August 25, 2018 • 45 mins
Jordan and Kristefor sit down with Rich Ruohonen over the summer to talk about the HP Program (7:00), the catch (12:10), changes in curling (20:00) and meeting the press at worlds (37.50). This is part 1 of a 2 episode series.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Somewhere in the darkness there's a man may call
the skipper fast asleep,dreaming of gold,
Speaker 3 (00:52):
You're listening to stone cast, curling in the twin
cities with Jordan Wicklund andKristefor Lysne.
Hello, this is Kris wasStoneCast, this summer Jordan
and I sat down with richRuohonen and did an extensive
interview.
We're going to be presentingthat interview in two different
podcasts and this is part one.
I hope you enjoy it.
(01:12):
I thought that this quote fromthe 2011 Minnesota lawyer
magazine by Nancy Crotty reallysummed it all up.
This attorney's last name ispronounced Ruinin' and there's
nothing he likes more thanruining an opponent's day,
whether in the courtroom or onthe ice dubbed Dr.
(01:33):
double because of his wicked andaccurate takeouts.
He has competed in 15 nationalchampionships, 4 Olympic trials,
two world championships.
In this past season, his teamswon the national championship,
placed second in the Olympictrials, and tied for fifth in
the worlds in Las Vegas.
He also curls on Tuesday wherehe remains undefeated against
Kristefor.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
That's true.
Yeah.
I've actually only playedagainst you.
You directly once.
I've always been traveling whenour team has played your team,
you have, and I thought that wason purpose that you're a little
scared, but I wasn't sure.
Yeah, I think I actually subbedfor you Kris, one of the nights
you were gone right after youand I had just returned from the
House of Hearts spiel becauseyou were curling with my Buddy
(02:17):
Jeff, and then Kris was like,hey, we're playing Richie, can
you sub?
I said, oh sure.
We just had quite a weekend.
Yeah.
That's, uh, that's uh, that,that Tuesday night is usually
one of the toughest when youcome back from the house to even
make it to league because you'restill, you're still on that a 96
hour recovery period coming downa little bit.
(02:37):
Yeah.
Yeah.
But that's a fun Spiel, I'lltell you that.
Yeah.
I was sad to have missed it thisyear, especially after all the
American curling Hoopla beengoing on lately.
So yeah, we need to get Krisdown there.
That's a, it's, it's technicallyup there.
I will, if they want me to be acelebrity skip them all over,
all over it.
Well, the to check with theboard.
I don't know.
(02:58):
Yeah.
So let's
Speaker 3 (03:00):
talk a little bit about what we're drinking today.
All right.
So I, I'm on the way home fromwork last night I thought, well,
I don't really know what richdrinks.
So I called Willmert and he sayshe drinks anything that's cold.
I'm like, okay, well that makesit cheap.
But I was thinking we're goingto have gin and tonics.
(03:20):
But then instead I went to uh,went to Surdyks looking for
specific gin and they had this,they had this ham, Iberico ham,
which, uh, is.
I'm going to read thedescription because it made me
by the hand which caused me tobuy all this other stuff.
So Jamon Iberico, I'm sure Ipronounced that right.
Coming entirely from blackfooted pigs.
(03:41):
Grazing fallen acorns on theIberian peninsula.
Iberico is delicate yet nuttyand intense and one of the most
prized meats in the world.
So I got that
Speaker 5 (03:53):
and we're also drinking this Pseudo Sue Pale
Ale, which I really like.
So
Speaker 3 (03:58):
yeah, uh, earlier I, uh, I thought we were going to
have the gin and tonics, so Ibrought chips and salsa and then
Kris texted me saying, hey, whydon't you pick up some beer?
And also as I was walking intoSurdyks, they had a sale on a
couple different beers and thisis one of my favorites from
Decorah Iowa where I went toschool at Luther College.
(04:18):
Yeah, that's what hazy American,citrusy IPA.
Rich (04:22):
Yeah, it's really good.
I like it a lot.
I haven't had it, but Idefinitely going to buy it,
which tells us he's an IPA man.
Yeah.
I like, I like all Pale Ales,uh, in EPA says, well, like
Summit and Sierra and torpedo aSierra torpedo.
I like a lot.
So yeah, it's really nice.
I like it.
Kristefor (04:39):
Well, I'm glad that you joined our podcast.
So is Ruohonen Finnish?.
Rich (04:44):
Yeah.
It's actually pronounced ruinin, but no, I don't tell people
that.
You know, where we got thisquote that you talked about in
the Minnesota lawyer I had thefirst time I said that was a
real, it's ruined in like I'mruining your day, just makes it
easier.
And I said that in law schoolonce to my professor because he
kept pronouncing my name wrongand in law school they call on
(05:06):
you and then you have to talk infront of the class and answer
these questions and if you'renot prepared they make you look
like a fool.
Right.
So he kept pronouncing it wrong.
I said it's ruinin! like I'mruining your day.
And he said, uh, he said, wellmaybe vice versa, we'll see any
proceeded to call or to talk tome for 45 minutes in front of
the class.
So it was a long day for me, butI think it went all right.
(05:29):
But so ever since then whensomeone says it, I just say it's
like ruin in like I'm ruiningyour day.
And so people don't forget itwhen you say that.
So a lot of people say we'rehoning, cause that's kind of how
it really looks, but it, whenit's finished you just kinda
roll through it.
So
Kristefor (05:45):
could you, could you say it again without, when you
said it, you said it like reallyaggressively.
Just say it.
How you would say it.
Rich (05:52):
Run in ruin.
Yeah.
Ruin.
All right.
I'll try to get that for therest of my life.
It's finished.
So you know, when we, I triedto, I tried to get my wife to
name our name, Nicholas PakkoRuohonen, I thought it'd be a
great name for a hockey player,you know, P-A-K-K-O, you know,
and she didn't go for it.
So then I said, how about themiddle name?
(06:12):
She said No.
And he ends up being a goalie.
It would have been the greatestname, I think ever,
Speaker 6 (06:17):
but she didn't like.
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(06:40):
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Jordan (06:45):
That's very nice.
Thank you.
That's the dream I think.
Yeah, right on.
Well, I mean I kind of got thatmentality from um, I think after
it was biff was after nationalsI think before they had named
the high performance athletesand I think you were quoted
along with the rest of the team.
It's like, are we, are we allgoing to be named again?
(07:06):
Are we all coming back as ateam?
And that's that sort of a ethoskind of came through in your
course.
You're like, oh, I hope so.
If not, but if not, you know,wish everybody the best.
And then I believe all four ofyou were named again.
Yeah,
Rich (07:18):
we were, um, that's.
And that was great because, youknow, I, I was, I feel like I
was told five years ago I willto too old then.
Right, we don't want a guy to be47 in the next Olympics and we
really want you to coach and Ithink he can do a great job and
you can really help out the highperformance program, but you're
a little too old is kind of theway and, and uh, the way I took
(07:41):
it and um, you know, I had somethings going on in my career.
I was going to be involved in ahuge case so I didn't push it
too hard and I just, at thattime I said, well listen, let me
go on the combine, you know,let's see what happens if I
don't pull my.
Wait, I'm too old.
I can't do what everybody elsecan do.
We'll deal with it.
But I didn't get that chance.
And, and it turned out to beokay because that was a big
(08:03):
couple of years in my careerwhen we got back into it.
Then I played on a couple ofteams, play with fire below for
a couple years and played withJohn Benton in Todd Bitt and we
took second at nationals and I,ah, I played very well at that
nationals.
I think I was the highest rankedplayer overall.
I watched those nationals.
You were incredible.
And then, and then for yourattitude kind of sucked.
(08:26):
And then like then I, then I gotthis opportunity to play with
heat heater and the guys to betheir fifth man essentially I
was more of a coach.
I played in St Paul Cash Spieland we won it because I'm.
Chris couldn't be there for thatweekend.
But um, other than that I didn'tplay a whole lot and played a
couple games during the yearother than that.
But I, I kinda took it out onthe, the coaching role I think
(08:49):
for our team and I think it wentreally well and you know, we got
to that the final three game twoout of three again, Schuster and
when the first one andunfortunately dropped the next
two.
So that was pretty disappointed.
Disappointing for us.
And then, and then to, you know,I asked for if for my release
from the team, because I hadthis opportunity to step in with
(09:12):
Phil and Colin and Greg and aHeater was really generous and
said, yeah, we'll, we'll justbeat you and then we'll take as
our fifth man.
And so it didn't quite turn outthat way, but um, we beat them
and we took Chris as our fifthman.
It was a after this run we hadat worlds after starting off
(09:34):
terribly.
And, and to have him, um, havethe high performance team say or
the high performance program andthe people involved say, Hey, I
think you can still play.
It was kind of cool and I'm not,you know, what you're talking
about.
Or that quote is, I said, look,if they want three of you and
not me, I'm not going to holdanyone back so I can find, I can
(09:57):
find a team to play with.
And I think I can still play atthat level.
And I think I proved it.
So it was really happy when theysaid, hey, we're going to give
you guys a chance and, you know,get you in the program and, and
I think we're all committed.
We're all practicing.
I mean I threw three times inthe last two weeks in the middle
of the summer, so we want togive it our all and if it turns
out I can't, uh, I can't do itfour years from now.
(10:19):
Maybe it's two years, maybewhatever.
And maybe I can bring these guysalong.
I, I, my goal is to take onemore shot at it and go hard for
four years and then I think I'mdone at least at least at that
level, you know.
That's cool.
You should retire from that.
It's the year I beat you onTuesday nights.
Well, I probably would retire ifthat ever happened.
Kristefor (10:41):
Have you, um, have you talked to Heath?
Yeah, I have um, a Heath and Iare, have always been pretty
good friends, you know, um,we've always got along well and
unfortunately, um, he's daddied.
So, um, I gave him a call and Ihad just heard he is kinda kept
kind of private and um, youknow, I feel really bad for him
(11:03):
because I know he's close to hisdad and stuff and um, so it
helped.
