The 2026 Winter Olympic Games In The Rear View Mirror

In this episode of "A Pane In The Glass Podcast" you will hear the thoughts of Hans Frauenlob of Olympic Broadcast Services and a long time friend of this podcast. He commentated on 31 Olympic curling games in the disciplines of Mixed Doubles, Women's and Men's. His insights are, well, insightful! 

If you would like a text version of the podcast, click on "Transcript" above these show notes!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Welcome to another episode of a pain in the glass podcast. This is your host, Bill Shearhart, Charter Professional Coach with Coaches of Canada. This is a post-Olympic episode. And my guest, once again, is Hans Fraunlaub. If you are a regular listener to the podcast, you've heard the dulcet tones of Mr. Fraunlaub before. He was at 31 of the games, uh, mixed doubles, men's, women's curling, and so we will hear what he saw and uh thoughts that that he has from the curling. And so, with no further chin wagging on my part, here is my friend Hans Fraunla.

SPEAKER_00 0:59

Yeah, thank you, Bill, and always a pleasure. Yeah, so in uh Milan Cortina, I was working as a freelance commentator for Olympic broadcast services who provide an English language commentary that goes worldwide to every um rights holder that has um the Olympic rights. So uh I was doing commentary right throughout the Olympics, mixed doubles, men's, women's, um, 31 games all up, and uh it was tremendous.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

Well, let's start with the curling, uh start with mixed doubles.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Yeah, well, the mixed doubles, I was personally excited about it, not only because I'm I'm a mixed doubles fan, um, but the quality of the field was really mouthwatering, and it really did live up to um the billing, and so there were so many good teams there. Uh the thing having competed in in Torino in 2006 as an athlete and now as a commentator, and we were lucky enough to be in the venue in Cortina in 2026, uh the spectators uh were into it. I mean, the arena was lively, um, the spectators much more knowledgeable about the sport than they were 20 years ago in in Pinerolo. And so the curling, the mixed doubles curling was great. The fan support was amazing. Um, and uh yeah, uh the the quality of of the winners, uh, you know, Isabella and Ros Misrana, they had a fantastic playoff run. But seriously, you know, any one of probably six teams uh were good enough to win it. Um so it was a fantastic event. Mixed doubles third time around now, um, but you know, very, very firmly, you know, it's not a curiosity. It's it's now it's an anticipated thing, and it's uh it's become a thing, which is is wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Well, as you know, I'm not quite the fan that you are, but that said, I enjoyed it more this time around than ever. I entirely concur with what you said. I thought the quality of play was just off the charts, one of my favorite expressions. But I thought it was very interesting in the gold medal game that Isabella and Corey, the female Corey, the two of them just shot the lights out. Uh, I think the gentleman made some mistakes that could have been fatal, but they were bailed out by their female counterpart. And so the uh Isabella and Corey really took the torch for female curlers that they can be just as good, if not better, than any male curler. So that really impressed me.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

Yeah, and you know, we curling fans know um how amazing the female athletes in our sport are. Um, I think to the casual curling fan that's only watching curling at Olympics, uh, seeing male and female athletes competing as a twosome as a team um um is novel, you know, compared to looking at men's and women's curling. And exactly as you say, right, it's uh it's a true contest of of equals and um yeah, some fantastic play. Um yeah, Isabella, you know, to win a gold medal, you have to have a fantastic performance. She absolutely shot the lights out in the final. Um Corey T C was fantastic all week. And and you can go right down the field. You you can't win in mixed doubles unless the athlete that you got throwing rock number five, usually the female athlete, but not doesn't have to be, um, is throwing them great. And so, you know, if if you're not converting on that last one, you're not winning. And uh so the the performance that Isabella had was exceptional, and she made just incredible shots in that final.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

How many of the countries, if any, had the uh the male curler throwing one five and the female two, three, four? Did anybody?

