The Dark Sith method of Curling

There are always two, never more, never less.

There are two important things to succeed in sports: Skill and strategy. That is why baseball managers are all old men.

Most people who have the physical capacity to do the things required to excel in sports have what I describe as "Ten Cent Heads."

The exception lies in the sport of curling, where older men can still make the shots required to be successful. It is rare indeed that the most successful curlers are also under 30.

Until about ten years ago and the popularization of the four rock guard rule in most highly competitive circles. As a result, the way the game was played changed from guard and bury to guard, tap raise, explosion of rocks, high end angle raises and so forth.

Then competitive curling changed. It was weird, but young guys who could throw missiles down the ice were suddenly very important to the success of any team. They just didn't have a clue as to how to do it.

No team in recent history epitomized this more than the Gushue team that won an Olympic Golf Medal. Under the watchful eye of arguably the best curler in the last 40 years (Russ Howard), these three yahoos did what they were told and made shot after shot. None of them could have even imagined the game that Howard wanted them to play, but with him teaching them, they executed flawlessly. Even during the Olympics though, you could see them scratching their heads and not committing to the shots Russ called. Their job, however, wasn't to think, and ultimately they did what they were told.

Now, they are the second best team based on that model - Kevin Martin and John Morris have combined their teams together - with Martin running the show. They ostensibly have two brier level skips on one team, but one who has been very clear about who is in charge. John is, after all, in his mid twenties.

The difference between the two teams is that Morris on his own has been whipping Gushue on his own for about eight years. With Howard pushing 60, he is no match for Martin, who was the first "banger" in the modern game.

Never more, never less.