And so, it begins.

You will note a couple of things right off the bat. First of all, there apparently are only 100,000 curlers in the world who do not live in Canada, which would seem to lead to something of a home broom advantage. Also, the USA men will be playing a day-night twin-bill today, with Germany in the afternoon and Norway this evening. At least the American rink is avoiding the kind of intramural dust-up that has enflamed the teams from China.. My guess is that someone in the Chinese delegation once did an internship in Foxboro.

My hopes are high, but I do have concerns about tonight's match against Norway, which for some reason, probably involving kickbacks and beer, has allowed John Daly's haberdasher to outfit its squad. I fear our lads may not be able to concentrate.