Miscellaneous

Curl Up to Your TV

415 Comments

Olympic curling is finally here! Can we name curling the WGOM's Official Winter Olympics Sport? Consider this your spiel log for any of the Round Robin matches below:

Men's Round Robin Session 1 (Sunday, 11pm CST)
  • Sweden 7, Switzerland 5
  • UK 7, Russia 4 (9)
  • China 7, Denmark 4
  • Canada 11, Germany 8
Men's Round Robin Session 2 (Monday, 9am CST)
  • Norway 7, US 4
  • Sweden 8, UK 4
  • Switzerland 5, Canada 4
  • Denmark 11, Russia 10
Women's Round Robin Session 1 (Monday, 4am CST)
  • Canada 9, China 2
  • Switzerland 7, US 4
  • Sweden 6, UK 4
  • Russia 7, Denmark 4
Women's Round Robin Session 2 (Monday, 11pm CST)
  • Switzerland 7, Denmark 6
  • Russia 9, US 6
  • Canada 9, Sweden 3
  • Korea 12, Japan 7

I won't link to any of NBC's Olympic coverage, because frankly it's pretty awful. Instead, here's a link to the CBC's Olympic curling page, which features a preview of both the men's and women's competition, full coverage of the spiels, and plenty of photos.

415 thoughts on “Curl Up to Your TV”

  1. As far as I'm concerned, yes, it can be our official Winter Olympics sport. Unfortunately, very little of it will be televised at a time when it's convenient for me to watch.

    1. This Olympics may be a test of curling's emerging popularity. One of the things that gave curling a boost for the Vancouver games was the marginal time difference. Some of the time difference between the US and Sochi may be mitigated by four years of advances in TV-recording technology, but that only goes so far.

      Plus, the addition of more events (do we really need more figure skating events?) squeezes the TV schedule. And there doesn't appear to be any way of streaming non-live events via the NBC Olympics app. That's an NBC Fail, for sure.

      1. Hola! Extension for Chrome and the BBC is how I plan on consuming online Olympic content.

      2. NBC is going to test my patience this year, for sure. Every single frickin time I turn it on, it's figure skating. And i really hate figure skating. I'm not sure how I'm going to stream the curling, but Dammit I'll find a way.

        1. lots of snowboarding and alpine skiing tonight
          and the Olympics show after the news shows sledding

          1. HPR wants to watch bobsled and skeleton and luge, after I explained to him that it was basically high-speed sledding on ice tracks.

              1. Well he saw the commercials with bits of it and wants to watch sledding so fast.
                I was a headfirst sledder but he's feetfirst, so luge may be more his thing than skeleton.
                But he got a sit-up sled with skis and a steering wheel that he impresses me with his control of, so maybe he'll like bobsled, too. Does anyone have clear bobsleds to HPR can see more than just a painted tube going down the track? (I'm guessing not.)

        2. Well CER wants to watch figure skating and dangit we haven't found any. We first looked yesterday afternoon. When did this thing even start?

          Also, watching women's snowboarding, how cool of a name is "Sarka"! (Pronounced "Shark-a")

          2. I must just be really unlucky because I have not seen more than about 5 minutes of snowboarding.

                1. Which one? I think the last one ("Secret of the Wings") was the least good, by a big margin.
                  The bonus short from that one, "The Fairy Games" should be a good segue from that movie to getting the Trinket into the Olympics.
                  However, those fairy sports are less random than, say, biathlon, and there's no judged competitions, so she may decide that the Olympics are arbitrary and capricious.

                  If you're coming back to the broadcast any time soon: congrats, it's Ice Dancing time!

                  1. Right now it's the great fairy rescue (which we watched last night!) They're definitely a lot better than other kids programming, though, so I'm not complaining.

                    Pepper, I might take shots at ice dancing...

                    1. I like most of the Ice Skating but
                      Ice dancing: Figure Skating:: Thomas Kinkade: French Impressionists
                      I'd like to encourage others to make their own analogies.

                    2. My problem with skating is that it feels completely pre-determined. Men's downhill? Neither of the favorites medaled, and the top two finishers apparently came out of nowhere. That never happens in skating (or gymnastics... I have the same basic gripe there, though at least you can kind of tell good from bad). In skating you maybe get a one place bump or drop, but that's it. And it takes an awful lot of time... if it were quicker, that would be redeeming.

