Not that I need any help in that area.

I’ve been watching the curling televised in the afternoons this past week, and I have to apologize to the US teams — as soon as I tuned in, you tanked. Choked. Collapsed. Obviously, I’m bad luck and it’s all my fault. But I still enjoy watching; I was first exposed to the sport when I lived in Canada (though I knew people who curled when I was growing up; there was/is a curling rink right in the middle of Niskayuna)

Ran across this set of animations. The Physics of Curling

And obviously, you need to analyze the sweeping, too.

The claim is that the sweeping warms, but does not melt, the ice. However, there’s always some liquid on the surface, and temperature measurements don’t tell you everything, because pressure matters, too. But take all of that video with a grain of salt, because

Jenkyn’s full results are being kept secret until June 2010, revealed only to Canada’s Olympic athletes, coaches and officials.

“We’re sworn to secrecy,” he said.

It could all be a smokescreen to sabotage other teams. Maybe I’m off the hook.

Update: The men won last night. It’s not me.