XXI Olympic Winter Games

We made it to the Olympics! Those who follow our page may recall that in October 2008 we were in Beijing, and commented, "We got to Beijing 2 months after The Summer Games. That's a new Olympic record for us ... normally we miss them by several years." This time, we got to Vancouver on time, earning us a gold medal in Calendar!

Party Time

The Winter Olympics were both sports and a huge party. Many streets in downtown Vancouver were blocked off, and people wandered around chatting, enjoying the sun, and visiting the many cultural exhibits. Even the Stanley Cup qualified as a "cultural" exhibit.

Nunavut

One of the best exhibits came from Nunavut, the Arctic territory of Canada populated by native peoples. Both the art and natural history were highlighted in this stone carving of a hunter fighting a bear over a seal, speared by a beautifully carved narwal tusk. The huge Mastodon tusk recalled the Olympian winters of the Ice Age. And the charming Enchanted Owl is a graphic used on a 1970 Canadian postage stamp by Nunavut artist Kenojuak Ashevac.

Women's Curling

Of course, the point of the Olympics is World Class competition. We chose to watch curling, as true a Canadian sport as hockey is. We saw an especially good selection of teams.

	Canada v. China
	Japan v. Germany
	USA v. Sweden

We were cheering for the first team on each line. As Dave put it, "Cheering for the 'home' country!" Can you pick out the 4-woman teams by their uniforms?

It's Strategic!

The goal in curling is to win the most points in the ten ends of a regulation game. Unlike shuffleboard, in which the disks travel in a straight line, curling stones -- listen closely -- curl. They travel the length of the sheet (ice) in an arc, and there is considerable strategy. Here in a close call to award a point, an official determines which team's rock is closest to the button (bull's eye).

Throwing Rocks

To throw a 42 lbs (19 kg) stone, a curler places one foot against the hack (the black starting block) and uses her broom for balance.

She pushes off ...

... and slides on her front shoe. She must release the rock before crossing the hog line. As she releases it she twists it so it revolves about 2.5 times down the ice, causing the curl.

Sweeping

To understand sweeping, you need to know that the ice is not smooth -- it is pebbled (sprinkled with water droplets) and the bottom of a rock is concave, so very little of the rock touches the ice. Sweeping furiously causes a thin layer of water to develop on the pebbles, keeping the stone from slowing, that is, it travels farther.

As Canada sweeps a Chinese sweeper checks her text messages.

Intensity

Everyone told us that curling is a social game. People play it to win, of course, but they drink beer and chat with their opponents. At the Olympics, it seemed to be different. The players were extremely intense. This player -- Allison Pottinger from Minneapolis -- shows that intensity as she throws, but you should have seen the Chinese women!

Winners & Losers

Unfortunately for us, Sweden crushed the USA 9-3. It was so bad they didn't bother to play the last two ends. Also unfortunately, Germany squeaked by Japan 7-6. Japan was far behind at one point and almost caught up. And Canada and China were tied at the end of the regulation 10 ends. So they played extra ends.

Here, the Canadian coach is discussing with his team an important strategic point, while the Chinese women wait. The guy in green is a referee, and he came out to tell the coach to finish up.

Game Over

And ... unfortunately ... China beat Canada in "extra ends" 6-5.

The final results of all Women's Curling Competition:

	Gold: Sweden
	Silver: Canada
	Bronze: China

So, although we didn't see the finals, we did see all of the winning teams play!

Post Game

And what about the Zamboni -- the famous machine that resurfaces ice rinks? It's curling, and so everything is on a smaller scale. Behind us, a man is carrying the equipment to clean the curling surface. It's pushed by hand, as seen in the distance.