He helped him out at theinsurance agency and stuff.
So yeah, I've talked to heath.
I'm just more about that though.
I haven't, I didn't know at thetime, I haven't talked to him
since he's not in the programanymore.
I think that was a, I don'tthink he applied.
I think, you know, from whatI've heard, I'm sure I'll talk
(11:24):
to him soon and I think he stillwants to play.
Rich (11:27):
But I think he just had, it was a big, it's a big
commitment.
I mean, I don't think peoplerealize what you have to do to
be in that program and you know,Heath is married and has two
young daughters and they're in alot of sports and activities and
it's, it's tough.
Um, you know, you need thesupport of your family.
Not that he doesn't have it.
He does, but it's just, you canonly do it so many years and
(11:50):
he's in his forties also, so youknow, it, you really have to.
I had to sit back and think,hey, do I want to take another
four years of that?
And I had to talk to my familyand you know, I got kids that
are 16 and 13 and you want tosee their sports and you miss a
little bit and you know, it's a,it's a big commitment.
Speaker 7 (12:10):
Yeah.
Rich (12:12):
The Vikings are my favorite.
So I've had season tickets for22 years since 1996.
So you saw the catch.
Oh yeah, I was there.
Oh my.
Oh my God.
It was so awesome.
We went absolutely beserk.
I have never been more excitedin a game in my life and uh, it
just sucks because it's a hellof a lot more meaning less
(12:34):
considering we got crushed thenext game, but it was great to
be there.
It was the, the best play I'veever seen to end a game.
And it was right in our endzone.
We sit, I sit like I'm 10 rowsup, right to the rights, like if
I'm looking at the field to theright side of the post and it
came down the left side.
(12:55):
I'm right in that end zone.
So we were at my buddy BenSchmidt and I who've we've had
season tickets together for thatlong.
This is not a TSR thing.
I pay for them with my, with mymoney.
And we've with your curlingroyalty.
Yeah, right.
We've had such a great time andfor the first time in 22 years,
uh, the last couple of years atthe new place we've been able to
(13:18):
um, sell our tickets for, youknow, actually make money off of
them.
But of course we had to pay aseat licensing fee.
So that was a little spendy,
Kristefor (13:27):
you know, I'm a pretty big vikings fan and I
watched that.
I watched that game actually inSt Paul.
It's curling club.
There was some, I can'tremember, but I was doing some
commentating and I was kind ofirritated that I had to
commentate because I was like, Ireally want to watch the game.
And I started watching.
We, we're, where are we up atthe first half or something?
I don't know.
Yeah, yeah.
(13:48):
I can't remember, but whenever Iwatched it, like I missed all
the good stuff and then we'resitting up there and we'll
wilmar one that it was the um,over 60?
No.
Oh, sorry.
No, sorry, mark.
Uh, no, it was, I think it wasthe big spiel.
Oh, it must've been the bigspiel in the middle of January.
So we're all up in the, up inthe top and we're watching and
(14:10):
you could just see everything.
Just.
Yeah, and everybody wasdepressed and that happening
again.
There was a couple, there was acouple of packers fans that were
snuckered snarky.
Oh Man.
And then all of a sudden thathappened and it's just like, it
just exploded.
It was super cool.
I think it was a lot of snowthat night.
It stormed yet, but they didn'tdeserve to win that game.
(14:32):
They played at the second halfof that game and like, so part
of me is like, yeah, that wasmiraculous and that's great and
it's finally some Karma goingour way.
But it didn't bode well for thenext game in my mind.
Rich (14:46):
I was concerned everybody thought we were going to crush
them and I was just concernedbecause after a big play like
that, you get a let down and I'msure the coaches talked about
it.
I'm sure.
You know, I love Zimmer.
I think he's great.
Um, agreed.
But I, but I just, I, I knew Ihad this sense.
I thought we were gonna win.
(15:06):
I'm not going to lie, butbecause I'm a homer, 110
percent, so I thought we weregoing to win
Jordan (15:12):
It's like a glass half full guy sees the glass half
empty Guy Paul.
I know well enough now to knowthat I'm not a glass half.
There's some witty comment aboutthat.
He could just say, I'm justalways thirsty.
I could go on about sportsforever.
The worst about liking, theworst thing about last, not the
worst.
The worst thing is that we lostin that game and it was really
(15:33):
upsetting.
Um, but when we, who's that, whois our rookie Cook, when he went
down that game, Dalvin Cook, hewas incredible.
He was leading the league inyards at that.
It was just making the.
I was just like, Oh my God,we've got everything.
Everything we need.
Yeah.
We'll hopefully it'll be back.
And I, I'm a big fan of the kirkcousins deal.
(15:54):
We'll give them the podcastbompy.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's right.
Copy Atkinson.
Love it.
Yeah.
Price is great guy by the way.
Yeah.
He threw some shade at the twinsand you did not respond.
Is I now expect you to respond.
Kind of went along with it.
Yeah.
Well, you know, the only gamesback I didn't think they were.
(16:14):
I thought they played a littlebetter than they were last year
and I expected more to see whatwe're seeing this year.
Although I did not think itwould be Sano and Buxton that
they're struggling in.
Kristefor (16:24):
When I was a kid.
I used to listen to baseball andfall asleep to it, and then
you'd wake up to the morningshow, like either the radio
would stay on.
It was like, good morning, goodmorning.
And I was like, great, what agreat day.
We're going gonna have here.
Should we, uh, should we go toJudy Garland?
St, right.
Well this wasn't, this was like,that was a bunch of farming
(16:45):
farmers doing.
Yeah, I was, I was mimickingJudy Garland.
Yeah.
Are we supposed to talk curlinga little bit more or.
Yeah.
Well let's just say wait.
So.
Okay.
So you, you got the, the stickystuff from what's his face from
Cole?
Cole, right?
Yeah.
What is the, what is the RichRuohonen sticky stuff on the
ice?
It's like, what is, what is you,what do you do or what do you
(17:07):
bring to the every match.
Oh, do I bring to every matchthat is specific to you guys?
Go and I don't know about that.
Hm.
Rich (17:17):
Uh, I can't even think.
You mean like a yes, anattitude.
Okay.
Jordan (17:21):
No, just just like, you know, um, anything I'm a, I'm
sort of a freak about, like Ineed to have ultra short
fingernails before bonspiel andI freak out if I forget to cut
my nails and it's really stupid.
But then at the end of theweekend I've got those little
cuts on the side of my thumbsanyway, like the one when we
were in Carolina and a I boughtthat Bacitracin specifically
(17:42):
because I knew that was going tohappen.
Yeah.
This is a.
So we're a bonspiel in Carolinaand were drinking in the hotel
room, which we had a great time
Kristefor (17:50):
and Jordan is like, hey, does anybody want any
Bacitracin?
Bacitracin, like what?
He's like, yeah, it's great forthe cuticles, like all grade and
that, but Middlecamp issuffering on Saturday.
I'm going to need some of thatBacitracin.
Rich (18:06):
Well, I can tell you, I can tell you maybe nobody's
thought about it.
I would think that the thingthat I want to do, or that I
always bring is we need to getthere at least a half hour
before the game starts becauseI'm old and I need to stretch
and I don't think you can beready to play at a high level
unless you were there early.
(18:26):
And so, um, I have been on teamswhere it's, you know, you're
playing at 9:30 and are, youhave to, let's say practice at
9:30, you know, throw your shotsand stuff and it's, we get there
at 9:20 and I, I do not likethat.
And um, so for me it's likelet's go, let's go in the
(18:48):
morning, let's get up, let's eatbreakfast.
I don't sleep that well anywaybecause I sleep about six hours
a night because you have to,when you have 20 hours of
business to take care of duringthe day with work and curling.
And so I don't sleep a lot.
And so I'm always like, let'sgo, let's get Outta here and
let's get there and let'sstretch and get ready to go and
get pumped up.
(19:08):
And amped up and ready to play.
And I think I'm uh, I'm gonnathrow a Chris Plys under the
bus.
He's one of my really, really,really, really good friends and
I think um, but I, I used tojump on him when I played wake
him up, he wouldn't get out ofbed and I'd be let's go, let's
go.
And I jump on him and push himaround and throw them off the
(19:28):
bed and he'd get really pissedat me and punched me.
And.
But that, that's kind of what wedo with him.
Yeah.
But he, he does it.
He's not one that needs to dothat, but I do.
And so if we're on the same car,I'm like, you got to get your
butt out of bed and let's getgoing here.
So I would say that's what Idid.
That's what I do.
I really bugs me.
I don't want to be there 10minutes before
Kristefor (19:49):
I like that.
Like I um, I mean I'm, it's notanywhere in the same league or
anything, except for Tuesday waswhen we are in the same league.
I don't like, I like being thereat least a half hour, usually
more just because I thinkmentally I need to transition
from what I was doing before.
I agree.
Jordan (20:07):
What would you say surprises you the most from the
curler you are now from what yousort of imagined you would be
15, 20 years ago as you weresort of entering this
competitive world?
Rich (20:17):
Um, I would say I got a few things on this.
Um, I am, um, if you'd asked me10 years ago when we went to the
world championships in the yearthat I played with Craig Brown
and we were the best team in thecountry.
I don't think anybody woulddispute that including the next
year when we didn't win theOlympic trials in 2009 in
Colorado.
(20:38):
Um, we, we a sided everything.
We a sided Brandford and PortageLa Prairie, I think Portage La
Prairie.
We lost like three in a row toget triple lindy.
But other than that we, we endedup qualifying in every
tournament.
We won more money than I thinkmost teams had ever went on the
tour.
And we lost in the trials, I'mlast in the three, four game,
(21:03):
very disappointing[inaudible] byfar, that was the best team I
played on to that date and wewere the best team in the
country and it wasn't close andwe, we lost and Schuster one
with John and those guys, Johnand Mike and those guys.
And I'm so, you know, that to mewas the most disappointing year.
And, and when you look back onit and you say, I thought I was
(21:26):
in decent shape.
