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