Curling

[Uppsala9496]

I wish NBC showed more curling and less figure skating/cross country skiing and whatever other BS they had on this past weekend.

 

[purbeast0]

curling is awesome, i was up until 2am last night watching it on the nbc stream online.

 

[mizzou]

I could care less for it...but it's just as impressive as bowling or shuffleboard, which are apparently two very popular sports/games.

 

[zinfamous]

My son was amused at some of the Winter Olympic events ("okay, so you do cross country skiing then bust out your rifle and shoot a target?!?"), and I tried to explain curling.

"It's like shuffleboard on ice, but you throw a rock and two guys change its direction with a broom without touching it."

And to answer the earlier question, I would MUCH rather watch curling than ice dancing.

The Biathlon is actually awesome, imo. I don't get cross-country--what's the point? most boring thing ever. I do like downhill, but I've never been more bored than when spending a day on a cross country track.

The shooting part makes sense, though--it's what you would be doing out in the woods, hunting game or even soldiers. I have no idea if this is true, but I like to tell myself that the sport started in the Winter War, when the Fins massacred the Russian Army trying to invade them--Fins were on skis and rifles and crazy stuff like that.

Biathlon would be cooler if they also had to shoot and skin a varmint along the course.

 

[zinfamous]

Curling is more like shuffleboard than anything else, which can be very fun. Not sure why people are saying bowling. :hmm:

And I also have no idea why I find it entertaining during the Olympics.

 

[waggy]

curling is awesome, i was up until 2am last night watching it on the nbc stream online.

whaa!? fuck i forgot that there is usually a live stream.


and i'm watching curling now! usa vs SUI

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

I like it, but I dont fully grasp what's going on. I'll watch some more though and eventually try to figure it out.

 

[raasco]

I enjoy curling.

 

[SSSnail]

Curling is more like shuffleboard than anything else, which can be very fun. Not sure why people are saying bowling. :hmm:

And I also have no idea why I find it entertaining during the Olympics.

I think because it has that trollish quality to it.

I would add cheerleaders to curling, and beers, copious amount of beers, and cheerleaders. Also, instead of brooms, they get hockey sticks. And the opposing team gets to bodycheck. Ooh ooh, throw in some rabid dogs as soon as the boulder is released. Now we're taking about excitement.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

at least the layperson can actually watch and determine a winner

no need to listen to 'expert' announcers contradict each other, only to have the judges decide something entirely different.

OBJECTIVE >>>>>> SUBJECTIVE when it comes to competition

 

[HardcoreRobot]

also, for any NFL fans, Vernon Davis is the honorary US captain again for these games - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olymp...s--curling-team-ever-assembled-214628612.html

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I watch it on occasion if it happens to be on (I prefer Women's curling too since there are some cute curlers out there), but it is way more fun to play than to watch.

KT

This is the difference between Canada and USA; at no point in the history of America did someone accidentally stumble into a curling match and think "I'll give this the old college try." You can find snooker tables or shuffleboard or ping pong or whatever; there's like two curling rinks in the entire country, and they've both been expertly hidden by technically being in Canada. How does one even go about trying curling? Don't you need a team?

Anyway, curling, while silly, might be my favorite event at the winter Olympics. It's just so ludicrous, but I can't help but like it.

 

[Aikouka]

I LOVE downhill, probably because it's one of the few winter events I can relate to. As a southerner, I've ice skated like twice in my life, never played hockey and only watched a few games. I'll never do ski jump, never bobsled, etc.

But I love snow skiing and love skiing as fast as I can when it's safe, but those guys and gals take it to such incredible levels. So exhilarating to watch.

If it makes you feel any better, I grew up in the north, and even though I lived an hour from the Poconos, I've never been ice skating or skiing. We do have a hockey team and an ice rink around here though....

Also, I always find it amusing that to a northerner, "skiing" refers to the snow, but to a southerner, it refers to the water. In other words, in the north, you say "water skiing", but in the south, you say "snow skiing". Before I realized that, I remember being really confused when someone told me they were going skiing that weekend... and it was the middle of the summer.

 

[KeithTalent]

This is the difference between Canada and USA; at no point in the history of America did someone accidentally stumble into a curling match and think "I'll give this the old college try." You can find snooker tables or shuffleboard or ping pong or whatever; there's like two curling rinks in the entire country, and they've both been expertly hidden by technically being in Canada. How does one even go about trying curling? Don't you need a team?

Anyway, curling, while silly, might be my favorite event at the winter Olympics. It's just so ludicrous, but I can't help but like it.

Ha, yeah, I expect they are not quite ubiquitous in the United States of America. There are several around the city here. We played three a side; had some beers and only one of us fell and cracked out head on the ice. It was a lot of fun, I highly recommend it!

KT

 

[lxskllr]

It's like bowling, yard darts, house chores, and winter rolled into one.

:^D

 

[KLin]

So basically curling is inaudible yelling and using a broom to get a boulder down ice?

What's the point?

Curling seems like the most pointless event.

It's a piece of granite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUy9ake9q8w

 

[Dr. Detroit]

I'm still trying to figure out why we have women's hockey?

Curling is founded in tradition. It's like a big game of shuffleboard.


:thumbsup

 

[WelshBloke]

I've been watching it for 2 hours and idk why...

Because the rest of the Winter Olympics is even more dull?

There's sliding downhill on two planks, sliding downhill on one short plank, sliding downhill on your own on a tea tray, sliding downhill with a bunch of others in a big sleigh, sliding over bumps on one short plank, sliding around bumps on two planks, sliding around fast on two little metal blades, sliding around slower but prettier on two metal blades, sliding... well lots more sliding really.

 

[dbk]

it looks hard as hell

 

[sdifox]

it looks hard as hell

Yeah, pretty challenging.

 

[roguerower]

I've got a co-worker from Wisconsin who's played it and said that it's pretty damn hard to do. The rocks are heavy as hell and being smooth on the release is difficult. Couple that with knowing when to rub the ice and when not to makes it challenging. I enjoy watching it more than figure skating or the other events which require judging and are subjective. Downhill, curling, biathlon, luge are all preferable to me than the artistic sports, no matter how difficult they may be.

 

[Mai72]

Are you talking about this type of curling?

 

[spittledip]

I find it pathetic that they would put an event like this in the Olympics and try to take out a real sport like wrestling.

 

[WelshBloke]

I find it pathetic that they would put an event like this in the Olympics and try to take out a real sport like wrestling.

Wrong Olympics.

 

[spittledip]

Wrong Olympics.

The Olympics are the Olympics. One stupid event in any portion of the Olympics is all the same.