Rock Stars: Victoria

Image via Wikipedia

The 2013 Ford World Men's Curling Championship begins tomorrow in Victoria, British Columbia.  This year's championship is one of three qualifying events for the 2014 Winter Olympics.  The top seven nations in the qualification standings after this event will automatically qualify for the Olympics.  Canada currently leads the standings with the United States in eighth place.  The Yanks have some work to do!

Jacobs photo via Hack to Hack

None of the skips in this year's tournament has won a world championship before.  Even though Canada's Brad Jacobs had never even won his country's championship before this year, he comes to Victoria as the prohibitive favorite.  The Canadian men own the sport, having won the world title 34 times - more than everyone else put together.  Jacobs's rink hails from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

Edin Photo via Skip Cottage Curling

The two strongest threats to the Canadians are Sweden and Scotland.  The Swedes, led by Niklas Edin, are the reigning European champions.  While Scotland's Tom Brewster has never taken the world title, he has won the silver medal each of the past two years.

Brewster photo via Skip Cottage Curling

The United States are represented by the Seattle-based rink led by Brady Clark.  Clark won the national title for the first time this year.  He has had much greater success in mixed curling, with nine national team championships and three national doubles titles. He was also national collegiate champion in 1999.

Clark photo via Facebook

Rock Stars: Riga

Image via Wikipedia
For the first time, Latvia is playing host for the World Women's Curling Championship.  This year's championship is one of three qualifying events for the 2014 Winter Olympics.  The top seven nations in the qualification standings after this event will automatically qualify for the Olympics.  Switzerland currently leads those standings with Canada in third place and the United States in fifth.

Schöpp photo via AnthroScape

Two of the skips in this year's competition have won world titles before: Andrea Schöpp of Germany and Wang Bingyu of China.  Both should be considered among the favorites. 

Bingyu Photo via Froogville

One might expect Russia, already qualified for the Olympics as host nation, to be less motivated than the other participating nations.  However, the rink led by Anna Sidorova are the reigning European champions. 

Sidorova photo by Ryan Clare

Canada is nearly always in the mix so expectations are high for the Ottawan team led by Rachel Homan.

Photo via Team Homan

The American representatives hail from Madison, Wisconsin.  Skip Erika Brown has won the US national title seven times.  She is a former Olympian, having served as Third to Lisa Schoeneberg at the '98 Nagano Games.

Brown Photo via USA Curling

A pick?  Sure, why not?

Gold: Germany
Silver: China
Bronze: Canada

State of the Blog 2012

The protagonist.  In literature, in film and in sports, identification with the protagonist keeps us coming back.  As Year 4 begins for The Armchair Squid, it is time to narrow focus and, perhaps, to explore this unifying theme.  While new directions are always possible, the following are my priorities for the coming year.


Blogging Projects

These are a lot of work but they are definitely the best way I've found to network with other bloggers.  A to Z is already on the calendar for April.  I even have my theme ready to go.  Quick-shot blog fests have also been great for me over the past year.  If anyone hears of anything planned for February or March, let me know.  Those tend to be my slow months.


Good Reading

Image via Comic Bastards

As I said in my Squiddies 2012 post, I started blogging about comic books last fall almost as an afterthought.  I did not expect them to be such a rewarding topic for the blog in general.  I plan to continue my explorations over the coming year.  I will certainly follow the Cannons' Double Barrel project and will encourage you to do the same. Beyond that, I'm not sure where the path will lead.  I am considering taking the next step in comic fandom and becoming a subscriber.  There is no better demonstration of the power of the protagonist than there is in the world of comics.

To do the topic justice, I do feel I need to educate myself in the visual arts in general.  I'm not sure what, if any, direct impact this will have on my blogging but I hope it will at least make for more meaningful posts.

I will also continue to explore children's literature - with my daughter and on my own.  There will be sports books, too.  Baseball and football books are on my to-read stack at the moment.


Family Adventures

This time last year, I set a goal to get my family out of the house for something fun at least once a weekend.  This past Sunday, I asked My Wife how she felt about it and she seemed more or less satisfied.

