1.   -- Are you also having trouble finding sleep, wondering who will make the U.S. curling team?

2.   By contrast the performance of the curling team was a bonus.

3.   Despite its loss, the game was meaningful for Japan because it was the first Japanese curling team ever reached the semifinals.

4.   Even its curling team often must take a ferry to Sweden to train.

5.   It is the first time ever that a Japanese curling team has reached a world championship semifinal.

6.   It was the first time that a Japanese curling team ever reached the semifinals of any world championships.

7.   Television networks began running live reports on the curling team during normal programming.

8.   The two curling teams, which failed to win gold, and speedskater Jeremy Wotherspoon, who failed to medal, were the biggest disappointments.