The sun beats down on the Mojave Desert heating up the city of Las Vegas to nearly 70 degrees in January. It sounds like beautiful weather but it’s not exactly the kind of conditions you’d expect for the Winter Games. Yet here they are.
Like many tourists heading for a quick winter break in the sunshine, the U.S. Women’s and Men’s Curling Teams recently visited to compete in the 2014 World Financial Group Continental Cup. It’s nicknamed the Ryder Cup of Curling as North America takes on the World, and this year the U.S. and Canada prevailed in front of a record-breaking crowd, winning 35-25. The four day event kicked off on January 16 at the Orleans Arena.
“To be curling in the desert in Las Vegas under the lights, under an awesome crowd, I can’t believe how many people came out,” said Olympic curler Debbie McCormick. “This is just amazing.”
McCormick has been playing since she was a kid and will be a four time U.S. Olympian when she arrives in Sochi, Russia. “It’s totally an honor,” said McCormick. “I’m so excited. We get our jerseys soon, so I think when we get our jerseys it’s really going to hit me. McCormick says the Continental cup is a great warm-up for the Olympics. At both, the athletes wear microphones, do media interviews and compete against the best in the world. She was one of 36 athletes at the Continental Cup heading to Russia. In the 2002 games, McCormick’s team came in 4th. She is hopeful this could be the year to bring home a medal, especially after getting lucky in Las Vegas.
“I won in roulette here just the other day,” laughs McCormick. “I bet on number 14 for 2014 Sochi, and I hit it. I made $5 into $175!”
So how exactly does the sport work? There are four players wearing special shoes so they can glide on the ice. The puck is called a “stone” or a “rock” and is about 40 lbs. of granite. One player launches the stone while two teammates skate beside it with brooms. They sweep the ice in front of the stone to affect the speed and path.
The athletes slide the giant puck along the curling sheet, which is about 150 ft long, from one side to the other The goal is to get it as close to the center of the target at the other end as possible. Two teams take turns playing on the same sheet and can bump the other players’ stones like in shuffleboard. The crowd is noticeably quiet, except when there is a big play.
The U.S. Men’s Olympic Curling team also competed in Las Vegas. John Shuster, a three time Olympic athlete himself, is the Skip, which means he’s the Captain. “Our team is all from northern Minnesota,” said Shuster. “Four guys who came together from the same region working hard the last few years to try to become the Olympic team.” Shuster says the sport may look easy on TV, but it takes a lot of practice to get good. “If you see someone try for the first time, there are lots of wiggles and wobbles and falling on your butt,” jokes Shuster.
Shuster and the other athletes played in front of large crowds at the Orleans Arena and total attendance for all the games reached 51,215. He says he takes in the atmosphere, instead of trying to block out the crowd, which is generally quiet in curling. He doesn’t have a pre-game ritual, but some of his teammates do. “They want to be sitting down, feet kicked up for like an hour and 10 minutes you know,” said Shuster. “And everybody’s a little superstitious, we all vary.”
www.worldcurling.org/world-financial-group-continental-cup-2014