                    3. Hey, ice dancing is actually the US's best shot at figure skating gold this Olympics. But I'll admit that ice dancing is not exactly the most accessible event (especially back when it included the compulsory dance in which all couples were required to perform the same steps to the same style of music). It's also hard to pick up on some of the things that are important to scoring, such as speed and blade work, while watching on tv.

                    5. I'm not sure if you're making a point or a counter point.

                      And I think, therein, lies my argument.

                    6. Not to beat a dead horse, but I think I found a way to express my frustration with skating...

                      We're told it's a sport to care about (given it's coverage and expansion), and we do so to the exclusion of other sports. We're told who the best are and what to expect of their programs. The whole thing is judged by officials who have frequently been bought or exhibited bias. And the differences in scores are frequently minute - at very least, the untrained eye has no way of telling who is and is not better. It matters, but not really. It's unscripted, but not really. It's objective, but not really. Frankly, it's Kafkaesque.

                    7. Sarah Hughes basically came as the third US skater, won Olympic Gold, and then never won anything again.
                      So I was rebutting your point but could only come up with one counterexample.
                      I don't know if that's because I don't know much more skating or because it's a rare occurence.

    2. Curling feels like a winter equivalent of baseball, so I'm all for it being our official sport.

  3. I'm super pumped for curling. If I'm sober enough to stay up, I'm definitely watching tonight.

    Depending on my Aussie Rules schedule, I'm joining the Lone Star Curling Club this year

    1. Perfect. I know you loved it when you tried it, but you're gonna love it even more in actual competition.

      I just finished playing in the Wisconsin 5 and under spiel. We won the second event, so we were pretty happy about that, but thought we could have taken the first event of it weren't for a couple bad ends to start our first game on Friday. Fortunately, we've all got another year of eligibility for it, so we're gonna try to get revenge next year.

          2. You and your wife must be so proud.

            Explaining the joke in case I did it wrong SelectShow

  4. I'm utterly ignorant when it comes to curling. Can someone please explain how it came to be the WGOM's Official Winter Olympics Sport?

    (I'm also a figure skating fan, so don't you go taking too many cheap shots at it, cheaptoy.)

    2. The Vancouver Olympics helped a lot. (Also, the women's team Canada and team Denmark of that year. Ahem.) Plus, i live near Madison and have been playing for four years, so i won't shut up about it.

      And i agree to no cheap shots about figure skating, i just really dislike it is all.

      1. I watched a lot for the 2006 Olympics when HPR was months-old and I took all the overnight feeding shifts etc for those two weeks and watched then.
        Annette Norberg, the now-retired Swedish Women's skip was my fave, as she a) kicked ass and b) was an actuary.
        At the same time, a bunch of my co-workers started league curling in St. Paul, so I heard a lot about it.

        It's a really cool sport and if you enjoy slow (not Pelf-slow, though) baseball games like pitcher's duels, you'll probably get into it very quickly.

        1. I think I caught since if the 2006 games, and I watched as much of the 2010 spiel. Then, a year after Vancouver I played in a spiel in a two sheet club that Debbie McCormick was also in. She seemed to be having a good time, so it was pretty clear that it was fun as hell regardless of the level of competition.

  5. Im not a fan of this new SlopeStyle event.
    Maybe I'd be more impressed if I was at the event to see how high and fast these people are going.

    1. I didn't realize it was new until the post-run interview with the champ. I've definitely seen it at the X-Games.

    1. I'm debating if I should stay up and watch, but I don't think I'll be able to. I'm completely drained from this weekend's spiel which, counting my Thursday league game made it six games in four days.

  7. So is this curling streaming or cable-only (I know it's not broadcast).
    I might watch tonight's early event.

    3. They stream it on NBC's site, but apparently only for folks who confirm their cable provider. Most countries don't make you do that for the Olympics, but it's all about the almighty dollar here. So, I'll be doing the less-than-noble thing to watch curling, as I'm not going to get cable just so I can watch the Olympics every four years.

