Issue 13 DAY 10 Monday, February 22, 2010 A STONE S THROW

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1 A STONE S THROW

NORTHERN EXPOSURE Twelve years ago, Rick Patzke showed up in Nagano, Japan, for the 1998 Olympic Winter Games, carrying a bag full of information that nobody seemed to want.

2 NORTHERN EXPOSURE Twelve years ago, Rick Patzke showed up in Nagano, Japan, for the 1998 Olympic Winter Games, carrying a bag full of information that nobody seemed to want. He was the communications officer for curling, a new sport on the Olympic program, but it seemed that the media thought his bag was full of tax notices. What sport could be taken seriously with players called sweepers? What a difference 12 years have made. Curling is one of he most popular events in Vancouver. As of Friday, more than 5,000 spectators attended each of the sessions in the 2010 Games. We built what we could in Nagano, Patzke said. Most of any coverage we got came when they had to fill time because of postponements. But people loved what they saw and they came away saying, I want to try that. Patzke is watching the action in Vancouver from a different level. He s the chief executive officer of USA Curling, the National Governing Body for the sport. Press officer Terry Kolesar carries the bag of information, but she has an eager audience. They ve stopped laughing about curling, Patzke said, wrapping everyone into a general statement. Patzke has found there s a price to popularity. There now are armchair quarterbacks in curling with its rock, sweepers, skip, and eight-enders just like in football where coaches and players are second-guessed all the time. The U.S. men s and women s teams aren t off to a fast start in Vancouver and Patzke has heard about it. I got an the other day from a fan saying he wanted to sign up for 2014 because he s sure he could do better, Patzke said. I m not pleased with the results so far. We should be doing better. A lot has gone into the rise of curling in the U.S. The rocks are made from one source of granite found off the coast of Scotland. Twenty-eight sets of them weigh 13 tons and cost $35,000. Since Nagano, Canada has dominated the competition with six Olympic medals, three each by men s and women s teams. Switzerland has four combined men s and women s medals, Sweden and Norway two each and Great Britain, Denmark, Finland and the United States one each. The U. S. men s team won the bronze medal in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino. John Shuster (Chisolm, Minn.) is the lone member from the 2006 Olympic team back in Any time you can go and have your best performance in the Olympics and win a medal for your country, it s a great experience, Shuster said. That was a step for us. I think it inspired a lot of people to look for a curling club to join. There may not be another step in Vancouver. Both the U.S. men s and women s teams are long shots for a medal. We have our backs against the wall, Shuster said. We ve had some extremely tight games. The women have five games left and we have four. We ll see. Coach Phill Drobnick made a lineup change for Friday s match against France, sitting Shuster and bringing in Chris Plys as the alternate skip. The U.S. men got their first victory in five games, beating France 4-3. Shuster returned to the skip position in Saturday s game against Sweden and the U.S. won 8-7 in an extra end to pull to 2-4 with three games left. The U.S. women ended Sunday s play 2-5 after falling to Sweden, 2-5.

VANCOUVER FORECAST HIGH/LOW Feb. 22 Sunny 54/34 F Feb. 23 Few Showers 51/42 F Feb. 24 Showers 47/42 F WHISTLER FORECAST HIGH/LOW Feb. 22 Sunny 48/27 F Feb. 23 Few Showers 46/34 F Feb.

For my first Olympic gold, it was absolutely perfect. -- Bode Miller, Alpine Skiing Golf - something easier on my body.

