American curlers on thin ice

At Winter Olympics

SOCHI, Russia - The Americans are on thin ice heading into day three of the curling tournament at Sochi Olympics.

A combined 0-5 record - mirroring their start in the Vancouver Games four years ago - has left the men's and women's teams desperately needing a victory today not just to boost morale but to stay in contention for the semifinals.

Erika Brown's rink is in a particularly perilous situation after losing its opening three games. It simply can't afford to go down to China in the afternoon session.

"I think every championship I have been at, or watched on TV, there's always been a team that had a bad start and went on a run," Brown said. "We're going to focus on that and make that us."

The men's team, skipped by John Shuster, is 0-2 after defeats by Norway and China. Then again, that's just normal for a rink that often makes life uncomfortable for itself.

Take the Olympic qualification event in Fuessen, Germany, in December, for example. The U.S. was struggling at 1-2 but ended up winning five straight games to earn its place in Sochi.

"It's kind of our thing," said U.S. player Jeff Isaacson of Gilbert, Minn. "We often don't get off to the best start that we need to. We dig a little hole and get a couple of losses. We've done it many times."

The American men play Denmark in the morning session and have a bye in the evening schedule.