Curls out of: Potomac Curling Club

What he enjoys most about sport: "The wonderful people that I have had the pleasure to meet over the years, while enjoying this great game."

Nickname: Doc

Favorite curling story: "My brother, two college roommates and I began curling in the mid 1980s and started at the bottom of the curling ladder in H flight of an eight- division league at Highland Curling Club in London, Ontario. We were very excited about our first bonspiel which was a one-day event in Galt, Ontario. Unfortunately on the way to the event (which was about a two-hour drive) our car's transmission failed in the middle of nowhere on Highway 401. We were eventually towed into the nearest town (Woodstock). We asked the tow-truck driver if there was anywhere that we might rent a car as we were definitely going to the 'spiel. This was not going to stop us. He dropped us off at the Ugly Duckling Rent-a-Car where we rented their least expensive vehicle as we were students at the time. The four of us crammed into the compact rental and raced at its top speed (50 mph) to the event. When we arrived we were warmly welcomed to a very rustic club with loads of character and history dating back well over 100 years. We were also informed that if we changed quickly we could play our last two ends trailing 0-6 without hammer. We were 90 minutes late so that was understandable. I think we lost 7-1 but were still quite enthusiastic about our next game. Well, we went out there, couldn't find our draw weight, missed 3/4 of our hits and lost big. It would have been nice to make more shots, but we still had fun. The food and fellowship were awesome that whole day and we have been hooked on this game ever since. 

At our final game that day, we played the other two-game loser and thought we might pick up our first bonspiel win. We played a team of Scots (all in their 70s) who obviously enjoyed each others company and had played in this event for years. They also mentioned that they had not won a game in this 'spiel in quite some time. Great! Just what we needed to hear. Their draw weight was impeccable. Their hits were very soft, never passing beyond the far hack. They actually avoided hits pretty much altogether. Recognizing this, they simply played to the strength of their game and that meant draw, draw and draw again. They really loved to compete and it was great fun to play them. At one point their third missed a draw (after making every other shot during the game) and the skip commented to us, 'Aye, he can't even draw his breath.' Well, I think you know the result of this game. We tried to hit everything in sight and did anything but make contact with the appropriate target. After the game they are called up to the prize table for their win and obviously quite proud of their accomplishment. Their skip took full advantage of his opportunity to address the group to rousing applause. He shared a story (or three), thanked us for our generosity on the ice and then finished up with this proclamation to the group -- 'Look out, because next year we are going to come back and clean ALL of your clocks!' A 'spiel for the ages."