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.
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.
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.
Hola! Extension for Chrome and the BBC is how I plan on consuming online Olympic content.
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.
lots of snowboarding and alpine skiing tonight
and the Olympics show after the news shows sledding
HPR wants to watch bobsled and skeleton and luge, after I explained to him that it was basically high-speed sledding on ice tracks.
the bobsled event doesnt start until the 16th and the skeleton starts the 13th
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.)
Clear bobsleds would be amazing.
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")
Ouch.
I must just be really unlucky because I have not seen more than about 5 minutes of snowboarding.
Well, it was on about 7:15-8 and 8:45-now.
I'm stuck watching the adventures of tinker bell until the trinket goes to sleep, though.
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!
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...
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.
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.
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.
Sarah Hughes: totally predetermined.
I'm not sure if you're making a point or a counter point.
And I think, therein, lies my argument.
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.
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.
Curling feels like a winter equivalent of baseball, so I'm all for it being our official sport.
But what about the sledding events? Doesn't Mags have something to say about that?
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
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.
You have the trinket curling already?
She was the skip.
High five, man. Way to Dad.
You and your wife must be so proud.
Yeah, that's correct.
And yeah, five and under means five years and less experience.
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.)
I think because its a bit cerebral, a bit quirky, and there is beer breaks.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I didn't realize it was new until the post-run interview with the champ. I've definitely seen it at the X-Games.
Still an hour and a half until curling? Ugh. Would anyone notice if I slept in tomorrow and didn't take my kids to school?
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.
So is this curling streaming or cable-only (I know it's not broadcast).
I might watch tonight's early event.
You should be able to stream it provided you have came or an IP masking Software.
Cool.
I wish that autocorrect that should have been "cable" came out "camel"
To answer my own question:
Streaming.
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.
That's exactly what we did. Cable for Olympics. And March Madness. And Opening Day. And baby due in May.
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.
Well shoot that worked with the Summer Olympics but not the Winter Olympics?
Looks like I'll be clearing cookies frequently.
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?
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).
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.
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.
I don't care what team I'm watching; I'd just rather watch them at a reasonable hour.
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?
And the stream doesn't appear to be in even 720p. Wow.
"Team Skating" is new, right?
yes.
It was developed to get more skating on tv. And to showcase other nations skaters. But mainly to get more skating on tv.
::slaps forehead::
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.
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.
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.
Don't use the Russian Tap Water for eye drops.
The tap water in Sochi is just fine. I'll bet Olympic Village is a petri dish, though.
Deadspin reached out to Costas. It was your standard eye infection, just with the worst possible timing.
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?
Canada should do just fine against Germany.
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.
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.
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.
On BBC or something else? I'm trying to figure out how to change to a different game, if possible,
Via NBC's iPad app to my Apple TV. You might be able to stream it through their website to your TV, too.
I can't use NBC because I have no cable, which is really annoying, by the way.
I have to watch on my GD phone because NBC Live just will not work on my computer, in either Chrome or Firefox.
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,,,
You have satellite, right? You should be able to use your account info to watch.
Nah, I got rid of that a while ago. Way too expensive for the amount of value it added.
I hear ya. We're cutting the cord after the Olympics.
Ah-ha! I found an alternate route in.
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.
ANd for some reason the announcers are the Germany match, but the video is SUI-SWE
Now that sounds like some intrepid CBC IT guy trolling people watching on proxies.
CBC is where it's at for Olympic coverage. Another one of Canada's nice things we apparently can't have.
Bless the Aussies. This is a pretty solid stream now.
Alright, I think I might be an idiot because I went to the CBC but couldn't find any live streaming links.
Luge is on the NBC mothership right now
I turned it on, so time to test my figure skating theory.
Nope, its still luge!
Team figure skating is at 11:30pm.
I think i would last about 2 turns on a luge before wiping out.
which to watch? going with switzerland v. sweden for now.
That seems to be where the action is.
Looks like the Swiss are going to leave this end with something on the board.
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.
And never mind because he's going to try the double to cut the Swiss to 2.
