The Daily Pebble

The Daily Pebble
Get your dancing shoes on
Live music will be featured Friday night from
7:30-11:30 p.m. and Saturday night following
the closing ceremonies through 11:30 p.m. in
the bar.
DAILY SPONSORS
* Thursday is Texas Roadhouse Day
This day is sponsored by Texas Roadhouse and includes Team Dinner night. Family Night, family members will receive $1 off
the price of admission at the door.
IN THE FAN ZONE
These vendors and activities will be “In The
Fan Zone” according to the follow schedule:
JLB, Face Painting, Pennies in Action,
Learn To Curl, Brooms Up,
* BroomsUp Curling Supplies – the premier
curling supply vendor of USA Curling will be
on site throughout the competition.
* Stephan’s Fine Photography – stop buy to
purchase photos of your favorite curler.
Volume 1, Issue 4 Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012
MEN:
*Heath McCormick 8-0
 Thursday– 92.5 XTU, Premier Orthopedic, Texas Roadhouse, JLB, Brooms
Up, Face Painting, Pennies in Action,
Learn To Curl
 Friday – 92.5 XTU, 5 Hour Energy,
JLB, Face Painting, Pennies in Action,
Learn To Curl, Brooms Up, Learn to Curl
 Saturday – 92.5 XTU, 5 Hour Energy,
Attention hungry athletes! Texas Roadhouse is
sponsoring a team dinner Thursday at the
Holiday Inn Express and Suites Concordville.
The meal is free to all credentialed athletes
and officials with their stay at the host hotel.
Athletes and officials can enjoy the meals after
the 4 p.m. draws and before the 8 p.m. games.
Playoff bound
STANDINGS:
*Pete Fenson
7-1
Craig Brown
5-3
John Shuster
5-3
Tyler George
4-4
Todd Birr
4-4
Mike Farbelow
4-5
Eric Fenson
3-5
Brady Clark
3-5
Owen Sampson
2-6
Blake Morton
0-9
WOMEN:
*Allison Pottinger 8-1
The bold hair streaks of Emilia Juocys of Team Stolt
mirror the shirts worn by Team Pottinger.
Photo by Jeff Albertini, JNA Media
Have you always wanted to learn how to curl? Well, this week is your opportunity. Learn to Curl sessions will
take place on Rink 4 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. today through Friday during the championship. Cost is $5 per 20minute session. These sessions are sure to fill quickly. Call today to Schedule Your Session at 610-497-2200,
Ext. 117, or go online to http://2012usacurlingnationals.com/learn-to-curl/.
*Cassie Potter
7-2
*Alex Carlson
6-3
*Aileen Sormunen 6-3
Maureen Stolt
5-4
Erika Brown
5-4
Becca Hamilton
4-5
Patti Lank
3-6
Kim Wapola
1-8
Janice Langanke
0-9
*clinched playoff berth
Thank you to our sponsors:
Find us online: www.usacurl.org * http://2012usacurlingnationals.com/
By Terry Kolesar, Daily Pebble Editor
T
wo Olympians will meet in the women’s Page Playoff 1-2 game on Thursday night. Allison Pottinger, 2010
Olympian, led her team to an 8-1 finish in
the round robin to secure the top playoff
spot. Joining Pottinger’s team in the coveted
1-2 match-up is 2006 Olympian Cassie Potter
and her teammates (7-2). The winner of the
1-2 game moves on to the final Saturday
morning. The losing side will play the winner
of the Page Playoff 3-4 match-up between
Alex Carlson (6-3) and Aileen Sormunen (63).
On the men’s side, Heath McCormick’s team
pushed its win streak to eight straight to
remain undefeated. With today’s win, Team
McCormick clinched a spot in the Page
Playoffs 1-2 game with Pete Fenson (7-1).
John Shuster and Craig Brown are tied for
third place with 5-3 records with two games
left in the round robin. Only two men’s
teams are mathematically eliminated at this
point. The round robin finish tomorrow afternoon should fill out the playoff field
(tiebreaker games to be played, if necessary).
Jamie Haskell (above)
and Team Potter have
secured a spot in the
Page 1-2 game along
with Allison Pottinger.
Photo by Rick Patzke
Alex Carlson (left) and
her teammates will play
in the Page 3-4 game
against the Aileen
Sormunen team.
Playoff teams so far (4 men’s teams and 4 women’s teams in total)
Team Pottinger: Allison Pottinger (Eden Prairie, Minn.), Nicole Joraanstad (Verona, Wis.), Natalie Nicholson (Bemidji, Minn.),
Tabitha Peterson (Eagan, Minn.), #1 women’s playoff seed
Team Potter: Cassie Potter (St. Paul, Minn.), Jamie Haskell (White Bear Lake, Minn.), Jackie Lemke (Medford, Wis.), Stephanie
Sambor (Minot, N.D.), #2 women’s playoff seed
Pick up your copy of The Five Elements
of Curling Technique in the Brooms Up
Curling Supplies booth in the lobby/Fan Zone
at IceWorks.