"I don't want you blowing up at me sometime about my 'stupid plans,'" says I.

"Well, I can't promise that..." she retorts.

Photo via The Idea Buro


Generally speaking, I've found that the best bet for getting everyone out is the promise of food.  The most gratifying topic as a blogger, however, has been movies.  We watch loads of them - mostly in the comfort of our own living room but we make it to the theater from time to time as well.  Truth be told, it's more or less the family hobby.  As such, I will focus on film for my family adventure posts in the coming year.


Music

As my goal is to keep my blogging life separate from my professional life, this is a tricky topic.  I am a music teacher, you see.  But there are always intersections between music and the other subjects I write about.  I will resume my celebrations of college marching bands (not my job) this coming fall.  In the spring, I will turn my attention to music's role in another favorite sport.  More on that in a bit.


Tennis

No changes planned here.  I still feel the Majors are the best point of contact for the casual fan.  My Curtain Calls are at the very heart of what The Armchair Squid is all about, no matter the topic.  After all, each player from the biggest star to the humblest journeyman is the protagonist of his/her own story.


Baseball

The Baltimore Orioles have been a joy in 2012.  I highly recommend following a team as I have this year: watch the pitchers for a few games, then the hitters, then the pitchers again, etc.  Keep an eye out for new faces.  Of course, it doesn't hurt when your team is winning.  As fun as it's been, I'm planning a new baseball direction next year.  After college football, baseball has the strongest connection to music of any American sport.  I will explore that relationship more in the 2013 season.

I haven't forgotten about my bold proposal, either.  At the moment, the Nationals appear to have the best chance to upset the apple cart.  The Orioles and Pirates are currently in playoff position, too.  I'll check in on this one at regular season's end.


Curling

No changes here, either.  Women's World Championships will take place in Riga, Latvia, March 16-24.  The men will play in Victoria, BC, March 30th through April 7th.


Fantasy Sports

I'm paring down a little bit here - just baseball and football, no tennis or college football.  I will continue to celebrate the individual players who do well by me.


In conclusion, I am eternally grateful to all of you have shared in my explorations.  To borrow from Jon Wertheim, if any of you enjoys reading The Armchair Squid half as much as I enjoy writing it, we're all doing pretty well.  I hope you'll join me for Year 4.

If you're interested in previous State of the Blog posts, try the links below:

2011
2010

Rock Stars: No Surprise

Here are your 2012 World Men's Curling Champions, representing Canada:


Photo via Canadian Curling Association

Scotland won silver while Sweden took the bronze. Team USA finished eighth out of the twelve teams. Host Switzerland finished a disappointing ninth. The surprise team of the tournament was New Zealand who finished fifth. Next year's tournament will be held in Victoria, British Columbia. The women will play in Riga, Latvia.

Looking for A to Z? Scroll down two posts or try this link.

Rock Stars: Basel

Image via World Curling Federation

The 2012 World Men's Curling Championship kicks off in Basel, Switzerland tomorrow. Basel is, of course, Roger Federer's hometown. There's an ad in a recent issue of The Economist for a job in Basel. I've been joking to My Wife that I'm sure Fed would put us up for a while as we got settled. He seems like an awfully nice guy!

Back to curling, while the Canadians are always among the favorites for the women's event, they own this one. Canada has won 33 world titles in men's curling. Scotland and Sweden are tied for second with - ready for it? - 5 each. Only three other countries have won titles: USA (with 4), Switzerland (3) and Norway (3). Quick math, Canada's won more than everyone else put together. So, it should come as no surprise that this year's favorite is...


Canada


Photo via Gripper Bits

Glenn Howard is the only skip in this year's tournament who has won a World Championship before. What's more, he's won three: two as a third for his brother Russ and one as a skip in 2007. It can only be considered an upset if anyone manages to wrest the gold medal from the Canadians.

