Has anyone ever curled on a frozen lake? These kids are getting it done old school, and it sure looks like fun. According to the USCA, the New Pond Curling Club is in Walpole, MA.

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New York artist Jason Young (a Canadian transplant, natch) has used curling as the theme for a short film. He designed curling stones that dispense ink as they slide down the sheet, making abstract patterns. The YouTube version of the film is below; you can watch a slightly larger Quick Time version at this link.

Is this the future of curling?

The Tyler George and John Shuster rinks advanced to the 2008 Men’s Nationals with strong showings in the Eau Claire Challenge Round. They were tied at the top with 5 wins and 1 loss after six draws, and were scheduled to play each other in the final draw this morning. But, assured spots in the Nationals, they declined the opportunity to break the tie, and didn’t play the game.

Excellent job guys!

Tyler George and John Shuster both are undefeated after the first two draws at the Eau Claire Challenge round.

The final spots for the 2008 US Men’s Nationals will be determined this weekend by the Challenge Round at the Eau Claire Curling Club in Eau Claire, WI. Two teams from Duluth will be competing: The Tyler George rink (Tyler George, Kris Perkovich, Phill Drobnick, and Kevin Johnson) won a spot in the Challenge Round with a good showing at the Waupaca Qualifiers, and the John Shuster rink (John Shuster, Jeff Isaacson, Chris Plys, Shane McKinlay and Jason Smith) won a spot with points earned on the World Curling Tour. Good luck guys!

The first games are at 2:00pm Thursday, Jan. 24. You can look at the draw sheets here, and live scoring should be available at this link. And if you want to engage in online speculation about who you think will come out on top, there is a lively discussion underway at In The Hack’s message board.

If you eat lunch at Burrito Union, you’ve no doubt seen the Discovery Channel’s “How Its Made” playing on one of the big screen TVs. A couple weeks ago, they ran a segment describing how curling stones are made, from Scottish quarry to Canadian machine shop. Unfortunately, I missed it. But you never really miss anything these days, thanks to the internet. Here is the episode, on YouTube:

There is a lot more information on the types of granite used for stones, and reconditioning old stones, at the website of Canada Curling Stone Company in London, ON.

There will be a spaghetti dinner fundraiser for the Junior team on Thursday, January 24th at the Duluth Curling Club. Tickets are only $5 and will help defray travel expenses for Team Plys: Chris Plys, Aanders Brorson, Matt Perushek, Matt Hamilton and coach Phil Drobnick. Come down to the club for some good food and to support some of Duluth’s finest curlers.

The Norma O’Leary rink (with Pam Cavers, Mary Johnson, and Patti Luke) went 2-0 to win the 2008 Women’s State Championship last weekend at Curl Mesabi.  They will play in the Club Nationals at the Mankato Curling Club March 1-8.  Way to go ladies!

The Superior Telegram has a nice article about the past (lots of Olympians), present (a 60% increase in membership) and future (a growing junior program) of the Superior Curling Club.

And speaking of Superior, this weekend they host a mixed bonspiel, while Two Harbors has a men’s bonspiel.  With the temperatures expected to drop to Antarctic levels this weekend, surely most folks would rather stay cozy and warm in a curling club rather than risking frostbite and hypothermia going outside to ski, snowmobile, or fish through a little hole in the ice.

The 2008 Minnesota Men’s and Women’s State Championships begin today at Curl Mesabi in Eveleth, MN. Duluth teams skipped by Jon Medure, Thomas Eng, Norma O’Leary and Linda Lanigan will be competing for spots in the National Club Championships (although Norma O’Leary’s home club is listed as St. Paul). You can see the draws and standings at this link.

This event also features a New Club Championship, which is open to teams from curling clubs less than ten years old. There are three teams signed up, one from the Brainerd Lakes Curling Club and two from the brand new Edina Curling Club. The New Club games will be played alongside the State Championship games. This is the first year for this format, and is a great sign of the growth of the sport in Minnesota.

The first draws of the U.S. Senior Nationals are at noon today at the Exmoor Curling Club in Highland Park, IL. There are two teams from the Duluth Curling Club competing: The Phil DeVore rink (with Ron Gervais, Doug Cameron and David Bopp) and the Seppo Sormunnen rink (with Stan Vinge, Wally Henry and Jim Wilson) will be playing in the field of sixteen men’s teams. The top teams from the men’s and women’s divisions will represent the U.S. in the World Senior Curling Championship in Vierumaki, Finland, in March. Good luck Phil and Seppo!

You can see the draw sheet at this link, and live scoring is here.

Toronto Globe and Mail sportswriter Bob Weeks is preparing a new book and is looking for tales of curling conflicts that escalate to violence.  It seems implausible, but apparently it happens.  If you have witnessed or participated in curling related fisticuffs, and would like the story to be immortalized on the printed page, send it to Bob Weeks.

Al Cameron also writes about the darker side of the roaring game in his latest post, in which he discusses ways to cheat in curling.  Thankfully, violence and cheating are not nearly as prevalent in curling as they are in other sports, particularly other sports that are played on sheets of ice.  That may be why accounts of such aberrant curling behavior are so tantalizing.

Adjust your rabbit ears, and set your betamaxes, there’s a new curling show coming this monday!

Wow, those guys sure do look young, don’t they?

Some items to chew over:

Duluth Curling Club’s Aileen Sormunen rink is playing in the Manitoba Curling Association Women’s Bonspiel in Winnipeg this weekend.  Thirty two women’s teams will be competing, and you can follow the action at this link.

The field for the 2008 USCA Men’s Nationals Challenge Round has been set.  This event, January 24-27 at the Eau Claire Curling Club,  will determine the final berths for the Men’s Nationals, and two Duluth teams will participate.  The Tyler George rink earned a spot with a 4-1 record in the Waupaca Qualifiers.  John Shuster’s team, which finished 3-2 in Waupaca, obtained a spot under more unusual circumstances:  the Persinger rink, which won a spot in the challenge round in the Qualifiers in Fairbanks Alaska, for some reason declined the opportunity, and the Shuster rink was invited to take their spot by virtue of their World Curling Tour points.

Finally, a bit of advice:  If a teammate asks you to bring him his crutch, don’t assume that he’s talking about the crutch that happens to be nearest to you, because that one might belong to a guy playing on the sheet next to you.  Also, don’t slide the crutch along the ice towards him at a velocity which will cause it to shatter in a dozen pieces if a rock happens to be the first thing it hits.  Also, Tom, I’m sorry I busted your crutch.

To summarize my previous post, the state of curling went from nonexistent to poor following NBC’s broadcast of the Korbel Elite Challenge.  The state of curling on your computer, however, improved dramatically last week.

CurlTV.com and the United States Curling Association announced a deal which provides no cost subscriptions for all USCA members.  If you pay dues to the Duluth Curling Club (or any other participating club) you are a USCA member.  This will allow U.S. curlers to watch live matches, as well as archived games and videos of coaching tips and equipment reviews.

The video quality on CurlTV.com is comparable to what you might see on youtube:  it looks pretty good in a small window in your browser, and if you blow it up to full screen it looks a little fuzzy and pixelated, but you get used to it.  The commentary is top notch, and  Kris Laudien’s daily roundup of curling news is a great way to start your day.  If you haven’t checked out CurlTV.com before, give it a try, you’ll like it– and its free!