Pretty solid double. Nearly nipped that third stone.
missed it by ---> <---
That was a really flat set up, though, so I think its better to phrase it as he almost made it by ---> <---
Is the swept ice half-melted or half-frozen?
Probably depends on if you made the shot or missed it.
Was joak. Your observation above was more precise.
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.
Now I see it. Derp's on me.
cheaptoie: you have cable right? do you not get the olympic internet feed?
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.
...email me the site? I can't seem to get there and my free pass ran out at the NBC site.
try another browser.
Done.
ahh. i've gotta throw down a little extra come father's day, cause this on demand thing is just awesome. i've been watching everything.
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.
If you use private browsing, then you don't have to clear cookies. Start a private session, watch for 30 minutes, close, repeat.
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?
This fourth end of the SWI/SWE match is pretty blah, eh?
You'll have that early on at this level of curling. This end is looking more exciting, though.
Right. You guys told me to go SWE/SWI and it looks like CAN/GER would have been better
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.
I'll switch back for the 7th.
I'm just a casual fan looking for fireworks.
Also, the Canucks speak English, so I get in on half the communication.
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.
I would think you could get something Russian, knowing how they roll there.
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.
My NBC stream just shat the bed twice. Aggravating this late in the going.
Canadians steal 2. Inches from 3.
Germany stole 2 earlier in the game.
Sweden should play through here.
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
Anyone get back to you yet?
Nice work by the Swiss so far in the 5th.
Much of it just now undone by the Swedes.
And then further undone by Will Arnett.
Yeah, although that was a really nice draw there by Sweden.
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.
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.
Updates on other matches:
† = Hammer
Russia 0 - 2 GBR † 5th End
Denmark 0 - 3 China † 5th End
Germany 4 - 2 Canda † 4th End.
Whoa, hmmm, that Germany-Canada match is interesting.
Yeah, what's going on there?
I wish I could find out, but I don't think I can hang on any longer. I need to gets me some sleep.
I've been watching that one. Good choice, it seems.
See my comment above. I think it depends on what one's looking for going into the spiel.
I don't know the score of that one, so I really can't comment on that, but at 5-4, I know this one is close.
Well, now 7-4 in favor of the favorite. It might be done being close.
You never know. Stealing three isn't easy at this level, but it's not over yet.
It's certainly close enough that I'm continuing to eschew sleep, annoying Future Spoons further.
You'd gladly pay Future Spoons Tuesday for a hamburger today, eh?
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.
Lots of discussion for the Swedes at the end of the 6th. They're sitting nice, but the Swiss have the hammer.
And now lots of discussion for the Swiss with three stones left in the end.
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.
And the Swiss only score one. Not a great way to finish.
The Swiss missed with that guard, and the Swedes make them pay for it.
Either the Brits or the Russians are wearing some crazy pants on the sheet next to SUI-SWE.
I'm guessing it's the Russians.
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.
CH, where are you in the match? The hammer in the 7th is imminent for me.
Great end for Sweden.
Excellent hammer from Edin.
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.
Canada's skip is so damned good.
Updates on other matches:
Russia 2 - 6 GBR † 8th End
Denmark 2 - 3 China † 8th End
Germany 5 - 7 Canada † 7th End.
I am really dragging and that point to Sweden there might be enough to let myself go to bed.
There's more curling tomorrow - save your energy!
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.
American curlers who work third shift have to be hating this schedule.
Tough sledding for Switzerland the rest of the way here.
Oooh, good thing I didn't give in yet.
Whew. Switzerland back within one.
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.
They are probably using Flash cookies or HTML5 local storage. Flash cookies are much harder to remove.
That's annoying. Any tips?
For Flash, there's a site where you can delete them.
That's it!
Awesome!
Thanks Sean!
Whoa. Way light on that guard for the Swiss. Nearly got themselves a penalty.
And the Swedes foul when they send the Swiss guard. Not good.
OK, I can stay for the tenth end of a 5-6 game.
With the time invested, you might as well.
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?
