Curling IRL

Sweeping the medals at Curling I

Olympians, 

The 3k run is still going on through the end of the month, and our song contest and curling have just ended.

Coming up NOW!- Athletics XIV: 3000m Team Race - Anywhere!

Two weeks in and we've already had a few runners sending in times for their 3k runs. Last check of the leaderboard showed Team Wisconsin in the lead after a tandem effort by Lori Nigon and Artski Sexauer. You can participate early and often, too! Just run a 3k and send in your time, and if you run again and improve, send in your new time! Competition ends at the end of the month.

Just Finished: Curling I: Teams of 4

W hat's that cold weather state with all plenty of ice and Celtic rock sliding notoriety? Oh right, New Mexico! This past weekend, five athletes timidly shuffled onto the ice in their tennis shoes for what turned into a three end game of curling! After some warming up (and cooling down on the ice after loosing their balance), manager J. Boege's Zamboeges took to the hack to deliver their first stones. G. Sexauer went long, K. Sexauer came up short of the house, S. Boege set up a guard, but with Patrick's help as skip (amateur curler of the Roadrunner Curling Club) the team started to get their footing. The Mooners, led by on-ice manager L. Powers (likely the youngest manager in the history of curling at just under 3 years old), immediately put on a show with A. Powers splitting a twelve inch gap down the front of his Levis on his first lunge. E. Powers demonstrated some forceful shoves, bringing up the middle, and the Roadrunner's Mike and Scott rounded out their team with some honed skills. The first end was taken by a single red stone, putting the Mooners ahead. The Zamboeges then perfected their sweeping form in end 2 and closed out their hammer with two points, giving them the lead. Finally, in end 3, the Zamboeges did their best setting up guards, but the Mooners finished by landing a stone right on the button, securing them three more points, and a 4-2 victory.

Winner Interview with The Mooners' own Emily and Andrew Powers

OO: What is your prior experience with curling?

EP: Absolutely none!

OO: What was your favorite part of curling?

EP: Learning how to walk on the ice without biffing.

AP: Emily's face when I showed her my pants ripped!

OO: If you had to curl something other than a stone, what would it be?

EP: A suitcase would work well.

AP: Luna, but we'd need more than one Luna to have a game.

OO: What was the hardest part?

EP: Competing against Gustave!

AP: Keeping track of Luna.

OO:Will you be joining a league?

EP: I would watch Andrew play in a league, and maybe play casually.

AP: Maybe! Luna sure wants to.

Just Finished: Art III: Music

S it back and soak in the sounds of the wide variety of instruments competitors used to make their theme songs in the music event. Harmonicas (G. Nigon and G. Sexauer), guitar (Schmidt), trumpet (Nigon-Kirgis), piano/cello/maracas (K. Sexauer), and the voice (K. Nigon). If released commercially, we'd knock Taylor Swift out of the top 6 spaces on Billboard's Hot 100, with Ben Schmidt (according to our voting) coming in at Number 1. Follow this link to find all six songs in Google Drive and have a listen. Congrats to all six who were brave enough to put their creations out there!

Winner Interview with Ben "Beans" Schmidt

OO: What musical instrument do you not know how to play yet and want to try and master?

BS:  The voice. Of course I can use my voice, but I keep finding out about new techniques that I'd like to learn to improve. Otherwise, the stock silly answers like the dijeredoo and the theramin.

OO: Would you tear up if you heard your song while standing on the podium?

BS: Yes. If I heard my song in any formal setting, like a movie, on the radio, or in a commercial, I would be touched.

OO: Who is your biggest musical inspiration?

BS: I hate this kind of question because I have so many influences. As far as musical style, vintage blues. That's how I learned to finger pick. Mississippi John Hurt. John Prine. Also classic rock and ragtime.

OO: If you could perform at any event or venue, what would it be?

BS: The Superbowl Halftime Show!

OO: What is your favorite national anthem?

BS: Definitely not America's. Stanza one ends on a question. I don't know many others, so I'll have to get back to you on that.

What's Next?

In the words of one our musicians via secret ballot: "Anything new!"

Our Olympics

-Gustave