I mean it was a lot younger, um,but I have worked so much harder
now.
And the thing we didn't do thenwas we didn't look at stats.
I realized um, so, uh, afterthat next year when we got in
the high performance program andwhen I started playing with
Tyler and Chris and I'm callingand some various other people
(21:51):
before that.
But, but it was basically Chrisand Tyler at the time you
started taking stats, keepingstats and it was sort of our
moneyball moment in, um, incurling.
And you start realizing theystart keeping like your draws,
your tap backs, your hits, yourhard weight, hits your normal
weight, hits in your lightweighthits and you start seeing the
(22:14):
stats over 20, 30, 40 games andyou go, Jeez, my in-turn soft
weight, wasn't as good aseverything else.
And it was 10 percent lower,eight percent lower.
And you start to realize if Icould figure out what they're
doing, I can play to that inturn, I can play to that out
(22:34):
turn, you know, if, if someone'sout turn or in turn is weaker
and it absolutely wasn't moneyball moment for me.
I went, I after like 25 games, Irealized that my intern soft
weight was a little bit, I wouldflop it a little bit and it curl
a lot more.
So I went out and threw a fivedays in a row or five times in a
(22:56):
row of practice and I threw allin turns soft weight hits
basically except for a fewdraws.
And I raised that stat up by theend of the year by five percent.
Right.
So then you.
Cause there are people, ifyou've curled at our level,
you'll be like, this guy can'tmake an intern, this guy's
definitely five percent weakerand his intern or his out turn
(23:18):
or whatever or he's going tomiss a hit versus we'd rather
have him draw anytime then hitand if you become known for
that, it's a problem.
And there are people in our gameover the last 10 years that have
been known for that.
So I think that's a big changehas just the stats and
understanding that.
And now with Gerry Gertz andCurlingzone and, and all these
stats, we can look at stats andsay, boy these guys are, you
(23:45):
know, 80 percent to win a tiedwith the hammer.
So if we have to take a chanceand the ninth end or the, it
would be the seventh and on thetour, because we only play
eight, we had to take thischance to score our too so we
can be up one versus if it's aheart.
In other words we can draw forone to tie, but we're 80 percent
to lose.
Or we can play a shot that wemight be 50 percent to make to
(24:08):
be up one where we're now 70percent to win or whatever.
You have to, you have to takethat into account.
Right.
And we didn't do that back then.
I'm also, like I said, we've nowfigured out sports psychology,
which I believe is a huge dealin the game.
You know, I've played withpeople that couldn't make a shot
(24:28):
when it really counted whenthere's a lot of pressure on the
line and they've, some of thosepeople have figured it out now
with sports psychology and um, Ithink just dealing with team
dynamics and things like thatand knowing things that you can
say the sports psychology andCarly Anderson's been awesome
for that, uh, are our use asports psychologist.
(24:49):
And then I would just sayworking out like I thought it
was in great shape in 2009 oreight when we went to worlds.
And there is no question atNovember of last year, even
though I was sort of a fifthman, I was a fifth man.
I was sort of a coach.
I should say more than anything,I weighed 189 pounds, which is
(25:12):
what I got married at 20 yearsago.
I was not, I was in better shapethan ever.
Um, and you need to be at thislevel now.
And so, um, but at the same timeI'm, you know, when you lose out
in the Olympic trials, you gain15 pounds in a hurry, drinking,
drinking beer and, and so canyour sorrows and eat pizza.
(25:32):
So I literally gained like 10pounds in, in probably three
weeks.
And you know, that's just thebecause you're just trying to
eat better and you're trying todo that stuff.
And then I lost a little bit andthen we went to worlds and you
know, try to stay in shape andI'm still working out all
summer.
But.
So those are the things.
I mean it's changed.
Curling has changed.
And then of course the biggestthing probably sweeping.
(25:53):
We realized if I knew what Iknew now about sweeping, we
would have just destroyedeverybody, of course.
So what everybody.
I mean, we, we used to sleepthose big brown, those big, um,
hair brooms, ten inch hairbrooms, and if we knew that one
person could sweep and make itcurl, you know, with the hair
brooms in that, it's crazy.
Like we talk about it all thetime.
(26:14):
Like, did this really happened?
Like how did this pass this bypracticing and just stumble upon
this?
That's a great point.
You know, why?
Because we don't practicesweeping.
We never practiced sweeping, youknow, you might go one on one
and just, you know, I mean, I'msorry, when you're practicing by
yourself, you might get up andsweep like we do for mixed
doubles.
I do that all the time, but Ididn't really think about it.
(26:36):
Like, you know, oh that onekinda picked or that one curled
a ton.
I don't know, whatever you justplain on practice ice and it's
not always that good.
And, and, but for a, I'll neverforget we were playing Todd Birr
and uh, in the St Paul Cash, Ithink it was the semifinals.
Um, this was the year thateverybody found out about it
three years ago.
(26:57):
And I'm playing, we're playingFarbs and uh, I think, I don't
remember who it was.
Pottinger.
Yeah.
PottingerI think was throwingthird and he threw a shot and I
looked, I looked down, he was athird of the rock on that rock
on the guard and we're going toget a bundle, right?
Like we're in, in for three orfour here in the game is going
(27:19):
to be over.
I saw that it was going towreck.
I turned around.
They called sweeping with onesweeper and they had figured it
out about three weeks before wedid and it fell back and he
missed the guard apparently fromwhat my teammates said by about
a quarter inch.
And I'm like, that rock was onit.
They must have accidentallykicked it or something.
(27:41):
I couldn't figure it out.
Well then we went, Dan Real andI went to Blaine and practiced
and we just swept the crap outof Iraq one way.
We made one fall back four feetand one curl three feet.
And I was just like, are youkidding me?
And this was literally four dayslater and Todd and Doug and told
her, told me that they, theykind of figured this out and
(28:02):
they by watching Gushue, gushue.
Figured it out for anybodyobviously.
And that's the difference withteams at that level.
Coo, she's out there practicingsweeping.
He figured it out before anyoneelse.
When Charlie Thomas's team, theyfigured it out and there was
teams that were.
You couldn't beat them if theyknew how to sweep and you
didn't, you couldn't be in them.
And then now with the newbrooms, it's completely back.
(28:24):
And the way it should be a, youknow, you're, you're now on
great.
I, you know, he used to be, wecould take a rock, maybe people
might disagree with me, but Iwould say nine to eight, eight,
nine to 12 feet with the goodbrooms.
And you could make it, you now.
Now you're talking on good.
I, this is not good ice.
You're talking six feet probablyhave you.
(28:45):
In my opinion, if you haven'tnoticed, there's been a lot more
misled shots than there was forthree years there.
Right?
Like you can.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
You got guys like Ben Hebert and Mark Kennedy, they
can wait until the last 20 feetand six feet, you know, now you
can't do that.
You got to be right on top ofit.
You got to be ready to go andyou're only carrying it probably
six feet.
And we started doing testing andwe've, we've, we've got our own
opinions and you know, about howwe should sweep and I don't
really want to say it here todaybecause I think, you know,
(29:15):
sweetheart, we, we now have seenthough, we're practicing
sweeping.
We never did that before.
So when you're talking about thechanges in the last 10 years,
these are the changes thatyou're seeing and that's why
teams are better.
Teams are making run double runbacks.
Like it's nothing now.
And I think this five rock ruleis huge.
It's going to change everyquestion.
Rich (29:37):
It's crazy.
I, I can tell you for it.
Oh yeah, we.
So we played in the last slam inApril, uh, were, were, um, we,
I'm qualified in and uh, justlost to Howard and, and Greg,
unfortunately we missed our lastshot.
If we make, we got like a threequarter open hit and if we make
(29:58):
it and we just got to hit itanywhere and he's got a pretty
tough shot and we probably go tothe.
I think we went.
I think that was the quarter, soI don't think it was the semis
and we would have been in thesemis.
And um, this five rock rule isinsane.
I mean like we, um, it was, it'sthe most aggressive game in
(30:19):
history.
My biggest worry is we're goingto run out of time because as
the skip he lives to think.
We always think a lot now wehave to think five times as
much.
And like there was, there was atime we were playing Gushue and
we put a guard up and I think wewere um, I think we were down
one without any.
Does the chip over.
(30:40):
And this is not in the last endeither.
This is like the, I want to saythe fifth, fifth, and now we're
down one or two.
Any chips, another one over andwe throw a fifth rock upfront on
the center line.
You would never do thatnormally, right?
But in the five rock rule hecan't hit it.
So now he's got to play a tap orsomething and there's all these
(31:02):
guards.
They'd be chips it again, we'rewill go under, you know, I mean
it's just, it was crazy.
Five guards, five rocks thrown,five guards in every shot's been
made, right?
Every shot's been made.
So it's, it's, it's insane.
It's going to be fun.
It's gonna.
Uh, I'm kind of excited for it,but I'm like a curling geek and
(31:23):
I like, I like strategy andthat's why I think I skip and
I'm think I'm pretty decent atit, but I don't know what to do
half the time.
I'm not gonna lie like, youknow, what do you do when they
go top floor and there's acorner guard and you go top
eight and then there's anothercorner guard you garden, right?
Like you never throw a guard inthe old days, like with the four
(31:43):
rock rule.
So it's crazy.
You're probably have to startthinking again.
Oh, but the problem is, is likeI saw something, I just got an
email, Blaine wants to play itin league.
I don't think we should beplaying it in league guys
because you're talking, it'salready, you know, we always
have those people that play aslow as hell and it's ridiculous
(32:07):
and they get through six ends inan hour and a half.
Speaker 5 (32:10):
I mean, I'm sorry, in two hours instead of an hour and
a half.
And now you got these people,league curlers go thinking even
more.
We're going to, you're going tohave games that will get through
four, maybe five ends in twohours with league curlers.
So I think it's a bad idea justto people that are listening for
their clubs.
Um, just because I think isplenty.
(32:31):
Um, and because of the five rockrule is I think made more for
the higher competitive.
