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Q: What’s the difference between an Olympic curling year and any other curling year?

A: Media. media. media.

Curlers in San Jose, California managed to get NFL football player Vernon Davis out onto the curling ice earlier this month, and in any other year, the story would have run in local media only. Perhaps with a photo.

We know this because various celebs have tried curling in the past couple of years… and we’ve promoted their experience, right here at The Curling News. Us, and local media where the experience took place.

However, with Vancouver 2010 less than three months away this story has exploded in this viral media universe, complete with video and multiple still pics.

Example: between 9:00am and 9:30am eastern time this morning, no less than 45 media outlets had posted the story online, and the counter was still running.

May we suggest more of these kinds of promotional efforts, from now until Games time. The recipe is simple: grab celeb; apply to ice; write and film.

Rinse and repeat.

Did you miss The Curling News Blog? This may be our first post since last Thursday, but there’s been lots to follow on our Twitter feed. Such as:

• Rizzo beats Kleibrink for 11K; McEwen wins on a measure
• Glenn Howard, Mike Harris and “Buttons” open The Dominion Curling Club Championship tonight
• When will they curl on Vancouver’s super-cool new/old city rink?
• Wayne Middaugh would like to set the record straight:
• Canada loses to Japan at Vancouver wheelchair curling exhibition
• You can follow the Olympic Torch journey online
• No tolls on Team Gushue highway
• 30K raised in little Carmen
• Kevin Martin moves into top spot on Tour money list
• The Daceys are off to Chelyabinsk, Russia
• Vernon, BC gets a Grand Slam
• TSN HD channel available free during Olympic Trials

And so very much more. Click on “Follow” at the top left of this page…

[Photo by Associated Press]

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From the last post, to the big reveal.

2006 Olympic champion Mike Adam, alternate for Brad Gushue’s victorious foursome and the young man who committed one of “the most selfless acts in sport history” became the first Canadian high-performance curler to carry the Vancouver 2010 torch… and the first-ever human to slide with it down a sheet of curling ice.

The Katie Greene photo above shows Adam alongside former Team Gushue Olympic coach and 1976 Brier champion, Toby MacDonald.

“It was awesome,” Adam told The Curling News.

“In spite of it being Friday the 13th I didn’t wipe out… and I didn’t set the club on fire, either.”

Adam was on the ice at the St. John’s Curling Club in Newfoundland and Labrador, the traditional home base of Team Gushue and many of the island’s top competitors, and accepted the torch from the previous bearer, 2007 Canadian junior champion curling skip Stacie Devereaux.

Adam then proceeded to slide halfway down the sheet of ice. Then, he did it again… nice and slowly, for the assembled media.

“I was thinking, if I slide past real fast to get to the other end, I’ll blow by the people that are lined up to see it, and they don’t get a chance to see it that well,” said Adam.

“So I figured I’d go slowly, and give everyone the real gist of it, show the symbolism.”

Adam enjoyed the technical term VANOC organizers gave to this particular segment of the torch’s unprecedented 45,000 km journey, which will visit 1,000 Canadian communities.

“They call it an ‘Alternative Mode of Transportation,’” Adam chuckled.

Adam was one of 160 torchbearers who carried the flame more than 110 kilometres across Newfoundland on Friday.

On a day when his Olympic teammates with Team Gushue were officially eliminated in the race to defend their championship in Vancouver, thousands of miles away in Prince George, British Columbia, Adam spoke poignantly about his return to the club.

“It’s been almost a year and a half since I’ve been back here,” said Adam, who now lives in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.

“It would have been great to have everybody back here for this, but the boys had to be out west.

“I give the organizers full marks for including curling, and our team, in this amazing journey.”

There’s more from Adam and his big Friday in today’s edition of the St. John’s Telegram.

Later today, Alberta front-end curling legend Don Bartlett runs with the torch, in his original hometown of Gander, Newfoundland.

Other Olympic curlers slated to carry the torch are Russ Howard (Moncton, Nov. 29), Don Walchuk (Moose Jaw, Sask. on Jan. 10), alternate Ken Tralnberg (Hague, Sask. on Jan. 11), Marcie Gudereit (Lloydminster, Sask. on Jan. 12), alternate Sandra Jenkins (Salmon Arm, B.C. on Jan. 27) and Georgina Wheatcroft, who will bear the flame at Whistler Olympic Park on Feb. 5.

The full list of 300 Canadian Olympians who will act as torch bearers can be seen here.

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Our friend Terry Jones is back on the curling beat, and not a moment too soon.

