After a few chat sessions during their Saturday night off – perhaps mediated by a CCA rep? – Shannon Kleibrink‘s Team Canada mates were a very different squad today. More aggressive and somewhat confident, a new civility was also on display… and a solid result achieved. An important win for them, and here – just as we did for the men – is the scoop for tomorrow’s final day:

If Canada wins twice, as do the Swiss, and Norway wins one of their two, there will be no tiebreakers. At least, that’s what tired TV crews are praying for… and nailbiting Canadian fans prolly wouldn’t argue.

The evening men’s draw featured a potential – we repeat, potential – couple of milestones. Peja Lindholm lost again, defending champ Pal Trulsen won… and both might have thrown the final curling stones of their career. Trulsen, it should be mentioned, made not one but two perfect freezes on his final two deliveries. If true, a poignant moment for lucky fans in attendance in Italy tonight.

PS: more curling nudity… or partial nudity, anyway. Will it ever stop?

Hope not.

Last night over gourmet pizza and beer, a TV executive suggested that Sweden’s Peja Lindholm (photo) would win all his remaining games, clamber into the playoff tiebreakers and go on to win gold.

Not going to happen, as the twice world champions are now at five losses following Andy Kapp‘s 7-5 win this morning. The disappointed skip also lost his national final for the second year in a row – to another Carlsen brother, this time Nils – and will not be in Lowell for April’s men’s worlds.

USA’s Pete Fenson took another giant step this morning, beating former frontrunner David Murdoch of Great Britain 9-8 to grab a share of first place. One sheet over, Italy’s amazing run of wins hit a wall – a 6 ft. 4 inch wall named Markku – as Finland won the match 7-4… and U-15 is now 6-2 as well. Norway’s Pal Trulsen beat the Kiwis 9-6 to hang tough with four losses, along with Italy and Switzerland. Canada, at 4-3, was idle.

Hold on to your seats folks, as The Curling News paints the picture for you.

If Canada defeats New Zealand tonight, it will all come down to their last match against the USA on Monday afternoon. If Canada wins that, they are into the semi-finals along with USA, GBR and the Finns. If the USA beats Canada – and the teams with four losses keep on winning – we’ll have a mess of tiebreakers, with Canada involved.

But tonight’s match with winless New Zealand is key for the Canadians. It’s time for them to jump back onto the tracks, and make it a happy 50th birthday for the veteran, Russ Howard.

Some media reports:

• the shocking Canjun losses yesterday;
• the mesmerizing and hypnotizing sport of curling;
• Canada’s focus on medal count versus the colour of gold;
• Rumours that Canada may finally start rewarding Olympians with cash for medals;
• a quick feature on Marco Polo;
• and this arse from New Yawk, who may not even be factually correct. We hear that CNBC’s audience numbers for curling are up 300 hundred per cent from Salt Lake (we also heard that TSN had 350,000 watching a 3:00am ET game earlier in the competition). Not a sport, eh chump? Somebody had better tell the Russian girls, who are on something like their 40th lap around the arena right now… a full hour before their next match.

Arse.

Final thought: Canada’s Christine Keshen ate some bad food and missed yesterday’s loss to Japan. We don’t know what to eat anymore, said third Amy Nixon. However, Keshen was feeling well enough to attend the curling reception at Canada Olympic House last night, so she should be back in action this afternoon. Meanwhile, there’s chatroom hysteria back in Canuckistan over all this. No surprise there…

We had no plans for three posts in one Olympic day (see below, and then below that, obviously) but the Japanese women, fresh off their huge upset of Canada in the early AM, just barely missed a tricky draw for two and the win over the best team in the world, Sweden’s Anette Norberg, and fell 8-7 in an extra-end.

Their colourful fans (photo) did their best to help, but it was still a tremendous day for Japanese curling here in Pinerolo.

We’re off to bed immediately. Perhaps when we wake up tomorrow, the curling world might have decided to return to normal.

But what fun would that be, eh?

The beat goes on for Canada’s teams here at Torino 2006, as the previously unheralded but rapidly steamrolling Italian men’s team (photo) fended off a ferocious comeback by Gushue/Howard et al to win 7-6 in an extra-end. The Canucks are tied with the Italians – and their delirious, shrieking fans – for third spot at 4-3.

Great Britain, who got admittedly lucky in beating Switzerland’s Ralph Stoeckli on a last-rock steal this aft, are in first at 6-1… and are thus proving that their previously derided team selection process might have some merit to it after all. Meanwhile, America’s Pete Fenson is tied for second with the Flying Finns at 5-2.

Tell you this. There’s a party for the Canadian teams at Canada Olympic House in Turin tonight… but it might not be the jolly affair it could have been. It won’t help that Canada’s ballyhooed men’s hockey team were also stunned today by a minnow team… the Swiss, who shut them out 2-0, no less.

Eeeeuurk.

Betcha the Gretzkys didn’t wager on that.