It's like when you go to thepros in the NBA, you've got a
longer three point line, youknow, if we're going to play
with the big boys or Gals, butit's, it's, it's going to be
interesting and there's a lot.
You're going to have to be a lotmore rhen backs.
Um, you know, it, it does helpthe team that's down, definitely
(32:55):
you're, you're not out of a gamebecause you can, you're going
to, rather than peeling cornerguards, you're going to see a
lot of draws around the quarterto freeze to the one that they
just went under.
Whereas before we'd peel it,just give them their duece.
That's fine.
Take your duece and we're uptwo, or we're up three and, you
know, take your duece and willgo home with the hammer.
(33:15):
Um, that'll be fun.
But there's rocks everywhere.
And I, I just hope they, I kindof hope that us, I think we were
playing 38 minutes in um,Calgary when we were there for
the final slam and where you, Ithink we need maybe 40, you
know, um, there's a couple ofgames that came down close, but
most of the time we just playfaster if we have to, but it's
(33:38):
nice to be able to actuallythink about a shot.
And I, I really think what theyshould do is go to Ada and games
and then just extended a coupleof minutes, you know?
Um, I think all the slams go toeight end games.
But I've heard, I'm not sure ifit's going to pass.
I thought it was a done dealthis year, that even nationals
and worlds, we're going to beeight ends, but I don't think
it's done yet from what I'mhearing.
(33:59):
So I have a sports psychologyquestion ask you.
So last year I really enjoyedwatching you and your teams play
at all these various events.
So I, I'm not a super curlinggeek.
I don't watch a lot of them, butI have watched quite a bit of
your games and uh, like I thinkwhen you were at world's, I
think I was watching atimberwolves game and then you
(34:19):
came on on your tsr commercialon the couch with Collin
Huffman.
I was at a, I was at a slumberparty.
It was at a hotel.
And were you at rich's house?
We have eighth, like there waseight or six, eight year old
girls at some waterpark andthey'd all gone to bed and I was
in the other room watchingcurling because I think it was
(34:41):
on like sports.
Oh yeah, yeah.
NBC sports and I was flippingbetween that and the
timberwolves and you wereplaying were.
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
You were switching off curling.
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
Oh my God.
Enough.
Curling.
Come on, come on.
Okay.
Well anyway, I am.
(35:02):
No, I'm disappointed in you.
Okay.
Again, thanks.
Listen, get used to it.
Um, but the thing that I noticedabout you when you won
nationals, that's got to be areally big deal, right?
Big High.
Oh my God.
You guys played great.
Played awesome.
We were, I mean I don't thinkthere was any question that
week.
We were the best team there.
(35:23):
I don't even think it was close.
I mean like, I mean heres teamwas great, don't get me wrong,
but we dominated just aboutevery game except the one game
we lost and we missed a threequarter open hit for three
against when we lost that game.
That game's over if we make thatshot.
And so I, I'm pretty sure Ididnt mean to puff you up know,
(35:44):
I don't think I've ever playedin a national and I've been in,
you said 15.
I would have guessed 18, butwhatever it is, I could be
wrong.
Yeah, I'm counting, you knowwhat?
I don't know.
I'm so damn old.
I don't even know you probablyright.
But the bottom line is, youknow, like I've been at so many
and I played really well and alot of them, but that as a team,
(36:07):
you know, as a team effort, Ijust felt like we couldn't miss
and I felt like we weren't goingto win it.
Even when we got to theplayoffs, even we had to play
heater in the last game.
That is a great team, you know,with Tom and Korey and Chris,
you're talking about theincrease in heater.
The, the probably the top fourplayers at any position are
(36:29):
definitely top two at that, thattheir position in the country
for some companies, but they'renot counting.
You guys don't wanna I don'twanna I don't want you to think
I'm going overboard, but weoverslept through the combine so
we weren't eligible for highperformance.
Okay.
I declined my invitation.
I was busy.
(36:49):
Yeah.
But you know, when we, even whenwe gave up, we took, I took a, I
don't remember if it was in thefifth, I think it was in the
fifth and I took a chance andprobably shouldn't have.
We were tied.
We were tied, uh, with thehammer or could got the blank.
I decided to draw and I think Icame a little deep and they
ended up stealing one.
And um, I don't remember theexact thing, but we got done and
(37:13):
I said, hey guys, my fault.
I expected to make that drawbecause I had the way I'd been
playing and I, I made it prettyclose but not close enough and
Chris I think froze on it orheater heater did on his first
one and beauty and we weregiving up one no matter what I
just said, let's just go get herto.
And if we get her to next step,one of the next two ends, we're
going to win and we got it thenext end or the neck or the
(37:34):
seventh.
I can't remember.
And I'm like, I just felt likewe were going to win.
I didn't even, I've never beenmore confident in, you know, 18,
15 nationals, whatever.
It's been the way, the way wewere playing.
And when you have a horse likecall and sweeping, I mean Jesus,
I've never seen a bettersweeper.
It's insane.
He's bi.
I think he's top five in theworld.
(37:55):
Definitely.
Without question with BenHiebert and Galantand what?
Adam Brodd?
now I don't think so, but I'mnot sure.
And then you went to worlds andyou guys didn't.
Your Games didn't turn out theway you want it too early, but
you're, um, I was reallyimpressed by like, you have to
(38:15):
go do those pressers afterwards.
Tough.
Yeah.
And you were like, like, I don'tknow how you keep up.
Like I would be like, I'm pissedoff.
Like I, we were.
This was the worst thing ever.
You know, I don't want to talkto you.
One thing I forgot to say whenyou're getting green on the
face, he said, what about thelast 10 years or 20 years or
whatever has changed.
(38:36):
You also grow as you get older.
I mean, in my younger days Iwould have been swearing and
screaming and yelling and Imight even said, Greg, how the
hell could you miss that shot?
You know, because it's easy tosay that when you're not to
skip.
Most people don't know how badthe ice was.
In Our last playoff game atworlds, it had got humid.
(38:57):
It was 13 seconds.
Hog to hog on one side of thesheet and 14 and a half on the
other end you talking.
That's about throwing it 15 feetheavier.
You know, something like thatand um, you couldn't even read
the language barriers orwhatever is on that.
You couldn't read it becausethere was so much for us and we
had been talking about it allgame and, and Gushue, you know,
(39:18):
he out skipped me in that gamebecause he had played on it
before and he knew were throwingnormal weight hits.
We're not throwing anythinglight.
We're not throwing any hackwaders.
We're not throwing any boardwaiters because it's crappy.
You got to just fire it throughthe frost.
And we tried.
We should've got two in thefourth end, I think it was or
the second end I rolled outbecause I threw a hack waiter
(39:40):
and it just cut like way morethan it had all week.
And um, you know, he out skippedme because he had played on it
before and I didn't, but wefigured it out going into the
last half of the game.
And I'm on that draw that we hadin the eighth.
If we make that draw, I threw aguard on this side to hopefully
(40:02):
make him draw.
He did it and he went rightbehind the teat, right behind
the button and we have onecoming down and we freeze on
that.
We're stealing one and we're upone and in the playoffs with two
n's left and I told our guys,you have to sweep it right away.
They didn't jump on it rightaway.
We hard dust right away nomatter what because it just dies
(40:23):
sometimes and we left that rocka foot and a half short and Brad
makes a great draw to the edgeof the button for two and that's
the game and I'm, I'm tellingyou when you're playing on that
kind of, and from that point onyou can.
I'm not ripping on the icemakers.
There's nothing they can do inVegas.
When it gets humid, it nevergets humid.
It did.
And from that point on theyscrape between the fifth and in
every game.
(40:43):
But in our game was the firstone that it had been humid at.
You're the Guinea pig?
Yeah, and it was.
It was so disappointing becauseif, if we get that rock there,
we, we might win and we might bein the final four and have been
Canada twice in two days becauseto beat them on Thursday night
when it's the Tsn game was, youknow, probably one of the
(41:05):
greatest moments ever becausenobody gave us a chance.
Yeah.
Nobody gave us a chance.
Right.
And, and, and they're greatguys.
I love Gushue's team.
They're really nice guys, butthey didn't think we'd beat them
and they didn't think we had achance the next night, the next
day either.
And we gave it everything we hadand it came down to last rock.
He had to draw the forefoot towin and he made it, you know,
(41:28):
even on that crappy ice.
But he got to throw the fastside.
Not the hard side, but yeah.
So it was um, it's just, it's,it was a fantastic event.
And Greg grew as I grew as a, asa calling, skip calling the
game, not a shooting skip.
And as a third.
And I think our whole team, wecall that bottle skip.
Yeah, we're ready.
(41:49):
We're ready to go.
You know, like we were excitedabout this year and hope that we
can keep playing at that level.
You're doing it the same.
Kind of like, you're still gonnaplay third?
Yep.
Going to play third.
Greg's going to skip.
He, his last half of the week.
He was the best skip one aredefinitely other than um, maybe
Scotland in Canada.
He was the best skip there, uh,the last half of the week and he
(42:12):
was still right up with thoseguys.
So I have all the confidence inGreg.
Uh, the, the funny thing is he'sso calm and I, that's why I
think he's better in thatposition.
I get a little worked up and atthird it's no big deal because I
can still settle down and don'thave to make that last shot.
And he just, he's just like, I'mlike, do you want to throw the
(42:33):
hitter, the drop, I don't knowwhat you call it.
And I'm like, well I think thedraws Rachet okay.
And then I'm gonna throw it andboom, he makes it, you know what
I mean?
So it's really Kinda KindaWeird, um, for a skip to have
that kind of mentality, but Ithink it makes him so relaxed
and he's a good shooter.
Don't you think that showsconfidence in the team though?
Oh sure.
Yeah.
We work really well together andfor us to just have come
(42:56):
together in January, right?
Or December in, in Eveleth.
And we want to have with, youknow, our first spiel together.
We won.