The veteran Sun Media sports scribe, who also authored the 2007 book The Ferbey Four, was at a “32 days out” ceremony for the massive Roar of the Rings event coming to Edmonton December 6-13.

Otherwise known as the Tim Hortons Canadian Curling Trials, the event is basically the “Olympic Trials” which will declare Canada’s representatives for Vancouver 2010.

As Jones tells us here, many of the late week draw matchups were revealed as part of the news conference.

The much-anticipated and possibly crucial all-Edmonton battle between Kevin Martin and Randy Ferbey will be on the Wednesday afternoon draw, which also features Edmonton’s Kevin Koe versus the other pre-qualified team skipped by Ontario’s Glenn Howard.

Thursday morning features Ferbey-Howard and Martin-Koe, and Thursday night will feature Ferbey-Koe and Martin-Howard.

Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones, Calgarian Cheryl Bernard, Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton and Calgary’s 2006 Olympic bronze medallist Shannon Kleibrink have their feature games against each other Wednesday morning, Wednesday evening and Thursday afternoon.

As any curling fan worth his or her salt knows, the remaining squads will be known after the Road to the Roar in Prince George, B.C., which starts up pretty darned soon.

Jonesy also tells us that ticket sales are already at 134,844 for the eight-day event, and single draw tickets go on sale this Saturday.

Tickets are $50 a pop for the women’s final (Dec. 12) and the men’s final (Dec. 13), while the semifinals are $40 each. The early round-robin draws are $30 each.

For heaven’s sake, this has got to be one of the last wakeup calls for curling fans to get their butt to Edmonton, for this showdown of the ages.

“We can’t believe this event is only a month away,” said host committee woman Jackie-Rae Greening. “Probably in our lifetime we won’t have the opportunity again to watch a trials where the winners get to represent Canada on their home turf at the Olympic Games. Now it’s getting so close, it’s getting so exciting.”

The last word goes to K-Mart, who unveiled some kind of countdown road sign, along with Kleibrink, at yesterday’s newser (photo by inews880AM, click to zoom in).

“I think the level of curling has increased significantly, the curlers have been training harder and have all become better than we were four years ago,” said Martin.

“That’s going to make this event even better and hopefully is going to make Canada even better at the Olympics.”

NOTE: have you signed up to follow The Curling News Twitter account?

If not, you’ve already missed today’s info on New Brunswick’s mixed team; Stoughton and Burtnyk on their Road to the Roar (and McEwen and Gunnlaugson, too); the husband of Sandra Schmirler and his honour at carrying the Olympic Torch; and Brad Gushue as an “interesting choice” to publicize the Tim Hortons Brier… considering that he hopes to not compete in it!

Head to the page and click on “Follow” to get tuned in to the digital curling world!

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It has begun.

The flame was lit in Olympia, Greece today for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and carried off by the first relay runner on a journey of more than 47,000 kilometres to Vancouver.

The Olympic flame is to be carried 2,180 kilometres across Greece this week and will arrive in Victoria, British Columbia, on October 30 to embark on a 106-day, 45,000 kilometer journey throughout Canada.

Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier is producing 12,000 identical torches, each weighing 1.6 kilograms, including fuel, which is a mix of propane and isobutane.

Twelve thousand relay runners will carry the flame before the opening ceremony in Vancouver on February 12. Curlers are included, and also –controversially – some of the media from Canada’s Olympic broadcast rights holder.

Torch designer Daniel Deschenes told AFP they were inspired by Canada’s “snow-covered landscape, sculpted by the wind, with traces in the snow or ice left by skiers or skaters.”

Deschenes said the torch would remain lit through “rain, sleet, snow and wind” and in temperatures from -40 degrees Celsius to +40 degrees Celsius.

And guess what? You can even download your own virtual Torch for use on your mobile device or computer.

What will they think of next?

[Photo by VANOC/IOC]

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Russ Howard roared, particularly on this stone (a missed draw for two in the seventh end) but to no avail, as he lost yesterday’s Bern Open finale to Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud by a 7-5 score.

The 2006 Olympic and two-time world curling champion had a 4-1 lead but watched the Norwegian 2010 Olympic hopefuls take two in the fourth end plus a big three in the sixth to assume control.

Howard previously won the event in 2007, beating Ulsrud 4-3 in the semifinal with a steal in an extra-end.

Of course, if you are following The Curling News Twitter page (aka Tweets) then you would be aware of these results, and more (check it out now for Barrie results, wheelchair curling results in Norway, and stuff about broken toes).

And on the TCN Twitpic page you can see – yes, actually see – a blow-by-blow account of the conclusion to the Bern Open semifinal between Ulsrud and Scotland’s Peter Loudon, in which Ulsrud took two in the eighth before producing the hit and roll of the tournament, in the extra-end, for the 6-4 win.