• Here was the TorStar take – back from Feb. 16 – on the rift between the Gushies and their new skip/second, FYI;

• A great Newfie zinger by the master of self-depreciation, Canuck men’s coach Toby MacDonald, in this Terry Jones column;

• The ever-increasing bundle of U.S. newbie-curling stories continued today, seemingly endless, in both big media markets and tiny outposts, some winding their way far overseas and others getting all homey with food and whatnot, some calling us really, really nice, and others going further in an unabashed love-in…

• This one is similar, and funny, but best of all it spotlights two killer chants we’ve been hearing here in the arena… one of the them the best in curling history, and the other the absolute worst. You pick ‘em, which is which:

CHANT #1:
We’re not cowards because we’re hot for Howard!
CHANT #2:
If you’re pissed and you know it, clap your hands… (etc)

Bonus marks to anyone who guesses which is Canajun and which is Scottish… sorry, British. Boy, tough one.

• Here’s another Olympic quote we like, from one of two U.S. snowboard wackos who finished 1/2 for gold and silver:

I can’t even comprehend the coolness factor of what we just achieved.

• We’ll close with BlogCritics, a venerable online machine and their rapidly increasing curling content. This FAQ should help curling newbies immeasurably, and one might also want to check out this previous entry, which pokes fun as the U.S. curling commentators – veteran Canucks Don Duguid and Don Chevrier – for completely dodging the pronounciation of Markku Uusipaavalniemi‘s last name. In the words of BlogCritics’ resident curling contributor, Matthew T. Sussman:

They’d either say ‘Markku’ or ‘the Finnish skip.’

Say it with me:

OOH-sah-PAH-vull-nee-M-ee

That’s only 22 points in Scrabble, mind you.

Nippon!
Nippon!

A stunning loss for Shannon Kleibrink‘s Team Canada to Japan (photo) this morning… according to some. But not according to The Curling News.

Why?

• Japan’s Ayumi Onadero had already beaten Kleibrink 6-4 at a World Curling Tour event in Red Deer this past fall. She also beat two other Calgary teams, skipped by Renelle Bryden and Cheryl Bernard, in the same event and eventually lost the semi.

• Onodero also travelled to the Strauss Crown of Curling in Kamloops, and lost the final to B.C.’s Toni Wells. The squad finished in 22nd place on the Tour with over $7,000 in winnings.

• The ice conditions are, in a word, controversial. Sometimes straight and extremely quick, the ice has frustrated many teams here, both male and female. The conditions on Sheet D, where both Canadian teams have played 75 per cent of their games – can you believe that? – created a more even playing field between the relatively inexperienced Japanese and the frustrated Canadians.

• There’s something going on with Team Canada. We’re not spotlighting the absence of Christine Keshen, who is apparently ill, nor the poor performance of alternate Sandra Jenkins. The squad seems listless, and not at all poised to rush headlong onto the medal podium. There might even be some dissention in the ranks, on a far less loud and obvious level than that of Brad Gushue‘s men’s squad.

Speaking of, it’s a full house in Pinerolo for Men’s Session 9 and this place is rocking. The Italians are screaming and chanting as if it was a soccer match, and they were even booing Great Britain’s Rhona Martin and bursting balloons during her delivery in GB’s match against Italy’s Diana Gaspari. Imagine the bedlam when the Italian men went up 3-0 on Canada’s Gushue/Howard combo… it’s now 5-1 for Italy at the break – the Italians have stolen twice – with the Canucks just trying to stay calm…

Quite a day.

The CurlGirls are out and the American men are very much in.

The Canadian men lose to U-15, the Flying Finn, who remarkably shoots 59 per cent (zero on two draws and just 65 on 18 hits) compared to Brad Gushue’s 75. The Finns look an awful lot like the same squad that went on a wild tear at the Ford Worlds last April to qualify for these Games (yes, that was them too).

Peja Lindholm, seeking the only championship title he hasn’t won, is crushed by GB and sits in eighth place.

And Italy wins again, to explosions of screaming and chanting. Bravo, prego.

And ciao, until tomorrow.

Well, we told you the Olympics are kinda wacky.

Congrats to Vicki Hall of the Edmonton Journal, the only journo – other than The Curling News, natch – to pick up on Christine Keshen’s appearance in the third end of Canada’s win last night. Eurosport has a wee bit as well, but Hall’s piece is all over the CanWest media family today, including the National Post (subscription only).

Yup, she slept in and missed the start of the game.

According to Keshen: Honestly, I fell asleep. Fell asleep, didn’t set an alarm and thought somebody would wake me up, but it just didn’t happen.

It’s not like Canadian assistant coach Paul Webster didn’t try. He rang the door bell. He pounded on the door. He phoned over and over again. Nothing worked.

Keshen felt sluggish in the 6-5 morning loss to Switzerland, so she dozed off after lunch.

This is the first time ever in my life that I have slept with ear plugs in. There were cleaners in the apartment and they were making so much noise. So I thought, ‘I’ll try the earplugs.’ They worked awesome.

Her teammates:

It’s kind of like losing your kid in the mall, said Amy Nixon. You’re happy they’re there, but you’re kind of mad at them for leaving.

We’re just happy, said skipper Shannon Kleibrink, that she’s in one piece.

TCN hears that sleeping has been a challenge for athletes this year. The Canadians are in special apartments booked years in advance by the Canadian Curling Association, and Keshen has been struggling to catch up on rest. These things happen, folks. Even at the Olympics.