3 VANCOUVER FORECAST HIGH/LOW Feb. 22 Sunny 54/34 F Feb. 23 Few Showers 51/42 F Feb. 24 Showers 47/42 F WHISTLER FORECAST HIGH/LOW Feb. 22 Sunny 48/27 F Feb. 23 Few Showers 46/34 F Feb. 24 Rain/Snow 43/35 F QUOTEABLE When I passed the line I did my normal thing and stood for a second and I was like, that was unbelievable, I can t ask for anything more. For my first Olympic gold, it was absolutely perfect. -- Bode Miller, Alpine Skiing Golf - something easier on my body. -- Casey Puckett, Ski Cross, on what he s going to do now THE TWEET SPOT Tweets from the U.S. Olympic Team I got a ticket to USA/CAN hockey game, but I m thinking to give it up to see Ice Dance... I m probably going to regret this! :P -- Jeremy Abbott, Figure Skating (@jeremyabbottpct) Is it weird that I just waited 3 hours in line for mittens? -- Tony Benshoof, Luge (@tonybenshoof ) Listening to the Brits and Aussies ham it up on the bus. Love the accents. Another beauty day. Team sprint tomorrow, ya! -- Kikkan Randall, Cross Country Skiing (@kikkanimal) The Olympics are so powerful! I m at the airport lounge watching with a group of strangers.. jst brought us all togther. The power to unite! -- Evan Lysacek, Figure Skating (@EvanLysacek) Follow Team USA online at and on Twitter and Facebook. Receive breaking news via Twitter. On the Cover: U.S. Men s Curling Team Photos: Getty Images JUST DANCE Some athletes are good dancers, but only six on Team USA do their best dancing on ice. Looking to follow in the footsteps of men s gold medalist Evan Lysacek (Naperville, Ill.), the three ice dancing pairs are poised to add to the medal count for U.S. figure skaters. However, these pairs know it will take more than inspiration from Lysacek to spur them on for a strong performance. The total score of three performances - compulsory dance, original dance and free dance - that will determine the final score and medal awards. After Sunday s original dance, two American pairs were top four in the standings. Meryl Davis (West Bloomfield, Mich.) and Charlie White (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) currently hold third place and Tanith Belbin (Aston, Pa.) and Ben Agosto (Chicago, Ill.) sit right behind them in fourth. Emily Samuelson (Southfield, Mich.) and Evan Bates (Ann Arbor, Mich.) are points off of the lead in 14th place. Following the compulsory dance Friday, the skaters were pleased with each of their performances. Meryl Davis & Charlie White That s three points higher than our personal Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto best for that dance this year, 22-year-old White said. It s very satisfying, especially knowing how much hard work we put into it. It felt very solid, under control. We performed it very well, and to get a good score is nice, too. For Belbin and Agosto, they did something they had never done before on the world stage. I m happy we broke 40 [points], Belbin, 25, said. We hadn t done that internationally. It s a less experienced dance for us because we didn t perform it at all this season, and we had limited time to focus on it. First-time Olympians Samuelson and Bates were proud of their start, despite being slightly awestruck. continued...

It s overwhelmingly large and loud and bright, Bates said. We were able to put the distractions out and put out a compulsory dance we were very proud of.

4 It s overwhelmingly large and loud and bright, Bates said. We were able to put the distractions out and put out a compulsory dance we were very proud of. Bates went on to discuss the specifics of his and Samuleson s routine. There were no major errors, no major bobbles, and in the compulsory dance, that s what you want, the 20-year-old Bates said. We did a waltz four weeks ago [at the U.S. Championships], so we only had three weeks to put this dance back into good condition, and we did our best. Davis, meanwhile, took great motivation from Lysacek s gold medal-winning performance. It s very inspirational watching an athlete have that kind of success after so much hard work. Knowing Evan and how much work he s put into it after God knows how many years is so exciting. AN ANNIVERSARY TO REMEMBER As the U.S. celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice, it becomes clear that 1980 was a different time. Those who were six years old at the time are 36 years old now. Those who were 36 years old at the time probably don t want to tell you how old they are now. It was the midst of the Cold War and someone else was at war in Afghanistan. U.S. Olympic hockey was played by unknown amateurs and the Soviets seemed unbeatable. But on Feb. 22 in Lake Placid, N.Y., coach Herb Brooks team of U.S. college kids, mostly from Minnesota and Massachusetts, upset the heavily favored USSR 4-3 in the Olympic semifinal before beating Finland for the gold medal. The Soviet game has since become considered one of the most memorable events in the history of American sports. Coming into the game, the Soviets hadn t lost in international play since Earlier that February at Madison Square Garden, they blew out Team USA 10-3 in an exhibition game. But according to team captain and forward Mike Eruzione, the U.S. team was not afraid. If you think you re going to lose, you probably are, he said. We knew it was going to be difficult, we knew we had to play a perfect game. But we knew we had chance. Our level of confidence was high. We couldn t wait to play. Outside of the team, though, optimism wasn t so present. The Soviets had a professional team, Al Michaels, the game s play-by-play announcer, said. That was their job. Nobody had left the country to play professionally elsewhere. Nobody gave them a battle. They would beat a team 4-1, but it would look like After trailing the Soviets 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2, Eruzione scored the go-ahead U.S. goal with 10 minutes to play in the third period after Mark Johnson tied the game only a couple minutes earlier. Michaels remembers calling the final minutes with color commentator Ken Dryden amongst a raucous, pro-american crowd. The wooden platform we were standing on was shaking, he said. The arena was nothing but a wall of sound. In the last 10 minutes, I was like a horse going down the track. I had blinders on. The only thing I can remember saying to myself was Stay with it. Stay with it. For Eruzione, they were the longest 10 minutes of his life. He joked that he came off after his next shift and the clock read 9:59. What s taking so long, he thought to himself. The U.S. team would hang on to win, giving way to Michaels famous call as time expired: Do you believe in miracles? Yes! While the game against the USSR is the one that s most remembered, the gold medal would not have been won without a quality performance against Finland.

