The 1 Reason You MUST Watch Team USA’s Gold Medal Curling Match

Curling seems to be the only Olympic sport that's been on every single day since the opening ceremonies on February 8.  Team USA's already made history in the sport at the 2018 Winter Games and will play for the gold medal tonight!

If you've listened to my show at all in the past two weeks, you know that I've got Olympic Fever...bad. I've looked so tired the last few days that people are actually worried about me.  They don't need to be.  I'm perfectly healthy. Everything at the station is great. I'm just beat because I've been staying up to watch the Olympics.  I'll get super into it and the next thing I know, it's midnight and at best I'll get four hours of sleep!

I was born during the Calgary games, so its no surprise that I'm a life long Olympic fan but there's one reason that I've really enjoyed the PyeonChang games. While the Olympics have been going on, the United States has had to see some very difficult thing on the news.  My heart is absolutely broken over what happened in Florida last week and I tear up anytime that I hear the name of the teacher that through himself in front of bullets to save his students. I don't know how to fix what's happening in our schools. I won't even pretend that I understand any gun laws. I can't pretend that I have a solution. All I know is that my heart goes out to all of the Treasure Valley kids who woke up terrified to go to school the next day out of fear that something like that could happen here.

The 2018 Winter Olympic Games have been a chance to escape from what we're seeing in the news.  The power of the games is absolutely amazing.  Not only are they a way to unite people with differing opinions in our country for just a little bit, but they bring the entire globe a little closer together over the span of three weeks. Over the last several days, I've been able to have full blown conversations with complete strangers at restaurants, bars, stores, etc...just because we were all watching the same sporting event at the same time.  It warmed my heart and reminded me of how much kindness is still out there in the world. Watching the final days of competition are a little bittersweet, so let's go out with a bang!

The guys from the Team USA Curling team are giving a reason to do that! Curling may be one of the most teased and most parodied sports at the games, but John Shuster, Tyler George, John Landsteiner and Matt Hamilton did something to celebrate this week.  They not only defeated Curling superpower, Canada, for the first time in USA Curling history...they did it twice, earning themselves a place in the gold medal game on Friday night. When you consider that the Canadian men have taken home the gold in the past three winter Olympics, you realize that's no small feat!

The team, nicknamed "The Rejects" by many, told the New York Times that they're drawing on the Women's Hockey Team's gold medal run for inspiration.  In case you're wondering, the team earned that nickname because Shuster put together the quartet after he was cut from the national curling program. He was so in love with the sport that he did a little soul searching, dropped quite a few pounds and rather than hang up his uniform for good, formed his own team for the games.

How to Watch the Game in Boise

They play Sweden for the gold medal tonight at 11:35 p.m. The Treasure Valley has one last chance to put their differences aside and come together to support Team USA.  Jeff Salmans, the league coordinator for the Boise Curling Club, sent me an e-mail about a viewing party they put together at Ha' Penny in BoDo tonight.  Even if you've never touched a stone or swept ice before, they'd love to see you there! The party is free and open to all Team USA fans!