Curling's Sampson brothers dream of Olympics, but not 2014

Edmore, the tiny North Dakota town where curlers Owen and Ned Sampson farm, is so remote that a book on its history is subtitled Tales Beyond No Man's Land.

Like so many upper Midwest farming communities, Edmore has withered like a failed crop. Its 182 residents are 74 fewer than the 2000 census counted. Small farmers and shopkeepers have fled. And among the 16 members of Edmore High's Class of 1990, only Owen remains.

The curling rink where their father, Clark, a member of the 1971 national championship team, learned the sport has disappeared, too. Now his sons must travel 50 miles to Grafton or 41 miles to Devil's Lake to curl. And with 447 acres of wheat and soybeans to plant, nurture, and harvest, the sunup-to-sundown days don't leave much time for that.

But the Sampson brothers still dream big. They hope one day to qualify for an Olympic team, and they came to these 2012 USA Curling national championships to give it another try.

The 11th seed among the 11 men's teams at the IceWorks in Aston, Team Sampson began the round-robin competition in stunning fashion, upsetting the No. 1 seed in its opening match. But by early Wednesday, when it was thumped by Team Shuster, Team Sampson hadn't won again.

With a 1-6 record, the team won't get one of the two 2014 Olympic trials berths to be awarded when this eight-day event closes with semifinals and finals Friday and Saturday.

"We had a letdown the game after we beat the top seed," said Owen, 40, who does most of the talking for himself and 35-year-old Ned. "We had a couple of games where we didn't play very well and lost by quite a bit. Then we had some close games where we were just a couple of shots from winning. [Wednesday] morning we didn't click at all."

The closest Team Sampson - which also includes two other North Dakotans, Tucker Smith of Bismarck and Kyle Young of Fargo - has come to an Olympics was when it qualified for the 2006 trials.

"It won't happen this time, either," said Owen, the team's skip [the one who actually slides the stone down ice]. "But getting to an Olympics is still our goal. This is our fourth nationals, and hopefully, we'll be back for 2013's [in Green Bay]."

The team members will play their final matches Thursday, spend a few days sightseeing in Philadelphia, then return to Edmore on Sunday. Soon it will be time for spring planting, which means little time for curling practice.