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Find us online: www.usacurl.org * www.2013usacurlingnationals.com Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013 Volume 1, Issue 4
The Daily Pebble
Choose Joy By Nichole Wierzba, Daily Pebble Staff Writer
W ith the National Championships drawing all of our attention to the ice, it can be easy to
forget that all of the competing athletes have lives outside of the arena. Most of them have fami-
lies and careers to attend to and some participate in things that are just as important to them as these cham-
pionship games. Chris Plys is one of these athletes. Chris lives and
works in Duluth, Minn., as a manager at a food commod-
ity business that was established by his father, Patrick.
Patrick loved playing and watching sports. When asked
about his father’s involvement in curling, Chris said that
his father had always been a strong supporter of his
participation in athletics, whether in curling or any other
sport. “He was the crazy guy that always had his face
painted all the time,” Plys said. Chris was a team alter-
nate at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver,
and according to him, you can find videos from the 2010
games where his father was seated in the stands painted
USA style, cheering on the team. Unfortunately, Chris’s
father passed away in January 2012 after a 17-year bat-
tle with brain cancer. Going to the most recent winter
Olympics was Patrick’s “last hoorah” with Chris before his
cancer took his ability to attend games.
After Patrick passed away, Chris’s mother wanted to
find a way to continue his legacy. As one may be able to
guess from the Plys family business, Patrick had a pas-
sion for food. Chris said that Patrick also loved kids. Chris
and his mother decided to combine those two passions
and start a foundation for childhood hunger relief. The
Plys family noticed that there were large numbers of
children who were not getting the amount of food that
they needed. School lunch on Friday would be the last
meal these children would have for the weekend and not
eat again until Monday when they came back to school.
The Plys partnered with Northern Lakes Food Bank in
Duluth to fund a backpack program, where children who
qualified financially were able to take a backpack full of
food home with them on the weekend. The family held
fundraisers and found sponsors to help fund the project.
The Plys decided to name the program “Project Joy.” The
name was inspired by Patrick Plys. After one of his major
surgeries, Patrick suffered a stroke and could not speak
so he had to write things down to communicate. Chris
said the first thing that Patrick wrote after his surgery
was “I choose joy.” These inspirational words gave life to
the Ply’s fundraiser and are now tattooed across Chris’s
forearm as a reminder of his father.
The first backpacks went out just a few weeks ago,
and thanks to tens of thousands of dollars from support-
ers, the program is totally funded for the remainder of
the year. Project Joy is already working on raising money
for next year. Chris hopes for the future are that Project
Joy will be able to reach a larger area and potentially be
able to fund additional programs.
In The Spotlight
Team Carlson (l-r): Alex Carlson, Monica Walker, Kendall Behm, and Jordan Moulton.
Alexandra Carlson
Position: Skip
Age: 24
Hometown: Wayzata, Minn.
Career: Quality engineer with Torax Medical
Inc.
Curling start: Age 5
Curling club: St. Paul (Minn.)
Education: Marquette University
Curling highlights:
• 2-time U.S. junior national champion
(2010, 2009)
• 2010 world junior bronze medalist
• Competing in her third women’s national
championship
Monica Walker
Position: Vice skip
Age: 25
Hometown: Brighton, Mass.
Career: Quality control associate with
Biogen Idec
Education: Boston University graduate;
MBA candidate at Simmons College
Curling start: Age 10
Curling club: Broomstones (Mass.)
Curling highlights:
• 4 U.S. nationals appearances
• 4 U.S. junior nationals appearances
Kendall Behm
Position: Second
Age: 22
Hometown: Highland Park, Ill.
Resides: Seattle
Curling club: Granite (Wash.)
Family: Married
Curling highlights:
• Competing in her 2nd women’s national
championship
Jordan Moulton
Position: Lead
Age: 26
Hometown: Highland Park, Ill.
Resides: Minneapolis, Minn.
Career: Director of operations, Magna
Health & Fitness
Curling start: 2002
Curling club: St. Paul (Minn.)
Education: Degrees in Russian, Spanish &
economics from the University of Minnesota
Family: Single
Curling highlights:
• 2-time U.S. junior national champion
(2007, 2006)
• Recipient of the 2006 World Junior Sports-
manship Award
• 2010 U.S. Olympic Team Trials: 3rd place
• Competing in her 5th women’s national
championship
Mike Farbelow
Position: Skip
Age: 49
Hometown: St. Paul, Minn.
Resides: Minneapolis, Minn.
Career: Accountant
Curling start: 1977
Curling club: St. Paul (Minn.)