I mean, we're,
Speaker 2 (43:10):
To be Continued
Somewhere in the darkness there's a man may call
the skipper fast asleep,dreaming of gold,
Speaker 3 (00:52):
You're listening to stone cast, curling in the twin
cities with Jordan Wicklund andKristefor Lysne.
Hello, this is Kris wasStoneCast, this summer Jordan
and I sat down with richRuohonen and did an extensive
interview.
We're going to be presentingthat interview in two different
podcasts and this is part one.
I hope you enjoy it.
(01:12):
I thought that this quote fromthe 2011 Minnesota lawyer
magazine by Nancy Crotty reallysummed it all up.
This attorney's last name ispronounced Ruinin' and there's
nothing he likes more thanruining an opponent's day,
whether in the courtroom or onthe ice dubbed Dr.
(01:33):
double because of his wicked andaccurate takeouts.
He has competed in 15 nationalchampionships, 4 Olympic trials,
two world championships.
In this past season, his teamswon the national championship,
placed second in the Olympictrials, and tied for fifth in
the worlds in Las Vegas.
He also curls on Tuesday wherehe remains undefeated against
Kristefor.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
That's true.
Yeah.
I've actually only playedagainst you.
You directly once.
I've always been traveling whenour team has played your team,
you have, and I thought that wason purpose that you're a little
scared, but I wasn't sure.
Yeah, I think I actually subbedfor you Kris, one of the nights
you were gone right after youand I had just returned from the
House of Hearts spiel becauseyou were curling with my Buddy
(02:17):
Jeff, and then Kris was like,hey, we're playing Richie, can
you sub?
I said, oh sure.
We just had quite a weekend.
Yeah.
That's, uh, that's uh, that,that Tuesday night is usually
one of the toughest when youcome back from the house to even
make it to league because you'restill, you're still on that a 96
hour recovery period coming downa little bit.
(02:37):
Yeah.
Yeah.
But that's a fun Spiel, I'lltell you that.
Yeah.
I was sad to have missed it thisyear, especially after all the
American curling Hoopla beengoing on lately.
So yeah, we need to get Krisdown there.
That's a, it's, it's technicallyup there.
I will, if they want me to be acelebrity skip them all over,
all over it.
Well, the to check with theboard.
I don't know.
(02:58):
Yeah.
So let's
Speaker 3 (03:00):
talk a little bit about what we're drinking today.
All right.
So I, I'm on the way home fromwork last night I thought, well,
I don't really know what richdrinks.
So I called Willmert and he sayshe drinks anything that's cold.
I'm like, okay, well that makesit cheap.
But I was thinking we're goingto have gin and tonics.
(03:20):
But then instead I went to uh,went to Surdyks looking for
specific gin and they had this,they had this ham, Iberico ham,
which, uh, is.
I'm going to read thedescription because it made me
by the hand which caused me tobuy all this other stuff.
So Jamon Iberico, I'm sure Ipronounced that right.
Coming entirely from blackfooted pigs.
(03:41):
Grazing fallen acorns on theIberian peninsula.
Iberico is delicate yet nuttyand intense and one of the most
prized meats in the world.
So I got that
Speaker 5 (03:53):
and we're also drinking this Pseudo Sue Pale
Ale, which I really like.
So
Speaker 3 (03:58):
yeah, uh, earlier I, uh, I thought we were going to
have the gin and tonics, so Ibrought chips and salsa and then
Kris texted me saying, hey, whydon't you pick up some beer?
And also as I was walking intoSurdyks, they had a sale on a
couple different beers and thisis one of my favorites from
Decorah Iowa where I went toschool at Luther College.
(04:18):
Yeah, that's what hazy American,citrusy IPA.
Rich (04:22):
Yeah, it's really good.
I like it a lot.
I haven't had it, but Idefinitely going to buy it,
which tells us he's an IPA man.
Yeah.
I like, I like all Pale Ales,uh, in EPA says, well, like
Summit and Sierra and torpedo aSierra torpedo.
I like a lot.
So yeah, it's really nice.
I like it.
Kristefor (04:39):
Well, I'm glad that you joined our podcast.
So is Ruohonen Finnish?.
Rich (04:44):
Yeah.
It's actually pronounced ruinin, but no, I don't tell people
that.
You know, where we got thisquote that you talked about in
the Minnesota lawyer I had thefirst time I said that was a
real, it's ruined in like I'mruining your day, just makes it
easier.
And I said that in law schoolonce to my professor because he
kept pronouncing my name wrongand in law school they call on
(05:06):
you and then you have to talk infront of the class and answer
these questions and if you'renot prepared they make you look
like a fool.
Right.
So he kept pronouncing it wrong.
I said it's ruinin! like I'mruining your day.
And he said, uh, he said, wellmaybe vice versa, we'll see any
proceeded to call or to talk tome for 45 minutes in front of
the class.
So it was a long day for me, butI think it went all right.
(05:29):
But so ever since then whensomeone says it, I just say it's
like ruin in like I'm ruiningyour day.
And so people don't forget itwhen you say that.
So a lot of people say we'rehoning, cause that's kind of how
it really looks, but it, whenit's finished you just kinda
roll through it.
So
Kristefor (05:45):
could you, could you say it again without, when you
said it, you said it like reallyaggressively.
Just say it.
How you would say it.
Rich (05:52):
Run in ruin.
Yeah.
Ruin.
All right.
I'll try to get that for therest of my life.
It's finished.
So you know, when we, I triedto, I tried to get my wife to
name our name, Nicholas PakkoRuohonen, I thought it'd be a
great name for a hockey player,you know, P-A-K-K-O, you know,
and she didn't go for it.
So then I said, how about themiddle name?
(06:12):
She said No.
And he ends up being a goalie.
It would have been the greatestname, I think ever,
Speaker 6 (06:17):
but she didn't like.
StoneCast is supported by ourfriends at the once upon a crime
mystery bookstore, 604 west,26th street in Minneapolis.
Not only do they have afantastic collection of
mysteries, thrillers and CrimeNovels, they hold some of the
best author events in the area,check them out on the web@
(06:40):
www.onceuponacrimebooks.com.
That'swww.onceuponacrimebooks.com.
Jordan (06:45):
That's very nice.
Thank you.
That's the dream I think.
Yeah, right on.
Well, I mean I kind of got thatmentality from um, I think after
it was biff was after nationalsI think before they had named
the high performance athletesand I think you were quoted
along with the rest of the team.
It's like, are we, are we allgoing to be named again?
(07:06):
Are we all coming back as ateam?
And that's that sort of a ethoskind of came through in your
course.
You're like, oh, I hope so.
If not, but if not, you know,wish everybody the best.
And then I believe all four ofyou were named again.
Yeah,
Rich (07:18):
we were, um, that's.
And that was great because, youknow, I, I was, I feel like I
was told five years ago I willto too old then.
Right, we don't want a guy to be47 in the next Olympics and we
really want you to coach and Ithink he can do a great job and
you can really help out the highperformance program, but you're
a little too old is kind of theway and, and uh, the way I took
(07:41):
it and um, you know, I had somethings going on in my career.
I was going to be involved in ahuge case so I didn't push it
too hard and I just, at thattime I said, well listen, let me
go on the combine, you know,let's see what happens if I
don't pull my.
Wait, I'm too old.
I can't do what everybody elsecan do.
We'll deal with it.
But I didn't get that chance.
And, and it turned out to beokay because that was a big
(08:03):
couple of years in my careerwhen we got back into it.
Then I played on a couple ofteams, play with fire below for
a couple years and played withJohn Benton in Todd Bitt and we
took second at nationals and I,ah, I played very well at that
nationals.
I think I was the highest rankedplayer overall.
I watched those nationals.
You were incredible.
And then, and then for yourattitude kind of sucked.
(08:26):
And then like then I, then I gotthis opportunity to play with
heat heater and the guys to betheir fifth man essentially I
was more of a coach.
I played in St Paul Cash Spieland we won it because I'm.
Chris couldn't be there for thatweekend.
But um, other than that I didn'tplay a whole lot and played a
couple games during the yearother than that.
But I, I kinda took it out onthe, the coaching role I think
(08:49):
for our team and I think it wentreally well and you know, we got
to that the final three game twoout of three again, Schuster and
when the first one andunfortunately dropped the next
two.
So that was pretty disappointed.
Disappointing for us.
And then, and then to, you know,I asked for if for my release
from the team, because I hadthis opportunity to step in with
(09:12):
Phil and Colin and Greg and aHeater was really generous and
said, yeah, we'll, we'll justbeat you and then we'll take as
our fifth man.
And so it didn't quite turn outthat way, but um, we beat them
and we took Chris as our fifthman.
It was a after this run we hadat worlds after starting off
(09:34):
terribly.
And, and to have him, um, havethe high performance team say or
the high performance program andthe people involved say, Hey, I
think you can still play.
It was kind of cool and I'm not,you know, what you're talking
about.
Or that quote is, I said, look,if they want three of you and
not me, I'm not going to holdanyone back so I can find, I can
(09:57):
find a team to play with.
And I think I can still play atthat level.
And I think I proved it.
So it was really happy when theysaid, hey, we're going to give
you guys a chance and, you know,get you in the program and, and
I think we're all committed.
We're all practicing.
I mean I threw three times inthe last two weeks in the middle
of the summer, so we want togive it our all and if it turns
out I can't, uh, I can't do itfour years from now.
(10:19):
Maybe it's two years, maybewhatever.
And maybe I can bring these guysalong.
I, I, my goal is to take onemore shot at it and go hard for
four years and then I think I'mdone at least at least at that
level, you know.
That's cool.
You should retire from that.
It's the year I beat you onTuesday nights.
Well, I probably would retire ifthat ever happened.
Kristefor (10:41):
Have you, um, have you talked to Heath?
Yeah, I have um, a Heath and Iare, have always been pretty
good friends, you know, um,we've always got along well and
unfortunately, um, he's daddied.
So, um, I gave him a call and Ihad just heard he is kinda kept
kind of private and um, youknow, I feel really bad for him
(11:03):
because I know he's close to hisdad and stuff and um, so it
helped.
