those are stones?
I thought they were balloons..
I curl. Not ashamed to admit it either.
The sport is a blast and not as easy as it looks either.
When I worked in hotel pubs, I loved explaining it to Americans, who inevitably loved it too...
It's a game of strategy, no silly judging involved.
I'm having a blast watching the olympics, hope you are too!
@rosborne979,
rosborne979 wrote:
tsarstepan wrote:Sorry! I just can't get over the sweeping part of the game.
Sweeping changes the characteristics of the ice and causes the path of the stone to curl slightly. The amount the stone is deflected from its linear path is a function of the speed of the stone along with the characteristics of the ice. For example, if a stone is thrown very fast, then it will curl very little, and visa versa.
Curling without sweeping would be like billiards without putting english on the ball.
I get the basic physics of changing the sweeping the ice ... I don't get it in terms that it should be considered as participating in a sport.
@tsarstepan,
ever bowled on a dry lane?
(not that bowling is a real sport, either)
@tsarstepan,
Ever tried it? Everything looks easy from the airchair.
@Rockhead,
If they put bowling in the Olympics I'm going to laugh (as in I find it amusing, not mocking) at that too. It can be a great game, and even a quasi-sport without being meritous of Olympic competition, but then again I want them to cut a large amount of Olympic sports.
@Ceili,
I haven't juggled chainsaws set on fire, mixed with hungry rats with black plague infested fleas. I know it will be dangerous and difficult. Even if I see a professional pull it off and do it with greatest ease doesn't mean it's something I want to try. I'm certain curling is quite challenging and difficult. Never said otherwise. Sorry Ceili. Still not too interested.
Je suis desole.
@Ceili,
But there was a pregnant woman doing it! It may not be easy, and I don't want to knock it as a game (I actually am interested in giving it a try, looks fun!) but it certainly isn't that physically strenuous, which is what I associate Olympics with.
I think it should be in the Olympics of games, with stuff like bowling (which is great fun, but not exactly what I think of as an Olympic sport either).
@tsarstepan,
Quote:Curling players living large!
The latest millionaire athle...
Sorry. I can't even think it without breaking into hysterical laughter
Quote:Indeed, Canadian captains Kevin Martin and Cheryl Bernard -- both seen as strong gold medal contenders -- are household names in a sport of precision and strategy that in most countries is still seen as somewhat of a curiosity even though its roots go back more than four centuries.
Their teams consider their rock-star status as beneficial as they deal with the pressure of the international spotlight.
"Part of the preparation for a Canadian team in curling, and what Kevin taught us a long time ago, is to get to as many big games as possible and not just for the curling aspect but for the media and TV attention," men's team member Marc Kennedy said. "We're lucky in Canada that we get a lot of attention -- tons of TV attention, lots of media ... for us it may be even a small advantage
http://www.nbcolympics.com/news-features/news/newsid=411911.html
So, why are you laughing at our friends to the north?
@Robert Gentel,
my rule of thumb is beer.
If beer is part of the sport's culture, it ain't Olympic stuff...
@hawkeye10,
Curling superstars? Are we talking? NBA level endorsement deals? MLB level salaries and contracts? Or the superstar celebrity status of Candlepin Bowling?
They are most certainly are not living it large. The average canadian curling "rock star" has a day job, but the game is much more physically entailing than it looks.
When i worked in the hotel industry I heard all the jokes from the Americans, but none the less, it's a lot more intresting game than darts. They do that in bars too...
I like curling because it's definitive, not like most figure skating or snow boarding standards. You know who wins. Points, not artistic merit.
Anyone can play, but to play well, it's like chess, strategy.
Trust me, though, sweeping can be exhausting, and a lead hitting his/her mark is pretty freakin' cool.
@Robert Gentel,
And why does there have to be separate teams for men and women? I don't see where the men would have any advantage over the women.
@shewolfnm,
I cannot quite understand what curling is...?
@JPB,
There isn't. I've always played on mixed teams. Why don't they have a mixed category?
@Ceili,
that's what ruined softball, you know...
@Ceili,
Quote:The NBC team calling the action from Whistler will be the same one that brought the 2006 Olympics home to U.S. viewers, with commentators Don Chevrier and Don Duguid and sideline reporter Elfi Schlegel.
Team Fenson's success in Torino not only resulted in the first Olympic medal in curling for the USA but also helped once again sweep American viewers off their feet four years after the sport was tabbed with "cult status" in Salt Lake City. During the 2006 Games, curling was featured predominantly on CNBC, which saw its ratings increase 562 percent from pre-Olympic first quarter deliveries.
http://www.sundialhotel.com/press/pr110710.asp
It seems that we Americans like to support Curling as well......ooops.
@Ceili,
Quote:They are most certainly are not living it large. The average canadian curling "rock star" has a day job
do you think that Canadian olympic curlers EVER need to buy their own drinks?
@dyslexia,
Well yes, I figured that part out thanks to previous posters.
What does it involve and how is it done?
I love it, it's a sport... ??? You can play from a wee child to an aged enthusiast. I was looking at the luge contestants, most of them had molson muscles. C'est la vie. Not everyone is going to lay down on their partner, but anyone can slide a stone.
Curling is a thinking persons sport.
