PINEROLO, Italy – Never have grown men, sliding 42-pound stones down a 146-foot sheet of ice, been so exciting.
In the stands, the fans from the United States and Great Britain, traded cheers like rival high schools at a homecoming football game. Friday afternoon an Olympic medal, not neighborhood bragging rights, was at stake.
There was even a streaker. Who said curling is a dull sport for those trying to kill another winter night in Minnesota when it’s too cold to ice fish?
The United States won the bronze medal when skip Pete Fenson curved his stone around a blocking stone to nudge another Great Britain stone out of scoring range for an 8-6 victory in the 10th and final end or inning.
The medal was the first by the U.S. in curling, an Olympic sport since 1998. Canada won the gold with a 10-4 victory over silver medalist Finland.
Fenson owns a pizza parlor in curling hotbed Bemidji, Minn. In dropping the hammer on Great Britain – the last stone delivered in each end is called the hammer – he couldn’t have tossed a thick crusted, double-cheese and pepperoni pie with greater accuracy.
“I was pretty confident with the shot,” Fenson said. “Once I saw it curling over, I knew it would be enough to get around their rock. I felt excitement and relief.”
Great Britain’s team took the ice to the sound of bagpipes. They’re all from Scotland, home of curling, so that made sense.
The chants and the songs started immediately.
When Fenson knocked a Great Britain stone out of the button or scoring zone to win the eighth end, 1-0, the U.S. fans sang “Jeepers, creepers, where’d you get those peepers. Jeepers, creepers, where’d you get those eyes?”
In the ninth end, Great Britain made it 7-6 with a 1-0 victory. Their fans, to the tune of Camptown Races, sang, “We are coming to get you – doo-dah, doo-dah. We are coming to get you – oh, the doo-dah day.”
The streaker jumped the boards right before the sixth end. He walked onto an unused sheet of ice, which was covered by a tarp, and proceeded to strip.
He was wearing a baby’s bonnet and clothes pins on his ears. A rubber chicken, secured by tape around his waist, served as a loin cloth. On his chest was written the email address of a gambling company.
The streaker walked around, posing in front of a TV camera, while slow-acting security approached him cautiously. Security finally threw a coat over him and took him away. His clothes were still on the unused playing surface when play resumed.
“I’ve never seen that before,” Fenson said.
If it can happen at the Super Bowl, why not at curling?
The U.S. women’s curling team, featuring sisters Cassie and Jamie Johnson from Bemidji, entered the Olympics as a medal favorite. They didn’t make it out of the round robin, perhaps falling victim to too much publicity.
The men didn’t receive nearly as much attention. They went 6-3 in the round robin, beating Great Britain along the way. They fell to Canada for the right to play for the gold.
JL END HOYNES
(Paul Hoynes is a staff writer for The Plain Dealer of Cleveland. He can be contacted at phoynes(at)plaind.com)
AP-NY-02-24-06 1637EST
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