      1. That's exactly what we did. Cable for Olympics. And March Madness. And Opening Day. And baby due in May.

      2. I get "basic cable" for like $10/month that's tied to the internet service, and having it makes the internet service $9 less per month because it's bundled or something.
        But it works.

        1. Well shoot that worked with the Summer Olympics but not the Winter Olympics?
          Looks like I'll be clearing cookies frequently.

    4. I'm pretty sure both US teams are on actual TV tomorrow. 4 a.m. for the women on USA, and 9 for the men on CNBC. At least, that's what the commercial told me. I mean, if NBC is doing something right with coverage, it's worth talking about, right?

      1. One other thing NBC has done correctly is adding Johnny Weir to its live skating coverage on NBCSN (the live announcers and the Primetime announcers are two different teams).

        1. I enjoyed Weir a lot when he was a skater (though I wish he were a better skater to back up). I'm looking forward to seeing him.
          If he was on tonight, I totally stopped paying attention once the skating started.

          1. He probably wont be on NBC's coverage since Scott Hamilton is a mainstay.
            But an actual Weir quote this morning: "Have you ever seen fish fight? I have!"
            It was random and awesome and made me LOL.
            Also, his skating commentary is good. Critical, yet nice.

    5. Tonight they're showing the gold medal luge runs, then award ceremony for team figure skating on NBC. CNBC has the Westminster Kennel Club, and MSNBC has some gem of programming called "Lockup: Louisville." WTF. Seriously, guys?

    1. yes.
      It was developed to get more skating on tv. And to showcase other nations skaters. But mainly to get more skating on tv.

  9. I don't know what's up with Costas' eye, but man am I sympathetic.
    My left contact was burning me up yesterday, I actually had to bail early on a dance that my wife and I went to (we probably would have left then anyways), and I've been wearing glasses all day. So today Costas and I look alike, except I have a beard.

    1. I noticed Costas' eye thing right away. One of my managers at work had a chunk of wood dust in his left eye last week and it looked almost exactly the same. I'm guessing that's not what Bob's problem is.

      1. He said he woke up Thursday morning and his eyelids were swollen shut and the eye red. He got some sort of infection that is being taken care of.

  10. So, what match are we watching? Denmark's got the trousers, but they should wipe the floor with China. I think Switzerland-Sweden will probably be best? Thoughts?

      1. Also, they're Canadians.

        But yeah, that one will probably be not so close. I think SWI-SWE is probably the best bet for the most competitive game without knowing a lot about either team. I think GB has the same team from Vancouver as well, which, if I remember, did pretty good.

        1. Anyone watching the BBC feed (thank you Firefox IP plugin)? Looks like either I don't know how to do switch or I'm watching RUS-GB.

        2. I'm watching Switzerland-Sweden, figuring that curling isn't exactly one of Team Russia's strengths. Plus, the Swiss men have finished in the medals three out of four times since curling was re-added to the games in 1998.

          1. On BBC or something else? I'm trying to figure out how to change to a different game, if possible,

            1. Via NBC's iPad app to my Apple TV. You might be able to stream it through their website to your TV, too.

                1. I have to watch on my GD phone because NBC Live just will not work on my computer, in either Chrome or Firefox.

                  1. I'm hoping I can get something to work on my phone tomorrow at work so I can watch the US game. Might have to bug my brother for his account info,,,

                1. I have a CBC stream now, but it's not very steady. I think all my proxys are overloaded with Americans trying to watch streams in other countries.

                  2. CBC is where it's at for Olympic coverage. Another one of Canada's nice things we apparently can't have.

                    2. Alright, I think I might be an idiot because I went to the CBC but couldn't find any live streaming links.

    1. Almost certainly, unless the Swedish skip can make his run-back takeout and get a decent roll in behind those red stones, which I don't think he'll be able to do based on his last attempt.

            1. That was a really flat set up, though, so I think its better to phrase it as he almost made it by ---> <---

                    1. Heh, mine was a joak too. Sort of like its the skip's great shot if he makes it, but the sweeper's fault when he misses.

    1. First of all, nice call-back.

      Second of all: nope, I got tired of wasting all that money, but the row at the front has a really nice feed, although there isn't any commentary.

