Rocks Across the Pond

In this episode we discuss: COVID-19’s impact on the business of curling; the World Curling Tour’s new ranking system; Scotland and Russia’s new methods for selecting their World Championship representatives; the Worlds as just an Olympic qualifier; the impact this might eventually have on the Brier and Scotties. Links How would Canada’s Scotties and Brier fields look using...

The changes in curling in the United States and in high-level curling can be told through the story of John Shuster. His Olympic triumph vindicated his team and legitimized USA curling. This is the story of the changes in Shuster’s sport, his team and himself that led to that moment. Links: Shuster’s interview after beating Canada in the round robin

Jamie Danbrook joins us to talk about his curling career and his current gig as an ice maker. He’s played at junior worlds with Brett Gallant and the Brier with Brad Gushue. Now he makes ice in Nova Scotia and for the World Curling Federation. Jamie has made ice all over the world and faced some pretty difficult ice builds. We also get all science-y on you about the impact water quality and...

Non-curling topics: “This is fine,” how we’re staying sane and shows we’re binge watching. Curling topics: The 2020 World Championships are officially canceled. We discuss how this will affect team selection and the Olympics. Special Guest: Stephanie Thompson, a Registered Kinesiologist and the second on Team Wasylkiw, talks about staying fit even while sheltering in place,...

We interrupt your regular existential dread to bring you some things that don’t matter. We talk the cancelation of all things curling, team changes and how we’re coping with quarantine. We need to keep podcasting to stay sane, so please send us topics you’d like us to cover to rocksacrossthepond@gmail.com.

We discuss arena curling strategies (as in U.S. arena curling clubs), trends from the Scotties and Brier and worldwide national championships before previewing women’s worlds. Get a team-by-team breakdown including how this year’s tournament will impact the race for Olympic points.

A division in Polish Curling came to a head in February 2020 when the WCF suspended the Polish Curling Association. We look into the reasons likely at the root of the suspension and are joined by Marcin Madej of the Polish Federation of Curling Clubs. Marcin provides insight into the history of curling in Poland, the division between his organization and the PCA and how the sport can move forward...

We start by recapping the many national curling championships that just completed, including Scotland, Switzerland, Japan and the US. We finish off by discussing the recent hire of Jeff Plush as the new CEO of USA Curling, hear from some people who know him better than we do and talk about what his success will look like if you’re a club curler.

Jonathan and Ryan preview the upcoming championships for the USA, Scotland, Switzerland and Japan (plus we spend about 30 seconds on Sweden). Will any young up-and-coming teams claim titles? Why is it so important that Japan is missing out on this year’s Men’s World Championship? Why doesn’t Jonathan like Tim Horton’s? We attempt to answer these questions and more! For more...

Jonathan recaps his recent curling trip to Lativa and we are joined by Joe Calabrese from 12th End Sports Network . Joe tells us about the birth of TESN’s webcasts and how their coverage of USA Curling Nationals has grown in the nine years they’ve been doing them. We also preview what to look for on the ice and on the broadcast at the upcoming championships.

We return from our holiday break to discuss a number of curling topics. We look at curling’s rankings system, why it can be tougher for European teams to earn points, an important facility closure, the difference in how clubs are set up in Europe vs. North America and we get Jonathan’s perspective on Curling Canada’s High Performance Consultant Program.

Adriana Camarena, the skip of Mexico’s women’s team, joins us ahead of Mexico’s trip to the 2020 World Qualification Event in Lohja, Finland. We discuss her start with the San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club , how she became a part of Curling Mexico , her experience at the 2019 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship & 2019 America’s Challenge and how curling can conti...

Bobby Torres from the Curling Club at Penn State joins us to discuss his recent Growth of Curling Survey . It’s a fascinating look at how real curlers feel curling clubs can improve. We talk about learn-to-curl opportunities, marketing to the next generation and the unorthodox ways his club is attracting new members. Also, Jonathan and Ryan settle-up on their bad beer bet with the Game of St...

