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I waited 4 years for THIS?! (Olympic curling)


SpikeDDS

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 Thanks so much for the history lesson, gave me a nice historical perspective on the top curlers. Another question, is the Briere curlings version of the Stanley Cup, or is it the Scott Tournament of Hearts? I've heard of both of them, but don't know where they fit in the overall scheme of things. Ya know, I don't *really* know what is going on in the curling portion of the Olympics, but I get the sense I'd like it if I knew the rules better. Some of the strategy looks wickedly fun if you ask me.

 

The Brier is the Canadian men's national championship.  The Tournament of Hearts is the women's.  The recent years, the Canadian Olympic teams have been determined by the champions of the Roar of The Rings tournament, however, previously, the Brier champion (of the Olympic year) was automatically awarded the Olympic opportunity. (Not sure about the TOH)

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@SpikeDDS

 

Are you a curler?  You seem to know much more about the sport than the average Joe.

 

Only at heart. I didn't become a curling fan until college (~1992-ish), well before the Torino games. I'll never forget watching my first Brier (so sad that they stopped calling it the Molson Brier, BTW...and I don't even like beer!), which was an upstart rink of kids, the Sullivan brothers being skip and third, in the finals against Howard, the old guard. Close match, but, Howard took it. But what a story those kids were! I caught curling fever with that Brier, and it's never died.

 

The irony is that I grew up in Ferndale, MI, just outside of Detroit. Ferndale, MI has the oldest curling club in the United States. I never knew that until AFTER I left MI, and I haven't been able to curl when I've come back. My parents still reside there. So truthfully, I've never actually done it. But I know the game more than the average Joe American. It's on my bucket list for dang sure.

 

I'd LOVE to help start a club down here in ATL, but it would have to be financed by richer people than I. ATL's big enough where you could do it, even though it's not ideal weather for the sport.

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Only at heart. I didn't become a curling fan until college (~1992-ish), well before the Torino games. I'll never forget watching my first Brier (so sad that they stopped calling it the Molson Brier, BTW...and I don't even like beer!), which was an upstart rink of kids, the Sullivan brothers being skip and third, in the finals against Howard, the old guard. Close match, but, Howard took it. But what a story those kids were! I caught curling fever with that Brier, and it's never died.

 

The irony is that I grew up in Ferndale, MI, just outside of Detroit. Ferndale, MI has the oldest curling club in the United States. I never knew that until AFTER I left MI, and I haven't been able to curl when I've come back. My parents still reside there. So truthfully, I've never actually done it. But I know the game more than the average Joe American. It's on my bucket list for dang sure.

 

I'd LOVE to help start a club down here in ATL, but it would have to be financed by richer people than I. ATL's big enough where you could do it, even though it's not ideal weather for the sport.

 

 

 From what I've heard, you could start an outdoor league there this year.

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@SpikeDDS  Thanks, learn something new everyday!

One of the male American sweepers was actually penalized for touching our own stone with his broom while he was sweeping it. Burned it immediately. First time I'd seen that at the Olympic level. I'm sure it's happened in other games, but it doesn't happen that often. Count on the USA, right?

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They started doing that in Vancouver 2010, and it has been GREAT for making people aware of curling. One of the 4 Norwegian men got the idea and had some pants made from Plus4. Not all of the team bought into the idea. What finally convinced them was that when they got to Vancouver, they had one of the better hotel suites on their floor, and many of the other athletes, men and women, would come to their suite to watch TV. Well, before their first match, there were a number of ladies in the suite, and the guys decided to ask the gals' opinion on whether they should do it or not, so they donned the pants for a little fashion show in their suite. They LOVED it! That convinced the other guys, and they've been doing it ever since.

 

Great story, and great for the sport!

Yes, I think if it helps promote the sport, they should keep on with it.

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I sure like it more than bowling and golf put together.

 

I like it better than home lobotomies in my basement, but that doesn't mean it's bearable to watch.   It's a bunch of nut sacks with brooms and milk jugs.  I have to go with fanatic here that it is kind of like horseshoes or quoits or hide and seek in the backyard.  How the hell that becomes an Olympic sport (never mind actually having "venues" in the States for it!) is beyond me. I realize this is an "eye of the beholder" kind of thing, but no one will ever convince me it's a sport.  I'm out of breath after some time in the dark in the bedroom...but it's not a sport.  I think I'd rather watch a scrotum razor infomercial.

 

It would never fly in the States.  We're too busy with much more intellectual stuff like watching cars drive in circles, overweight dumb asses beat the hell out of each other to a script, and shooting unarmed kids on the way home from convenient stores.   Nah, keep it in Canada.