  15. NBC has half-hour blocks you can watch without signing in, but just the first day and it's a half-hour from the first time you log in.
    I switched browsers and got another half-hour.
    I think I can clear cookies, but I didn't re-start chrome so maybe that was my problem.

    1. I think I can clear cookies, but I didn't re-start chrome so maybe that was my problem.

      If you use private browsing, then you don't have to clear cookies. Start a private session, watch for 30 minutes, close, repeat.

      1. I think I tried that and it didn't work. Would Flash cookies or HTML5 local data override that sort of thing?
        If so, isn't that a problem of the "private"-ness of private/incognito browsing?

    1. You'll have that early on at this level of curling. This end is looking more exciting, though.

        1. I'm not sure there's a "better" here. Canada/Germany looks like it has more action, but Switzerland/Sweden might wind up being closer and more strategic in the late ends.

            1. Yeah, after I couldn't get NBC to work, I tried the BBC, then CBC, then RTE (Ireland), before getting to Network 10 (Australia). Next on my list was NZ if I couldn't find anything else. I was just working my way through anywhere they speak English.

                1. If anything, I'd start going through the Latin American broadcasters next and hope I could pick up a word here and there.

                  Actually, there's an idea. I'd love to learn the Spanish words for curling. Maybe I'll watch the GER-CAN replay en Espanol tomorrow.

  18. all right folks, can anyone help me out to watch these Olympics? I don't have cable and I tried using an antenna for Thanksgiving, and that didn't work. I know you guys know how. punmantwins (at) yahoo (dot) com.

    Thanks

  20. While it was fun running around Germany and Scandinavia around New Year's, I've recently realized that it would have been a whole lot more fun during the Olympics.

  21. A girl I'm sorta into wants to try curling and it just so happens the club here has Learn To Curl on Sundays during the Olympics. Unfortunately, next week is booked solid. Here's to not screwing things up by the 23rd.

  22. Updates on other matches:
    † = Hammer

    Russia 0 - 2 GBR † 5th End
    Denmark 0 - 3 China † 5th End
    Germany 4 - 2 Canda † 4th End.

        1. I wish I could find out, but I don't think I can hang on any longer. I need to gets me some sleep.

  23. I've only been curling once, for 7 ends, so I threw 14 stones. I'd say about 10 of them were utter shit, with about 3 good guards (generously). One though, oh man, it was a pretty weighty takeout and I nailed the guy square. It felt awesome.

  24. Lots of discussion for the Swedes at the end of the 6th. They're sitting nice, but the Swiss have the hammer.

    2. Sweden stays conservative with a center guard on their last stone. The Swiss will need to get the top stone in the 4-foot out.

      1. I assume as much as well, but they're predominantly red, so that doesn't necessarily rule out Team GB, but the pattern seems very un-British. I'll be happy to see still shots in the morning.

    2. Looks like we're fairly in sync. I thought I was a few stones ahead of you there for a bit, so I didn't want to say too much.

      Lovely hammer there.

  30. Updates on other matches:

    Russia 2 - 6 GBR † 8th End
    Denmark 2 - 3 China † 8th End
    Germany 5 - 7 Canada † 7th End.

      1. Ah, but I don't have to get up tomorrow. So really, by staying up late tonight, I can shift my sleep schedule back a few hours for optimal curling viewing.

  35. Well I thought I had viewing figured out. But then I realized I didn't
    By what majick or voudou is nbcolympics.com not able to recognize that all three browsers were on the same computer, but that, even after purging everything from one of my browsers (ie, which is just utility, so nothing important in any history or whatever), did it know that I watched my half-hour on it?
    I'm now watching the CBC, but I should really go to bed. Mostly, I just wanted to figure out how to do this. I'd prefer to delete cookies over and over again than have to fake canadianness.

    1. They are probably using Flash cookies or HTML5 local storage. Flash cookies are much harder to remove.

      1. Am I right that there's nothing fantastic that Swiss can do here if Sweden plays it clean?
        That is, Sweden has to screw something up to even give the Swiss a point, right?

            1. I think I have all of the important ones, I meant "warmed up" in the sense that I haven't used them in four years.
              When I first read, I was thinking two-point end, but you meant double-takeout.
              It'd be like if I only watched baseball quadrennially, I might mess up double vs double-play.
              Or if football, Touchback vs Touchdown.

