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by Rebekah Farquhar

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English Professor Doug Schaak Hits the Ice

The curling sheet is a 146-foot-long rectangular area of level ice. Players usually slide while releasing, "delivering," their shots; then two other players sweep
in front of the moving stone. --Rebekah Farquhar, photo

Curling has always been a central part of Dr. Doug Schaak's life. Born in Canada and raised in North Dakota, he is the son of a curler and has curled since age seven. "I spent many cold wonderful nights in a curling club in North Dakota," Dr. Schaak said. "I enjoyed being out on the ice."

The ice brought Dr. Schaak to Portland, Ore. "I almost hate to admit this," he said, "but I sent out resumes to colleges that were near curling clubs." At that time, he explained, Portland had a small curling club, even though it did not have an ice arena dedicated to curling. "When I called the club president," Dr. Schaak said, "I was demoralized to find out that the club existed in name only. People met once in a while, but there was no curling going on. That really dampened my spirits about Multnomah."

MBC called him and requested an interview shortly after that. He drove from Idaho to Oregon with his wife, Libbey, for the interview but had no intention of accepting a job offer.

Visiting the campus changed his mind. "When we were here," he said, "I looked over at my wife and asked, 'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?' We realized the first day that I would say 'yes' if they invited me to teach."

Dr. Schaak said that the spirit of the school was what captured his attention. "I really figured it would be a one-to-three year job," he said. "I didn't see it as a long-term thing." MBC hired Dr. Schaak in March of 1998, and he began teaching the following fall semester.

Four years later, he still loved his teaching job, but a curling club did not exist in Portland. So he started the Evergreen Curling Club of Vancouver, Wash. in 2002. "If curling isn't coming to me, then I'll bring it to myself," Dr. Schaak said.

"Doug was one of the founding members of the current Portland curling club," Arnie Iwanick, a fellow curling club member, said. "When I heard he was starting a club, I introduced myself and said I had 16 curling stones available. He was instrumental in working out an arrangement to get ice available. Within one year, we were up to 48 members."

Mr. Iwanick described Dr. Schaak as focused and competitive. "When he is in a social curling atmosphere, he's very open and congenial and continues to explain the sport to people," Mr. Iwanick said. "When he's curling for competition, he's in there full time."

The game, which became an Olympic sport in 1924, involves sliding 42-pound rounded stones with a handle protruding from the top, down a sheet of ice to a target on the other end, like shuffle board. Dr. Schaak said he has "always enjoyed the strategy of the game." The skip, or team captain, determines the curlers' strategy. Each member slides his stone down to the target with the ultimate goal of reaching the bull's-eye. "You can't just slide the stone straight down to the target," Dr. Schaak said. "The opposing team will knock it out of the circle. You have to set up a guard and then curl the stones around to the target."

Curling requires more than just strategy, though. "The sportsmanship of the game is very important," Dr. Schaak said. "There's a real respect for your opponent." He said that the winners buy drinks for the losing team, and they all sit and talk for a while.

His club curls at the Lloyd Center Ice Arena, and they do drop-in curling lessons for anyone at the mall. "We charge $5," Dr. Schaak said, "and it's always an interesting mix of people. I taught one man in a wheelchair. Another time, I taught two women visiting from Ireland, and I've had kids who are so squirrelly that all they want to do is run and slide on the ice."

Dr. Schaak said his youngest son, born September, 2006, has a future as a curler. "I think he'll be the curling hot shot of the family...he has curler written on his face."

As one of two MBC English professors, Dr. Schaak has a passion for great literature. "I love to teach Stephen Crane," he said, "and Fitzgerald is weakness of mine. I love the early 20th century American writers -- Frost, Hemmingway. Every time I teach them, I can't wait to get to class."

Beyond teaching, he also wants to be a practioner of his subject, so he writes. He wrote the first draft of a novel during a sabbatical and is now working on a second revision.

"The working title is 'The Road to Circle City'," he said. "I found writing to be a pretty stimulating process. I'm not Hemmingway, but it was good.

"Even if I'm not good at it, having the experience from a writer's perspective gives you more sensitivity, more understanding of the process."

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