Kiwis lose

Got a head full of curling musings, although I also have a bus to catch back into Turin, so most of the rest will have to come tomorrow. The Kiwis lost to the Brits, 10-5. The Brits are all Scottish, and I was wrong when I previously reported that British skip David Murdoch is a sheep farmer.

"I don't touch them," he said.

He is, of course, a beef farmer.

Oh, and the previously mentioned Italian skip, Joel Retornaz, who is referred to as a "young gun" in the venue's promotional materials and recently starred in a commercial for a major Italian bank, turns out to be a horse trainer who wears a cowboy hat, drives a Dodge pickup truck and chews Copenhagen long cut tobacco. What a sport.

Anyhow, the Kiwis were done in, as before, by one disastrous end, this time a four-pointer in the third. They scrapped back to within one shortly after intermission, but without the hammer they were still in gambling mode and they couldn't make it all the way back.

"We just got scorched, really," Hans said. "It's all about execution. It's such a cliche, but you've got to make the big shots."

Sean, in true SportsCenter 101 fashion, said he had put today's losses behind him.

"It's gone already, it's in the past," he said. "We were just beaten by a couple of better teams on the day. We got outplayed, simple as that. When you think of it that way, it's easy to come back tomorrow. Tomorrow's a new day."

Kiwis play the U.S., which dropped a heartbreaker to the Finns, at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Italian time.

E-mail from a sportswriter, I think, whose name I don't yet know:

My favorite winter sport.... CURLING! Why? Cuz of all the Olympic sports, it's one I could actually, as a fairly non-athletic type, see myself doing. The strategy is complex, but the sport is simple, albeit very hard to perfect. Like bowling, which I grew up with in the Midwest, and thoroughly enjoy. CURLING! US beat former champ Norway 11-5, with Norway conceding after the 7th...kinda like in golf, when you beat your opponent in match play before it's over. CURLING. And yet, those people are fairly athletic...they have to really contort their bodies to throw the stone, and the sweepers need the ability to skate on one shoe, push on the other, and jump over other stones as they go. The strategy is interesting and fun (if you like Texas Hold 'Em, you have the patience, focus and strategy for curling), and they're up against a clock. Granted, a one-HOUR clock, but a clock nonetheless. CURLING! They never show a full match, ever. So to me? It was worth staying up. To me and to the about 3 dozen people in attendance. Then of course, I had to stay up and watch the vaunted Great Britain team struggle to beat host Italy 6-5. CURLING!! It was worth the nap I'll need today.

Speaking of sweepers, that song the U.S. fans sing is "Jeepers Creepers, where'd you get those SWEEPERS," I think. Makes more sense. Love the curling songs. Any more?

Also, did you see where Gawker.com said that watching me blog "is like watching a monkey throw feces at the head zookeeper." Ok, last gratuitous Gawker.com mention, I promise.

By Dan Steinberg |  February 13, 2006; 4:29 PM ET
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