He helped him out at theinsurance agency and stuff.
So yeah, I've talked to heath.
I'm just more about that though.
I haven't, I didn't know at thetime, I haven't talked to him
since he's not in the programanymore.
I think that was a, I don'tthink he applied.
I think, you know, from whatI've heard, I'm sure I'll talk
(11:24):
to him soon and I think he stillwants to play.
Rich (11:27):
But I think he just had, it was a big, it's a big
commitment.
I mean, I don't think peoplerealize what you have to do to
be in that program and you know,Heath is married and has two
young daughters and they're in alot of sports and activities and
it's, it's tough.
Um, you know, you need thesupport of your family.
Not that he doesn't have it.
He does, but it's just, you canonly do it so many years and
(11:50):
he's in his forties also, so youknow, it, you really have to.
I had to sit back and think,hey, do I want to take another
four years of that?
And I had to talk to my familyand you know, I got kids that
are 16 and 13 and you want tosee their sports and you miss a
little bit and you know, it's a,it's a big commitment.
Speaker 7 (12:10):
Yeah.
Rich (12:12):
The Vikings are my favorite.
So I've had season tickets for22 years since 1996.
So you saw the catch.
Oh yeah, I was there.
Oh my.
Oh my God.
It was so awesome.
We went absolutely beserk.
I have never been more excitedin a game in my life and uh, it
just sucks because it's a hellof a lot more meaning less
(12:34):
considering we got crushed thenext game, but it was great to
be there.
It was the, the best play I'veever seen to end a game.
And it was right in our endzone.
We sit, I sit like I'm 10 rowsup, right to the rights, like if
I'm looking at the field to theright side of the post and it
came down the left side.
(12:55):
I'm right in that end zone.
So we were at my buddy BenSchmidt and I who've we've had
season tickets together for thatlong.
This is not a TSR thing.
I pay for them with my, with mymoney.
And we've with your curlingroyalty.
Yeah, right.
We've had such a great time andfor the first time in 22 years,
uh, the last couple of years atthe new place we've been able to
(13:18):
um, sell our tickets for, youknow, actually make money off of
them.
But of course we had to pay aseat licensing fee.
So that was a little spendy,
Kristefor (13:27):
you know, I'm a pretty big vikings fan and I
watched that.
I watched that game actually inSt Paul.
It's curling club.
There was some, I can'tremember, but I was doing some
commentating and I was kind ofirritated that I had to
commentate because I was like, Ireally want to watch the game.
And I started watching.
We, we're, where are we up atthe first half or something?
I don't know.
Yeah, yeah.
(13:48):
I can't remember, but whenever Iwatched it, like I missed all
the good stuff and then we'resitting up there and we'll
wilmar one that it was the um,over 60?
No.
Oh, sorry.
No, sorry, mark.
Uh, no, it was, I think it wasthe big spiel.
Oh, it must've been the bigspiel in the middle of January.
So we're all up in the, up inthe top and we're watching and
(14:10):
you could just see everything.
Just.
Yeah, and everybody wasdepressed and that happening
again.
There was a couple, there was acouple of packers fans that were
snuckered snarky.
Oh Man.
And then all of a sudden thathappened and it's just like, it
just exploded.
It was super cool.
I think it was a lot of snowthat night.
It stormed yet, but they didn'tdeserve to win that game.
(14:32):
They played at the second halfof that game and like, so part
of me is like, yeah, that wasmiraculous and that's great and
it's finally some Karma goingour way.
But it didn't bode well for thenext game in my mind.
Rich (14:46):
I was concerned everybody thought we were going to crush
them and I was just concernedbecause after a big play like
that, you get a let down and I'msure the coaches talked about
it.
I'm sure.
You know, I love Zimmer.
I think he's great.
Um, agreed.
But I, but I just, I, I knew Ihad this sense.
I thought we were gonna win.
(15:06):
I'm not going to lie, butbecause I'm a homer, 110
percent, so I thought we weregoing to win
Jordan (15:12):
It's like a glass half full guy sees the glass half
empty Guy Paul.
I know well enough now to knowthat I'm not a glass half.
There's some witty comment aboutthat.
He could just say, I'm justalways thirsty.
I could go on about sportsforever.
The worst about liking, theworst thing about last, not the
worst.
The worst thing is that we lostin that game and it was really
(15:33):
upsetting.
Um, but when we, who's that, whois our rookie Cook, when he went
down that game, Dalvin Cook, hewas incredible.
He was leading the league inyards at that.
It was just making the.
I was just like, Oh my God,we've got everything.
Everything we need.
Yeah.
We'll hopefully it'll be back.
And I, I'm a big fan of the kirkcousins deal.
(15:54):
We'll give them the podcastbompy.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's right.
Copy Atkinson.
Love it.
Yeah.
Price is great guy by the way.
Yeah.
He threw some shade at the twinsand you did not respond.
Is I now expect you to respond.
Kind of went along with it.
Yeah.
Well, you know, the only gamesback I didn't think they were.
(16:14):
I thought they played a littlebetter than they were last year
and I expected more to see whatwe're seeing this year.
Although I did not think itwould be Sano and Buxton that
they're struggling in.
Kristefor (16:24):
When I was a kid.
I used to listen to baseball andfall asleep to it, and then
you'd wake up to the morningshow, like either the radio
would stay on.
It was like, good morning, goodmorning.
And I was like, great, what agreat day.
We're going gonna have here.
Should we, uh, should we go toJudy Garland?
St, right.
Well this wasn't, this was like,that was a bunch of farming
(16:45):
farmers doing.
Yeah, I was, I was mimickingJudy Garland.
Yeah.
Are we supposed to talk curlinga little bit more or.
Yeah.
Well let's just say wait.
So.
Okay.
So you, you got the, the stickystuff from what's his face from
Cole?
Cole, right?
Yeah.
What is the, what is the RichRuohonen sticky stuff on the
ice?
It's like, what is, what is you,what do you do or what do you
(17:07):
bring to the every match.
Oh, do I bring to every matchthat is specific to you guys?
Go and I don't know about that.
Hm.
Rich (17:17):
Uh, I can't even think.
You mean like a yes, anattitude.
Okay.
Jordan (17:21):
No, just just like, you know, um, anything I'm a, I'm
sort of a freak about, like Ineed to have ultra short
fingernails before bonspiel andI freak out if I forget to cut
my nails and it's really stupid.
But then at the end of theweekend I've got those little
cuts on the side of my thumbsanyway, like the one when we
were in Carolina and a I boughtthat Bacitracin specifically
(17:42):
because I knew that was going tohappen.
Yeah.
This is a.
So we're a bonspiel in Carolinaand were drinking in the hotel
room, which we had a great time
Kristefor (17:50):
and Jordan is like, hey, does anybody want any
Bacitracin?
Bacitracin, like what?
He's like, yeah, it's great forthe cuticles, like all grade and
that, but Middlecamp issuffering on Saturday.
I'm going to need some of thatBacitracin.
Rich (18:06):
Well, I can tell you, I can tell you maybe nobody's
thought about it.
I would think that the thingthat I want to do, or that I
always bring is we need to getthere at least a half hour
before the game starts becauseI'm old and I need to stretch
and I don't think you can beready to play at a high level
unless you were there early.
(18:26):
And so, um, I have been on teamswhere it's, you know, you're
playing at 9:30 and are, youhave to, let's say practice at
9:30, you know, throw your shotsand stuff and it's, we get there
at 9:20 and I, I do not likethat.
And um, so for me it's likelet's go, let's go in the
(18:48):
morning, let's get up, let's eatbreakfast.
I don't sleep that well anywaybecause I sleep about six hours
a night because you have to,when you have 20 hours of
business to take care of duringthe day with work and curling.
And so I don't sleep a lot.
And so I'm always like, let'sgo, let's get Outta here and
let's get there and let'sstretch and get ready to go and
get pumped up.
(19:08):
And amped up and ready to play.
And I think I'm uh, I'm gonnathrow a Chris Plys under the
bus.
He's one of my really, really,really, really good friends and
I think um, but I, I used tojump on him when I played wake
him up, he wouldn't get out ofbed and I'd be let's go, let's
go.
And I jump on him and push himaround and throw them off the
(19:28):
bed and he'd get really pissedat me and punched me.
And.
But that, that's kind of what wedo with him.
Yeah.
But he, he does it.
He's not one that needs to dothat, but I do.
And so if we're on the same car,I'm like, you got to get your
butt out of bed and let's getgoing here.
So I would say that's what Idid.
That's what I do.
I really bugs me.
I don't want to be there 10minutes before
Kristefor (19:49):
I like that.
Like I um, I mean I'm, it's notanywhere in the same league or
anything, except for Tuesday waswhen we are in the same league.
I don't like, I like being thereat least a half hour, usually
more just because I thinkmentally I need to transition
from what I was doing before.
I agree.
Jordan (20:07):
What would you say surprises you the most from the
curler you are now from what yousort of imagined you would be
15, 20 years ago as you weresort of entering this
competitive world?
Rich (20:17):
Um, I would say I got a few things on this.
Um, I am, um, if you'd asked me10 years ago when we went to the
world championships in the yearthat I played with Craig Brown
and we were the best team in thecountry.
I don't think anybody woulddispute that including the next
year when we didn't win theOlympic trials in 2009 in
Colorado.
(20:38):
Um, we, we a sided everything.
We a sided Brandford and PortageLa Prairie, I think Portage La
Prairie.
We lost like three in a row toget triple lindy.
But other than that we, we endedup qualifying in every
tournament.
We won more money than I thinkmost teams had ever went on the
tour.
And we lost in the trials, I'mlast in the three, four game,
(21:03):
very disappointing[inaudible] byfar, that was the best team I
played on to that date and wewere the best team in the
country and it wasn't close andwe, we lost and Schuster one
with John and those guys, Johnand Mike and those guys.
And I'm so, you know, that to mewas the most disappointing year.