Here's a quick rundown of the top challengers:


Norway


Photo via Canadian Curling Association

The Norwegian rink led by Thomas Ulsrud deserves enormous credit for putting curling on the pop culture map. Their snazzy pants were an overnight Internet sensation at the 2010 Winter Games and they have not lost their sense of style yet. However, they have yet to win gold at either the Olympics or the World Championships, though they have a perfectly respectable silver and three bronze to show for their efforts. They are the current European champions and probably present the strongest threat to the Canadians.


Switzerland

The hosts are led by Jan Hauser, who skips the team from the third position (most skips play fourth, meaning they throw last stones). Perhaps the home crowd can cheer his team to glory.


Scotland

The sport's inventors should never be discounted. Skip Thomas Brewster, Jr. has won two medals at this level: a bronze in 2002 and a silver last year.


USA


Photo via Curl for SickKids

The American representatives are based in Irvington, New York. Skip Heath McCormick is a dual Canadian-American citizen. He's been competing in the United States for the past two years after a long career in Ontario.


The Pick

Gold: Canada
Silver: Norway
Bronze: Switzerland


The Answer

In Sunday's curling post, I noted a similarity between The Squid's three favorite sports - tennis, baseball and curling - with the promise of sharing my findings today. It occurred to me that the role of time is very similar in all three games. Generally speaking, the period of game play is not ultimately determined by a clock. A tennis match ends with the final point of the final game of the final set. A baseball game ends with the final out. A curling game ends when the last stone is thrown in the last end.

I also mentioned in that same post that curling merits an asterisk in this regard. Curling does use a clock but it functions more the way a chess clock does - i.e., each side is allotted so much time to hem and haw between throws. The intention is to keep things moving. At least in my limited experience, a game rarely comes down to a time forfeit. Interestingly, there is occasional discussion in both baseball and tennis of similar limited clock usage, allowing only so much time between pitches or serves. Looking forward to this summer's Olympics, I think of three other sports that share this characteristic: badminton, table tennis and volleyball - all net sports, interestingly.

Rock Stars: Why Curling Is Awesome

Photo via Ford World Curling Championships

I first got caught up in curling during the last Winter Olympics and resolved to follow the sport as best I could in the off years. There are many things I love about the sport. Among them:

• A sport involving brooms and 40-pound rocks is inherently awesome.
  
• Sportsmanship is central to the game's culture. Check out The Spirit of Curling. It's not mere lip service. The curling world takes this very seriously.
• Teams are expected to concede once a win is out of reach and they usually do. Nothing in any sport is more boring than a blowout and this helps to prevent them, or at least to keep them from going on forever.
• Olympic curling coverage in the US is not on the main NBC channel which means the sport avoids the nausea-inducing human interest stories altogether.
  
• Players qualify for world tournaments as a team, not as an assemblage of all-stars as with other sports. It's the equivalent of sending the NBA champions to the Olympics en masse.
• The sport favors the middle-aged. Mirjam Ott, skip of the newly-crowned world champion Swiss team, is 40 years old.
• It looks like fun! One could easily imagine a casual game with all participants standing around the ice with beers in hand.

As Mock's comment on my last curling post suggested, we have been keeping our eyes out for a place to try the game ourselves. I have found two ice rinks in Vermont which have curling regularly but both are at least a two-hour drive for us. Furthermore, their intro programs tend to be on Sunday and Wednesday evenings - not exactly convenient. Canada is an option, though as we are closest to Quebec and at least my own French is minimal, finding someone to teach us in English could be tricky.

Mirjam Ott and her rink won Switzerland's third women's world title and their first since 1983. She is also a two-time Olympic silver medalist and a two-time European champion. Canada, the host nation, finished a disappointing third. Team USA managed to finish fifth after a miserable 0-4 start in the round robin stage.

I recently figured out that the three sports The Armchair Squid follows most closely - baseball, tennis and curling, at least according to mission - have something very interesting in common. It has to do with the basic rules of the sport. One is easy: all are oppositional, meaning one has to contend with an opponent directly. But there's something else. Curling, I will admit, requires an asterisk at least as far as "official" events are concerned but I think the similarity still holds, big picture. I'll reveal the answer with my men's World Championship preview on Friday. Anyone have a guess?

