Today was Men's Curling

It was a late night after Pairs Figure Skating last night, which I'm not ashamed to admit was MARVELOUS! Watching it live doesn't even begin to compare to watching it on television. This morning was an early wakeup call so I could be aboard the 6:20 am ferry to make my way to Pacific Coliseum to watch Men's Curling. The USA played Germany, while at the same time Canada played Norway, Sweden took on Great Britain and Switzerland played Denmark. All 4 events were going on at once, right in front of us! Now, I knew VERY little about the basics of curling, but was fortunate to get a seat next to an elderly gentleman that was very enthusiastic about explaining to me the basic rules, terminology and strategy. He obviously was highly interested in the Canada/Norway match, but also was keeping a close eye on the USA/Germany game so he could help me understand what was happening. USA eventually lost 7-5. I was told that scores for games are typically in the single digits. As I sat and watched and thought about it, it occurred to me that several phrases we use commonly are probably derived from curling. Have you ever said "you hit it right on the button"? Well, in curling, the center circle in the scoring ring is called "the button" and the object is to get your stone closest to or directly on "the button". Or how about "they live just a stones throw from here"? Well, the rocks with handles they use in the game are called stones and you "throw" them down the ice sheet. "Putting the hammer down?" A curling game consists of 10 "ends". Each end consists of 16 stones thrown. 8 by each team, and 2 by each of the 4 team members. The big advantage to have is to be able to throw the final stone in an "end". That final stone is known as "the hammer".

Here is the entrance to Pacific Coliseum, site of Curling.

Here's a look at 5 of the teams competing...at the bottom is Canada in white and you can just see below them a guy in red. That's Great Britain. They guy in Yellow are Sweden. Then it's the USA in Blue, and at the top of the picture is Switzerland in Red.

Do you see all the stones inside the rings on the USA sheet of ice? The rings are called "the house" and when there are several stones in there, it's called a "crowded house". Those two stones out in front of the house are called guards and their purpose is to defelct incoming stones from knocking the stones inside the house out of the scoring ring, or away from "the Button". That's the blue circle in the middle. Teams will throw a stone down the ice and then make it stop as a guard once they get a stone close to the button. Each game consists of 10 ends, and if the score is tied at the end of 10 ends, they play an extra end, sort of like overtime. Canada and Norway went to an extra end and Canada had the Hammer, "last stone", but Norway had a stone inside the house and another guarding it out front, so the only option for Canada was to throw the Hammer, make it curve around the guard stone in front and then somehow sneak it in closer to the button than the Norwegian stone. You've seen those guys with the brooms sweeping the ice in front of the stone? Well they were able to help the Canadians get the winning shot and they beat Norway in an extra end 7-6. The place went nuts! Curling is HUGE here. Where I am staying, in the small coastal community called Gibsons, they have their own curling club, and I imagine it's the same in almost all communities.
Here's Team USA footage with a little bonus commentary from some Curling Know-It-All.....

Tonight, on my last trip to the Langdale Ferry Terminal (I'm moving into the city of Vancouver tomorrow), the sun finally came out, allowing me to capture just a small taste of the natural, rugged beauty of this country that I'm surrounded by every day.

Tomorrow, as I mentioned, I move from the Sunshine Coast community of Gibsons into the city of Vancouver itself. This is because for the next 2 nights I have tickets to mens hockey games which begin at 9pm, which means there would be no way possible to make the last ferry across. That departs every night at 11:00 pm. My accomodations were arranged by my most gracious hosts here in Gibson, Norma and Rory Quinn, who I can't thank enough for opening the doors to their wonderful home to me and amking me feel so welcome. They brought me to and from the ferry every morning and evening, no matter how early or late. My first night here, they welcomed me with a spaghetti dinner, and now here on my last night, they prepared delicious steak, potatoes and corn with salad! Of course, we sat in the living from watching live coverage of the Canadian Men's Hockey team as they thrashed Norway at Canada Hockey Place this evening. Also, it was another big day for the country as they won their 2nd Gold Medal of the Games, with a local girl from North Vancouver winning Gold in the event called Snow Cross.

My final bit of news for today comes from my wanderings around downtown Vancouver this afternoon after Curling. I was walking around, people watching, window shopping, and just generally soaking everything in, when I noticed right in front of me, in a store aisle, the Ukranian Figure Skating Pairs team that I had witnessed on the ice the previous night! I recognized her immediately. I shook both their hands and told them congratulations and how much I enjoyed their performance. They smiled and said thanks. It was a fun little moment. This is a picture of them performing.

Tomorrow, my events include 2 Men's Hockey Games. At 4:30 pm it's Sweden vs Germany, and then at 9:00 pm, it's the Czech Republich vs Slovakia. Lot's of NHL greats playing in those two games so it should be great fun.

Talk to you tomorrow,

Rick from Vancouver