  40. I'm so thankful that Swizterland drew the red stones and Sweden yellow. I definitely remember a situation in Vancouver where the red team (Switzerland? Canada? Doesn't really matter) had the yellow stones and vice versa. It was very hard for me to keep straight.

      1. NBC's audio is now doubled. Good thing there's only one announcer, but he's still stepping on himself.

  50. Nearly 200 LTEs in the first session. This post may be a good pre-baseball test of how the new template handles posts with tons of comments.

    1. but, one bonus to watch the late night/early morning NBCSN live coverage is seeing Rebecca Lowe

  52. Am I the only one watching the USA women's team?

    Anyway, they really blew this one. Switzerland was very mediocre.

  53. I'm watching the US vs Norway this morning, but Canada vs Switzaerland and the UK vs Sweden should also be good.

    US vs Norway apparently has no announcer.

    1. My brother was good enough to give me his DirecTV password, so I get to be frustrated by NBC Live Extra like everyone else now!

      Good start to the end for the US, but I missed what happened to put it into a blanking situation for Norway.

          1. Sounded like poorly read ice conditions. I heard the vice call out that the line was good, then it took off.

  57. My internet in general is being slow, so if I gotta proxy somewhere else it'll probably be even worse.

    1. The current end is going better, but the US is not looking like a contender here so far, if that helps you decide on whether to watch a choppy feed or not.

  59. The way he's been drawing, I think its a mistake to not go for that double and let Norway blank it.... and as I say that he might change his shot to go for just that.

      2. I mean geez, the double was right there and you could even hear him say he had the whole rock. You're drawing terribly, why would you play the riskier shot?

          1. Its even more frustrating because he knew it. I don't know if you have the volume up, but he said missing the draw would basically be the game.

  62. Time for the US to pick a couple back with the hammer. They've gotta recover now or this is gonna get entirely out of hand.

  63. 2nd to last stone in the 5th with Switzerland laying 2 and Canada just flew one straight through the house. Going for a double and missed everything.

            1. I've got the US up on my phone so I can watch it and CAN-SUI up on my browser where I can only check in periodically.

      1. I don't do bloodys – not a fan of tomato juice. I'll take a Corpse Reviver, though. Or a Ramos Gin Fizz if someone else is making them.

        1. I don't do bloodys – not a fan of tomato juice

          Preach, brother. I'll take mimosas or screwdrivers any morning. The OJ lets you know it's breakfast.

            2. I am of course on board with morning beers. I was talking specifically about your juice-based morning beverages.

  67. Canada with the hammer in the 6th. Can get 2 back here. Switzerland just flew their takeout past everything.

    1. There it is. SUI 3 - 2 CAN after 6. All the scoring has been in the last two ends, mostly thanks to a botched takeout a piece.

    1. They've tightened their game up; good on them for making the adjustment. So, will it be enough?

      1. Well, I think he's got the steal here, although he might have been able to take two if he had a little more curl on that last one. So I think it could very well be enough with four more ends to go.

    1. I'm digging it, simply because this is what baseball needs to be like. What's throwing me is the slo-mo reaction shots where the audio briefly drops out.

    2. Missing that first double was not good. He needed to throw way more weight than that to make sure both go out. Losing the shooter there wouldn't have been that bad with the other two rocks still in play and the house split.

      1. Might be a lot to ask considering how they've played today. But they have no other choice, so...

  77. Well, Shuster was right. Missing that draw did cost them the game.

    Mediocre ice reads and a couple of really poor judgment calls by the US.

  90. Watching the tape delayed/edited Sweden/England ladies match on NBCSN and I think I can cheer for the Brits.

    1. In curling (or any Olympic sport) I prefer watching the best play to watching any particular country, so I figure I'll watch something else until the US suggests I should take in a spiel or two of theirs.

    2. Sounds awfully familiar, although last time I heard that it went more like: Both US teams look weak on execution thus far, eh?

  97. Thinking I'm going to go with Russia vs US for this one on the big screen, and Sweden vs. Canada in-browser.

    1. Yup. These are the last spiels of Session 2. I'm trying to keep it to two sessions per spiel log.

  101. I take it Spoons is watching Russia vs. US, too. I see Mags has Sweden vs. Canada on his larger screen. AMR, which spiel are you watching?