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@ruxpin

Then again....seems like a fairly fun sport to play.

https://vine.co/v/M7POz2AVd22

No doubt. It actually looks fun as hell. To be honest, it also looks hard as hell. For me, it's completely unwatchable on TV.

(just so no one is terribly offended, keep in mind I'm the same guy who's also clearly and repeatedly admitted he's not a fan of the Olympics in general)

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FYI: John Morris no longer throws third for Kevin Martin. They parted ways in April. Morris has his own rink now, and actually eliminated Kevin Martin in the Canadian Olympic trials.

 

Jacobs then beat Morris' boys. Jacobs somehow beat everybody. They were on fire during that tournament. Not so now. They are playing well, but not like they were then.

 

Kevin Martin is working as a color commentator for NBC's coverage of Olympic curling this year, along with John Benton (was on Vancouver's men's rink) and Pete Fenson in the studio, who was the bronze-medal-winning skip for the US in Torino. Martin is very arguably Canada's best skip ever, acknowledging Glenn Howard as also arguable, although I believe that Martin has more hardware. He's won practically everything that can be won by a Canadian in the sport. Olympic gold was the last remaining conquest, and he did it at home.

 

For 7 years, Kevin Martin's crew that was in Vancouver pretty much dominated the sport, winning just about anything that could be won, with few exceptions. Vancouver was their exclamation point. For some reason after that, they weren't the same, and their play dropped off. Martin and Morris' relationship became difficult, and Morris "divorced" Martin. It was as amicable as breaking up the best team that may have ever played the game could be. I think Morris really wants to be skip again. He'd done it before he joined Martin. It was probably time.

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I started curling 35 years ago and I can tell you it is a blast.  At the lower (club/rec) levels, it does not discriminate against size, age or strength (which is why my 9 year old son curls instead of playing hockey).  At the elite levels, it has become as technical a sport as any other.  It is a rare combination of strategy and athleticism and the strategy can change with each shot.  I've curled on the sheet next to elite curlers and I can tell you the difference is night and day.  Their misses are measured by the quarter inch - not a half-rock.

 

At my level, there is no better way to spend a weekend in Manitoba than curling in a bonspiel (as opposed to once or twice a week club games).  They are literally curling mixed with partying - especially if you can get out to one of the 3 sheet rinks in the farming communities.

 

As for the "is it a sport" question?  Who cares?  At least it's not judged.  I know I'm physically exhausted after a game if I'm playing on the front end instead of skipping.  Do you know that the purpose of sweeping has less to do with cleaning the ice and more to do with melting it to make the rock go straighter or futher?  That's hard pushing.  As I tell the kids in Little Rocks, "If sweeping isn't making you tired, you're not doing it right." 

 

In full agreement with Kevin Martin being the best skip ever, but there's been better thirds than John Morris.

 

I have a friend who moved down to Phoenix and joined a curling club there.  They played in a hockey rink, so the ice had to be pebbled for the curling league games.  If Phoenix can do it, I'm sure Atlanta can.

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@WingNut722@SpikeDDS@ruxpin

 

  My wife got me hooked on curling. I am not quite as big of an addict as she is but we love it year round. If it is on television we watch it, and she has an autographed Kevin Martin picture and we have went to watch it played in Columbus. A WORLD of difference from the Olympics. And let me tell you to anyone who has never tired, those rocks are heavy.

  My wife as a quirk gave me a gift that she ordered on EBAY this morning, it is a calendar, the Women of Curling. Not kidding, I did not even know such a thing existed. It has that Eva Muirhead featured and oooh laaa laaa if anyone laughs about such a thing all I can say is look it up on line. If you weren't a fan of curling before, you will be after this.

  I have a very, very good wife.

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That would be me. She's attractive but seriously, No one had to be less than half dressed to get me interested in hockey or football. Maybe if curling was the slightest bit interesting it wouldn't have to either

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If you don't like curling after that you are either a commie or dead. Maybe both.

 

 

That would be me. She's attractive but seriously, No one had to be less than half dressed to get me interested in hockey or football. Maybe if curling was the slightest bit interesting it wouldn't have to either

Yep, He's dead. R.I.P. Ruxpin. You'll be missed. :lol:

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I'm wondering if Yave would like to share information about the calendar that got him into MEN's curling.

  now that is just plain wrong. I would report that to the moderator but that would be you, lol.

 

  no,we were watching the women's curling and my wife and I love to crack up at the sexual undertones of some of the comments, supposedly in pure innocence. the one that had my wife and I both almost on the floor laughing today was in the ninth end the announcer actually said,

  "She would really like to be able to score two in this end."

  I don't know why but it just sounded as dirty as anything and we went around the rest of the night saying it to each other and cracking up.

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