A huge win for the girls today in round 7, 9-3 over defending Olympic champ Rhona Martin. Canada now holds second place at 5-2, with only Sweden ahead at 6-1 (winners over the Swiss by a 9-7 count).

Meanwhile, Cassie Johnson’s U.S. squad lost a wacky game to Russia (photo). The Russians had the game in hand until the Yanks scored three in the last end to tie. However, Johnson appeared to run out of time in throwing her last one, but the officials did nothing. Johnson missed numerous opportunities to bury the steal stone in the extra frame, and the Russians didn’t have to throw their last rock. 1-5.

In men’s play, Canada and Great Britain top the standings at 4-1, while no less than five teams have three wins. Can you say tiebreakers?

Elsewhere:

• there are tons of international curling What is this, anyway? stories floating about, including this from the U.S.; this from a North American writer working for a Greek newspaper; and this other mildly annoying one again from the States (note the shuffleboard reference, again. Grrrr)…

• Why is Canada’s national newspaper running U.S. wire content on the subject of Canada’s national sport (oops, sorry hockey)…

• Nearly 5 million Italians tuned in to see their men’s curling team stun the U.S. the other night. Five million. “Curling had a bigger audience than figure skating,” said an Italian ice sports bigwig, who is now frantically trying to take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime promotional opportunity. Five million. Bigger numbers than the sensationalized Juventus vs. Inter Milan footy match the same night. More on that in a humourous vein here, which includes a good zinger: There’s really no explaining the Italians’ sudden fixation with curling. The entire nation has been sent to doping control…

• If they gave out gold medals for Quadrennial Hand-Wringing, Canada would win hands down every single Olympic year. Is this year’s session over yet..?

• Finally… it started first with Rosie DiManno, then good ol’ Bill Graveland, and wound it’s way to Arizona and then to here and then to there (plus video) and the point is that the calendar story has exploded yet again, and all product is temporarily sold out. Yowza.

Boys on ice now. More later.

A quick one tonight: first of all, here’s the gold (and silver and bronze) that awaits at the end of the rainbow.

Second of all: yes, she missed the start of the game.

We’re not sure if Don, Joan and Mike over at CBC spilled the news, or how they spilled it, but Canadian women’s lead Christine Keshen did indeed unintentionally miss the start of their eventual and critical 10-8 win over Norway. She entered the game in the third end, after an admirable opening four rocks from alternate Sandra Jenkins.

The Curling News believes there are extenuating circumstances at play here, and we will delve further into this tomorrow… after, of course, we’ve all had a chance to vent our own thoughts and devour the newspapers and generally work ourselves into a lather.

Stay tuned. And take another look at the previous post, and consider thinking twice about passing judgement on people who are undergoing the moments of their lives, in full public view of a billion humans. Moments that 99 per cent of you, dear readers, cannot possibly relate to.

Wacky stuff in Pinerolo today. First up are the Swiss men (photo) in their pre-game footyfest – a typical sight outside European curling venues – before this afternoon’s match against the Kiwis.

First, lead/alternate Simon Struebin lunged a bit too far for the ball and almost sprained his ankle – but no harm done. Then, just a few minutes after this photo was taken, Swiss Assistant Team Leader Pierre-Yves Grivel (not shown) plowed facefirst into a concrete pillar in an attempt to prevent the ball from getting away. He went to hospital on a stretcher, but the squad insists that he is okay and the Italians are just taking precautions.

In fact, Ralph Stoeckli‘s boys can’t wait for the guy known affectionately as Jimmy Connors to hurry back, so they can commence making fun of him.

A great story from one of the TV guys. A co-worker was in Turin (about 40 minutes away from the venue in Pinerolo) and went to use a pay-toilet. Oh yes. A pay-toilet. Anyway, his two “squares” of paper were dispensed – oh yes, only two squares – and all appeared normal until… well, let’s just say that some pay-per-use toilets in Italy have an automated cleaning system, which apparently gives you only 15 seconds to get the heck out of there after flushing. Said the storyteller:

So if you see a guy walking down the street on a clear sunny day in Italy who looks like a popsicle… you know he didn’t make it.

A couple of Kanada facts, definitely weird: both teams have broken off keys in their apartment doors; and men’s lead Jamie Korab has displayed some disturbing shopoholic tendencies… apparently he may go home with up to six enormous bags of… stuff.

FYI, following their weird and wild 6-5 win over Pal Trulsen this aft, the boys are off to the Canadian men’s hockey game in Turin tonight. Meanwhile, the girls lost to Switzerland in the wee hours and have a big match in about 90 minutes against the wily veteran Dordi Nordby.

Switch gears: a poignant anecdote to leave you with. Japanese skip Ayumi Onodera – now a bonafide movie star back home – lost 9-5 to Denmark this morning, dropping Japan to 1-3. The tiny athlete was in tears throughout most of her lengthy media scrum in the mixed zone afterward, but she bravely stood her ground and never once broke down. Her faint voice only quavered, and her eyes flicked down to her feet as she wiping the tears and answered the swarm of reporters.