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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Feb. 21, 2005
Logjam in the making in men’s curling
Trials
(MADISON, Wis.) – The parity in the men’s field at
the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Curling became
even more evident in the fourth round of action today as
the last two undefeated teams fell and the beginnings of
a major logjam developed in the standings. Three teams
are tied at the top at 3-1, four others sit at 2-2, and
the remaining three are at 1-3.
Craig Brown’s Madison-based rink suffered an
unfortunate break that contributed to its first loss,
7-5, to the Craig Disher team from North Dakota. Brown
was drawing for a piece of the button for the win when
the final rock of the game picked up some debris and
spun crazily off course. Disher’s team had three
counters, with shot rock guarded and on the edge of the
button. Brown’s shot appeared on target, and would
probably have at least out-counted Team Disher’s other
two rocks to force an extra end if nothing else.
But that’s the way the game goes sometimes, and as
Disher’s lead, Joel Jacobson noted, "It all evens out."
His team also lost a few rocks to debris on the ice, as
did a few others playing tonight. The crud for the most
part appears to be coming from the players’ own brooms
or shoes, and is just part of the game that the players
train to stay alert for.
It was the first win and a big win for Disher’s team.
"We haven’t been playing that badly," said Jacobson. "We
lost two games that we probably should have won, and we
won a game here that we probably should have lost. We’ve
got our backs against the wall, but we’re still in it.
We’ll see how it goes from here."
Brady Clark’s team also suffered its first loss
tonight, falling to the Scott Baird foursome, 8-4.
Clark, diagnosed with the flu earlier today, had a tough
time getting multiple points, scoring just singles in
the fourth and sixth ends and a pair in the eighth.
Baird’s team rebounded well from a heartbreaking loss in
the morning draw, opening the scoring with three in the
third, and leading 5-1 after five.
The Pete Fenson team grabbed a share of the lead with
its second victory of the day, defeating Wes Johnson’s
team, 10-4. Fenson, a pizza maker from Bemidji, Minn.,
delivered a perfect raise in the eighth end to count
four and break open a 4-4 game. Fenson’s team stole two
more in the ninth to rack up the win.
The Greg Eigner rink also notched its first win of
the week, taking down the Ben Tucker squad, 10-4.
Eigner’s team stole points in five of the nine ends
played, although Eigner noted that a little debris on
the ice also played a role in this game.
"Ben kind of had a tough break in the eighth, when he
was shooting for two and his rock picked," said Eigner,
a family physician from Fort Wayne, Ind. "If he had made
that, I think it might have been a different game."
Regardless, Eigner’s team still seemed to have the
upper hand in this game. "The boys played solid today.
If we can keep this going, who knows? We’ll just take it
one game at a time. Whatever happens, happens. It’s one
game at a time, one shot at a time."
It was one shot at a time that led to a rare
seven-ender (seven points scored out of a maximum eight
possible) for Rich Ruohonen’s team in a game against the
reigning national champion Jason Larway rink. With the
game tied 3-3, the tide began rising against Larway’s
team in the sixth end.
It wasn’t so much that Larway’s team missed its
shots, but that the shots they hit didn’t quite finish
right. Vice skip Doug Pottinger played two peels and
moved rocks both times, but they didn’t go out of play.
Ruohonen’s team was laying five after vice skip Nick
Myers made a double takeout. Larway twice tried to
freeze his rock to the opposing shot rock, but both
times the stones wound up exposed, and Ruohonen picked
them cleanly out. Even Team Ruohonen’s eighth rock was
still in play—as a short guard—when the end ended, and
the game, as Larway chose to shake hands with the score
at 10-3.
"This was our best game by far," said Ruohonen. "I
felt like we controlled most of the game."
"That was a big win for us," added the attorney from
Brooklyn Park, Minn. "We needed that one. We’re back in
good shape now."
The men pass the halfway point of the round robin
with a 10 a.m. draw on Tuesday. The round robin
continues through Thursday with the semifinals Friday
afternoon followed by the men’s and women’s finals on
Saturday. Live action of the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team
Trials for Curling can be followed on the USA Curling
web site at www.usacurl.org, including via an audiocast
and end-by-end scoring.
USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics
and AmerAust Technologies as well as by General Motors,
Chevron-Texaco and Bank of America through a joint
marketing program with the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Game scores: Ruohonen 10, Larway 3 (six ends);
Eigner 8, Tucker 3 (nine ends); Fenson 10, Johnson 4
(nine ends); Baird 8, Clark 4 (nine ends); Disher 7,
Brown 5.
Men’s standings
Brown 3-1
Clark 3-1
Fenson 3-1
Baird 2-2
Larway 2-2
Ruohonen 2-2
Tucker 2-2
Disher 1-3
Eigner 1-3
Johnson 1-3 |
