Hooked on 16 stones sliding

Tonight at 6.30pm I'll be glued to the tv, amazed at the accuracy of the curl and hoping M-15 will bring home the gold!

Huh? (Yes, I heard you... what on earth is she talking about?)

Curling.
Sport of the hour here.
16 stones, 10 ends, 8 players, brushes and a rink.

A sport I rarely see on tv. Now that our men's team is doing so well in Torino, it's getting lots of airtime. Well deserved I say. No blood, sweat or tears on ice. Accuracy. And skill. Amazing accuracy and skill. A gentleman's sport.

M-15? That's him, the skip of the team.
Why M-15? A nickname given to him by the British team... counting his first initial and all the letters in his last name amounts to 15. Markku Uusipaavalniemi. Hey, it's a mouthful for us too LOL!

This photo is of the semifinal where they beat the Brits with the last stone in the 10th end.
Wow. That was one skilled skip. And this is about as rowdy as it gets in curling... heheheee.
I'm hoping to see them go all the way to gold tonight as they play against Canada.
They've already won them once in these games.

And right after that final is the semifinal hockey game Finland vs Russia.
Now that is a tougher nut to crack.
The USA game was enjoyable to watch, even if the last period was painful and I kept glacing at the clock to see if it would finally end...

Ended up 4-3 for us, could easily have been the other way.

And to quote this man: Loosing a couple teeth is a small price to pay on the road to Olympic gold.
Teemu Selanne, of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, after he got a hockey stick right into his face. Ouch.
Now this one has the blood, sweat and tears...
It'll be a good game tonight. Nail-biter I'm sure. I so hope our guys can beat Russia, that would be thrilling. They came into the games as an underdog.

I've really enjoyed these Olympics in Torino. For one, the time difference is only one hour, makes for all day televising. I've learned so much I never knew I needed to know.
I've always enjoyed the figureskating most, but this time it has been a bit of a let-down for me. I think it's the whole aspect of all these teenagers skating... they lack the artistry, it's all about the jumps. In the ladies event last night I was rooting for Irina Slutskaya of Russia, age 27.
Ice dancing was the event I really wanted to watch, but due to another event, had to be either curling or hockey LOL, they only showed the last 5 pairs in the free skate.
Sigh.

But tonight.
I'm sure there will be blood, sweat and tears.
Hopefully glory too.