"That was not a good way to end that game," said Birr, a machinist from Mankato, Minn., who's draw was well wide of the line Australia's Ian Palangio took to skim by two U.S. counters in the top four-foot to get first count at the back of the button. "We had a little trouble with rocks over-curling over there," Birr said in explaining the ice his team took for the final shot. "That was our biggest concern."

Birr's shot actually took a sharp turn toward the button after picking up some debris near the house, but there wasn't enough momentum left for sweepers Greg Johnson and Kevin Birr to get it any closer than a couple of feet from the button.

The Americans-all newcomers to the world stage except for vice skip Bill Todhunter, who played lead in the 2004 championships-had a decent first game for the most part. After Australia hit and stuck on an attempt to blank the first end, Birr made an open draw for two in the second. The Aussies, skipped by Hugh Millikin but with Palangio throwing the last rocks, were forced into taking one in the third.

USA had another open draw for two in the fourth, but Birr's shot over-curled and ran into his own team's counter in the top of the house. USA netted just one, and after Palangio again hit and stuck on an attempted blank in the fifth, the score was tied 3-3 at the break.

"They struggled a little early, and then it was a little bit reversed in the second half," said Birr. "We out-positioned them early, but we didn't always take advantage of it."

USA blanked the sixth, and was forced into hitting for one against two Aussie counters in the seventh. Things began to deteriorate for Birr's team from there. A series of slightly misplaced U.S. rocks in the eighth end left Australia with a short angle raise takeout to score three or more. But Palangio missed the target rock on the wide side, sailing harmlessly by, and instead of taking a 6-4 or better lead, the Aussies gave up a steal of one and fell behind 5-3.

Birr said his team let loose a big "Whew!" after that break. But the Americans got caught up in another powder keg in the ninth, leaving a lot of Aussie rocks around the rings and failing to get their own in the right positions to set up a steal. This time Palangio was perfect on a longer angle raise takeout to score two to knot the game 5-5 heading home.

Palangio saved perhaps his best shot for last, drawing precisely around two U.S. counters offset in the top of the four-foot with his final rock to set up the winning point. Birr had tried to get to the button with his first shot, but came up short. The way this rock settled, it not only took away a potential raise for the Americans on their final shot, but also created another guard for Australia.

"We weren't real sharp," Birr said after his team let this one get away. "We'll play better."

The Aussies, with three ex-Pat Canadians on the ice, got a good round of applause from the opening draw crowd of 8,048, slightly less than half capacity of Rexall Place.

"That crowd, we've never played in front of anything like that before," remarked Birr. "It's really exciting."

Two other games also went down to the wire, in extra ends no less. After scoring a pair in the 10th to tie the game in regulation, Denmark stole one in the 11th to defeat Sweden 8-7. Norway converted for one with the hammer in an extra end to turn back Switzerland 7-6. Elsewhere, Canada opened with a 7-3 win over Finland in eight ends.

Game scores: Canada 7, Finland 3; Australia 6, USA 5; Denmark 8, Sweden 7 (extra end); Norway 7, Switzerland 6 (extra end).

USA line scores:
*AUS 101 010 002 1 6
USA 020 100 110 0 5
*designates last-rock advantage in first end

Round robin standings
Australia 1-0
Canada 10
Denmark 1-0
Norway 1-0
France 0-0
Germany 0-0
Korea 0-0
Scotland 0-0
Finland 0-1
Sweden 0-1
Switzerland 0-1
USA 0-1

USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics, AmerAust Technologies and Nike as well as by AT&T, General Motors, The Home Depot, and Bank of America through a joint marketing program with the U.S. Olympic Committee.

For more information: Rick Patzke, USA Curling, rick.patzke@usacurl.org.