Rock Stars: Lethbridge

Image via World Curling Federation

I know you've all been wondering when I was going to back to curling, already! Well, wonder no longer. The 2012 Ford World Women's Curling Championship gets underway on Saturday in Lethridge, Alberta. As far as I know there is no US television coverage but please let me know if you've heard otherwise. TSN is having online streaming but only on weekdays during the day and experience has taught me that the Canadian channels don't always stream in the States. Even so, I'm excited. In addition to offering its own spoils, this is the first tournament to have any bearing on qualification for the 2014 Olympics. Here's a quick rundown of the prime contenders.


Canada

In any international curling tournament, Canada is always among the favorites. This year's representatives will have extra incentive for a strong showing as the host nation. Heather Nedohin's rink (team) hails from Edmonton so they've got provincial pride on the line as well. This is Nedohin's second World Championship appearance though her first in 14 years and her first as skip.


Photo via Saville Centre


China

The only curler in this year's tournament to skip a world champion before is China's Wang Bingyu. Bingyu won her world title in 2009. She and her rink won bronze at last year's tournament and also at the 2010 Olympics.


Photo via CURLING TODAY


Scotland

While curling is far more popular in Canada than it is anywhere else, the game was born in Scotland. Eve Muirhead's rink is the reigning European champion. Only 21 years old, Muirhead already has a very impressive resume: a silver medal at the 2010 World Championships and four golds at the junior worlds.


Photo via CURLING TODAY


USA

Allison Pottinger, skip of the St. Paul-based American squad is a former world champion, having served as third for Debbie McCormick's rink in 2003. She also has three career silver medals at the World Championship, though she has never skipped a team at this level before. She has a very practical day job: marketing research analyst.


Photo via Twin Cities Business Magazine


Sweden

The Swedes are the defending champion, though there was a bit of a coup at the Swedish national championship. Margaretha Sigfridsson and her crew bested the legendary Anette Norberg (2 Olympic golds, 3 World Championship golds) to earn the trip to Alberta. Whereas most skips play fourth position, thus throwing last rocks, Sigfridsson serves as lead , throwing first.


Photo via Team AllTelle


Germany

German prospects dimmed considerably when skip Andrea Schöpp broke her leg in practice this week. Schöpp, a university statistics lecturer in her spare time, is a two-time world champion and she will be missed. As yet, a skip for the tournament has not been named, though Melanie Robillard will take over Schöpp's fourth spot.


The Pick

Sure, why not...

Gold: China
Silver: Canada
Bronze: Scotland

State of the Blog 2011

It has been a year of evolution for The Armchair Squid. No longer merely a sports blog, the Squid has moved into the realms of literature and music. However, I believe that both sports and the arts are expressions of culture, reflecting different aspects of the human experience. A balanced life - that of an individual, a family, a community - should contain elements of both. In the coming year, the third in the life of the Squid, I shall continue to explore sports, literature and music. Further evolution in new directions is always likely. The Olympics are coming up next summer and that is certain to influence my posts.


Blogging Projects


Mock deserves full credit for getting me involved in blogging projects this past year. First, he tackled the 30 Comics in 30 Days challenge for his own blog, Stay on target... Then he discovered both the A to Z challenge and the 30 Songs in 30 Days challenge and encouraged me to try. Both were very positive experiences.

I definitely plan on doing A to Z again. I already have my theme ready to go. I have also designed my own challenge: 12 Books in 12 Months. I encourage you to join us for it. The details are here.


Books


Image via The Guardian

Books have become the life blood of the Squid and I have a number of projects lined up for the coming year. One is the 12 Books challenge mentioned above. I also have set a goal of reading The Hobbit to my daughter before the Peter Jackson film comes out next December. Then there's DC Comics' New 52. Mock, a true aficionado, has been feeding me comics for about a year now. I didn't read them much at all as a kid, devoting myself to Star Wars and Dungeons & Dragons instead. As such, it's like a whole new world for me. I'm also a sucker for a good marketing campaign and thus cannot help being intrigued by DC's upcoming relaunch of 52 titles, including their most popular series. Justice League #1 is set for release on August 31st, the rest to follow in September.