Solid double by the Swedes.
Sorry, did I spoil something for you?
Nope, we're in sync.
Right. I get it now, I'm not warmed up to the lingo and the CBC feed was announcer-free.
Here's a curling lingo crib sheet, amigo.
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.
I would pick the one that's going to take the longest.
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.
Sweden recovers. Solid start to the round.
G'night!
China 7-4 Denmark went final.
Russia concede to GB at 7-4 after 9.
Let's see if I can catch the last end of Germany vs Canada.
Dude from Canada just got busted by the camera while snagging a little nose gold.
Sweet double by Canada.
And NBC's stream shits the bed twice, again. Great timing.
My CBC stream just went as well.
NBC's audio is now doubled. Good thing there's only one announcer, but he's still stepping on himself.
Canada pulls it out.
I didn't actually get to see the last rock. BOO
TIme for bed. Good to have curling back.
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.
I picked a bad night to download a huge, but important file.
I sooo want to watch curling.
but, one bonus to watch the late night/early morning NBCSN live coverage is seeing Rebecca Lowe
Am I the only one watching the USA women's team?
Anyway, they really blew this one. Switzerland was very mediocre.
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.
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.
Oooof, that was a bad stone by Shuster.
Yeah, bad rock there.
Sounded like poorly read ice conditions. I heard the vice call out that the line was good, then it took off.
And that's why it's good to have the hammer. Norway jumps out in front.
Yeesh, the US totally missed that freeze.
They've gotta get this cleaned up or they'll be playing for one before long.
And one is all they get. Uffda. Disappointing end.
That was a real nice take out and flop though.
My internet in general is being slow, so if I gotta proxy somewhere else it'll probably be even worse.
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.
John has no idea where to broom himself here today.
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.
And now he went back. Don't screw this one up, man!
Ugh.
Nope. And he didn't make his chosen target, either.
Apparently I should be skipping team USA.
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?
I didn't get that, either. Just a really bad decision on Shuster's part.
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.
Yeesh. Play it conservative, dude.
Norway up 5-1 after three. Uffda.
This is gonna be a short game.
That was a huge break for USA.
Norway skip's miss on the double? Yeah.
Both his misses were big. That second attempt at the double was totally there.
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.
There we go, not over yet. Looks like I statfreak'd it.
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.
SUI takes a 3-0 lead in the 5th
Ouch.
That missed takeout by Gob makes it hurt less for Canada.
Y'all give up on USA and switch over?
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.
My brother is the best.
Likewise my parents.
If'd be doing the same if I could get my browser to work.
I love control weight takeouts. I've been throwing them tremendously well this year. So much fun.
Fresh coffee and curling? It's a good morning.
Typically its a freshly made bloody mary, though.
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.
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.
All of these would be acceptable alternatives in a spiel. I myself typically do a morning beer.
A good stout or porter in the morning is a thing of deep and mystical beauty.
I am of course on board with morning beers. I was talking specifically about your juice-based morning beverages.
Here are the Russian pants referenced above. I'd put them above Denmark's from this year, but behind the 2010 Danish argyles.
Canada with the hammer in the 6th. Can get 2 back here. Switzerland just flew their takeout past everything.
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.
That's what makes entertaining curling.
That was a really good freeze. I think the US is starting to figure the ice out some.
They've tightened their game up; good on them for making the adjustment. So, will it be enough?
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.
Oh wow, that was a great shot by the Norge skip to get one.
This announcer-less feed is weird because they still have all of the other production sounds.
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.
100% agreed.
Mediocre end for the US in the 7th.
Scratch that. Worse than mediocre.
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.
Gotta get this one.
One's not enough.
Time for some hot stealing action.
Might be a lot to ask considering how they've played today. But they have no other choice, so...
Norway was recently missing some take outs, but they're making every double imaginable this end.
Looks like a fun tenth end possibly brewing up between SUI-CAN. Canada down 2 with the hammer.
Canada down 3-5 in the 10th, but have the hammer.
What he said...
Gonna have to steal three just to tie in the 10th.
