Tuesday, February 23, 2010

There Was A Little Girl Who Loved A Little Curl...

 1. You have to be really smart to curl. You have to know...um...I don't know I think math and science (trig and physics, maybe?) as well as logic.

2. I understand how they play but I don't have any idea how the game is scored.

3. I haven't curled but I've played that table shuffleboard stuff and the hardest thing has got to be throwing a rock and getting it to stop right where you want it to.

4. Hitting another rock to cause a particular result I think I could do. Eventually.

5. I've got some lingo - the hammer, ends, on the nose, tap, hurry, hard, the house, freeze to it, blank an end, rock, clean, the line, skip, sweep...

6. You know how I got bowling butt after 4 strings of the game on my birthday? I keep wondering how bad you could get that same injury from curling.

7. The alternate for the US Men's team, Chris Plys, has 13 tattoos, many of them related to his curling life.

8. There's huge controversy because the spectators aren't necessarily versed in curling and there are four games going on at a time. You don't cheer when someone is throwing a stone, it's like golf when the golfer is at the tee or like tennis. With four games on at a time though the crowd can be cheering a great result for the Canadian team while someone from a different game is throwing. One poor curler cried during a post-game press conference because the stress of trying to concentrate with all that hoopla was too much for her.

9. I don't actually understand how they choose the pressure with which to release the stone. If you watch them release it looks like, without much direction, they just..let...go. (Can you tell I want a curling lesson?)

10. I can't stop watching. I decided not to DVR the competition anymore and on my way out of the office the reception TV was playing curling. I almost stayed!


  1. I have fallen in love with the event; and most of the Norwegian Women's team. They have a place here that offers lessons, and I'm thinking of trying it.

  2. Next time we get together you'll have to let me know what you learn. I'm intrigued by the bowling-adjacent properties of it all. Those women are fabulous!