John Shuster is competing in the Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver in curling.
2006 Olympic bronze medalist John Shuster qualified for his second Olympics by skipping the winning team at the U.S. Olympic Trials in February 2009. That win also qualified his rink for the 2009 World Championship in Moncton, New Brunswick, where they finished fifth.
The American team, which included Shawn Rojeski and Joe Polo in addition to Shuster and Fenson, defeated Great Britian 8-6 in the bronze medal match. David Murdoch and his rink had been considered among the favorites entering Torino, so the medal was an upset of sorts. The bronze also ended a medal drought for U.S. men's curling—the last time a U.S. men's team won a medal at a major international tournament was the 1993 World Championships, when the Americans tied Switzerland for bronze. Shuster's favorite moment from Torino was when the last rock came to a stop in the bronze medal match and Shuster knew he had just won the United States' first Olympic curling medal ever. Shuster says his favorite Winter Olympic athlete was three-time Olympian (1998, 2002, 2006) and short track bronze medalist Rusty Smith, whom Shuster says helped him relax in Torino.
During the winter, Shuster bartends at his club, the Duluth Curling Club. He says there are around 500 members at the club and he knows pretty much all of them on a first-name basis. He met his fiancee, Sara, at the rink where she worked as a waitress at the time. Now, Sara is a full-time pharmacy school student and the manager of the curling club's restaurant. In the summer, Shuster works at a golf course, mowing the links. The pair has been engaged since October 2007 but has yet to set a wedding date. The reception is tentatively planned to be at the curling club.
Almost everyone in John's family (parents, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins) competes at the annual family bonspiel, where the trophy, called the Shuster Rooster, is presented. For the inaugural tournament, the trophy was known as the Shuster Cup and was a meager plastic bar cup. John and a cousin won the initial competition. The next year, an uncle found a small brass rooster, mounted it onto a wooden base and attached placards with the inscription, "The Shuster Rooster - A tradition of holiday curling excellence," as well as space for the names of each year's winners a la the Stanley Cup. The family plays every year on Christmas, and December 2009 will mark the tournament's 10th year. Once all the placards are filled, they plan on adding a second base and converting it to an open invitational.
When John was 19, he told his parents, "Maybe we should scout this Olympic thing." The whole family traveled to Salt Lake City for a week to attend the 2002 Games. The group attended five curling matches, short track, doubles luge and freestyle aerials. He described the men's short track relay, his favorite event, as the "Craziest thing I've ever seen. I loved it." He would like to watch freestyle aerials again—it's also the Olympic sport he'd most like to try.
Shuster says that he's the team psychologist: "I'm constantly trying to make sure that I'm saying the right things to my players to get the most out of them. There's way more responsibility as skip." He enjoys being able to control the strategy and that he gets to be either the hero or the goat throwing the last rock, "But dictating the style and the game is what I really enjoy." Explaining what his rookie rink will enjoy most about the Vancouver Games, he says, "They're just star searchers, just like myself. I know they're going to enjoy the heck out of seeing all the world-class athletes in the Olympic Village."
In a bizarre series of nicknames according to John, "Shoostie became Shoo became Shootie, which turned to Chutes and finally to Ladders. How ridiculous—my teammates sometimes call me 'Ladders.'"
Shuster started curling at age 14 while in the seventh grade, needing to find a new sport when he decided to stop playing basketball. While he had always been around curling, Shuster first took to the sport when he attended a junior night at the local club. He immediately took to the feel of throwing a curling stone, saying that he felt like he was "chosen to curl."
2006 Olympic bronze medalist John Shuster qualified for his second Olympics by skipping the winning team at the U.S. Olympic Trials in February 2009. That win also qualified his rink for the 2009 World Championship in Moncton, New Brunswick, where they finished fifth.
The American team, which included Shawn Rojeski and Joe Polo in addition to Shuster and Fenson, defeated Great Britian 8-6 in the bronze medal match. David Murdoch and his rink had been considered among the favorites entering Torino, so the medal was an upset of sorts. The bronze also ended a medal drought for U.S. men's curling—the last time a U.S. men's team won a medal at a major international tournament was the 1993 World Championships, when the Americans tied Switzerland for bronze. Shuster's favorite moment from Torino was when the last rock came to a stop in the bronze medal match and Shuster knew he had just won the United States' first Olympic curling medal ever. Shuster says his favorite Winter Olympic athlete was three-time Olympian (1998, 2002, 2006) and short track bronze medalist Rusty Smith, whom Shuster says helped him relax in Torino.
During the winter, Shuster bartends at his club, the Duluth Curling Club. He says there are around 500 members at the club and he knows pretty much all of them on a first-name basis. He met his fiancee, Sara, at the rink where she worked as a waitress at the time. Now, Sara is a full-time pharmacy school student and the manager of the curling club's restaurant. In the summer, Shuster works at a golf course, mowing the links. The pair has been engaged since October 2007 but has yet to set a wedding date. The reception is tentatively planned to be at the curling club.
Almost everyone in John's family (parents, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins) competes at the annual family bonspiel, where the trophy, called the Shuster Rooster, is presented. For the inaugural tournament, the trophy was known as the Shuster Cup and was a meager plastic bar cup. John and a cousin won the initial competition. The next year, an uncle found a small brass rooster, mounted it onto a wooden base and attached placards with the inscription, "The Shuster Rooster - A tradition of holiday curling excellence," as well as space for the names of each year's winners a la the Stanley Cup. The family plays every year on Christmas, and December 2009 will mark the tournament's 10th year. Once all the placards are filled, they plan on adding a second base and converting it to an open invitational.
When John was 19, he told his parents, "Maybe we should scout this Olympic thing." The whole family traveled to Salt Lake City for a week to attend the 2002 Games. The group attended five curling matches, short track, doubles luge and freestyle aerials. He described the men's short track relay, his favorite event, as the "Craziest thing I've ever seen. I loved it." He would like to watch freestyle aerials again—it's also the Olympic sport he'd most like to try.
Shuster says that he's the team psychologist: "I'm constantly trying to make sure that I'm saying the right things to my players to get the most out of them. There's way more responsibility as skip." He enjoys being able to control the strategy and that he gets to be either the hero or the goat throwing the last rock, "But dictating the style and the game is what I really enjoy." Explaining what his rookie rink will enjoy most about the Vancouver Games, he says, "They're just star searchers, just like myself. I know they're going to enjoy the heck out of seeing all the world-class athletes in the Olympic Village."
In a bizarre series of nicknames according to John, "Shoostie became Shoo became Shootie, which turned to Chutes and finally to Ladders. How ridiculous—my teammates sometimes call me 'Ladders.'"
Shuster started curling at age 14 while in the seventh grade, needing to find a new sport when he decided to stop playing basketball. While he had always been around curling, Shuster first took to the sport when he attended a junior night at the local club. He immediately took to the feel of throwing a curling stone, saying that he felt like he was "chosen to curl."
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