And, and when you look back onit and you say, I thought I was
(21:26):
in decent shape.
I mean it was a lot younger, um,but I have worked so much harder
now.
And the thing we didn't do thenwas we didn't look at stats.
I realized um, so, uh, afterthat next year when we got in
the high performance program andwhen I started playing with
Tyler and Chris and I'm callingand some various other people
(21:51):
before that.
But, but it was basically Chrisand Tyler at the time you
started taking stats, keepingstats and it was sort of our
moneyball moment in, um, incurling.
And you start realizing theystart keeping like your draws,
your tap backs, your hits, yourhard weight, hits your normal
weight, hits in your lightweighthits and you start seeing the
(22:14):
stats over 20, 30, 40 games andyou go, Jeez, my in-turn soft
weight, wasn't as good aseverything else.
And it was 10 percent lower,eight percent lower.
And you start to realize if Icould figure out what they're
doing, I can play to that inturn, I can play to that out
(22:34):
turn, you know, if, if someone'sout turn or in turn is weaker
and it absolutely wasn't moneyball moment for me.
I went, I after like 25 games, Irealized that my intern soft
weight was a little bit, I wouldflop it a little bit and it curl
a lot more.
So I went out and threw a fivedays in a row or five times in a
(22:56):
row of practice and I threw allin turns soft weight hits
basically except for a fewdraws.
And I raised that stat up by theend of the year by five percent.
Right.
So then you.
Cause there are people, ifyou've curled at our level,
you'll be like, this guy can'tmake an intern, this guy's
definitely five percent weakerand his intern or his out turn
(23:18):
or whatever or he's going tomiss a hit versus we'd rather
have him draw anytime then hitand if you become known for
that, it's a problem.
And there are people in our gameover the last 10 years that have
been known for that.
So I think that's a big changehas just the stats and
understanding that.
And now with Gerry Gertz andCurlingzone and, and all these
stats, we can look at stats andsay, boy these guys are, you
(23:45):
know, 80 percent to win a tiedwith the hammer.
So if we have to take a chanceand the ninth end or the, it
would be the seventh and on thetour, because we only play
eight, we had to take thischance to score our too so we
can be up one versus if it's aheart.
In other words we can draw forone to tie, but we're 80 percent
to lose.
Or we can play a shot that wemight be 50 percent to make to
(24:08):
be up one where we're now 70percent to win or whatever.
You have to, you have to takethat into account.
Right.
And we didn't do that back then.
I'm also, like I said, we've nowfigured out sports psychology,
which I believe is a huge dealin the game.
You know, I've played withpeople that couldn't make a shot
(24:28):
when it really counted whenthere's a lot of pressure on the
line and they've, some of thosepeople have figured it out now
with sports psychology and um, Ithink just dealing with team
dynamics and things like thatand knowing things that you can
say the sports psychology andCarly Anderson's been awesome
for that, uh, are our use asports psychologist.
(24:49):
And then I would just sayworking out like I thought it
was in great shape in 2009 oreight when we went to worlds.
And there is no question atNovember of last year, even
though I was sort of a fifthman, I was a fifth man.
I was sort of a coach.
I should say more than anything,I weighed 189 pounds, which is
(25:12):
what I got married at 20 yearsago.
I was not, I was in better shapethan ever.
Um, and you need to be at thislevel now.
And so, um, but at the same timeI'm, you know, when you lose out
in the Olympic trials, you gain15 pounds in a hurry, drinking,
drinking beer and, and so canyour sorrows and eat pizza.
(25:32):
So I literally gained like 10pounds in, in probably three
weeks.
And you know, that's just thebecause you're just trying to
eat better and you're trying todo that stuff.
And then I lost a little bit andthen we went to worlds and you
know, try to stay in shape andI'm still working out all
summer.
But.
So those are the things.
I mean it's changed.
Curling has changed.
And then of course the biggestthing probably sweeping.
(25:53):
We realized if I knew what Iknew now about sweeping, we
would have just destroyedeverybody, of course.
So what everybody.
I mean, we, we used to sleepthose big brown, those big, um,
hair brooms, ten inch hairbrooms, and if we knew that one
person could sweep and make itcurl, you know, with the hair
brooms in that, it's crazy.
Like we talk about it all thetime.
(26:14):
Like, did this really happened?
Like how did this pass this bypracticing and just stumble upon
this?
That's a great point.
You know, why?
Because we don't practicesweeping.
We never practiced sweeping, youknow, you might go one on one
and just, you know, I mean, I'msorry, when you're practicing by
yourself, you might get up andsweep like we do for mixed
doubles.
I do that all the time, but Ididn't really think about it.
(26:36):
Like, you know, oh that onekinda picked or that one curled
a ton.
I don't know, whatever you justplain on practice ice and it's
not always that good.
And, and, but for a, I'll neverforget we were playing Todd Birr
and uh, in the St Paul Cash, Ithink it was the semifinals.
Um, this was the year thateverybody found out about it
three years ago.
(26:57):
And I'm playing, we're playingFarbs and uh, I think, I don't
remember who it was.
Pottinger.
Yeah.
PottingerI think was throwingthird and he threw a shot and I
looked, I looked down, he was athird of the rock on that rock
on the guard and we're going toget a bundle, right?
Like we're in, in for three orfour here in the game is going
(27:19):
to be over.
I saw that it was going towreck.
I turned around.
They called sweeping with onesweeper and they had figured it
out about three weeks before wedid and it fell back and he
missed the guard apparently fromwhat my teammates said by about
a quarter inch.
And I'm like, that rock was onit.
They must have accidentallykicked it or something.
(27:41):
I couldn't figure it out.
Well then we went, Dan Real andI went to Blaine and practiced
and we just swept the crap outof Iraq one way.
We made one fall back four feetand one curl three feet.
And I was just like, are youkidding me?
And this was literally four dayslater and Todd and Doug and told
her, told me that they, theykind of figured this out and
(28:02):
they by watching Gushue, gushue.
Figured it out for anybodyobviously.
And that's the difference withteams at that level.
Coo, she's out there practicingsweeping.
He figured it out before anyoneelse.
When Charlie Thomas's team, theyfigured it out and there was
teams that were.
You couldn't beat them if theyknew how to sweep and you
didn't, you couldn't be in them.
And then now with the newbrooms, it's completely back.
(28:24):
And the way it should be a, youknow, you're, you're now on
great.
I, you know, he used to be, wecould take a rock, maybe people
might disagree with me, but Iwould say nine to eight, eight,
nine to 12 feet with the goodbrooms.
And you could make it, you now.
Now you're talking on good.
I, this is not good ice.
You're talking six feet probablyhave you.
(28:45):
In my opinion, if you haven'tnoticed, there's been a lot more
misled shots than there was forthree years there.
Right?
Like you can.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
You got guys like Ben Hebert and Mark Kennedy, they
can wait until the last 20 feetand six feet, you know, now you
can't do that.
You got to be right on top ofit.
You got to be ready to go andyou're only carrying it probably
six feet.
And we started doing testing andwe've, we've, we've got our own
opinions and you know, about howwe should sweep and I don't
really want to say it here todaybecause I think, you know,
(29:15):
sweetheart, we, we now have seenthough, we're practicing
sweeping.
We never did that before.
So when you're talking about thechanges in the last 10 years,
these are the changes thatyou're seeing and that's why
teams are better.
Teams are making run double runbacks.
Like it's nothing now.
And I think this five rock ruleis huge.
It's going to change everyquestion.
Rich (29:37):
It's crazy.
I, I can tell you for it.
Oh yeah, we.
So we played in the last slam inApril, uh, were, were, um, we,
I'm qualified in and uh, justlost to Howard and, and Greg,
unfortunately we missed our lastshot.
If we make, we got like a threequarter open hit and if we make
(29:58):
it and we just got to hit itanywhere and he's got a pretty
tough shot and we probably go tothe.
I think we went.
I think that was the quarter, soI don't think it was the semis
and we would have been in thesemis.
And um, this five rock rule isinsane.
I mean like we, um, it was, it'sthe most aggressive game in
(30:19):
history.
My biggest worry is we're goingto run out of time because as
the skip he lives to think.
We always think a lot now wehave to think five times as
much.
And like there was, there was atime we were playing Gushue and
we put a guard up and I think wewere um, I think we were down
one without any.
Does the chip over.
(30:40):
And this is not in the last endeither.
This is like the, I want to saythe fifth, fifth, and now we're
down one or two.
Any chips, another one over andwe throw a fifth rock upfront on
the center line.
You would never do thatnormally, right?
But in the five rock rule hecan't hit it.
So now he's got to play a tap orsomething and there's all these
(31:02):
guards.
They'd be chips it again, we'rewill go under, you know, I mean
it's just, it was crazy.
Five guards, five rocks thrown,five guards in every shot's been
made, right?
Every shot's been made.
So it's, it's, it's insane.
It's going to be fun.
It's gonna.
Uh, I'm kind of excited for it,but I'm like a curling geek and
(31:23):
I like, I like strategy andthat's why I think I skip and
I'm think I'm pretty decent atit, but I don't know what to do
half the time.
I'm not gonna lie like, youknow, what do you do when they
go top floor and there's acorner guard and you go top
eight and then there's anothercorner guard you garden, right?
Like you never throw a guard inthe old days, like with the four
(31:43):
rock rule.
So it's crazy.
You're probably have to startthinking again.
Oh, but the problem is, is likeI saw something, I just got an
email, Blaine wants to play itin league.
I don't think we should beplaying it in league guys
because you're talking, it'salready, you know, we always
have those people that play aslow as hell and it's ridiculous
(32:07):
and they get through six ends inan hour and a half.
Speaker 5 (32:10):
I mean, I'm sorry, in two hours instead of an hour and
a half.
And now you got these people,league curlers go thinking even
more.
We're going to, you're going tohave games that will get through
four, maybe five ends in twohours with league curlers.
So I think it's a bad idea justto people that are listening for
their clubs.
Um, just because I think isplenty.