Oh, I'm also trying to write a book. I've sort of hit a wall for the moment and could use some encouragement. It's a book based on my Orange Crush experience and youth soccer in general. I still think it's worth doing but I need to rethink the project a bit to make it work.


Family Adventures


Photo via Bruce Fong's Blog

I've already told My Wife that I'm taking responsibility for winter enjoyment this year. The Vermont winter, while frequently beautiful, is long and arduous. It's all too easy to feel snowbound and not leave the house for weeks at a time except when you absolutely must. I think we need to be more deliberate in combating that feeling this year. In truth, winter isn't even the toughest part of the year. The transitional seasons in November and March are brutal, too. So, perhaps my project is better described as Weekend Enjoyment.

My vision is to get all of us out of the house once a weekend for a non-errand outing, even if just for a leisurely walk in the neighborhood. The ideal activity is one that appeals to all three of us, gets us outdoors and doesn't cost much. The first condition is essential, the other two negotiable. There will be weekends when the idea of being outside is not remotely appealing but getting out of the house will be necessary anyway. Also, there may be weekends when the one thing we all really want to do will cost a bit. There will, indeed, be weekends when dragging everyone out of our cozy hibernation den - self included - will be enough challenge in itself. But it is for those weekends in particular that I feel this is important.

As mentioned in my Squiddies post, I'd like to take and post more photos this year. We do truly live in a beautiful place. I think photography will help me to appreciate that more often.


Baseball


Image via http://baltimoreorioles.devhub.com/

It's been a fun year with baseball, only moderate tinkering required for Year 3. The Baltimore Orioles will continue to be my primary focus and I have a new look planned for their 2012 campaign. The Chicago Cubs will still serve as my glimpse into the National League. I certainly hope to go to more Vermont Lake Monsters games next season. My bold proposal experiment shall continue as long as it remains viable. The Milwaukee Brewers, though, are the most likely team to upset my apple cart and they're looking pretty strong indeed right now. As much as possible, I will explore baseball's connections to other elements of culture: music, books, film, poetry, etc. I now understand why baseball has long held such appeal for professional writers.


Music


Photo via ullman211

This is a tricky one. Music is my job and I originally started the blog as something that would be completely separate from my daily work. But there's no denying the success of the 30 Songs in 30 Days experience for me so I'd like to find ways of incorporating music in future posts. To that end, I plan to explore the connections between the worlds of music and sport. Luckily, there are plenty.


Fantasy Sports


Image via Ghosts of Wayne Fontes

I shall continue posting my fantasies: baseball, football and tennis certainly. I also will be expanding my college football exploits (That sound you hear is My Wife groaning in despair. Don't worry, dear. This won't mean actually watching more games.) I intend to make a better showing in our college bowls group this year and as such, I will follow the regular season more closely. Care to join my pick 'em group? All are welcome...

Yahoo! Group #1978
Password: mockmock

Also, there is no stronger link in America between sports and music than that which exists in college football. Stay tuned.


Curling


Photo via Aww Dip

I will once again follow the World Championships but what I really want to do this year is get out on the ice myself. Mock has also convinced me to try broomball. Maybe mine could become the broom sports blog!


Tennis

Photo via Free-Extras
I will continue to post my Curtain Calls for Slams and to follow my Golden Squid. Interestingly, tennis is the only sport I've mentioned so far which is still a Summer Olympic sport. However, the real fun of following the Olympics is the chance to see the sports that don't get much or any exposure otherwise. As such, I'm likely to focus more of my Olympic attention on those than on tennis.


Photo via Executive Chairs

As I said last year, if anyone enjoys reading The Armchair Squid half as much as I enjoy writing it, we're all doing pretty well. I'm looking forward to Year 3. I hope you'll join me.

For comparison, here's last year's State of the Blog.

Squiddies 2011

The Armchair Squid turns two years old today. As such, it's awards show time. And the Squiddy goes to...