SPEAKER_00 5:08

I didn't I didn't see it all week. You know, it's interesting when the when the rules for mixed doubles were established, um it was deliberate that you uh you weren't going to peg um um a male athlete to a roll and a female athlete to a roll. So uh uh teams can literally switch end-to-end if they want, uh, but they don't. And so I think that's one of the things uh mixed doubles now has, I think, become um firmly ensconced enough that uh uh the gameplay now kind of plays out, and so you know the next evolution of where mixed doubles goes from here will be um you know, is there you know true equality in the sense that um um players are throwing similar number of shots and uh um athletes are sweeping you know appropriate numbers of rocks and things like that. But I don't think anything's broken. I think the game itself is actually really entertaining right now.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

Uh the power play, which was an innovation, I kind of referred my eyebrows when it came, and I thought, oh, is this a little bit of uh trickery or whatever? But but I thought it was used uh efficiently and judiciously and played a significant role. And of course, it gives a different flavor to an end when the play is not right to the four foot. It looks a little bit more like four-person curling. And I I thought, you know, uh now, you know, this might sound strange coming from the person that's not a great fan. I thought, well, why not let them have two power plays uh during a game? Um I really like the fact that it opened the house up a little bit, so I'm not sure how you would feel about that.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

Yeah, I I I wouldn't be anti-it. You know, you don't want to make it too confusing to actually follow, but you know, I think the where the power play has gone in mixed doubles, um it's kind of binary. You know, teams either keep it in their pocket as almost a defensive tool, and um they will use it as an offensive tool typically if they're trailing. So uh you know the intent of a power play was to increase the chance of the um uh team with last rock to score more than one, um, increase that probability. So, you know, having two power plays instead of one, and you know, if teams use them a little bit more um you know earlier in a game to try and um and and build a lead, you know, it's kind of like a bonus hammer, if you could think about it that way. Um, yeah, it could be interesting. So I think that's it's it's great now that people are are have adopted to all the nuances around the rules, as athletes always do. Any any kind of rule evolution, um great teams and great players adjust really fast. But yeah, doubles is fun. It goes fast, people can follow it, it's entertaining. Um, and the interplay between the teammates, right? It's the smallest team possible. It's a team of two, right? So, you know, there's kind of nowhere to hide on the ice that uh, you know, the interpersonal dynamics on a on a mixed doubles team are always fascinating.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

Well, talk about team dynamics, yes, you know, laid bare for everyone to see and hear. Uh uh Harry and Marie of Estonia, uh Harry Lil and Marie, what's Marie's last Cald V. Cald V. Cald V. Uh they're going to be on. Uh they said that they would be delighted to do so, and we'll talk more about the the competition as it unfolded for them. Uh, I mean, they have dedicated their curling lives to to mix doubles in uh a place that uh would be a bit of a surprise that they would even have curling ice. I remember Harry and Lil when they were Harry and Marie when they were first on, they said that the ice was in a prior munitions plant. And I thought, oh, that's interesting. Well, let's go on to that four-person curling. Yeah, so over to you, Hans.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Well, let's see, where to start. Um, let's let's start with uh with the with with the women's competition. And so um pre-competition, it was hard to go past Rachel Homan's team, you know, as as the favorite. And um obviously um they didn't prevail uh in terms of winning the gold medal. Um they had some struggles earlier in the week and then uh came back strong, and once they made playoffs, you know, I thought they had a reasonable chance to um race the way through, but you can't sleep on Anna Hasselborg. You know, they had a terrific week. Um team Switzerland always good. Um so uh and the United States team of Tab Peterson, Tab made some of the most uh incredible shots kind of down the stretch late in the round, Robin, to get the U.S. into the final four. And so even though the U.S. didn't meddle, uh, I think U.S. curling can and should be very proud of their women's team. Um, they arguably overachieved and uh and played very, very well. And Corey TC, of course, was part of that team as well. So um it was a fascinating tournament. And uh um yeah, Annal Hasselborg um kind of snuck in to the tournament. You know, it's it's funny to say about you know uh a two-time Olympic medalist, you know, going into the tournament, not being the favorite, but I think uh that probably took a little bit of, I wouldn't say pressure. They wouldn't feel pressure, but attention. You know, they could just focus on playing, and they played really well, really well in deserving champions.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