Curling highlights:
• Has competed in 6 men’s national cham-
pionship (best finish, 2nd, 2010)
• 2007 U.S. Club Nationals champion
• Recipient of the Ann Brown Sportsman-
ship Award at the 2009 Nationals
Kevin Deeren
Position: Vice skip
Hometown: Waunakee, Wis.
Resides: Chicago
Career: Police officer
Curling club: Madison (Wis.)
Family: Married; one daughter
Curling highlights:
• 5 appearances at men’s national champi-
onships
Kraig Deeren
Position: Second
Age: 28
Hometown: Waunakee, Wis.
Resides: Deforest, Wis.
Career: Account manager with Oxford
International
Education: Bachelor’s degree in econom-
ics/finance from the University of Wisconsin
-Madison
Curling start: 1990
Curling club: Arlington (Wis.)
Curling highlights:
• Competed in 2010 Olympic Team Trials
• Competing in his fifth U.S. Nationals
• 2008 U.S. Club Nationals champion
Mark Lazar
Position: Lead
Age: 35
Hometown: Toledo, Ohio
Career: Employed with Medical Network
One & Practice Transformation
Institute
Education: University of Toledo
Curling start: 1996
Curling club: Detroit (Mich.)
Curling highlights:
• Has competed at 7 men’s national cham-
pionships
Team Farbelow (l-r): Mike Farbelow, Kevin Deeren, Kraig Deeren, and Mark Lazar.
STANDINGS:
WOMEN:
Brown 4-1
George 4-1
Pottinger 4-1
Lank 3-2
Carlson 2-3
Clark 2-3
Hamilton 2-3
Kinney 2-3
Roessler 2-3
Anderson 0-5
MEN:
Brady Clark 5-0
Heath McCormick 4-1
Pete Fenson 3-2
Tyler George 3-2
John Shuster 3-2
Greg Persinger 2-3
Craig Brown 2-3
Mike Farbelow 2-3
Todd Birr 1-4
Ryan Lemke 0-5
Win tickets to 2014 Continental Cup in Vegas!
Two all-event passes ($458 value) to the 2014 World Financial Group Continental Cup of Curling, Jan. 16-19, The Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada. All entries must be received by midnight CST on Sunday, Feb. 17. To enter, fill out the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2014Cup. Mark Lazar, lead, Team Farbelow
Chris Plys, who lost his father to cancer recently,
has started a foundation to help feed hungry chil-
dren in honor of the late Patrick Plys.
Green Bay Packers President & Chief Executive Officer stopped by Corner-
stone to check out the curling action on Monday. Murphy said he’s thrown
stones at the local club and enjoys watching it on TV.
Page 2 The Daily Pebble, Volume 1, Issue 3 Page 3 The Daily Pebble, Volume 1, Issue 3
Daily Pebble: Terry Kolesar, Editor
Rich Harmer,
Photography
Contributing writers:
Katie Arndt, Nichole
Wierzba, James
Taylor, Harry Maier,
Claire Skuble
Rick Patzke,
Assistant Editor
Printing by Inner
Workings
The Daily Pebble can be
found online as well: www.usacurl.org/
curlingrocks
Ideas? Send an e-mail to Terry Kolesar at
terry.kolesar@usacurl.org
By Terry Kolesar, Daily Pebble Editor
T he battle of the final two unbeaten teams took to the center sheet Monday night as Brady Clark and Heath McCormick battled
for the top spot in the men’s division. Seattle’s Clark rink came out of last night’s clash
with a 7-4 win to stay on top of the men’s standings at 5-0. Counting back to the 2012 Nationals, this was the 10th straight win at the championships for Clark. The
loss for McCormick was his first since the 2011 event after going through the 2012 na-tionals undefeated.
“People don’t see us a lot either on the Tour schedule or before Nationals because we’re so far away from every-one,” said Team Clark’s Sean Beighton, vice skip. “We’re kind of isolated on the West Coast. It’s kind of a double-edged sword. We don’t get to see the teams we’re going to play, and they don’t see us either so they don’t get to see how much we’re preparing and practicing. We’re kind of hiding out there on the West Coast.”
Both the men’s and women’s teams have four games left in the round robin with the Page playoffs looming in just a few days.
Three women’s teams are elbowing for the top spot on the leaderboard as the second half of the round robin approaches.
Allison Pottinger’s defending champions picked up two wins on Monday to improve to 3-1. Brown’s team defeated Laura Roessler, 11-2, in the afternoon draw to win their third straight. Tied with the Pottinger rink to lead the women’s division is Erika Brown’s star-studded lineup of Olympians as well as Courtney George’s Minnesota bunch. George earned her third win with a last-rock victory over Alex Carlson, 7-5.
