Schenectady's Team Brown Finishes 6th at US Club Nationals

The team of Charlie Brown (skip), Mike Stefanik (vice), Rich Gonyeau (2nd), Scott Brennan (lead), and Dan Machold (alternate) finished in 6th place with a 4-5 record at the 2010 US Club Nationals in Madison, Wisconsin. They represented the Grand National Curling Club (GNCC), which is our regional organization. They overcame a field of 8 teams during playdowns in January to win this honor.

You can view their results online. One of their round-robin games was against Minnesota (skipped by Todd Birr, former US Nationals champ who also placed 3rd at Worlds). Team Brown entered the event peer-seeded 7th so they improved their ranking after round-robin play was completed.

Good job guys! The entire club is proud of your performance at your first National event!

500 People Attended Olympic Open Houses!

500 people attended our Olympic Open Houses on Saturday & Sunday, February 20 & 21. All of the wonderful coverage of curling during the 2010 Winter Olympics got people interested in the sport, and we were very happy to be able to give them a chance to try it. WNYT (NBC Channel 13) stopped by to do a story, as well.

Thanks so much to all who participated, and to all of our wonderful volunteers for making this a great success!

Check out these great "Curling Tips" videos by 2002 Olympic bronze medalist Georgina Wheatcroft, courtesy of USA Today.

Ten men's and ten women's teams, representing 12 countries, will compete in the Olympics in Vancouver, starting on February 16. Check out Sports Illustrated's Olympic curling preview or learn more on the official Vancouver 2010 Olympics website.

Watch curling during the Olympics on MSNBC, CNBC, and USA. Here is the television schedule. Channel 13's (WNYT) own Andrew Catalon will be the play-by-play announcer, alongside Don Duguid and Colleen Jones, for each curling match.

Here is the Canadian television schedule.

Recent Local Media Coverage at SCC

A big thank you to the Daily Gazette, Times Union, and NBC (Channel 13 WNYT) for recent coverage of our club!

Check out the Daily Gazette articles on the Schenectady Open Bonspiel and USWCA National Women's Bonspiel (subscription required). They also have a nice video and photo gallery from the Open Bonspiel.

The Times Union did a great video on "curling basics" with several of our members participating. Check out their article on USWCA National Bonspiel as well.

Schenectady Open Bonspiel and BEACH PARTY!

February 4 – 7, 2010

Twenty four teams came together for the Schenectady Open Bonspiel (S.O.B.) this year, with two new teams from Toronto and Lacolle, QC, in addition to some new participants from the Quinte Curling Club in Ontario. Aksarben Curling Club was also represented, as was Utica, Albany, St Lambert, Broomstones, and Plainfield Curling Clubs. We also had several new Schenectady members play.

Most everyone wore their beach clothes on and off the ice throughout the event which made for a festive time. It was pretty funny considering that it’s February! The Friday entertainment included a wine tasting, and a putting contest on the ice. Later, musicians Frank Jaklitsch and John Cromie provided us with some wonderful Jimmy Buffet tunes. On Saturday night all of the participants had dinner at the homes of various Schenectady Curling Club members, and then returned to the club for dancing to the bluesy sound of Bernie Clark and the Rhythm Sharks.

Finals for the four events were held on Sunday morning. The Wurth Medal was won by "Hoopa Drives the Boat!", the previous two-time winning team of Jack Stopera, Nancy Wurth, and Dave Hooper, with a new team member, Dion Warr. They defeated the "Hasselhoffs", skipped by defending champion Bryan Fink, with Ashley Lawreck, Eric Haase, and Maureen Fodera. Eric couldn’t make the final game and was replaced by his father-in-law Dave Fink because Eric’s wife, Chrissy Haase, went into labor. Little Eric David Haase was born at 4:23 AM the next morning. Congratulations Eric and Chrissy!

Team Lancaster Wins the Colton, and Team Cashmere Wins the C.R.U.E.!

2010 Colton winners (L-R): Nicole Ladopoulos, Amy Corey, Laura Knussman, and Paula Lancaster

Two important in-house events for our women were held in January; The Colton Bonspiel, and The C.R.U.E. Bonspiel. The Colton is for experienced skips, and is considered the Women’s Club Championships. This annual event is held in honor of Charlotte Colton, Ruth Kerr, Dorothy Szymaszek, and in memory of Ursula Hilborn. The C.R.U.E. is intended for novice skips, and was established by Claire Brunkhorst, Ruth Kerr, Undine Fiedler, and Evelyn Homblad, who comprised the first team of women from Schenectady to win the Empire Bonspiel. These ladies wanted to foster the development of curling among women in the club, and encourage newer curlers to step into the house.

This year’s Colton was held on January 30th and 31st with Paula Lancaster’s rink taking the top prize, The Colton. Paula’s team was rounded out by Laura Knussman at Vice, Amy Corey at 2nd, and Nicole Ladopoulos at Lead. After a very close match (won by only one rock!), Team Lancaster defeated Team Fitzgerald made up of Charlene Fitzgerald, Carol Munro, Linda Falcon, and Tess Stoklosa.

The Simpsons Curling Episode & Signed Script Auction

Marge and Homer gave curling a try in the Sunday, February 14 episode, "Boy Meets Curl", of The Simpsons on FOX. They played on a team with Principal Skinner and his mother to try mixed curling as a demonstration sport in the 2010 Olympics. If you missed the show, you can watch it here.

Check out this opportunity to bid on your own autographed copy of the show's script during an auction. It is signed by many of the main cast members.

Schenectady Team Competes at the Women's Club Nationals Playdowns

The Schenectady rink of Andrea Warr (skip), Amy Howansky (vice), Linda Austin (second), and Paula Lancaster (lead) participated in the annual regional playdowns for Club Nationals which were held at the Albany Curling Club from January 14th to 17th. Ardsley, Cape Cod, Philadelphia, and Nutmeg (Connecticut) Curling Clubs also sent teams to compete for a regional title, and for the chance to be one of the final ten teams at Club Nationals.

The Warr rink was seeded last, and met the top-seeded Cape Cod team for the first draw. The two teams had met each other on the ice last year at the same event, which was won by Cape Cod. Since Cape Cod had gone on to place second overall at Club Nationals, Team Warr knew they were up for a tough match. Warr fought hard to take 4 ends, but Cape Cod won 9 – 4.