Chinese skip Fengchun Wang and German skip Andreas Kapp sweep in the house in draw 2.

We made it back to Duluth after watching the first three draws of the 2008 World Men’s Curling Championship in Grand Forks, ND.  I sure wish we could have stayed all week– it was curling heaven.  The meticulously prepared ice set against the opulence of the Ralph Engelstad Arena served as a fitting stage for an event featuring the best curlers in the world.  Click the “more” link below to see a ton of pictures from the trip. . .

The Ralph Engelstad Arena is absolutely beautiful, from the brick exterior to the stone floors in the mens’ rooms.  Every seat is upholstered in leather, with cherry armrests– very comfortable!

An army of ice technicians prepare the ice before the first draw on saturday.

Before the draws, the teams paraded out behind their flags.  At each draw, one country’s national anthem was played while a video showing scenes from the homeland played on the scoreboard.  Here we see the Chinese team being honored before the first draw.

US Skip Craig Brown discusses the shot with his teammates in the game against the Czech Republic in the third draw.  Brown had some trouble finding his draw weight in this game, and gave the Czechs a couple steals.  The Czechs won 7-6.

Brown watches his sweepers carry the rock in draw three.

China fielded a good looking young team.  This shot shows Jialang Zang, Xiaoming Xu, Riu Liu and skip Fengchun Wang getting ready before their game against Germany in draw 2.  China stuggled and only scored in two ends, losing 11-5.  They are currently in the middle of the pack with two wins and three losses.  Considering the youth of their Men’s team and the outstanding performance of their Women’s team in the Worlds a couple weeks ago, China has a bright future in world curling.

Chinese third Liu delivers versus Germany in the third draw.

 

Australian skip Hugh Milliken watches the rock closely in their game against Sweden in the second draw.  Sweden won 6-5.

The Aussies consider strategy in the second draw versus Sweden.  They may have the coolest jerseys in world curling.

 

Kevin Martin’s unstoppable juggernaut beat Denmark 9-3 in the second draw.  The scoreboard suspended from the arena’s ceiling showed the live broadcast feed (some games can be watched live over the internet, either at curltv.com or wcsn.com).

The Czech team skipped by Jiri Snitil consider their options late in their game against Scotland in the first draw.

The Scotties needed some time to cogitate also.  Here they get some advice from their coach, David Hay.  The Czechs went on to win the game 7-5.

In addition to the great curling on the sheets, it was a lot of fun to watch all the behind the scenes action of the umpires, camera crew, ice technicians, and event organizers.  Here is a shot of ice tech central, right behind the scoreboards.

We also managed to squeeze in a little sightseeing while in Grand Forks, and we found a good alternative to arena hotdogs.  We had our fill of tacos, tortilla soup and sodas– about $10 for the two of us.  Nice!

And that is the end of our photo odyssey to Grand Forks.  The drive back to Duluth Sunday was a little dicey; let’s just say the roads had a very heavy pebble.  But its all melting, so if anyone is considering a trip to watch this great event, I highly recommend it.