Well, they certainly had tunnel vision as far as what they wanted, that they dedicated themselves to uh qualifying for the Olympics and then playing well there. So it was uh they were laser focused, there's no question about that. I feel I feel, you know, as a Canadian, I mean I feel badly for Rachel because I know how how much she wanted to get maybe to the top step of the podium. But as I have learned by hanging around Olympians, and I think possibly you as well, you've hung around more than I have, is that uh an Olympic medal, whatever the color, is really, really important. I remember uh something from the Canadian Olympic Association or committee, I should say, and they made it very clear, and it was reasoned that their agency, you know, own the podium. They meant own the podium. That didn't mean top step of the podium. They care that Canada wins a medal, it doesn't matter the color.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

Yeah, and you could certainly see that joy on uh team Homan's faces uh when they did win that bronze medal. Um uh it to me it almost looked like relief um and joy at the same time. And so that was absolutely a treasure to take away from the experience, and uh, and and congratulations to them. As I said, they uh uh came back really strongly after you know a toughish start and uh and had a good tournament, so there's there's no doubt.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

Those bronze and silver medals, as time goes on, they shine much more brightly than when they're first placed around your neck. There's no question. Um something that I feel very strongly about, and I hate it when I hear the adage that well, you you can you can never win silver, you you can only lose gold. Uh that that really bothers me because when you win a semifinal game, you've that's you've won the silver medal. Now, that may be as far as it goes, but you you uh you know, it's your outlook, your mindset, your attitude, and I always feel badly when people feel oh well they you know the they they lost the gold. No, no, they won the silver medal, and so I you know just get that off my chest right now.

SPEAKER_00 13:29

No, I think that's that's absolutely right. Um, I called um the semifinals um with the legendary Joan McCusker, and we were talking during the semifinals of Joan's experience in 1998 in the semifinal with uh Sandra Schmirler's team. And uh Joan uh had a rough game in that semi, and she felt terrible. And so I asked Joan to kind of relay that when we're doing the show, just because I know too from personal experience, obviously not um uh at Olympic level, but in other tournaments, you know, the semifinal game in kind of a straight knockout is the game of terror. You know, that's that's the one that is got more pressure on it than either the gold medal game or the bronze medal game. You know, the outcome of the semifinal, as you said, determines whether you're winning silver, you can clinch a medal, or you know, you're gonna be playing for a bronze. So that semifinal got huge pressure on it. So uh I'm with you. Um uh a medal of any color at a uh tournament of the Olympics caliber is an incredible accomplishment.

SPEAKER_01 14:34

Well, as you and I both know, you cannot control the outcome, you can only influence your performance, and wherever that takes you, that's wherever it takes you. And I think the attitude that you have going into a competition like that is really important. Uh and we'll talk more about the importance of metals a little bit later. So let's then switch over to the uh the men. And so again, over to you. And I think I know what we're gonna talk about there, and I'll just wait for you to bring it up.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

