAPAN! GO Czech(oslovakia) until the tiebreaker.

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Registered: Feb 2009
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quote:

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Originally posted by TJNCJ
I never meant these guys aren't committed, obviously they are. They are national champions and excellent curlers. The last thing I meant to do was put their accomplishments down.

My point is who other than the mentioned Polo and Rojeski said I am going to be the best sweeper, the best front end in the US?

What if we had some great curlers committ to be the next Huff and Puff or Weagle with her magical tick shot? We have talent, I just think it is too diluted to compete for medals.

TJ

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Registered: Sep 2011
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I hate to say I told you so but ..i did. I couldnt see them challenging for a playoff spot here, the field was to strong and they arent experienced enough . They also arent that strong of a team where they could come in with no experience and surprise everyone.

I do believe that the Tyler George rink would have been stronger reps..Chris was just so off that day of the final though, unable to cap off ends that the front end infront of him set up so well.

It does look like the US will have to qualify to get to the olympics..they should be able to but there will be a fair amount of determined teams there, including germany with a proud history in the sport.

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Registered: Feb 2009
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quote:

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Originally posted by Willy
You just can't lose to Russia, feel bad for the guys, pressure had to be crazy. They should hold thier heads high and finish with big win over Norway and DA Pants....

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location: US - CT
Posts: 1431

quote:

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Originally posted by Nine Ender


They seem like a nice bunch of guys who enjoy Curling together having a dream season. I doubt they care about the internet based chatter that likely far exceeds what they expected in themselves this year.

So I don't think the pressure is really there. Teams that seemed truly pressured are the Swiss ( young skip, misses numerous open draws ) and the Russians ( Russian federation could pull their Olympic dream out from under them ). And in a strange way Scotland, which has its own issues with the coaching staff but overcomes this somewhat with talent. Of course, Canada there's the pressure of Gold being the goal every year, but winning the Brier usually means you are capable of dealing with that.

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Registered: Feb 2011
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Nine Ender. It's time for homework. Literally.

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Registered: Dec 2012
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this from the USCA press release, following team USA's win over team scotland:

"At 1-4 we were thinking that there's a remote chance for tiebreakers if we win out," Philip Tilker said about the start of the day. "I know, me personally, I kind of shifted gears. We have every intention of winning our Olympic Trials in November so we need to go out and make sure we have the spot in the Olympics."

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Registered: Sep 2011
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quote:

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I do believe that the Tyler George rink would have been stronger reps..Chris was just so off that day of the final though, unable to cap off ends that the front end infront of him set up so well.

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Registered: Sep 2011
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quote:

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Originally posted by AlanMacNeill


Well... unfortunately for him, the George Rink failed to win on the ice...and...to be honest...there's something wrong here...

"George would have been better under the pressure of Worlds, but he failed to win under the pressure of Nationals".

anyone see the issue here?

Plain and simple, we should keep putting our NATIONAL CHAMPIONS out there, both for the Worlds and the Olympics (well, for the Olympics, the victors of the selection tournament arranged between those who have been our NC's and selected other high finishers...the principle is the same...)you win the red white and blue uniform on the ice, not the committee room.

Yep, sometimes that means that our National Team will falter. Sometimes we'll have to qualify for the Olympics. It happens. But guess what, not all of our nation's Handpicked Teams get golds every year either...we always think of the Basketball Dream Teams...but did our handpicked Team Handball team make it to the Olympics? Nope, it didn't. Did our handpicked Men's Field Hockey Team make it? Nope, it didn't.

No matter what selection method we use, the team may or may not perform on the next level when pushed. Heck, the Dream Team isn't perfect. So we should continue being the sport where the best TEAM this year gets to rep our nation, not the sport where some guy who doesn't even play anymore decides which four guys he likes the most and then tries to make them work together as a cohesive team.

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Thank you for the clarification, misty....regretfully, there are some in the community that believe that we should be following a model where some bunch of folks in the USCA and USOC offices decide which 4 (5) people become our National/Olympic teams.

Or, for that matter, who gets to go to Nationals.

Never!

