US takes it to the house

PINEROLO, Italy -- The Scottish streaker, he of the strategically placed rubber chicken and inescapable gambling ad, wandered aimlessly around the curling ice just before the start of the sixth end, drawing a few bemused chuckles from the otherwise all-business members of the United States and Great Britain teams. It lent a moment -- brief though it was -- of levity to an afternoon of tension, emotion, and even a bit of history.

For this was the first ever medal for the US in curling, a much-maligned, much-mocked sport (at least in the United States) usually ascribed to the Canadians and the Scots, a few of whom were on the other side of the ice from the Americans. But the bronze, won in a nearly three-hour game, perhaps brought a measure of legitimacy to a sport played by pizza parlor owners (skip Pete Fenson) and insurance agents (54-year-old alternate Scott Baird, who became the oldest Olympic medalist in the Winter Games).

Or, if nothing else, it officially made curling a tailgating sport.

Back in Bemidji, Minn., the unofficial center of US curling, bacon, eggs, and hash browns were on the menu (or at least Joe Polo assumed they were) as a gathering at the Bemidji Curling Club -- home club of Fenson and Polo -- began right about the time the rocks started sliding, 6 a.m. local time, for the live broadcast.

''We've been hearing a lot of support," Polo said. ''They've been at the curling club a lot. Sounded like they were going to get the grill going downstairs, cooking breakfast. Sounded like there were going to be a lot of people down there."

And they were bound to be pleased with the result. Left with a 1-point lead and the hammer (the final throw of an end, which is akin to an inning), Fenson sneaked the rock into the center of the house (the bull's-eye target, or scoring area) to give the US an 8-6 win and the bronze at the Pinerolo Palaghiaccio, just a few hours before Canada would topple inland for the gold, 10-4. That last shot for the US wasn't a hard shot, one that Polo downplayed, even with the loot on the line: ''I don't think it was that tough," Polo said. ''He'll make it again, no problem."

To get to that point, though, that all went back to the third end. With two yellow stones (Great Britain's color for the match) on either side of two red (American) ones, Fenson sent a perfect shot down the ice, forcing both British stones far enough from the center to score 3 points. British skip David Murdoch had left a yellow stone vulnerable -- and Fenson took advantage. It put the US ahead, 4-1, and was the biggest moment of the match.

''At the end of the day it's a team you can't come back on," Great Britain's Warwick Smith said of the US, which already had beaten his team in round-robin play. ''They got us again, unfortunately."

Not only did the US men win the country's first Olympic curling medal, it was the first major international medal since 1993, when the men won bronze at the world championships. And, for one member of the team, Shawn Rojeski, the victory had special meaning. It came on the second anniversary of the death of his mother, Bonnie, who helped introduce her son to the sport.

''A couple of months ago, when the schedule came out, right away I recognized the day," Rojeski said. ''It was definitely a goal of mine, a dream of both mine and mom's. So to get this far and actually finish off with a medal is definitely satisfying to me."

A bronze medal. A bit of respect. Amongst the cheering fans -- who lent the arena an intramural softball vibe with their original chants -- the American curlers pulled out the win and, with it, there might be a new sense of the validity of the sport. And that's not just in Bemidji.

''There's a lot of people that just thought curlers were big fat guys who were coming out here, lazy," Polo said. ''We've proven that it takes an athlete to come out and win."

Not that streakers and tailgaters don't help.