(32:31):
Um, and because of the five rockrule is I think made more for
the higher competitive.
It's like when you go to thepros in the NBA, you've got a
longer three point line, youknow, if we're going to play
with the big boys or Gals, butit's, it's, it's going to be
interesting and there's a lot.
You're going to have to be a lotmore rhen backs.
Um, you know, it, it does helpthe team that's down, definitely
(32:55):
you're, you're not out of a gamebecause you can, you're going
to, rather than peeling cornerguards, you're going to see a
lot of draws around the quarterto freeze to the one that they
just went under.
Whereas before we'd peel it,just give them their duece.
That's fine.
Take your duece and we're uptwo, or we're up three and, you
know, take your duece and willgo home with the hammer.
(33:15):
Um, that'll be fun.
But there's rocks everywhere.
And I, I just hope they, I kindof hope that us, I think we were
playing 38 minutes in um,Calgary when we were there for
the final slam and where you, Ithink we need maybe 40, you
know, um, there's a couple ofgames that came down close, but
most of the time we just playfaster if we have to, but it's
(33:38):
nice to be able to actuallythink about a shot.
And I, I really think what theyshould do is go to Ada and games
and then just extended a coupleof minutes, you know?
Um, I think all the slams go toeight end games.
But I've heard, I'm not sure ifit's going to pass.
I thought it was a done dealthis year, that even nationals
and worlds, we're going to beeight ends, but I don't think
it's done yet from what I'mhearing.
(33:59):
So I have a sports psychologyquestion ask you.
So last year I really enjoyedwatching you and your teams play
at all these various events.
So I, I'm not a super curlinggeek.
I don't watch a lot of them, butI have watched quite a bit of
your games and uh, like I thinkwhen you were at world's, I
think I was watching atimberwolves game and then you
(34:19):
came on on your tsr commercialon the couch with Collin
Huffman.
I was at a, I was at a slumberparty.
It was at a hotel.
And were you at rich's house?
We have eighth, like there waseight or six, eight year old
girls at some waterpark andthey'd all gone to bed and I was
in the other room watchingcurling because I think it was
(34:41):
on like sports.
Oh yeah, yeah.
NBC sports and I was flippingbetween that and the
timberwolves and you wereplaying were.
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
You were switching off curling.
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
Oh my God.
Enough.
Curling.
Come on, come on.
Okay.
Well anyway, I am.
(35:02):
No, I'm disappointed in you.
Okay.
Again, thanks.
Listen, get used to it.
Um, but the thing that I noticedabout you when you won
nationals, that's got to be areally big deal, right?
Big High.
Oh my God.
You guys played great.
Played awesome.
We were, I mean I don't thinkthere was any question that
week.
We were the best team there.
(35:23):
I don't even think it was close.
I mean like, I mean heres teamwas great, don't get me wrong,
but we dominated just aboutevery game except the one game
we lost and we missed a threequarter open hit for three
against when we lost that game.
That game's over if we make thatshot.
And so I, I'm pretty sure Ididnt mean to puff you up know,
(35:44):
I don't think I've ever playedin a national and I've been in,
you said 15.
I would have guessed 18, butwhatever it is, I could be
wrong.
Yeah, I'm counting, you knowwhat?
I don't know.
I'm so damn old.
I don't even know you probablyright.
But the bottom line is, youknow, like I've been at so many
and I played really well and alot of them, but that as a team,
(36:07):
you know, as a team effort, Ijust felt like we couldn't miss
and I felt like we weren't goingto win it.
Even when we got to theplayoffs, even we had to play
heater in the last game.
That is a great team, you know,with Tom and Korey and Chris,
you're talking about theincrease in heater.
The, the probably the top fourplayers at any position are
(36:29):
definitely top two at that, thattheir position in the country
for some companies, but they'renot counting.
You guys don't wanna I don'twanna I don't want you to think
I'm going overboard, but weoverslept through the combine so
we weren't eligible for highperformance.
Okay.
I declined my invitation.
I was busy.
(36:49):
Yeah.
But you know, when we, even whenwe gave up, we took, I took a, I
don't remember if it was in thefifth, I think it was in the
fifth and I took a chance andprobably shouldn't have.
We were tied.
We were tied, uh, with thehammer or could got the blank.
I decided to draw and I think Icame a little deep and they
ended up stealing one.
And um, I don't remember theexact thing, but we got done and
(37:13):
I said, hey guys, my fault.
I expected to make that drawbecause I had the way I'd been
playing and I, I made it prettyclose but not close enough and
Chris I think froze on it orheater heater did on his first
one and beauty and we weregiving up one no matter what I
just said, let's just go get herto.
And if we get her to next step,one of the next two ends, we're
going to win and we got it thenext end or the neck or the
(37:34):
seventh.
I can't remember.
And I'm like, I just felt likewe were going to win.
I didn't even, I've never beenmore confident in, you know, 18,
15 nationals, whatever.
It's been the way, the way wewere playing.
And when you have a horse likecall and sweeping, I mean Jesus,
I've never seen a bettersweeper.
It's insane.
He's bi.
I think he's top five in theworld.
(37:55):
Definitely.
Without question with BenHiebert and Galantand what?
Adam Brodd?
now I don't think so, but I'mnot sure.
And then you went to worlds andyou guys didn't.
Your Games didn't turn out theway you want it too early, but
you're, um, I was reallyimpressed by like, you have to
(38:15):
go do those pressers afterwards.
Tough.
Yeah.
And you were like, like, I don'tknow how you keep up.
Like I would be like, I'm pissedoff.
Like I, we were.
This was the worst thing ever.
You know, I don't want to talkto you.
One thing I forgot to say whenyou're getting green on the
face, he said, what about thelast 10 years or 20 years or
whatever has changed.
(38:36):
You also grow as you get older.
I mean, in my younger days Iwould have been swearing and
screaming and yelling and Imight even said, Greg, how the
hell could you miss that shot?
You know, because it's easy tosay that when you're not to
skip.
Most people don't know how badthe ice was.
In Our last playoff game atworlds, it had got humid.
(38:57):
It was 13 seconds.
Hog to hog on one side of thesheet and 14 and a half on the
other end you talking.
That's about throwing it 15 feetheavier.
You know, something like thatand um, you couldn't even read
the language barriers orwhatever is on that.
You couldn't read it becausethere was so much for us and we
had been talking about it allgame and, and Gushue, you know,
(39:18):
he out skipped me in that gamebecause he had played on it
before and he knew were throwingnormal weight hits.
We're not throwing anythinglight.
We're not throwing any hackwaders.
We're not throwing any boardwaiters because it's crappy.
You got to just fire it throughthe frost.
And we tried.
We should've got two in thefourth end, I think it was or
the second end I rolled outbecause I threw a hack waiter
(39:40):
and it just cut like way morethan it had all week.
And um, you know, he out skippedme because he had played on it
before and I didn't, but wefigured it out going into the
last half of the game.
And I'm on that draw that we hadin the eighth.
If we make that draw, I threw aguard on this side to hopefully
(40:02):
make him draw.
He did it and he went rightbehind the teat, right behind
the button and we have onecoming down and we freeze on
that.
We're stealing one and we're upone and in the playoffs with two
n's left and I told our guys,you have to sweep it right away.
They didn't jump on it rightaway.
We hard dust right away nomatter what because it just dies
(40:23):
sometimes and we left that rocka foot and a half short and Brad
makes a great draw to the edgeof the button for two and that's
the game and I'm, I'm tellingyou when you're playing on that
kind of, and from that point onyou can.
I'm not ripping on the icemakers.
There's nothing they can do inVegas.
When it gets humid, it nevergets humid.
It did.
And from that point on theyscrape between the fifth and in
every game.
(40:43):
But in our game was the firstone that it had been humid at.
You're the Guinea pig?
Yeah, and it was.
It was so disappointing becauseif, if we get that rock there,
we, we might win and we might bein the final four and have been
Canada twice in two days becauseto beat them on Thursday night
when it's the Tsn game was, youknow, probably one of the
(41:05):
greatest moments ever becausenobody gave us a chance.
Yeah.
Nobody gave us a chance.
Right.
And, and, and they're greatguys.
I love Gushue's team.
They're really nice guys, butthey didn't think we'd beat them
and they didn't think we had achance the next night, the next
day either.
And we gave it everything we hadand it came down to last rock.
He had to draw the forefoot towin and he made it, you know,
(41:28):
even on that crappy ice.
But he got to throw the fastside.
Not the hard side, but yeah.
So it was um, it's just, it's,it was a fantastic event.
And Greg grew as I grew as a, asa calling, skip calling the
game, not a shooting skip.
And as a third.
And I think our whole team, wecall that bottle skip.
Yeah, we're ready.
(41:49):
We're ready to go.
You know, like we were excitedabout this year and hope that we
can keep playing at that level.
You're doing it the same.
Kind of like, you're still gonnaplay third?
Yep.
Going to play third.
Greg's going to skip.
He, his last half of the week.
He was the best skip one aredefinitely other than um, maybe
Scotland in Canada.
He was the best skip there, uh,the last half of the week and he
(42:12):
was still right up with thoseguys.
So I have all the confidence inGreg.
Uh, the, the funny thing is he'sso calm and I, that's why I
think he's better in thatposition.
I get a little worked up and atthird it's no big deal because I
can still settle down and don'thave to make that last shot.
And he just, he's just like, I'mlike, do you want to throw the
(42:33):
hitter, the drop, I don't knowwhat you call it.
And I'm like, well I think thedraws Rachet okay.
And then I'm gonna throw it andboom, he makes it, you know what
I mean?
So it's really Kinda KindaWeird, um, for a skip to have
that kind of mentality, but Ithink it makes him so relaxed
and he's a good shooter.
Don't you think that showsconfidence in the team though?
Oh sure.
Yeah.
We work really well together andfor us to just have come
(42:56):
together in January, right?
Or December in, in Eveleth.
And we want to have with, youknow, our first spiel together.
We won.
I mean, we're,
Speaker 2 (43:10):
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