// TUCKED IN THE BACK PAGE


Good ice, good food, good people


By Ben Tucker, tuck@usacurl.org


a little touch of fatherhood sprinkled with a dash of my curling addiction made a trip to the Min- neapolis/St. Paul area practically unavoidable. Te business aspect was no big deal. Te farm


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just needed some pickups moved around. Te fatherhood aspect was a slightly bigger deal. My daughter is starting her first Big Girl Job and needed a significant upgrade in her wardrobe. I am told that the hoodies and sweatpants that saw her through college are inappropriate now that she’ll be teaching high school. Te clincher, how- ever, was my dang curling addiction. We pulled into Te Cities on Tuesday night


and checked into a motel adjacent to the Al- bertville Outlet Mall. I then talked my wife and daughter into going to the brand new Four Sea- sons Curling Club in Blaine. Blaine is a commu- nity on the northwest side of the Twin Cities. Te Four Seasons Curling Club is attached


to a skating facility with a couple of hockey sheets. Hockey, by the way, is nothing but a ter- rible waste of curling ice. Te Four Seasons will have ice year ‘round. I talked to Todd Birr and he thinks they’ll melt it out once a year, but he’s not sure when and how just yet. Tey certainly have the compressor power … three anhydrous V-4s plumbed in series in the cleanest compres- sor room you have ever seen. Te facility is very nice, but the atmosphere is


even better. We were greeted by Olympians like Jessica Schultz and John Benton … 2014 Olympic hopefuls Dean Gemmell of Team McCormick; Steph Sambor from Team Potter; and Jessica Schultz (listed again) from Team Brown. Also saying “hi” in a thick Scottish accent was Derek Brown, the High Performance Director. David Staveteig, Head USCA Icemaker, was there with Lino Di Iorio, the inventive mind behind Bal- ance Plus Curling Supplies. Despite all of that star power, I think the best curler at the table was Birr … World bronze-medal winning skip for the USA in 2007. Te sheets were filled with curlers and ice- makers working over the National rocks with


he fates conspired this month and forced me to take a long drive. Te perfect storm of a little business with


Lino’s rock pairing contraption. Te bar was fully stocked and the conversation was excellent. Te best part of the atmosphere, however, was the food. Surf your internet browser over to the Four Seasons website and check out the menu at Gabe’s. It gives you a great view of the ice and a great meal to boot. I can personally vouch for the greatness of the pizza and the Curler’s Re- venge Burger. Stephen Dropkin’s (national ju- nior champion skip in 2012) recommendation of chicken nachos, alas, will have to wait for a second tasting. Seriously, the best menu and the best food I’ve


ever seen at a curling club … and I’ve been to more than a few curling clubs. So Tuesday night was filled with curling cama-


raderie, curling talk, watching the Tuesday night league and really good food. It was a wonderful evening. Wednesday morning broke late. I dropped my


wife and daughter off at the mall while I skipped back to the club to throw some practice rocks with Dean “Duck” Gemmell. Duck was in town to shake the summer rust off his game and start getting ready for an ambitious schedule leading up to the team's appearance at Te Trials in Far- go this November. He had invited me to throw a couple of practice rocks with him and that was the final ingredient for forcing me to make the long drive. I was not going to pass up that invita- tion. Now leaving one’s wife and daughter at the


mall while one throws practice rocks can be an expensive proposition. I figure that it cost me about $20 per stone … but the girl really did need to upgrade her wardrobe to something a little more professional and a little less Seattle grunge chic. I found Todd Birr’s ice to be excellent. Heck,


even I could make shots on that ice. I’m not say- ing that the ice was “excellent for August.” I’m saying that it was excellent. Some friendly locals were practicing on the sheet next to us. I got to eat at Gabe’s again. It was a good day. I even stuck Duck with the lunch tab to ease pocketbook pain of the mall. Drat, the daughter will soon be cash- ing real paychecks and won’t need her dad as much. Te pain just moves to a different place,


USA Curling (( 29


my heart … but it was a really good day. So, here is my curling advice for today: Eat at


Gabe’s while curling at the Four Seasons Curling Club in Blaine … or even if you just watch curl- ing … or even if you just like to eat food. For Te Good of Te Game:


In the last edition of the U.S. Curling News,


Dave Garber brought up the subject of the na- tional championship format. If I was younger and more hip, I would write something like “OHHH…SNAP! NO HE DIDN’T!” Alas, I am no longer young, and I don’t remember ever be- ing hip. Passions run insanely deep among some curl-


ers when it comes to the format used to deter- mine our national champions. If you ever want to start a loud argument at a club, just wait until some experienced players are within earshot and start talking about changing Te Format. Round robin or triple knockout? Regional or open? Ten- team field or eight-team field? Any and all chang- es will be met with unforeseeable passion. Allow me to phrase this another way: In polite


society, one does not discuss religion, politics or sex. In polite curling society, one does not dis- cuss religion, politics or changes to the format. Sex is OK, but you better have lots of friends in the room if you want to talk about the Nationals Format. For Te Good of Te Game Extra End:


If you do take my advice to check out Gabe’s


menu on the Four Seasons Curling Club web- site, make a little extra time for another one of their pages. Tey have a nice beginner’s primer on basic curling strategy. It’s not enough pages to make you a strategic whiz, but it is a good start if strategy interests you. Please say hello if our paths should cross. Drop me an email if you have the time. n


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