Three men and a... granddad? When the U.S. men's Olympic curling team faced the media this week, it was obvious to all that they were a bunch of young, enthusiastic guys, eager to hit the ice. Well, young at heart at least.
Longtime pals Shuster, Smith now Olympians Jason Smith still calls out John Shuster for tricking him into curling. Shuster, the one who could already drive at the time, showed up at Smith's house tempting his buddy with a McDonald's run. They wound up at the Chisholm Curling Club. U.S. curling captain John Shuster stuck out his tongue in the middle of a match and uttered for all to hear on television at home, "I hate this stupid game." His exasperation was understandable. Shuster won a bronze medal at the 2006 Torino Olympics and assembled a team of close friends for what he figured would be another special run in Canada.
As the pilot for the USA-1 bobsled, I broke a 62-year gold medal drought when my sled, the 'Night Train" won the Olympic title at the 2010 Vancouver Games. A degenerative eye condition nearly caused me to quit my sport in 2008, but corrective surgery restored my vision to 20-20.
