Draw #8, Ongoing Commentary

End #1: The Koreans played tough this morning. Maybe they'll rebound. Their third just made a neato triple against the Czechs. Meanwhile the US has developed the first end well and is in good shape to take a deuce, which they did. France stole one against Norway, and the Czechs (despite the triple) had an easy draw for two against Korea.

End #2: Interesting that this year all the teams have the same length of break between ends. It seemed to me that at some point in the past, the teams being featured on television had longer breaks. No more, though. So far, as expected, Denmark looks over-matched by the Swiss, though they have one in the rings with two guards that the Swiss couldn't get through. Stoughton blanks, but because Nergard (Norway, vice) wrecked on a guard, Norway is in trouble. Korea calls a time-out already to discuss their situation with lots of rocks in play. And the set-up by Denmark led to their being able to score tw0. Meanwhile, Norway gives up yet another steal to France.

I'll focus on the Korea-Czech game for a bit because they have so many rocks in play. After their time-out, the Korean 3rd beautifully tapped back a few Czech stones, and now the Czechs are taking a lot of time to discuss the situation. This is all very complex for just the second end.

[Memo to Jill Officer: if you're concerned about spilling coffee, try drinking it with a straw]

Korea had a chance for a not-too-crazy double tap to score 5, but wrecked on the guard and scored only one.

Next: The games are now on different ends, so I'll just post general reflections now and then. The US is playing very well against Canada, but Stoughton split the rings fairly early on, enabling him to score two and tie up the game. The Danes are giving the Swiss fits in the third end, lying two with some guards, so the only option is for the Swiss to try to draw for one. But the draw is through a port that is not all all that big. He was light and Denmark stole two. And between Norway and France, Ulsrud was forced to draw for one. I haven't looked at the curling percentages yet, but I wonder how much they are in line with the general observations on the media bench(es).