CURLERS LOOK FOR WINS IN FINAL ROUND ROBIN MATCH The USA men will conclude the round robin Monday with games against Canada (7-0) and China (1-5). John Shuster s (Chisholm, Minn.

tiebreaker match. The American women, led by Debbie McCormick (Madison, Wis.

5 CURLERS LOOK FOR WINS IN FINAL ROUND ROBIN MATCH The USA men will conclude the round robin Monday with games against Canada (7-0) and China (1-5). John Shuster s (Chisholm, Minn.) team is nearly mathematically eliminated from playoff competition with a 2-5 record and need to close out tomorrow with two wins and get a little help from other teams along the way to force a tiebreaker match. The American women, led by Debbie McCormick (Madison, Wis.), have the day off but return to the ice to finish up the round robin portion Tuesday with games against China (4-2) and Switzerland (3-3). If we had lost to Finland, people would have still been proud, but as a team we would have been very upset, said Eruzione, who thinks most people look at 1980 as if Team USA played only the Soviet game. We didn t go to win one game. We went to win the ultimate prize. [The Finland game] was the biggest game of our lives. Michaels said the gold medal game is not talked about enough. People would have said So what happened here? You beat the Soviets and you lost to Finland? It wouldn t have been a documentary, it wouldn t be a movie. We wouldn t be doing the 30th anniversary. But we are doing the 30th anniversary. And the team s legacy is all over these Games. Michaels is doing NBC daytime coverage. Eruzione was in Vancouver last week. Goalie Jim Craig is making rounds currently and Johnson is answering press conference questions about 1980 as the coach of the U.S. Olympic women s hockey team. There is no official celebration scheduled in Vancouver. But the anniversary is sure to draw coverage on NBC, be featured in sports sections across the U.S. and prompt many where you were when... conversations. Rightly so when you consider that Michaels, now one of the sports most respected commentators, refers to the game as his calling card. People always ask me, Is that number one for you? he said. That s not the question. The question is, What s number two? ICE DANCING PAIRS COMPETE IN FINAL DANCE The ice dancing competition concludes with the free dance Monday at 4:45 p.m., when Meryl Davis (West Bloomfield, Mich.) and Charlie White (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), and Tanith Belbin (Aston, Pa.) and Ben Agosto (Chicago, Ill.) will vie for medals. Emily Samuelson (Novi, Mich.) and Evan Bates (Ann Arbor, Mich.) also will compete for the United States. Davis and White will perform their Phantom of the Opera program, for which they earned a season- and career-best score of points at the 2009 Grand Prix Final. Belbin and Agosto will skate to Ave Maria and Amen; their season-best mark for the program is points, which they earned at the 2009 Cup of China. Skating to Cante Della Terra by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli, Samuelson and Bates will look to better their season-best original dance total of points, a score they received at 2009 Trophee Eric Bompard. Russia s Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin and Canada s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are also in the medal mix.

WOMEN S HOCKEY HEADS INTO SEMIFINALS Three impressive wins in which Team USA has outscored its opponents by a combined 31-1 margin have propelled the women s ice hockey team to a third consecutive

The teams will be meeting for the third straight time in the Olympic semifinals. On Feb. 17, 2006, the Swedes upset the U.S., 3-2, in a shootout for their first and only win over Team USA in women s hockey history.

Correct in-run speed is critical to successful aerial performances and athletes can choose two of many different jumps that combine back flips and twists with differing degrees of difficulty.

