US gold medalists become curling ambassadors in Las Vegas

It had been five weeks since he had become a darling of late night television and an American Olympic hero, and John Shuster was stifling a yawn Friday morning.

No, the skip of the first U.S. gold-medal winning curling team was not growing weary of having become either of those. He had stayed out late the night before. Shuster said the best thing about coming to Las Vegas and not competing in the World Men’s Curling Championships, which start Saturday at Orleans Arena, is just that — coming to Las Vegas and not having to compete.

The seven-time World Championships participant and four-time Olympian won’t be playing because his team sat out the U.S. Championships to focus on Pyeongchang. Shuster and teammate Matt “Super Mario” Hamilton are here as ambassadors for the sport and cheerleaders for the U.S. team that will challenge 12 other nations in an ancient pastime that continues to gain in popularity.

“You know what the cool thing is for anybody that might show up and not know that much about curling? You’re gonna probably sit next to somebody that does know,” Shuster said of the finals, which run through April 8. “And they’re going to tell you all about it and talk you through the game.”

What a comeback

Shuster had to do some of that himself at the Olympics. The U.S. side lost four of its first six matches and was forced to win its three remaining preliminaries just to qualify for the medal round.

Which it did.

Then it had to beat reigning world champion Canada.

Which it did.

Against Sweden in the gold-medal match that was tied 5-5 through seven ends, Shuster had to execute a double takeout with the hammer, which is what the last rock of an end is called, to put the Americans ahead and give them breathing room.

Which he did.

The next thing you know, Shuster and Hamilton — who bears a resemblance to the Super Mario video games character — and the other curling Yanks were standing on the top step of the podium with gold medals around their necks. And the next thing after that, Shuster was throwing the rock at an outdoors hockey game featuring the Washington Capitals and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Hamilton helped sweep it into the center ice face-off circle. Like the double takeout against the Swedes, it was a perfect shot.

In high demand

Hamilton said he has signed so many autographs since returning from the Olympics that his penmanship has improved.

“So many pictures,” he said.

To which Shuster added: “I have a permanent smile on my face.

“Right now I feel like we’re in pretty high demand. When your text messages and email are blowing up with people wanting you to be somewhere, we just try to do as much as we can to promote the sport and reach as many people as we can.”

They reached a few more on Friday morning during media interviews for which Hamilton traded his Super Mario cap for a khaki-colored one with the Golden Knights logo.

“I definitely feel responsible to use this awesome win we had to try to get as many people as we can excited about (curling),” Hamilton said. “It’s such a fun sport. It’s the reason I play it. I’m good at it, and I’m so happy I was able to get to this level, but I play because I love curling.

“I think more people would enjoy it if they got to try it.”

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.