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Husband and wife play the curling gameBROOMFIELD, Colo., Feb 25, 2009 (The Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- An ultracompetitive curler and hard-working ice maintenance man, Brady Clark wasn't looking for love. He enjoyed a simple life that revolved around the Grand Forks (N.D.) Curling Club. On weekdays, he kept the club's rink in tip-top shape. On weekends, he grabbed a broom and stones, then curled his heart out. One phone call changed everything. Ten years after she swept him off his feet, Brady and Cristin Clark are strengthening their relationship in the U.S. Olympic curling trials, hoping to carry a common bond to the 2010 Vancouver Games. The 20-team, round-robin trials, which determine the first American qualifiers for Vancouver, continued Wednesday at the Broomfield Event Center. The playoffs begin on Thursday, the semifinals are Friday and the finals are Saturday. Cristin captains a Seattle-based team that includes two-time national champion Sharon Vukich. Brady's team is led by Mark Johnson, a World Curling Tour regular. Brady and Cristin _ married on a beach after he proposed on the ice within months of her inquiry about practice times _ have won five mixed national titles. They'll compete at the mixed doubles world championships in Italy in April. "Your wife curling or your husband curling, it's a lot easier to understand when you're practicing five or six days a week or when you're on the road," Brady said. "It's something we share. We're both passionate about it." If her husband didn't curl, Cristin said she "would be bored to death." After all, curling is the primary topic of conversation wherever the Clarks go. "It's not uncommon to be talking strategy at dinner," Brady said. "We're carpooling home from the club, we're talking strategy. We're at family functions, it's the same thing. There's lots of curling talk." Ditto for Doug and Allison Pottinger, who met at the 1995 world championships, where she was curling and he was helping maintain the ice. The 2003 world champion, Allison plays a pivotal role as vice skip (assistant captain) of two-time Olympian Debbie McCormick's team. The 2004 national champion, Doug serves as vice skip for 2001 national champ Greg Romaniuk. In struggling at the trials, Doug said he must "vent to somebody or use somebody as a sounding board. It's nice having somebody who understands what's going on." "He's a support system when I'm here," Allison said. "And I am for him." ___ (c) 2009, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.). Visit The Gazette on the World Wide Web at http://www.gazette.com. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |