Article on U.S. men's curling match.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia � John Shuster apologized for his inconsistent shot-making, a performance that has all but doomed the winless American men curlers in the Olympics.
�I�ve let my teammates and USA Curling down,� said Shuster, the usually dependable U.S. skip.
The Americans lost to Denmark 7-6 Thursday in yet another extra end. They are 0-4 and will need to win their remaining five matches in the round-robin schedule to stand any chance of reaching the semifinals.
�It hurts right now,� U.S. lead John Benton said. �We�re definitely on the way, way outside. Something magical would have to happen for us to make the medal round.�
Added U.S. second Jeff Isaacson: �I would say a miracle.�
The Americans needed a tense extra end for the third straight match and third in four overall.
Shuster missed a chance to knock out a Danish stone when his last rock jammed on another one of his own and kept Denmark in scoring position.
�He just threw it narrow,� Benton said. �Afterward, he said, �I�m just not making them, guys, sorry.� I don�t know if he�s rushing. That�s a shot he�s going to make 99 out of 100 times.�
Shuster also had a chance for three in the ninth. But he managed to take out only one of the Danes� rocks because the Americans couldn�t sweep another far enough away � settling for a single point. It proved costly.
�For sure. You don�t want to be held to one there,� Isaacson said. �You want to blank the end or score more than one. To walk away and only get one is tough.�
Denmark used a timeout in the 11th with two U.S. stones touching the house before knocking one of those rocks into the button, or innermost circle. They still pulled it out.
No. 4 shooter Johnny Frederiksen acknowledged the Americans had the upper hand in the ninth, 10th and 11th ends.
�Pretty much an open hit on the last rock,� Frederiksen said, referring to Shuster�s final throw. �It�s not that easy, but I think his chances were good on the last one. I�m really happy we just stuck in there and kept it going.�
In the eighth end, the Americans had two stones in the house but Denmark knocked one out. That left Shuster to move the Danes� rock away with his final offering. But he left it too hard and wide right � just missing the outer edge of Denmark�s stone to give the Danes a tying point. Basically, Shuster�s rock didn�t curl in far enough to make contact.
Shuster won a bronze medal at the 2006 Turin Games, the first American Olympic medal and first in a major competition since 1978. It doesn�t look like he�ll do it again.
�I�ve always said everything happens for a reason and for some reason it just apparently isn�t meant to be,� Shuster said. �If it was meant to be we�d be 3-1 right now instead of 0-4, having shots to win all of those games. We made those shots to get here, so it�s disappointing.�
Yet nobody in this foursome is finger-pointing.
�We win and lose as a team and nobody�s faulting anyone,� Isaacson said. �We�re not putting blame on anyone.