the second most popular Canadian sport
Feb. 19th, 2010 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lauralhI know absolutely nothing about curling. I watched Men With Brooms about 7 years ago, but it was like The Full Monty except about plucky Canadian curlers instead of male strippers. That is to say, not that awesome or interesting. Or memorable. And it definitely didn't do a great job explaining curling, aside from the purpose of the brooms. (It melts the ice a bit so the stone follows the path instead of stopping due to friction.)
I joked that curling was invented by drunken Scotsmen trying to bowl on a frozen lake, but without pins or a ball. Reg said it was a mix between darts and croquet. A coworker said "It's just like Shuffleboard!" which proves he is secretly an 80-yo Jewish retiree.
Nonetheless we watched the Canadian men and women's team first round games. I kind of got the idea of how they scored (getting the stones into the concentric circles), and some of the strategy in blocking the opponents, and I figured out when to cheer. But I still don't understand the fun part. Now this may be partly my own prejudices, in that I don't understand the fun part of most sports/games I've never played. Well, ok, just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand. I understand that it's tricky to get the throw down right, and satisfaction can occur when doing so, but watching someone else do it is even less fun than watching Poker on TV.
I joked that curling was invented by drunken Scotsmen trying to bowl on a frozen lake, but without pins or a ball. Reg said it was a mix between darts and croquet. A coworker said "It's just like Shuffleboard!" which proves he is secretly an 80-yo Jewish retiree.
Nonetheless we watched the Canadian men and women's team first round games. I kind of got the idea of how they scored (getting the stones into the concentric circles), and some of the strategy in blocking the opponents, and I figured out when to cheer. But I still don't understand the fun part. Now this may be partly my own prejudices, in that I don't understand the fun part of most sports/games I've never played. Well, ok, just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand. I understand that it's tricky to get the throw down right, and satisfaction can occur when doing so, but watching someone else do it is even less fun than watching Poker on TV.
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Date: 2010-02-19 09:30 pm (UTC)Unlike competitions like ice skating, halfpipe, or ski jumping, curling is an actual sport (being defined by a competition that is athletic, skill based, and has a definitive outcome not decided by opinion). It's also a game of skill more than athleticism, and while that's off-putting to some, it means a sport of more parity and strategy than downhill, slalom, hockey, or luge, all of which can be won more by an uneven advantage in training and conditioning.
Curling, much like baseball, is a game that unfurls slowly, allowing the viewer to strategize alongside the team. It's not burdened by the the requirement of designer duds or overly loquacious maneuvers like figure skating is. And, unlike poker, it actually requires some physical effort and skill, not simply mental acuity.
Like any sport of real worth, curling is more fun to play than to watch, but compared to many so-called sports, it's vastly more intellectually interesting and engaging to watch.
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Date: 2010-02-22 05:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-22 12:41 pm (UTC)