American hopes of an Olympic medal in the men\u2019s curling competition are lying on a hospital gurney, and things are not looking good.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there\u2019s still a heartbeat, or so they say,\u201d said U.S. skipper Danny Casper, but not very convincingly.<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old New York native was speaking only minutes after he and his teammates had been forced to shake hands with Great Britain\u2019s quartet after six of 10 scheduled ends.<\/p>\n
With both teams needing a victory to keep their already-slim prospects of progress alive, it was the British team that bolted upright, while Casper & Co. slipped further away.<\/p>\n
The game started poorly for the U.S., as their British rivals stole points against the head in the first two ends to take a 2-0 lead into the third end.<\/p>\n
But worse was to follow for Casper, as he pushed a relatively straightforward draw to the button through the back of the house in the third, gifting Britain four points and a 6-0 lead.<\/p>\n
Casper then passed up a chance to score a point in the fourth end, opting to keep the hammer in the fifth end, when he finally found the right line and length to get two points on the board.<\/p>\n
However, Great Britain skipper Bruce Mouat, who entered these Games as the man to beat but has not quite found his best form yet, was in no mood to mess around and promptly scored three points with his first use of the hammer in the sixth end. Trailing 9-2, Casper called it quits.<\/p>\n