Meanwhile, in nearby Kuesnacht, a battle of 2010 Olympic women’s hopefuls took place at the Grasshopper Women’s Masters. When the smoke cleared, Germany’s Andrea Schoepp had stolen a 7-6, extra-end win over Debbie McCormick of the United States.

In London, more Olympic internationals are through to today’s playoffs of the Southwestern Ontario Women’s Cashspiel (SWOWC) along with two-time defending champion Rachel Homan of Ottawa, Sherry Middaugh, Alison Goring and others.

At Medicine Hat, the Meyers Norris Penny Charity Classic also wraps up today – for both men and women – and the first big U.S. Tour stop of the season took place in St. Paul, MN, with Thunder Bay’s Mike Pozihun bringing the title back to Canada.

[Thanks to Switzerland’s LAOLA TV curling channel and Europe’s Curling Champions Tour for the visuals]

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VANOC released the official sport medals of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games today.

The designs are inspired by the ocean waves, drifting snow and mountainous landscape found in British Columbia and throughout Canada.

Each medal features aboriginal artwork and no two medals are alike.

The medals are circular in shape and, at between 500 to 576 grams, are the heaviest in Olympic and Paralympic history.

The medals are based on two large artworks of an orca whale and raven by Canadian designer Corrine Hunt.

For more on the medals, and a look back at the history of Olympic Winter Games medals, check out this CTVOlympics story.

This story from VANOC’s website shows the reverse sides as well as the Paralympic medals, and this VANOC video explains the concept, manufacturing and so on.

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The International Olympic Committee has launched a contest, The Best of Us Challenge, which offers the chance to win some branded IOC merchandise as well as a trip to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games or the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games.

Olympic athletes from around the world have created video “challenges” and invite you to take them up on that challenge.

Relax – these athletes aren’t leaning on their particular sport expertise… not at all, actually.

For example, Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal wants to see if you can hold more tennis balls at one time than he can (he picked up and held 24 balls in 30 seconds). U.S. Alpine Skiier Lindsey Vonn wants to know, in a 30-second time limit, in how many different languages can you say “hello?” (She came up with nine)

Here’s our challenge to curling fans: how many of you will choose the option to “submit your own challenge” and bring a little bit of curling-oriented fun to this campaign?

Anyone who submits a video challenge to the IOC contest website with some kind of curling theme attached to it will win a free subscription to The Curling News, for yourself or a friend/family member.

And, of course, we’ll make you famous. Guaranteed.

Simply notify us of your IOC submission by emailing us at contest_at_thecurlingnews.com. Go for it!

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It’s all over in Arlesheim as Team Ralph Stoeckli defeated Team Stefan Karnusian 7-4 to win the Swiss Olympic Trials by a 4-1 games margin.

With the scored tied 3-3 in the sixth end, Stoeckli’s foursome scored the game’s third deuce and then added a pivotal steal in the seventh.

Equally important was a force in the eighth. Stoeckli added a single in the ninth and then blasted his way home for the trip to Vancouver in February… and to Canada next week, for the Grey Power World Cup in Mississauga.

It’s the first Olympic qualification for youthful third-rocker Jan Hauser, and Olympic trip number two for Stoeckli and lead Simon Struebin (Pinerolo 2006) and second/third Markus Eggler (Olympic bronze at Salt Lake 2002).

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This image provokes some thoughts. One of which is that Rycroft is just as close to repeating his Olympic experience with Team Kevin Koe than John Morris, last year’s Canadian curling poster boy, is close to going for the very first time.

Another is that Rycroft makes this stuff look good.

John who?

The host nation unveiled its official Olympic wear for Vancouver 2010 yesterday – all except key athlete-only gear, like the ceremony and podium lines – to generally strong reviews (see here, here and here).

Another curler took part in the launch – Sonja Gaudet, who has captured world and Paralympic gold for Canada, and whose spot on the 2010 national wheelchair curling team was confirmed earlier this week. Gaudet’s HBC publicity photo should appear later today at Eric Eales’ excellent Wheelchair Curling Blog.

Make sure you check out the November issue of The Curling News for much, more on Vancouver 2010 and, of course, Canada’s upcoming Tim Hortons Canadian Curling Trials. That first print edition of the new season comes out in mid-October.

There was much talk about the new clothing, which has continued into today. There is also a political firestorm over the team clothing logo, which allegedly resembles the logo for the political party currently running the country. Sigh.

For the best look at the product lines, including videos, visit this special Hudson Bay Company Olympic site.

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