Well, you know, let's let's kind of go to the um to the controversy part first and then kind of talk about the overall performance. And so, you know, the thing in the men's tournament, of course, that caught not only the curling world's attention, but literally the world's attention was um, you know, boop gate or the double touch controversy that flared between Oscar Erickson and and Mark Kennedy of Canada. And it was surreal, to be honest, um, just to you know observe this going on and then um then being able to listen to the replays because I wasn't calling that particular game, uh, but to hear the interplay and to kind of understand what kind of occurred uh both pre and during and after the incident. And yeah, I you know, I think Mark got censured uh by the officials, you know, for his reaction to Oscar, and you know, I think rightfully so. The manner that it was raised um in game, and I I don't know all of the details on this bill, but my understanding was uh the Swedish guys went to the officials first um asking the question about you know, are you know are are double touches legal? Um and I don't know what happened subsequent to that, whether the officials uh went to the Canadian guys or not. Um but in any ways, bottom line is the the incident occurred. And so um the aftermath of the incident caused, I would say, two days of carnage, if I could call it that, because um the immediate reaction, you know, so uh you know, the rule itself is clear, you know, that uh um you you can't touch the granite after release, but it's kind of one of these things where you have to be kind of a rules nerd to really know all of the um minuti around um legal and not legal uh releases and deliveries, you know, very difficult to officiate. And uh, but as a consequence of the incident, um World Curling responded uh at the participants' request, athletes, um, to bring officials onto the hog line to observe deliveries. And as we all know, as a consequence of that, um other athletes had rocks pulled. Uh Rachel Holman had a rock pulled in a game I was doing. Uh Bobby Lamy had a rock pulled. And after about two days of this, I think everybody, um, including the athletes, um concurred that you know that type of observation and officiating um of release really wasn't doing much productive, I think. And so um, so that you know, the it's it's one of these well things that um any publicity is good publicity if you're kind of wearing that hat. I can tell you that literally everybody I've talked to, like in any walk of life, never mind sport, when they know I was at Olympics and at the curling, they'd heard of it. They'd heard of this incident, right? So it transcended curling, it transcended the Olympics, it transcended uh sport. It became a global thing. Everybody has heard of curling, and they've heard of this controversy in curling. Um that incident, you know, it certainly colored the middle of the competition for a couple of days, but I don't think we should let that overshadow the quality of the entire competition because it was uh breathtaking. So um the final uh which I did call um was extraordinary. Um Jacobs versus Mowit, and you know, much like Rachel Homan, um Bruce Mowitt, you know, that team was very much engineered to try and achieve top of podium. That's that was the mission. And it was one of those games where both teams you know had pieces of control, you know, through the match, it could have gone either way, and a couple of bad shots and bad uh outcomes in the ninth, and that tilted it, and Brad Jacobs Jacobs prevailed, and they were you know deserving champions. And of course, the Great Britain team were devastated. Um, but we have to remember that uh Bruce Mowitz team, even though they came in uh to the tournament ranked number one in the world, uh, they were life and death to make the final four. They finished five and four. And uh um so they didn't back their way in, but you know, they were marginal to make the final. Uh the team I feel um, I wouldn't say sorry for, the team that played extraordinarily well through um the round robin was Switzerland, Yannick Schwaler's team. Um I've I called many of their games. Their round robin game against Great Britain, which I did call, might have been uh the single best exhibition of curling by two teams that I've ever seen. I mean, uh of any game that I've ever watched, called, participated in the quality, um, the degree of difficulty, the execution on the shot making from both teams in that match was just stunning. And for a team like um Switzerland to uh go through the round robin and then suffer a defeat at the semifinal stage, um, and then they're not playing for the gold medal, it's like, oh man, you know, that's tough. But again, that's sport. You know, this is what can happen. So um the competition was amazing, um, the quality of play was was amazing. The um uh the double touch controversy uh will always be a part of it in terms of you know, what do you remember about Milano Cortina 2026? Um, but uh it was an amazing curling competition. And seeing the reaction of the Canadians families, because I think that was different, right? So for uh for Brett, first gold medal, it's a big deal. Uh, and and for Tyler is the alternate, you know, huge experience for him, you know, gold medal number two, you know, for Ben and for Mark and for Brad. Um, so they'd been there before. But even for Ben Mark and Brad, and Brett, you know, having their families there, having their kids there, ringside, uh, when they've uh achieved that uh you know amazing victory was quite something. And it was you know quite emotional, frankly, to watch them uh being. Able to celebrate that not only with each other, but with their families and their kids. It was really special.

