VANCOUVER, British Columbia — U.S. curling captain John Shuster stuck out his tongue in the middle of a match and uttered for all to hear on television at home, "I hate this stupid game."

His exasperation was understandable. Shuster won a bronze medal at the 2006 Turin Olympics and assembled a team of close friends for what he figured would be another special run in Canada.

On Monday, the U.S. conceded early in a loss to China in what has been an awful showing at the Vancouver Olympics: a 2-7 record and a share of last place.

Shuster called his "stupid game" game remark "sarcasm." Teammate and longtime pal Jason Smith came to his defense.

"He doesn't mean it," he said. "That's just frustration."

The women, meanwhile, finished with the same record after losing to Switzerland 10-3 Tuesday night. They ended up alone in last place.

"What's demoralizing for me is the amount of work and sacrifice we made this year," Shuster said. "I had a look back when we started 0-4 and it kind of seemed like it was over. ... With all the sacrifices we made it would have been nice to at least be rewarded by being in the chase a little longer."

Shuster's bronze in 2006 marked the first Olympic medal by the U.S. in curling, not to mention the first in a major men's competition since 1978.

But this time, Shuster was benched in a major move by coach Phill Drobnick for a win against France on Friday because of his poor performance.

The women also made a lineup change: Skip Debbie McCormick pulled herself from the No. 4 shooting spot to go third when she failed to convert shots in the clutch..

The four-time reigning U.S. champion women, a close-knit group, might break up after the Olympics.

"We were expecting to play better," Nicole Joraanstad said. "But the reality is, we didn't."