      1. Nice. I've got commentary on both mine, and I'm not finding the Russia/US one particularly enlightening.

        But I do enjoy listening to the ladies yell in Russian.

    1. She is Eva Lund, Annette Norberg's third from the '06 and '10 Gold-Medal teams.
      This has determined: Sweden is the men's team I'm cheering for.

      1. Indeed. I've watched at least parts of 10 of the 12 spiels thus far, and the only particularly good curling on both sides was Switzerland vs. Canada.

  108. Hey announcer guy, let us listen to the ladies discuss instead of uttering your meandering nothings.

  111. Three for the US after a rather entertaining end. Yeah, I'll stay up longer. I guess I'll sleep next Monday and Tuesday, where my days off coincide with days off from school for the Milklings.

    1. CH, what's "good" in Russian. My guess is it would be somewhat similar to the Czech "dobrý/dobří"

      1. Depending on your meaning, хороший (xoroshij) or добрый (dobryj) (adj) or хорошо (xorosho) (adv).

        1. As in short for "Nice shot". I never got dobrý (DOH-bree) and dobří (DOUBH-zhee) right. Too many noun declensions to match up.

          1. "Хороший бросок! (Xoroshij brosok) is "Nice throw!"

            "Хорошая попытка!" (Xoroshaya popytka) is "Nice attempt/try!"

            1. And if you see something you like, as in "Dude, I picked up a sixer of Arrogant Bastard on the way home" "Nice!" ?

              1. You could do "Классно!" (Klassno) or "Здорово!" (Zdorovo), meaning "Awesome!," or "Молодетц!" (Molodets), meaning "Well done!"

  113. I gave up on re-purging the cookies from the NBC feed. I could get 5 minute sessions over and over.
    CBC sans Announcières

          1. Aye, it is. What VPN you using? I had decent luck last night using the Hola! unblocker and the Australian video on demand.

              1. Hola is an extension that only VPNs one tab at a time, and you can select which country you want to appear to be from. I use it to watch the BBC all the time. When you're on a .ca site, it gives you a Canadian IP, .co.uk a UK IP, etc.

                1. I just got spoiled by my 30 minutes of NBC stream. This is fine, just not super, and it gets fuzzy and sharp and granulated and then I lose it completely, like they figured out which country I'm in.

  114. Great freeze from the Swedes. If the Canucks let it go, they get one. They blow it up, they at best get one. If they over do it, the Swedes have one off to the side that might sneak in.

    1. Simple draw to the button for one. LAME. Gotta fire that one down there at 90 miles per hour. Grip it and rip it, amirite?

  115. I agree on what people said about the Russian skip.
    But to think they could have been wearing those red and white pants!

    1. Not knowing anything about how the other teams earned their scores, it still looks like everyone's doing better tonight.

  125. I'm watching. I don't understand it very well, but I'm watching. And now I'm going to bed. But it was fun.

  126. Ah, your thirties, when your stomach says, "Boy, a grilled cheese sandwich sounds good right about now!," to which your brain responds, "Are you crazy? It's almost 1am!"

    1. yeah. Gahh. Maybe She and McCormick should switch.
      Could it be that the cheering Russian fans get to her?

          1. I forget because I was cheering for the Swedes from day 1 in 2010.
            You tell people you're cheering for the Swedish women's team and they think they know why. Typically, they're not thinking of "The 44-year-old actuary."

    1. I've had the feeling since after their early recovery, they're about ready to steal another 2 or 3 in one of these ends and make the result look embarassing

    1. Yeah, I was just thinking the same. They'll have to steal 2 or concede (hopefully only) one here to get the hammer back and then need to score 3 (or more) to close it out.

  136. Particularly considering the gift three points earlier from the hog line violation, the US has really pissed this one away.

    1. I can't even believe they're playing the 10th end. I figured they'd shake on it cuz it was out of reach.*

      *Pleasebewrongpleasebewrongpleasebewrong

  139. I fell asleep sometime around the 8th or ninth end.
    I learned that announcing helps me not tune it out when I'm sleepy.

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