SPEAKER_01 22:07

That uh final game with uh with Bruce, uh going into the ninth end, of course, they had gone up one without Last Rock. And when I do anything with a podcast or certainly with the articles in my coaching manual, I always like to think my audience is that club competitive team. And I, in a recent uh uh podcast planning, I'm going to talk about practical strategy. And one of the best ways to think about an end strategy is the answer to three questions. What do we want? Uh, what's acceptable and what's not acceptable? And there couldn't have been a better illustration of those three things because what Bruce would have wanted, I guess, would have been a steal. That would have been great. Certainly acceptable was to give up one, that would have been great as well. The only even giving up two was you know part of the what's acceptable. The only thing that wasn't acceptable is giving up three, which of course is what happened. And to think of the quality of play on that team, they missed three doubles. Now, to uh a club team missing three doubles, well, well, that's easy. We can miss three doubles, no problem. But for them, to miss three makeable doubles was was uh uh uh extraordinary for them. And I I felt badly because you know that's what I mean. I'm thrilled for the guys, but yeah, it was pretty easy to see what happened there. Now, my take on what happened with Mark and Oscar, and I'll I'll go over this role very quickly. I have an occupational hazard when I watch sports because I can I can as much as I try, I can't take the coaching hat off my head. And it doesn't matter what sport it is. And as I I think you remember when I had the pleasure of working with uh Team New Zealand as you guys went off to world championships, I hope I said that listen, when you're on the ice, if anything, if anything causes a concern, the coach is the first person to know about it, not the an opponent, not the officials, tell your coach. Now, why do I say that? Because if you handle it any other way, you run the great risk of the great killer of performance, which is distractions. And so if you get into it with another player on the opposite team, obviously, or even with an official, no, let your coach take the heat, so to speak. And I don't mean it quite maybe that dramatically, but you've now handed your concern off to someone else who is probably better positioned to deal with it in the first place. And I would hope, through certification, better trained to do so. And I felt badly that it was Mark that's involved because he he he and I'm saying this not after the fact, but I've always felt this way. He was always my favorite curler. I mean, talk about salt of the earth. Uh, wherever I went, uh, if Mark spotted me, he'd go out of his way. Hi, Bill, how you doing? How are things? He always did that, not just to me, he did that for everybody. So if there was anybody that got involved in any kind of controversy, I hated that it was Mark because that's just not like the person that I know. Now, every once in a while we have an outburst and we use language, maybe that you want to, you know, rewind that. And of course, he he did which, and when he expressed his view that way, I tell you, my ears shot right off the hitch of my head. Okay, oh, really, Mark? You feel that way about it. Anyway, the point is, you know, and I say that to all the listeners out there, if you're on uh on a team and something happens, especially in a game like curling, if anything concerns you, you can make the hockey interference sign, you know, officials time off. I need to talk to my coach. And the official will go with you to your coach to make sure you're not talking about strategy. And you can say to your coach, okay, coach, XYZ. And coach will say, Okay, fine, thank you. Leave it for me, and I'll go play. So, anyway, that's that's my take. But um I'll I'll share this story, and I've I've I've shared it before. I was coaching another country, we'll just say another country in the world championship. And one of the players on that team came to me and said, Bill, the and I'll I'll use I'll use Norway. I don't I don't remember who it was. The Norwegian second is brushing, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I thought, oh, okay. So it came to me and expressed that. So at the fifth end break, I went to the head official and I explained, I said, listen, uh, we think that the Norwegians, and it wasn't the Norwegians. I just I know that's what it wasn't. So if there's any Norwegian players out there, I forgive, forgive me. And so the head official talk about a stroke of genius, I'll say. The the head official turned to me and said, Bill, look, I can go out there and change the way he's brushing and make him a far more effective brusher, or we can just let it go. And I thought, yeah, that's really smart. The point of it is, I went back to my player, I said the same thing, and he just turned to me, smiled, and he said, Thanks, coach. So I always remember that. Let's talk about the rest of the sports. We don't want to make this too curling-centric, but uh uh bring in what you experienced with other sports at the Olympics.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