Team Carlson: Alexandra Carlson (Wayzata, Minn.), Monica Walker (Brighton, Mass.), Kendall Moulton (Minneapolis), Jordan
Moulton (Minneapolis), #3 women’s playoff seed
Team Sormunen: Team Sormunen: Aileen Sormunen (Duluth, Minn.), Courtney George (St. Paul, Minn.), Amanda McLean
(Duluth, Minn.), Miranda Solem (Cohasset, Minn.), #4 women’s playoff seed
Heath McCormick (Sarnia, Ontario), Bill Stopera (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.), Martin Sather (Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.), Dean Gemmell (Short Hills, N.J.), Matt Hames (Buffalo, N.Y.), #1 men’s playoff seed
Follow USA Curling on Facebook and Twitter (@terry_usacurl)
Tweeting about this event? Please use #2012Nats or #curling
Team Fenson: Pete Fenson (Bemidji, Minn.), Shawn Rojeski (Chisholm, Minn.), Joe Polo (Duluth, Minn.), Ryan Brunt (Bemidji,
Minn.), #2 men’s playoff seed
Page 2
The Daily Pebble, Volume 1, Issue 4
The Daily Pebble, Volume 1, Issue 4
Stats leaders
Wednesday’s scores:
(After Draw 17):
Shuster 8, Sampson 3
John Shuster (Shuster) – 80.2%
Clark 9, E. Fenson 6
Heath McCormick (McCormick) — 79.7%
Birr 7, Brown 5
Pete Fenson (Fenson) — 79.0%
Farbelow 6, George 3
Tyler George (George) — 75.2%
Todd Birr (Birr) — 74.6%
12 p.m., Women:
Vice Skip:
Pottinger 7, Brown 3
Kroy Nernberger (Brown) — 82.5%
Sormunen 8, Potter 4
Chris Plys (George) — 82.4%
Carlson 11, Langanke 4
Shawn Rojeski (Fenson) — 81.7%
Stolt 10, Wapola 7
Zach Jacobson (Shuster) — 79.8%
Lank 8, Hamilton 7
P. Fenson 8, Farbelow 4
Team Brown’s Ann Swisshelm (l-r), Erika Brown and Jessica
Schultz work together to sweep a stone during round robin action.
Photo by Jeff Albertini, JNA Media
Sampson 6, E. Fenson 4
Birr 10, George 8
Lead:
Derrick Casper (Brown) — 84.8%
Ryan Brunt (Fenson) — 84.3%
Pottinger 8, Hamilton 0
Steve Lundeen (Clark) — 83.8%
Potter 12, Langanke 2
John Landsteiner (Shuster) — 81.7%
Brown 6, Lank 2




Terry Kolesar, Editor
Rick Patzke, USA
Curling & Jeff
Albertini, Garnet
Valley High School
Contributing writer:
Heather DeLuca,
Garnet Valley High
School; Carrie Benton
Rick Patzke,
Assistant Editor
The Daily Pebble can be
found online as well:
www.usacurl.org/
curlingrocks
Ideas? Send an e-mail to
Terry Kolesar at
[email protected]
Jared Zezel (Shuster) — 85.7%
Doug Pottinger (Birr) — 82.4%
8 p.m., women:
Daily Pebble:
Second:
Joe Polo (Fenson) — 88.3%
Matt Hamilton (Brown) — 83.5%
McCormick 8, Brown 7
Stolt 6, Carlson 4
Bill Stopera (McCormick) — 78.6%
Rich Ruohonen (George) — 85.7%
Clark 8, Morton 5
Sormunen 8, Wapola 5
Today’s schedule:
Men, 8 a.m.
Sampson v. Morton
Birr v. Clark
**Brown v. Shuster
McCormick v. E. Fenson
George v. P. Fenson
Bye: Farbelow
Skip:
McCormick 7, Morton 6
4 p.m., men:
Outside the ice
Male Stats Leaders
8 a.m., men
Page 3
Kevin Birr (Birr) — 81.2%
Defending
champs Pete
Fenson
(left) and
Shawn
Rojeski
consult
with National
Coach Scott
Baird.
Photo by Rick
Patzke, USA
Curling
Cheer on Team USA at 2012
Wheelchair Championship
The 2012 World Wheelchair Championship gets underway Saturday in Chuncheon City, South Korea. Team USA’s Patrick McDonald (Madison, Wis.), Penny Greely (Green Bay, Wis.), Jimmy Joseph (New Hartford, N.Y.), David Palmer (Mashpee, Mass.) and
Tim Kelly (Rockford, Ill.) begins round robin action Sunday against
the host country. To find out more and to follow along, visit
www.worldcurling.org/world-wheelchair-curling-championship2012. Team USA is coached by Steve Brown (Madison, Wis.) and
Rusty Schieber (Portage, Wis.).