It’s a double episode! Scott Graham from Game of Stones joins Jonathan to recap the European Championships, debate the broom fiasco and determine the losers of the Bad Beer Bet. But first we talk to Craig Nicko from Craig’s Curling Shoes about crafting crazy custom curling kicks.

It’s a crossover episode! Scott from Game of Stones joins Ryan to preview the men’s side of the draw. We break down what’s at stake in this event and go over each team in the A flight as well as a B flight that is full of very solid teams. Check out the Game of Stones podcast to hear Jonathan preview the women’s side of the draw with Sean.

Jonathan regales us with tales from the 2019 World Mixed Curling Championships, including the thrilling finishes to the Gold and Bronze Medal games, how the Nigeria and Kosovo teams came to be and whether or not he’s now motivated to return. We also discuss the difference in the World Curling Tour between now and 20 years ago and we give Jonathan the opportunity to respond to all the mean th...

Toronto curler and Hong Kong men’s skip Jason Chang joins the show to help us preview the 2019 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships. We discuss how he came to represent Hong Kong, the growth of curling in the region and sort out the favorites and sleeper picks for this year’s tournament, taking place Nov. 2-9 in Shenzhen, China.

We have two special guest hosts this episode: Ontario-turned-England curler Rob Retchless and English junior curler Felix Price. Rob talks changing affiliations to England, Ontario’s curling scene and prioritizing life and family over curling. You may remember Felix from our etiquette episode. He’s back to help Ryan make fun of Jonathan, preview the World Mixed Curling Championship and...

We take you around the curling world in interviews with Trevor Gau of Triangle Curling Club, Joël Retornaz of Team Italy and J.D. Lind of Team Japan. Find out how Triangle went from curling on hockey ice to their own dedicated facility and the get a taste of the state of the sport in Italy and Japan. Thank you to Trevor, Joël, J.D. and the folks behind the scenes at Curling Night in America, inclu...

A spoiler-free batch of interviews from the taping of Curling Night in America in Raleigh, including USA Curling CEO Rick Patzke, Cory Christensen and Sarah Anderson of Team Sinclair and John Landsteiner of Team Shuster. Topics include gearing up for the 2019-20 season, mixing in mixed doubles to an already crowded season and the role TV plays in growing the game in America.

We debate eight ends vs. 10 ends and how eight-end curling would have changed some of the best games from the last decade. Also, the curling season is upon us. We find out how Jonathan’s new team came together with skip Rob Retchless, talk early season results in the Pacific Asia region and Ryan gets ready to head to Raleigh for Curling Night in America.

Saskatchewan has long been one of curling’s hotbeds. But is the sport in trouble at the grassroots level there? Brady Lang from 650 CKOM in Saskatoon joins us to talk about the state of curling in Saskatchewan, what’s contributed to the decline in number of curlers there, what’s being done to reverse those trends and the optimism that’s been inspired by Robyn Silvernagle. E...

We are joined by Felix Price from Team Sugden (the junior team Jonathan coaches) to talk about curling etiquette. Three generations of curlers discuss when and how to teach it to new curlers with in-depth discussions on pace of play and the burned rock rule. All this plus the latest curling news, including the end of the Curling World Cup.

We review the most interesting stories and most interesting teams from the 2018-19 curling season. Topics include the impact of the five-rock rule, the Curling World Cup, people getting mad on social media, Korean women’s curling, new teams that worked & didn’t, this year’s break out stars and the best toys for watching curling at 2 a.m. with a newborn. If you enjoyed this po...

We give a lot of love to the USA Curling Arena Nationals and recount all of our previous failures at it. We then preview every team at this year’s event and interview Travis Geiser of the Chester County CVB and Dave Rosler & Dave Kolibaba of Ocean State Curling Club. If you enjoy this podcast, please leave a review and tell your friends to check out the show. Good curling to everyone in...