Well, because I was calling 31 games, unfortunately, you don't really get a ton of time to experience other sports, which is kind of a bit of a shame. Um but being in Cortina, uh the curling venue was literally 300 meters away from uh the famous um bobsled uh run in Cortina. So I did sneak over a couple of times between draws to go and watch some of the um early days of training and uh just to kind of experience that. Uh it's always kind of been a bucket list thing for me to just see you know uh Olympic bobsled live. And so that was quite fun just to uh see that actually happening in motion and that track being um you know such a um you know a famous, you know, old but refurbished track. So so that was good. Um the way that these Olympics were organized, um, which is definitely the model for the future, is um you know they were quite spread out geographically. So hockey was in Milan and figure skating was in Milan and speed skating. In Cortina, there was curling, there was the sliding sports, and there was women's alpine. Um, and in Livino, there was uh big air and snowboard. And so the the venues were quite spread out across northern Italy. Um, I think that's sensible because your you know your objective there is to try and um uh use facilities that are available. Um, but like every Olympics, um things captured the imagination. Um, you know, the the figure skating um really seemed to be high quality from a you know kind of a broadcast geek point of view. The thing that was really fun to watch in terms of the televised product uh was the use of drones in some of the events. And so drones that were following alpine skiers down through, you know, downhills and sweeping turns at speed and following skeleton athletes through the start and things like that were just breathtaking and just amazing, and really gave a sense for what the athlete was actually feeling and experiencing at that moment in time. I'd never seen that before, but it was just incredible. So I could the other sport as everyone.

SPEAKER_01 30:38

I couldn't agree more from this from a television spectator perspective. The drones made, especially on the bob sleigh, like wow, you it felt like you were in the sleigh. Sorry to interrupt, sorry.

SPEAKER_00 30:50

No, exactly that. And I know I think the consensus was you know that as a games, uh, you know, it was an excellent game. So the the sport was great, the spectator support was really wonderful, um, and the overall experience, you know, ran really, really well. And so for all of the you know, pre-games drama about, you know, is the hockey rink going to be finished and all that type of thing, um, as it always seems to in Italy, it came together on the day, and it was just a wonderful experience all around and was a really memorable um Olympic winter games for me.

SPEAKER_01 31:27

From the security perspective, was did you have the feeling that it really was the safest place on earth for those 17 days?

SPEAKER_00 31:37

Well, it usually feels that way, and that's not just particular to Milano Cortina, you know, security at an Olympics is always heightened, and so you're always feeling pretty safe um when you're in and around uh an Olympics, whether it's as an athlete or as a worker or as a spectator. Um, so there's always uh tons and tons and tons of security, and so if you're not going to be secure around an Olympic venue, you're probably not going to be secure as a human. So um uh so it felt very, very safe. Um, and as I said, the attitude of the locals and you know, the the nice thing about Milano Cortina, you know, no negative about Beijing. Um, but you know, that was under COVID, and so spectators couldn't really go. Um Milano Cortina, there were fans from everywhere, like literally everywhere, you know, Europe obviously, but literally everywhere, Asia, North America. So, and everybody was happy. Everybody was having a good time, and everybody supported sport, the athletes, the event, and just celebrated, you know, everything that was going on. And so it felt you know like a festival and it felt like a very happy place to be for the world to be. And um, that's what you kind of hope for in an Olympic Games.

SPEAKER_01 32:56

The opening ceremonies, the two of them, because I was kind of as an English teacher when they talk about the opening ceremonies. No, there's just one, and it's not the closing ceremonies, there's just one. There's they are spectacular, and I hope that the uh the countries that will host in the future, like it's great to uh bring the world into your culture. I think that's very important. Uh, but you know, I don't I don't want it to be a contest and spend oodles and oodles of euros or whatever the currency happens to be just to say we had the best ceremony, but it was impactful and it was spectacular. Interesting that all the athletes couldn't be in attendance because of the three venues, which is you know falls into the nothing's perfect category. And and certainly there was kind of no such thing as an athlete's village, singular, because they're the it was in different locations, of course. And you've been there before. So did was that different enough to make a difference that they're what you couldn't rub shoulders with athletes of other sports?