Biggest Surprise: Steve Brewer


Photo via aNewsCafe.com

Back in December, I wrote a review of Mr. Brewer's book End Run and posted links to the review on both Goodreads and Twitter, per usual. Just a few hours later, I got a comment on the post from the author himself! I was tickled pink.

So, be careful what you write, folks. You never know who might read it.

Honorable Mention: Sabermetrics, VCU Basketball, A to Z Blogging Challenge


Biggest Disappointment: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation


Image via R4NT

This past television season, the CBC carried Men with Brooms, a show based on the curling-centered film of the same name. I had a great and glorious plan to post reviews for each episode of the show. While DirecTV, our satellite provider, does not carry the CBC, I had hopes of being able to watch the show via their Website. Denied! Episodes could not be streamed outside of Canada. I was able to watch the first few episodes by pirate streams but that got to be more trouble than it was worth. Hosers!

Honorable Mention: DirecTV's Sports Pack Fake Out, NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Final


Best Match: Roland Garros Men's Semifinal: Djokovic v. Federer



Federer's uncharacteristic reaction at the end of the match said it all. This victory was about a lot more than one match, one opponent, one tournament. The message was pretty clear to Djokovic, and to all of us: "I'm not done just yet." The final was great, too, astonishing in the genius-level of play Fed and Nadal nearly always bring to their rivalry, but the semifinal was the one that really mattered in the arc of the season. Note: that was one of only two matches Djokovic has lost so far in 2011.

Honorable Mention: Roland Garros Men's Final, Patriot League Men's Basketball Tournament Semifinal: Lafayette v. American


Best Story: The Rise of Djokovic


Photo via Fanpop

It would be cheating to say "men's tennis" but one certainly could. The current narratives of Nadal, Federer, Murray, Fish, del Potro, Tsonga and many others have added up to an absolutely marvelous season. But what can you even say about a man who has done what Djokovic has done over the past twelve months? He has only lost eight matches during that time (interestingly, four of them to Federer) and won ten titles, two of them Slams, plus the Davis Cup for Serbia. He is the undisputed World #1. His ascent has been anticipated for a long time. But who could have foreseen that it would look like this?

Honorable Mention: Butler Basketball, VCU Basketball, Roland Garros


Best Read, First-Time Read Category: Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis


Image via CinemaBlend.com

I will not pretend that Mr. Lewis or any of the authors I've read this year is better than Shakespeare. They aren't. Nobody is. But no book this year has had a greater impact on my blogging than Moneyball. Sabermetrics absolutely blew my mind and has forever changed the way I watch baseball. Moneyball should be required reading for any fan of the game. Even Englishman Nick Hornby raved about the book in The Polysyllabic Spree, though he admitted to not understanding most of it.

Honorable Mention: The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America by Joe Posnanski, Committed: Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie by Mark St. Amant


Best Read, Re-Read Category: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl


Image via wikia

Charlie was my only re-read for the blog this year but it seems unfair to compare the other books I read with one of my all-time favorites. No, Roald Dahl isn't Shakespeare, either. But I'm betting Charlie will still be read 400 years from now.


Athlete of the Year: Na Li


Photo via All World Sports Stars Wallpapers

Once again, Roland Garros produced a surprise women's champion. Li was a Curtain Call for me at the Australian Open where she became the first Chinese player to make a Slam singles final. Then, after a miserable spring season, she surprised absolutely everyone by claiming the title in Paris. With all of the moaning about tennis being on the decline in the US, the sport is booming worldwide, nowhere more so than in Asia. Will her RG title prove the watershed moment for the sport as so many believe? Only time will tell. In the meantime, she deserves full credit for her astonishing achievement.

Honorable Mention: Josh Hamilton, Jurgen Melzer, Novak Djokovic


Post with Most Unexpected Consequences: Baseball Tunes: Take Me Out to the Ball Game



My first music-centered post had one most unexpected result: My Wife's first - and so far, only - comment on my blog! I can't complain too much as she is one of my two most faithful readers but I couldn't help celebrating the moment. If you haven't checked out her blog, you should: Wikes! Hikes on the Long Trail.

