The changes in curling in the United States and in high-level curling can be told through the story of John Shuster. His Olympic triumph vindicated his team and legitimized USA curling. This is the story of the changes in Shuster’s sport, his team and himself that led to that moment.
Links:
Shuster’s interview after beating Canada in the round robin
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We start by recapping the many national curling championships that just completed, including Scotland, Switzerland, Japan and the US. We finish off by discussing the recent hire of Jeff Plush as the new CEO of USA Curling, hear from some people who know him better than we do and talk about what his success will look like if you’re a club curler.
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We debate eight ends vs. 10 ends and how eight-end curling would have changed some of the best games from the last decade. Also, the curling season is upon us. We find out how Jonathan’s new team came together with skip Rob Retchless, talk early season results in the Pacific Asia region and Ryan gets ready to head to Raleigh for Curling Night in America.
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Topics: A Swedish win makes this the Edin Decade; Kevin Koe: Good at curling; Japan’s ‘hello, world’ tournament; a frustrating finish for the USA; a near breakthrough for Italy; effects of the five-rock free guard zone; the USA-Canada cheering kerfuffle; the political philosophies of Stanley Cavell.
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