SPEAKER_00 34:14

Yeah, I think it's even in Torino when we competed, um the Alpine events were up in Cestrire, and so the skiers and uh ski jumpers and so forth weren't in the village that we were in in Torino. So um it's quite rare that you've got all the athletes in one location, anyways. Um I thought that the organizers of Milano Cortina did a really good job on the opening ceremonies and ceremonies because there were multiple of them, but they knitted them together into a singular experience, and so for the curling athletes, they didn't have to miss an opportunity to participate in the march in because the marches were effectively coordinated um between uh Milan and uh Cortina simultaneously, and they were weaved in together very, very nicely. So um Amos Mosaner um permittedly uh carried the flag uh for Team Italy, but he could do that in Cortina. He didn't have to go four hours to Milan to march in the opening ceremony, he could do that in Cortina. Um, and um Stefania Constantini um um helped light the torch in Cortina. So, you know, the the knitting together of the athletes across multiple places um I think worked really well and gave those athletes, even though they weren't in the same place as their teammates sitting in Milan, uh, a sense that they were part of Team Italy or Team USA or Team Canada. So it wasn't just the curlers and the sliders and the women's alpine, that they were actually part of a bigger team.

SPEAKER_01 35:51

So an Al Hans looking back, uh what uh give us a summary of what you saw and heard.

SPEAKER_00 35:59

Well, as somebody who spent nearly three weeks um in the curling arena, you know, I think the one thing that always uh resonates for me uh for our sport curling is how much genuine and positive and worldwide attention our sport gets uh during an Olympic winter games. So uh the international uh viewership and attention uh and genuine um getting into of the sport just is is mind-boggling to me and uh in a positive way. You know, curl curling isn't the novelty act anymore. People actually look forward to seeing it at the Olympics, and that's uh a treasure. And so for those of us that have kind of spent lives in the sport, uh it sometimes you have to kind of step back and appreciate that, oh, there's a whole bunch of other people that actually think this is pretty cool and really amazing and really look forward to it every four years. Obviously, we'd love them to be caring about it between Olympics as well, but just the fact that during an Olympics, you know, curling uh it's not the curiosity sport on the Olympic winter program anymore. It is, I call it the backbone, you know, it runs right through and um people really, really enjoy it.

SPEAKER_01 37:21

Well, this is March the 6th, and there's a curling event taking place in St. John's Newfoundland, Labrador.

SPEAKER_00 37:28

Uh there is, which is entering happy enough to be able to watch it from New Zealand, which is a wonderful thing.

SPEAKER_01 37:34

Yes, which is entering into its uh playoff phase, and I think that it's going to be a very interesting weekend. And of course, we've got two world championships to look forward to a men's and a women's, the women's in Calgary and the men's in in Utah. So lots of uh curls of impactful curling still to come. So I'm going to invite you back after all the world championships are finished, and of course the Briar as well. And we'll talk some more to wrap up this season. So, Hans, thank you very much. People who listen to your broadcast, and I didn't, I I I heard two of them purposefully. You are very good at what you do, and uh and world curling uh has chosen a great person to present the sport to the world. You know, sounds kind of hackneyed, but keep up the good work.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

I appreciate that, Bill, and appreciate uh all the feedback that we got uh during the Olympics. Thanks very much for that.

SPEAKER_01 38:34

I mentioned in the episode that Harry and Marie, the mixed doubles team from Estonia, uh would be willing to come and talk about their experience. They were my guests in an episode uh in season number four. I don't recall exactly which one, but they said that when they returned home to Estonia when they had a break uh in the busy lives, they both believed that they would uh chat with me about their experience in the Cortina. So we look forward to that. I also want to make mention one more time before we close off this episode of the transcript version of each episode. Something that I have started relatively recently. So if you know someone who would benefit from a text version of the episode, uh please, of course, forward the episode to them. And when they click on transcript, they will have a text version. So until next time, please remember those wise words of that great North American philosopher Charlie Brown, who has said don't focus too much on things that make you sad, because there are so many things that will make you happy.