6 WOMEN S HOCKEY HEADS INTO SEMIFINALS Three impressive wins in which Team USA has outscored its opponents by a combined 31-1 margin have propelled the women s ice hockey team to a third consecutive semifinal meeting against Sweden on Monday at 12 p.m. at Canada Hockey Place. The game will be televised live on USA Network. The teams will be meeting for the third straight time in the Olympic semifinals. On Feb. 17, 2006, the Swedes upset the U.S., 3-2, in a shootout for their first and only win over Team USA in women s hockey history. On Feb. 19, 2002, the U.S. blanked Sweden, 4-0, to advance to the gold-medal game. jump performed, their own freestyle technique and the current environmental conditions. Correct in-run speed is critical to successful aerial performances and athletes can choose two of many different jumps that combine back flips and twists with differing degrees of difficulty. Athletes are judged on the quality of take off, height gained, form and body position, and how they maintain balance upon landing. The top 16 finishers in qualifications will advance to finals competition Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS READY TO SPRINT The highly anticipated men s and women s cross-country team sprints are Monday. These action-packed events include men s and women s competitions flip-flopping through semifinals and finals at Whistler Olympic Park. Beginning at 10:45 a.m., the women s semifinal round includes Americans Kikkan Randall (Anchorage Alaska) and Caitlin Compton (Minneapolis, Minn.). At 11:35, the men s seimifinals begin with sprint experts Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, Vt.) and Torin Koos (Leavenworth, Wash.). Finals are scheduled for 1 p.m. Captain Natalie Darwitz (Eagan, Minn.), who has recorded three or more points in each of the first three games, has a total of 11 points (4-7) and has established a U.S. Olympic record for most points in one Games. Jenny Potter (Edina, Min.) has six goals, including back-to-back hat tricks in the first two games, and is one goal away from matching the U.S. Olympic record for goals in an Olympic tournament. The U.S. has not allowed a first or second period goal and has held its opposition to three shots or less in six of the nine periods played to date. AERIALS MEN TAKE FLIGHT Matt DePeters (Buffalo, N.Y.), Dylan Ferguson (Amesbury, Mass.), World Championship gold medalist Ryan St. Onge (Winter Park, Colo.) and three-time Olympian Jeret Speedy Peterson (Boise, Idaho) will ski in qualifications for men s aerials on Cypress Mountain Monday at 6 p.m. Caitlin Compton SKI JUMPERS TAKE ANOTHER LEAP U.S. Ski Jumping was a late entry into the team event but will compete beginning in the 10 a.m. first round. Watch for Anders Johnson (Park City, Utah), Peter Frenette (Saranac Lake, N.Y.), Nick Alexander (Lebanon, N.H.) and Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) to throw down their best jumps on the large hill at Whistler Olympic Park. Each member of Team USA will have two jumps attempting to fly as far as possible. In addition to jump length, judges also give points for style. Top qualifying nations will jump for medals beginning at 11 a.m. Competitors in aerials determine their in-run location based on the type of Ryan St. Onge

BREAKING NEWS As part of the USOC s exclusive coverage of Team USA throughout the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, there are two options to receive Breaking News alerts from the USOC -- via email and/or by

The Bureau editor sends e-mails to members of the media and delegation staff on breaking news and advisories.

7 BREAKING NEWS As part of the USOC s exclusive coverage of Team USA throughout the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, there are two options to receive Breaking News alerts from the USOC -- via and/or by following us on Twitter The USOC s Breaking News Bureau keeps the media and the U.S. delegation up to the moment with breaking news about U.S. athletes and team results, advisories and updates. The Bureau editor sends s to members of the media and delegation staff on breaking news and advisories. Visit the USA Media Services office to sign up to receive the Breaking News alerts during the Games. VISITNG USA HOUSE The USA House in Vancouver will have a limited media services operation. Journalists interested in gaining access and/ or setting up interviews at Vancouver USA House should request a media day pass 24 hours in advance by sending an to: usahousemedia@usoc.org. The facility will have a small workroom and will provide some interview opportunities with U.S. athletes and officials. In addition, USA House will be an evening stop in the Managing Victory tour for U.S. medal-winning athletes. Due to size constraints, USA House in Whistler is not open to the press. USOC PRESSBOX Visit the USOC media website, www. usocpressbox.org, for up-to-date and daily coverage of Team USA. Available on the site: headshots of the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team, releases, media annoucements, press conference transcripts, bios, athlete Tweets and more. THIS DAY IN OLYMPIC HISTORY February 22, 1980 The United States Men s Hockey Team upset heavily-favored Russia in what would later be called the Miracle on Ice and went on win the gold medal in Lake Placid. February 22, 1988 Defending 500m speedskating champion Christa Rothenburger (GDR) annihilated her own world record in the Calgary Olympic Winter Games. Two pairs later, Bonnie Blair oneupped the German skater by.02 seconds to win gold. The U.S. defeated Canada, 5-4 in men s hockey on Sunday. It marked the first U.S. win vs. the Canadians since Feb. 25, Swimmer Michael Phelps and snowboarder Nick Baumgartner celebrate a goal by Team USA at the men s hockey game vs. Canada on Sunday. DID YOU KNOW? When Bode Miller (Fanconia, N.H.) won a gold medal in the alpine skiing super combined Sunday, he tied the record for most alpine skiing medals by a man at a single Olympic Winter Games and became the sixth man to win three medals at a single Winter Games.

