// TUCKED IN THE BACK PAGE


Goodbye, but not farewell


By Ben Tucker, tuck@usacurl.org


tried to type a column worthy of this publica- tion. I scoured the U.S. Curling News from front to back for every edition since I was a new curler. Tat is almost three decades worth. Trough all of those decades and for the decades to come, it has been and will remain my favorite publica- tion. I have decided that this will be my last column. It has been a wonderful two years. I’m rea-


T


sonably proud of a few of my columns. Curlers should do more bonspiels … particularly new curlers. We should be thoughtful when speak- ing to the ice maker. Curling etiquette should be embraced while cliques inside of a club should be avoided. But I am not going to pull a muscle pat- ting myself on the back. It is time for me to move aside. I volunteered for two years and did worry over my column an amazing amount. Te final results might not always have shown it, but I did put a lot of worry into each one. Not a lot of work, mind you … but a lot of worry. Aſter a couple of years, I feel that I have given a little bit back to the sport that gave me so very much. Feel free to disagree. I realize that others have given back much more than I. I would like to offer a sincere “thank you” to


everybody who took the time to let me know that they enjoyed my column. Your kind words meant a lot to me. My deepest thanks, however, I reserve for the editor of the U.S. Curling News. For the vast majority of you who have never


met our dictatorial editor, Terry Kolesar, I hope that you eventually get that opportunity. Terry is extremely nice, extremely smart and extremely hard working. She is one of the most competent people I have ever met and also one of the kind- est … and, if she edits one word of my last col- umn, I will rain wrath down upon her. I greatly enjoyed referring to her as our dictatorial editor because nothing could be further from the truth … and that is what made it funny. I was flattered when she asked me to write a column and ini- tially turned her down, yet she encouraged me. I was seldom on-time for her deadlines, yet she


wo years have passed since the U.S. Curling News first asked me to con- tribute a column. For two years I have


encouraged me. I almost always thought my col- umns were total crap, yet she reassured me and encouraged me. I called her dictatorial and in- tentionally misspelled her name, but she was al- ways supportive. Tank you, Terri. At least I am going out on top. Curling in the


USA is on the upswing and the future looks as bright as my North Dakota sunrise. Te Olympic Trials in Fargo went very well. NBC was treat- ed to a couple of great games on that final day. John Shuster led Team USA through the Olym- pic Qualifier in Fussen, so we’ll have two teams in Sochi by time you read this. Dedicated curl- ing ice is popping up from Oregon to Arizona to Ohio and even near the heart of New York City. For 30 years we were losing sheets of ice and now we are increasing the total number of sheets. Tink about it. Not that everything in the immediate future


is sunshine and lollipops. Turning the quadren- nial bump into true growth takes work. Using that bump to make certain that our clubs are on solid financial footing takes some wisdom. Meld- ing our historic culture into a game that might be driven by the pressures of large Olympic dol- lars will not come without disagreements. Every- thing from how we select our world champion- ship teams to how we govern ourselves will come into question. From how much of a grassroots organization we should remain to how much of a professional organization we should become will be debated. Passions will rise high from those that love the game and fear for its future. Tese passions can be tempered, however, in the glow- ing light of this successful year. Let me leave you with some more words of ad-


vice: Do not undervalue the knowledge of the


USCA staff. Many of us love this game. Many of us have some knowledge of the sport. Many of us spent a fair amount of time thinking about all things related to curling. Please realize, however, that the USCA staff spends 40 hours a week for 52 weeks a year thinking about it … and oſten more than that. While I do not mean to imply that the views and opinions of every curler are not impor- tant, I do think that we should listen carefully to what the staff has to say.


Make certain that you stay in touch with the


social side of curling. Aſter all, taken on face value it is a fairly stupid game played by sliding rocks on ice. Te true majesty of the sport comes from its team dynamics, unparalleled sports- manship and human interactions. If you ain’t smilin’ before, during and aſter your game, then you ain’t playin’ the game right. We do get flooded (hopefully) with new curl-


ers every four years. Take the time to teach them more about the game then sliding and sweeping. Teach them the spirit of the game. Along those same lines, teach the non-curling parents of ju- nior teams what is appropriate and what is not appropriate. Tey need to know that they can’t act like Football Dads and Hockey Moms or their kids might not end up with a team in the coming years. Tey need to know what to say and what not to say to these young curlers in be- tween games. Te parents of the youngsters need to understand our culture almost as much as the young curlers themselves … and we need these young curlers … they are our future icemakers, board members and league skips. Tey are as much of our future as anybody else. Good bye and, from the bottom of my heart,


good curling. Editor's note: I've known Tuck for most of the 12


years I've worked for USA Curling. No one amuses me more. While he may be saying goodbye to his column, I think he means see you soon – on the ice, alongside the ice cheering and from the airwaves of the webstream. We appreciated the "Tuck-isms" he put into each column over the past two years. I especially will miss the friendly rivalry between Tuck, Mielke and Garber. I'll miss nagging him about deadlines. Tanks for a great two years, Tuck. Tis page will be hard to fill. n


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Compassionate Care ALS in the digital edition of the U.S.


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USA Curling (( 31


Curling Club members raised more than $40,000 for


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