Day One: Fini

Well. That was... funky.

The Gushues overcame a raunchy start for a big 10-5 win. Such a result certainly didn't appear feasible in the first half of the game, with the back end struggling – third Mark Nichols ended up with a 54 per cent average – and only lead Jamie Korab excelling. However, Canada gathered themselves while German skipper Andy Kapp stayed raunchy all game, clocking 50 on the schnozz. Ugh. And kaput.

Finland showed up this time, challenged the Americans and brought them back to earth with a 10th-end stolen 4-3 win. The Yanks – their fans, that is – are also challenging the home-crowd Italians for loudest cheering section; the din these two groups of fans make is remarkable. In the Italian's case, they went hogwild over Joel Retournaz' foursome, particularly when their tenacity was rewarded with a great touch shot for two in the eighth for a tight 5-4 deficit. Peja Lindholm and co. added another deuce in the ninth, and nursed a 7-4 lead coming home.

The Kiwis, skipped by Sean Becker, hung tight – sort of – until the end, losing to GB's David Murdoch 10-5. FYI, there's a Washington Post writer, Dan Steinberg, whose Blog shows enthrallment by curling, and particularly the New Zealanders.

A couple of final notes... the Danes skipped by Dorthe Holm have been accorded the same level of security as the American athletes (a typical thing for U.S. athletes abroad) as explained here – also including a great quote from British women's third Jackie Lockhart – and remember this guy? He just won't go away.