Female Stats Leaders
(After Draw 16):
Skip:
Allison Pottinger (Pottinger) – 81.5%
Patti Lank (Lank) – 72.8%
Becca Hamilton (Hamilton) – 72.1%
Cassie Potter (Potter) – 71.9%
Erika Brown (Brown) – 71.4%
Vice Skip:
Nicole Joraanstad (Pottinger) – 83.2%
Debbie McCormick (Brown) – 79.9%
Jamie Haskell (Potter) – 75.6%
Nina Spatola (Lank) – 74.4%
Second:
Jessica Schultz (Brown) – 78.8%
Emilia Juocys (Stolt) – 76.7%
Natalie Nicholson (Pottinger) – 76.3%
Jackie Lemke (Potter) – 75.7%
Caitlin Maroldo (Lank) – 72.6%
Lead:
Tabitha Peterson (Pottinger) – 82.9%
Ann Swisshelm (Brown) – 81.8%
Miranda Solem (Sormunen) – 76.3%
Steph Sambor (Potter) – 74.7%
By Heather DeLuca, Daily Pebble writer
I
t’s true that in most sports the
people only come to sporting
events to see the athletes or even
just to support a loved one. Many people
do not realize that any event is not possible
without a strong team of volunteers behind
it, sponsor support, and plenty of preparation. This year’s USA Curling Nationals
could not be possible without a quick and
knowledgeable ice crew, dedicated host
committee, and the fans who support the
event.
Among the most important aspects of
curling are the sheets of ice. However,
what most do not know is how much preparation goes into creating the field of play.
Regular ice is plain city water that is shaved
down flat and rebuilt with the Zamboni.
Great curling ice requires filtered water,
and the ice makers keep the ph level down.
The ice is basically hydrogen and oxygen,
and once the ice is flat they sprinkle the
pebble on. The pebble is what makes the
rocks glide.
Most of the team of icemakers are caretakers of the ice at their own clubs who
volunteer when they hear about large
events like this. The summer before the
event, the head icemaker will visit the host
facility, and then four or five days ahead of
the start of the championships is when the
rest of the crew comes to paint and prepare the ice. Before every game the ice
team will then come out shave the ice
down to level again to make sure it is in
optimal condition.
Along with a fantastic ice crew, one of
the secret stars of curling would be the
committee that makes the event happen. I
had the opportunity to talk to the co-chair,
Mrs. Lisa Shaw. With an event this large
and important, a committee needs to start
preparing at least a year in advance. It
starts with selling sponsorships, tickets, and
advertising, as well as merchandise and
other essentials for any sporting event. In a
typical day someone who is volunteering or
on the committee comes in around 6:30
a.m. and begins stocking all the hospitality
rooms, opening the ticket booths, and
straightening up to make sure everything
runs smoothly.
Also especially important to curling is
the support from the fans. Roughly twothirds of the fans at this Nationals are not
curlers themselves; they came out of curiosity. I spoke with Mary Kay Stern, a fan
who was very curious about the sport. She
was informed of the event through a friend
and neighbor and decided to stop by after
she had first seen the sport in the Winter
Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Although
she does not know anyone competing personally, she is enjoying herself and is happy about the opportunity.
I spoke also with a family from Philadelphia about why they had decided to come
and check the event out. Laura had passed
a billboard advertising the event while
driving home from school one day and
became interested. Laure and her family
were enjoying themselves and said, “We
had seen it on the Olympics before, but it is
very interesting to see up close.”
Not all the fans are new to the sport. I
spoke to a family whose children are all
competitive curlers in Philadelphia. Hearing
about the event through their curling club,
their mother admitted, “I was a bit nervous
and curious to see how it would play out
seeing as the event was not at a curling
club. However, I am very impressed. Everything is great! The food and seating is
lovely and very family friendly.”
I also spoke to a father of a competitor
who proceeded to tell me that it had been
worth the travel from Louisiana. The atmosphere was great, and he was very
proud of his daughter and her team for
doing their best.
It’s great to go to a fantastic event and
watch someone who you know have fun or
even just fulfill your curiosity. It’s even
better to understand and find out how
much time and effort was put in to make
sure that you, the fans, and the athletes
have the best possible experience. Thank
you to all the volunteers, sponsors, athletes
and fans who really made this event a
positive experience and a fun story to
share.
12 p.m. Men
Brown v. George
Sampson v. P. Fenson
** Birr v. McCormick
Clark v. Farbelow
E. Fenson v. Shuster
Bye: Morton
4 p.m.
Tiebreakers, if needed
8 p.m. Women’s Page Playoffs
#1 v. #2 and #3 v. #4
Friday:
12 p.m. Men’s Page Playoffs
#1 v. #2 and #3 v. #4
4 p.m., women’s semifinal
8 p.m., men’s semifinal
Saturday:
10 a.m., women’s gold medal
3 p.m., men’s gold medal
Closing ceremonies following the men’s gold
medal game
**Highlighted webstream game
http://www.ustream.tv/UsaCurling
Playoff format:
The Page Playoffs will be used at this
championship. At the conclusion of the
round robin, the top four teams will be seeded based on record. The #1 and #2 seeds will
face off with the winner moving on to the
gold-medal game. The losing side of the 1 v. 2
plays the winner of the match between the #3
and #4 seeds in a semifinal match to determine the other finalist.
Omission:
The siblings list yesterday omitted one additional
set of brothers — Greg Romaniuk (Team Birr)
and Leon Romaniuk (Team Clark). The Daily
Pebble staff regrets the error.