Monday, however, was not so kind to a few teams. Laura Roessler dropped two games to fall to 2-3, and Patti Lank, who began Monday with a perfect record, dropped to 3-2. Pete Fenson’s team also lost two games to slip to 3-2 in the standings.
Thank you to our sponsors:
Seattle Express
Presenting sponsor: Brooms Up Curling Supplies,
www.broomsupcurling.com
Sunday ’s Results:
8 a.m., Women
Brown 10, Roessler 3
George 6, Lank 3
Hamilton 7, Anderson 6
Pottinger 9, Kinney 3
Clark 5, Carlson 4
12 p.m. Men
Brown 8, Birr 7
McCormick 7, Persinger 1
Farbelow 9, Lemke 4
Clark 8, Fenson 1
George 6, Shuster 5
4 p.m. Women
Brown 8, Lank 3
Pottinger 11, Roessler 2
Clark 6, Anderson 5
George 7, Carlson 5
Kinney 9, Hamilton 7
8 p.m. Men
Brown 9, Lemke 3
George 9, Persinger 3
Clark 7, McCormick 4
Shuster 7, Birr 6
Farbelow 9, Fenson 8
Make sure to visit the Fan Zone
and play some curling on the Wii.
Tuesday’s Schedule:
9 a.m. Women
George v. Brown
Hamilton v. Carlson
Kinney v. Anderson
Lank v. Roessler
Pottinger v. Clark
2 p.m. Men
Clark v. Farbelow
Shuster v. McCormick
Birr v. George
Fenson v. Lemke
Brown v. Persinger
7 p.m. Women
Clark v. Anderson
Roessler v. Pottinger
George v. Carlson
Kinney v. Hamilton
Lank v. Brown
Wednesday is “Oneida Nations Night” and all members
will receive free admission with proper identification.
Wednesday and Thursday nights will be Schneider Na-
tional IT nights. Schneider IT employees will get $1 off
tickets with their ID. Children 12 and under get in free
throughout the entire week.
Oneida Market- 501 Packerland Dr., native products, medicinal teas, homeopathic products.
Oneida Mason Street Casino- 2522 W. Mason St., poker room, slot machines, open 24 hours a day.
Oneida Buffalo Bluff- N7633 Cooper Rd., covered
observation deck with view of the buffalo herd.
To find more to do, visit the Greater Green Bay Conven-
tion and Visitors Bureau at www.greenbay.com.
Fear this tiger: Tyler George
By Harry Maier, Daily Pebble Staff Writer
I n 1958, when Walter Selck inquired about the possibility of holding the third annual U.S.
Men’s National Championships in Green Bay, there was no curling club here, a necessary qualifica-tion for hosting the event.
One of the “movers and shakers” who he spoke to just happened to know of someone who might be
interested. John Torinus, managing editor of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, had a voluble young re-
porter, Harry Maier, who, since his arrival on staff, spoke often of a sport he called curling. It was an activity he missed since moving to Green Bay from
Portage. Portage is in an area of Wisconsin that is a hotbed
of small clubs with a passion for curling. Torinus called his reporter in and the rest is history.
With zeal, and the support of interested persons
who lived in the area, a curling club was up and run-ning within weeks!
More than 50 years later Greater Green Bay is the setting for the 2013 USA National Curling Champion-ships, thanks to Bill Rhyme, a five-generation curler
who grew up in Portage. The field includes several Portage athletes and also is famous for 2006 Olympian
Maureen Clark, sister of Team Fenson’s Ryan Brunt. Bill and his wife, J.J., moved to Green Bay in 1997, via Juneau and Anchorage, Alaska.
The Portage Connection
JJ & Bill Rhyme are chairing the 2013 Nationals along with
Don Chilson from Cornerstone and hundreds of area volun-
teers.
Early on, they became members of the Green Bay club and have worked tirelessly on its behalf ever since. They
have competed nationally, internationally (Bill), and are enthusiastic promoters of the sport.
Bill is co-chair of this year’s championships and J.J., a southerner from Alabama, the unofficial superintendent of committees, is keeping everyone on track.
Make your plans to head to Fargo for the 2014 U.S.
Olympic Team Trials for Curling, Nov. 10-17 at Scheels
Arena. Go to www.2014usacurlingtrials.com.
Brady Clark helped his team improve to 5-0 to lead the men’s division.
Tara Peterson & Molly Bonner, Team Hamilton
25 1/2 seconds hogline to teeline; 5 1/2 feet of curl. Deal
with it.
Ryan Lemke
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