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Registered: Feb 2013
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by jhcurl
[B]


There are 15,000 curlers in the US, there are about 100 competitive curlers in the US. Trust me, if Tuck has a hemorrhoid, everyone knows it. It takes about 4 hours for anything involving competitive curling to spread across the entire country. This post will reach the ears of team Clark prior to their game tonight against Norway, which they will win handily...

Okay, JH, it may take only 4 hours for those 100 competitive curlers to hear news but of the 15000 curlers in the US only a small percentage have any idea how USA is doing in the Worlds. Fact is most of them do not even know that the Worlds is going on. Yes there are lots of new clubs and lots of new curlers, but most of them have no interest beyond their home club.

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Registered: Sep 2002
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quote:

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Originally posted by dbsdbs
[QUOTE]Originally posted by jhcurl
[B]


There are 15,000 curlers in the US, there are about 100 competitive curlers in the US. Trust me, if Tuck has a hemorrhoid, everyone knows it. It takes about 4 hours for anything involving competitive curling to spread across the entire country. This post will reach the ears of team Clark prior to their game tonight against Norway, which they will win handily...

Okay, JH, it may take only 4 hours for those 100 competitive curlers to hear news but of the 15000 curlers in the US only a small percentage have any idea how USA is doing in the Worlds. Fact is most of them do not even know that the Worlds is going on. Yes there are lots of new clubs and lots of new curlers, but most of them have no interest beyond their home club.

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Last edited by jhcurl on 04-04-13 at 08:44PM

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Registered: Feb 2013
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Sorry if I misunderstood you JH. I thought you were suggesting that ALL US curlers were following Team Clark in the Worlds and that news about our competitive curlers would spread quickly among them. I wish that were the case and that more curlers did care about our OLY status. Fact is that could not be more wrong as most US curlers have no interest in competitive curling. Does that mean that NO money should be spent on curling "at the highest levels"? Probably not. Does it mean that most USCA members get nothing for their dues -- absolutely. But that does not mean that I and many [but not thousands] of curlers are not following the Worlds closely.
Yes, it is a disappointing finish for USA but probably not unexpected. And that is not a shot at the Clark rink but rather at USA curling. We have a long ways to go.

Last edited by dbsdbs on 04-04-13 at 10:14PM

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Registered: Sep 2011
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Somebody check me on this...but...if I'm reading correctly...

IF switzerland, china, and norway all lose their final games, 6th is still a possible finish for the US, which would be enough to sneak through to the Olympics.

No?

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Registered: Sep 2011
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quote:

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Originally posted by AlanMacNeill
Somebody check me on this...but...if I'm reading correctly...

IF switzerland, china, and norway all lose their final games, 6th is still a possible finish for the US, which would be enough to sneak through to the Olympics.

No?

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Registered: Sep 2011
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I'm not sure that's true, as if they all lost, it's a 4 way tie, which is broken by records within the group, and I think US's 2-1 is superior to the others....or am I misreading Switzerlands?

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Registered: Jan 2007
Location: Dartmouth, NS
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quote:

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Originally posted by dbsdbs
[QUOTE]Originally posted by jhcurl
[B]
There are 15,000 curlers in the US, there are about 100 competitive curlers in the US.

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Last edited by murphyj87 on 04-04-13 at 10:56PM

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Registered: Oct 2012
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quote:

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Originally posted by murphyj87



What Americans have always neglected to mention about Pete Fenson's team is that Pete Fenson was successful only when Canadians Ed Lukowich and/or Rob Meakin were running the USCA technical program and Lukowich coached Fenson's team, but since Americans have taken it over, results have slumped badly.

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location: London, Ontario
Posts: 4002

In 2006, Pete Fenson won a Bronze Medal at the Olympics for the USA and in 2007, Todd Birr won a World Bronze Medal.

Since then:

1. China and Russia broke out onto the curling scene, dedicated full time to the game.
2. Czech Republic emerged as a contender, make 2012 and 2013 Euro playoffs, chance at Worlds playoffs.
3. Norway, Sweden, Scotland, and Switzerland curlers funded to play nearly full time.

What does the USA need to do to keep up to these always improving countries?

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Registered: Feb 2013
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murphyj87 - we're happy for you. We know that USA is a bit of a johnny-come-lately to curling. So what is your point?

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