Yep, this one's pretty effectively over.
Lots of debate for Canada here. They've gotta make this stone perfect.
Not bad.
Chance at the win is gone, but I don't think he was playing for that anyway.
Holy crap!
Rolling out of the house was just brutal.
He probably makes that shot 9.5 times out of 10, too. That's gotta sting.
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.
Oh, Canada...
Rolling over to the final end of Russia vs. Denmark. Russia is down one, but has the hammer.
Great double for Russia there. That rock was rollin'.
Man, Russia's shirts are so freakin' Russian. The popped collars aren't helping, either.
Nice to hear the home crowd getting into this.
I got my browser working. Gonna double-barrel some curling tonight now.
Just couldn't get enough roll. I'm thinking this one's heading to 11.
Free Curling!
An extra end! First one of the men's round robin.
The Danish coach sounds like a Scotsman. Weird to hear them talking strategy in English.
And the Russian coach looks like he'll shoot the skip if he fails.
Denmark completes the big comeback. No curling for eleven hours now? Ugh.
Scratch that. What Spoons said.
Watching the tape delayed/edited Sweden/England ladies match on NBCSN and I think I can cheer for the Brits.
Dude, Eve Muirhead. I guess I didn't realize she was Scottish until I heard her yelling down the ice.
Replay of US vs Switzerland (women) from early this morning now showing on NBC Sports.
Nice to see Debbie McCormick back for her fourth Olympics.
Beau was right. The US women really blew the 4th end.
And really blew it in the 5th.
And then they lose the hammer trying to get one in the 6th.
Curling on NBCSN, Biathlon on the mothership.
That 7th end was something. woof
Everything after the 3rd has been pretty much terrible.
Both US teams look weak on execution thus far. Something to watch in the next sessions.
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.
Sounds awfully familiar, although last time I heard that it went more like: Both US teams look weak on execution thus far, eh?
ZING.
Thinking I'm going to go with Russia vs US for this one on the big screen, and Sweden vs. Canada in-browser.
Well, looks like the US should be looking to blank through this one.
Whoops.
Unforced errors like those really grind my gears.
Wow, another execution failure for the US right away. This is a disappointing trend.
Wait, are we here for the evening matches, then over there for the early morning action?
Yup. These are the last spiels of Session 2. I'm trying to keep it to two sessions per spiel log.
I figured these would start session two. Anyway, I'm here now.
Yeah, it's weird to have the session ending in the morning over there.
I get it but I was thinking Russian days. It's Tuesday morning now.
Is that the plan?
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?
I wasn't sure which one I was going to watch, but I lucked into a no-commentary stream that's more fun than I thought it would be.
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.
Yeah, same here. I also like it in curling.
What happens in the banya...
HET! HET! HET!
I'm watching USA-RUS because I was too young for Lake Placid's miracle on ice.
Interesting: Sweden's men have a female coach, and Sweden's women have a male coach.
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.
Canada just went up 2 after the 2nd.
Wow. Is that Russia's skip?
Eve Muirhead has some competition.
Talented and gorgeous. Can't beat that combo.
Holy crap, she skipped in Vancouver when she was 19.
Yikes. One of the Canadians has some serious RBF going on.
I was previously unfamiliar with that term. I now feel enlightened.
I, too, am now similarly in the know. I honestly laughed out loud when I found the definition.
I think the first time I heard it was from my wife, describing her younger twin cousins.
Fantastic double there by the Russians.
Да
This end is more fun than any I watched parts of last night.
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.
Both sides throwing some good stones here in the 3rd.
Hey announcer guy, let us listen to the ladies discuss instead of uttering your meandering nothings.
Nice double by Canada. Leaves them lying 2, Swedish hammer forthcoming.
Canada forces Sweden to play their own double and only get one.
Late release. Brutal.
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.
CH, what's "good" in Russian. My guess is it would be somewhat similar to the Czech "dobrý/dobří"
Depending on your meaning, хороший (xoroshij) or добрый (dobryj) (adj) or хорошо (xorosho) (adv).