8 2010 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES SCHEDULE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22 TIME SPORT EVENT VENUE 9:00 Curling Men s Round Robin Session 10: Canada vs United States Vancouver Olympic Center U.S. Athletes: John Benton, Jeff Isaacson, Chris Plys, John Shuster, Jason Smith 10:00 Ski Jumping Team 1st Round Whistler Olympic Park U.S. Athletes: Nick Alexander, Taylor Fletcher, Peter Frenette, Anders Johnson 10:45 Cross Country Ladies Team Sprint Free Semifinals Whistler Olympic Park U.S. Athletes: Caitlin Compton, Kikkan Randall 11:00* Ski Jumping Team Final Round Whistler Olympic Park Qualifiers TBD (U.S. Athletes: Nick Alexander, Taylor Fletcher, Peter Frenette, Anders Johnson) 11:35 Cross Country Men s Team Sprint Free Semifinals Whistler Olympic Park U.S. Athletes: Torin Koos, Andy Newell 12:00 Ice Hockey Women s Playoffs Semifinals - Game 15: USA vs. Sweden Canada Hockey Place U.S. Athletes: Kacey Bellamy, Caitlin Cahow, Lisa Chesson, Julie Chu, Natalie Darwitz, Meghan Duggan, Molly Engstrom, Hilary Knight, Jocelyne Lamoureux, Monique Lamoureux, Erika Lawler, Gigi Marvin, Brianne McLaughlin, Jenny Potter, Kelli Stack, Angela Ruggiero, Molly Schaus, Karen Thatcher, Jessie Vetter, Kerry Weiland, Jinelle Zaugg-Siergiej 13:00 Cross Country Ladies Team Sprint Free Final Whistler Olympic Park Qualifiers TBD (U.S. Athletes: Caitlin Compton, Kikkan Randall) 13:25 Cross Country Men s Team Sprint Free Final Whistler Olympic Park Qualifiers TBD (U.S. Athletes: Torin Koos, Andy Newell) 14:00 Ice Hockey Women s Classifications - 7th/8th - Game 16 UBC Thunderbird Arena China vs. Slovakia 16:45 Figure Skating Ice Dance - Free Dance Pacific Coliseum U.S. Athletes: Benjamin Agosto, Evan Bates, Tanith Belbin, Meryl Davis, Emily Samuelson, Charlie White 17:00 Ice Hockey Women s Playoffs Semifinals - Game 17 Canada Hockey Place Canada vs. Finland 18:00 Freestyle Skiing Men s Aerials Qualification Cypress Mountain U.S. Athletes: Scotty Bahrke, Matt DePeters, Jaret Peterson, Ryan St. Onge. 19:00 Curling Men s Round Robin Session 11: China vs United States Vancouver Olympic Center U.S. Athletes: John Benton, Jeff Isaacson, Chris Plys, John Shuster, Jason Smith 19:00 Ice Hockey Women s Classifications - 5th/6th - Game 18 UBC Thunderbird Arena Switzerland vs. Russian Federation (PPD) - Postponed; bold denotes medal round; *estimated start time VICTORY CEREMONIES SCHEDULE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22 19:00 BC Place Men s Ski Cross 19:00 Whistler Plaza Ladies Cross Country Team Sprint Men s Cross Country Team Sprint Team Ski Jumping TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23 19:00 BC Place Men s 10000m Speedskating 19:00 Whistler Plaza Men s Alpine Skiing Giant Slalom Team Nordic Combined 4x5km Women s 4x6km Biathlon Relay MEDIA ZONE PRESS CONFERENCE SCHEDULE VANCOUVER Date Sport Time Room February 23 Snowboard PGS 17:00 Quadra February 27 USA Wrap-up 10:00 Gabriola

Issue 16 DAY 13 Thursday, February 25, 2010 SPEED RACER

Issue 16 DAY 13 Thursday, February 25, 2010 SPEED RACER SPEED RACER FULL SPEED AHEAD When it comes to sitting down at the dinner table, Jeret Speedy Peterson (Boise, Idaho) says he s a meat and potatoes kind of guy. But when it comes to his sports competition