Honarable Mention: On the Coffee Table: Steve Brewer


Best Family Adventure: The Philosopher's Island


It really was just about the perfect family holiday. We all love the place. We can be equally happy doing things or doing nothing. Cost is minimal. The scenery is stunning. One could hardly ask for more. More photos here, here and here.

Honorable Mention: Side-to-Side Project, Long Trail Project


Best Unexpected Benefit of Blogging: Renewed Appreciation for Photography


The A-to-Z challenge was great for a lot of reasons but perhaps best of all for exposing me to all of the excellent photo blogs out there. They have inspired me to take more of my own and post them. Here are my favorites:

Ben and Carrie Tracks
Oak Lawn Images

Honorable Mention: Networking with Other Bloggers

Just in case you're curious, last year's awards:

Squiddies 2010

Rock Stars: Stoughton Wins

The rivalry between Canada and Scotland is at the very heart of international curling, pitting the sport's ancestral nation against its modern home. In fact, for the first two world championships in 1959 and 1960, they were the only two countries invited. Thus, it was only fitting that the two should meet in the gold medal match in Regina this evening. For the 33rd time in the history of the event, the Canadians walked away with the crown.


Photo via The Gazette

Jeff Stoughton, pictured above, won the second world championship of his career. The Canadians lost only one game all tournament, 7-6 to Norway in their final round-robin match. The Scots, skipped by Tom Brewster, took the silver. Sweden, led by Niklas Edin, won bronze. Thomas Ulsrud's Norway rink finished just out of the medals in fourth but did not disappoint in the leg-wear department:


Photo via The Blair Necessities

The US squad finished a disappointing tenth.

Current details for the 2012 championships are as follows:

Men - 3/31-4/8 in Basel, Switzerland, Roger Federer's hometown

Women - Canada, city and dates TBA

Rock Stars: Regina 2011

Tomorrow in Regina, capital city of Saskatchewan, the 2011 Ford World Men's Curling Championship begins.


Image via In My Own Words

The teams:

Canada
China
Czech Republic
Denmark
France
Germany
Norway
Scotland
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
USA

Canada qualifies as host and defending champion. The United States was the second highest placing team from the Americas at the last world championship and was unchallenged for its spot. China and South Korea were the top two teams at the 2010 Pacific Curling Championships. The European teams were the top eight at the 2010 European Curling Championships.

Canada is pretty much always the favorite to win this event. They've done so 32 times. The drop off from the top is steep. Scotland and Sweden are tied for second with five titles each. Canada will also enjoy the advantages offered by the home crowd and also by the only man in the field to have skipped a world champion before: Jeff Stoughton (pictured above). Stoughton's rink is based at the Charleswood Curling Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His team includes Jon Mead, Reid Carruthers, Steve Gould and alternate Garth Smith. They qualified by winning the Brier, Canada's national championship. Gould was part of Stoughton's rink when they won the world title in 1996.

The biggest threat to Canadian dominance may be Norway. The Norwegians, led by the too-handsome-for-curling Thomas Ulsrud, put their team and the whole sport on the pop culture map with their snazzy pants at the Vancouver Games:


Image via Technofranki's blog

The Norwegians have continued to explore the bounds of fashion since.


Image via SportsCenter.com

Here's an offering from the women's team:


Image via Harlequin American Romance Authors

The wheelchair team, too:


Image via RickMcCharles.com

Oh, and they're a pretty good team, too. They won the silver medal in Vancouver and they are the reigning European champions.

The United States is represented by Pete Fenson's rink, based in Bemidji, Minnesota. The US champion team includes Shawn Rojeski, Joe Polo, Ryan Brunt and Scott Baird. Fenson, Rojeski, Polo and Baird were all part of the bronze medal winning US team at the 2006 Olympics in Torino. Baird was, in fact, the oldest Winter Olympian ever and the oldest Olympic medalist ever, Summer or Winter Games. Team USA has won the world championship four times. But the last time was 1978.