Curling...

[BCB]

I was just watching this "sport" on TV. Seems they slide "rocks" down the ice, toward a bullseye, with guys in front of it with brooms cleaning the ice?
Can someone give me a brief lesson in what the heck this game is all about? I have watched it several times but just can't seem to get the jist of it. Thanks...BCB

[Gunload Master]

I saw that too, and must say that is one of the strangest sports i've seen.. It really makes no sense to me...

[BruceB]

NOW you fellers are treading on my corns!

Curling is an ancient Scottish game which was transported to North America by emigrating Scots. It is hugely popular in Canada and has made some considerable inroads in states such as Minnesota, Michigan, and the Dakotas.

Four people make up a team: the lead (who throws the first two of the 44-pound rocks in each "end"), the second, the third or "vice" (as in "vice-skip") and the skip, who generally directs the activity of his team and selects strategy, etc. The teams throw rocks alternately, first one team throws one rock, then the other throws one.

The game is normally comprised of ten "ends", meaning each player throws a total of twenty stones in a game, two per end. During an end, the skips stand in or around the circles and provide an aiming mark while the team members throw stones from the other end. The two members who are not actually throwing stones are "sweepers" who apply the brooms only as directed by the skip. When the skips throw, their thirds "hold the broom" (which provides the aiming mark).

It has been proven that with good sweeping (NOT an easy task) a rock can be persuaded to slide forty feet further than if it was not swept. This is due to the brooms' friction actually melting a microscopic layer of the ice and reducing friction. By controlling sweeping, AND the speed with which the rock is launched, AND with proper accuracy on the curler's part, a stone can be placed quite precisely from over 100 feet away. If a critical rock starts looking too slow, you will see ALL FOUR members sweeping, including the skip AND the shooter, who has run the length of the ice to catch up!

THe stone is launched with a rotating motion, the direction of which is called-for by the skip, and this rotation causes the rock to follow a curving course ESPECIALLY at the end of its travel, which can allow a skilful team to actually hide its stone behind the opponents'. Ever see how bocce balls curve as they slow down? We believe this is the origin of the name of the sport. It's also called "the roaring game"...possibly from the noise the rocks make, but also maybe due to the antics of the players...there's a LOT of yelling going on.

My dimensions here are a touch iffy. so forgive me if I err a little, but...

The ice sheet is about 14 feet wide. The two "bullseyes" are called "houses", and their centers are 120 feet apart. The diameters of the rings are twelve feet, eight feet, four feet, and the center spot or "button" is one foot across. About twenty feet in front of each house, i.e.: between the houses, is a line called the "hog line" and a rock (or "stone") which fails to reach this line is said to have "hogged" and is removed from play. A stone which slides THROUGH the house and over the back line is also removed from play, and so is any stone which touches the outer boundary of the ice sheet.

Behind each house is a "hack", a pair of footholds set into the ice for the curlers to get some traction when throwing the stone. The curler MUST release the rock, as he slides out of the hack, before reaching the hog line...this means that some curlers are actually hanging on to the stone for thirty feet or more before release.

Only the stone(s) closest to the center are counted for score at the end of an end. This means that if "red" has a stone in the 4-foot and "blue" has six stones in the 8-foot and 12-foot, then red wins one point for that end. If TWO red stones are closer to center than any blues, then red makes two points, and so on.

This is not only a game requiring excellent execution, but strategy is absolutely critical. This is why most skips, or captains, are the most-experienced players.

A good ice-maker is a gem beyond price for any curling club. It may look simple, but creating good curling ice is literally the work of an artist. The ability of a skip to "read" what the ice conditions are doing often decides outcomes.

One wonderful thing about curling is that it is a lifetime sport. There are leagues for kids of six or eight years, and leagues for octogenarians, and leagues for everyone in-between. It's a highly-social game, moderately active, very stimulating intellectually, and a whole HELL of a lot of fun in the bargain.

Come to thinkof it, I miss both playing and watching it!

[carpetman]

Wonder if a curling team has ever been disqualified for using a Dust Buster instead of a broom?

[Buckshot]

...............you just made all that up! Did 'n'tcha?

............Buckshot

[onceabull]

Gents: Local TV network had feature sports story last week on this, seems competive league has formed in nearby Winter sports/resort setting(McCall,Id). Learned more about it from BruceB's writings than their 5 minute feature,but what the hey, most local TV personalities here have recently been promoted from Butte.! Onceabull

[C1PNR]

BruceB,

Sounds a lot like shuffleboard (the board type, not the shipboard type) on ice! Many similarities. I have played shuffleboard (both types), and Bocce ball, too.

First tried Bocce ball on either "Tick" or "Tock" island, I forget which now. Out in the middle of Upper Saranac Lake on a canoe outing with the "Fakowie" tribe in upstate NY. Phew, what a weekend THAT was! A story for another day!;-)

[BCB]

BruceB
Good description of the sport! I sort of figured that sweeping the ice somehow helped with the speed or direction the rock took. I did notice the rock sometimes curving at the end—sometimes behind an opponent’s rock. It is interesting how someone could get so skilled as to be able to do/control that rock as to its final placement. I don’t watch hardly any sports at all on TV, but that ½ hour sort of held my attention…BCB