As in short for "Nice shot". I never got dobrý (DOH-bree) and dobří (DOUBH-zhee) right. Too many noun declensions to match up.
"Хороший бросок! (Xoroshij brosok) is "Nice throw!"
"Хорошая попытка!" (Xoroshaya popytka) is "Nice attempt/try!"
And if you see something you like, as in "Dude, I picked up a sixer of Arrogant Bastard on the way home" "Nice!" ?
You could do "Классно!" (Klassno) or "Здорово!" (Zdorovo), meaning "Awesome!," or "Молодетц!" (Molodets), meaning "Well done!"
děkuji, kamarád
That hog line violation by the Russian skip just cost them three. Ouch.
I would've paid good money to have heard McCormick yell, "OVER THE LINE!!"
Even better she whips out a 1911A right there on the sheet.
I gave up on re-purging the cookies from the NBC feed. I could get 5 minute sessions over and over.
CBC sans Announcières
The NBC feed was better.
Maybe I need a better VPN.
What browser are you using?
Torch
which appears to be chrome plus stuff
Aye, it is. What VPN you using? I had decent luck last night using the Hola! unblocker and the Australian video on demand.
I just picked a random canadian one.
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.
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.
I wondered how long it would take for that to drive you crazy.
And now I just lost the CBC feed for the last stone of the end and I've gotta watch two commercials.
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.
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?
I agree on what people said about the Russian skip.
But to think they could have been wearing those red and white pants!
Other 2 Matches:
KOR 4-3 JPN† 5th
†SUI 3-3 DEN 5th
Not knowing anything about how the other teams earned their scores, it still looks like everyone's doing better tonight.
That was a pretty takeout there by McCormick
Canada 4-2 Sweden. I think I'm gonna switch my screens around.
This would have never happened if Norberg hadn't retired.
Just a bit long on that roll, but still a good stone.
The US is in trouble here. The Russians have done some beautiful work this end.
Jeez, what the hell was that? Waaaay light on the draw, Ms. Brown.
Wow the Russians stole two?
Totally made up for that fault on the third end.
Is this my fault? I can put USA-RUS back on my phone if need be.
I gave up on my secondary screen. I wasn't paying hardly any attention. USA-RUS all the way.
I just closed that browser window as well.
Canada's really opened up a lead.
If I were watching two, I'd pick JAP-KOR.
Back and forth with scoring each end
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.
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!"
I just had a bowl of Ham covered with Cranberry/Pineapple Sauce and Cheddar Goldfish.
I probably won't have breakfast, so this is just really early breakfast.
I'm going to have some grapes and a handful or two of sunflower seeds. Damn metabolism.
Those would have been good additions to my "Salad"
Good thing you used quotation marks. That is really stretching the definition of "salad".
thin slices of ham are basically the lettuce of the meat category.
Oh what I would have given for that to have been on a plaque.
Yeah, that'd be inner-circle for sure.
Just one comment too late to be #185,390!
I'm pretty derelict in my plaque-making duties. I should get on that soon.
For real with that draw?
I love this one.
This was supposed to be to night cheese.
I thought I had hit "reply" when I hadn't, so I did some shuffling.
Bad execution by Brown on the last stone again.
yeah. Gahh. Maybe She and McCormick should switch.
Could it be that the cheering Russian fans get to her?
I wonder if McCormick would even want to after Vancouver.
I forget what happened.
This team needs a proven closer.
Nice double by McCormick!
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."
10th place finish, crying after several losses. At least she didn't get Shuster'd, though.
Lovely double
Uffda.
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
Straight through the house. Not looking good here.
Nice triple!
very nice triple
Gotta stop burning that hammer just to get one.
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.
Well, that's it right there.
uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
[tinabelcher.gif]
Particularly considering the gift three points earlier from the hog line violation, the US has really pissed this one away.
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
What a miserable result.
I stayed up late for this?
ugh
I fell asleep sometime around the 8th or ninth end.
I learned that announcing helps me not tune it out when I'm sleepy.