U.S. Women’s Olympic Curling Team Concedes Win to Canada

Allison Pottinger (C) releases a stone as teammates Nicole Joraanstad (L) and Natalie Nicholson look on during the women's curling game between Canada and USA at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

U.S. skip Debbie McCormick struggled again today in the U.S. Women’s Olympic Curling team’s match against the undefeated Canadians, and finally conceded after the seventh end, down 9–2.

McCormick missed several key shots, giving the Canadian team help they certainly did not need. McCormick had troubles with line and weight, and made some questionable strategy calls. In one case, she simply missed calling the obvious best shot, giving away three points.

Much has been made of McCormick’s performance, and it has been suggested that the U.S. women’s team might consider changing their lineup as the men’s team has. Some expect the U.S. coach Rodger Schmidt, who is McCormick’s father, to replace her with Nicole Joraanstad, who I shaving a great Olympics, shooting 79 percent.

U.S. third Allison Pottinger, a long-time friend of McCormick, told an NBC reporter, that wasn’t what the rest of the team wanted.

“Debbie’s our leader, she s our skip, and our team kind of runs that way. That’s not ever something we’ve ever really considered as a team. There’s more to consider than just the last two stones.”

McCormick missed badly in the second end, costing the U.S. team appoint, and in the third end, made a bad strategy error before finishing the end with an airball. Her first stone should have tucked between a pair of Canadian rocks to block a double takeout, but McCormick threw a weak guard instead. After her shot, she told her team about the better strategy, that she “didn’t see that until just now.”

Pottinger had full confidence in McCormick.

“[Debbie]’s tough; she’s tougher than she lets on. Everyone looks at Debbie and she seems so quiet, so calm, but she kind of boils on the inside. She’s definitely disappointed in the way she played today. She knows she needs to find draw weight. She’s working on it. She came to practice last night. Tonight she’ll be on.

Pottinger seemed eager to take on the powerhouse Swedish squad later tonight.

“We’ve got three more games and we do need three more W’s in a big way so well just come back and play really strong against Sweden tonight.”

A Painful Display

The game opened with a blank end, letting the U.S. team keep the hammer. After that not much went well for the Americans.

McCormick missed badly in the second end, costing the U.S. team appoint, and in the third end, made a bad strategy error before finishing the end with an airball. Her first stone should have tucked between a pair of Canadian rocks to block a double takeout, but McCormick threw a weak guard instead.

After her shot, she told her team about the better strategy, that she “didn’t see that until just now.”

After Canadian skip Cheryl O’Connor made the double takeout, McCormick still had a chance to make a draw to steal a point. Instead, she sent her shot right past everything, giving Canada three points.

In the fifth end, with the hammer McCormick missed badly on her first shot, hitting a Canadian guard, and then delivered another airball, letting Canada steal two points.

In the sixth end, still with the hammer, McCormack made a draw to get one, after leaving her first rock exposed for a Canadian takeout.

The U.S. started well in the seventh end, with Allison Pottinger throwing a pair of perfect rocks, frozen against two Canadian rocks in the four-foot ring. Faced with possibly giving up point while holding the hammer, the Canadians called a timeout.

Canada came back and knocked out one outlying U.S. rock, leaving the mass in the four-foot ring, with Canada lying two.

After wasting her first shot, McCormick delivered another airball with her second, giving Canada three points in the end.

The U.S., realizing that there was no reasonable hope of victory, chose to concede.

The American team has another chance tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time, when they face the Swedish team, with its 4–1 record.