# Am I crazy? I noticed 2 things about the Olympics (well, 3) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** olympic-sports-track\ **Created:** [February 15, 2022, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510 "2022-02-15T07:26:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/41 "2022-02-17T05:30:53Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > in all the snowboard events the athlete’s are only putting one arm in their numbered vest I believe this is so the bib doesn’t interfere with their arms when they’re doing all the twisting motions. With the bib worn normally, it may bind or provide some resistance when they throw their arms around. With it under just one arm, it’s not going to be able to restrict motion of the arms or shoulders to the same degree. It may still affect the one arm it goes over, but that force should be minimal since it should be able to easily slide around their body no matter what the other arm is doing. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/42 "2022-02-17T05:34:13Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Mainly I’m baffled as to who thought having two players who can do nothing but very, very slightly alter the surface was a good idea. I keep thinking how much it must _suck_ to be a sweeper, to have the highest effort-to-actual-impact-on-the-game ratio in sports, mainly because you can never touch the stone **at all** no matter how horribly tempted you get. And it’s the same near-futile grind for seven shots a round for nine rounds. Each player throws two stones a round, they don’t just sweep. The only guy who doesn’t sweep is the skip (Captain of the team.) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/43 "2022-02-17T06:06:47Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Mainly I’m baffled as to who thought having two players who can do nothing but very, very slightly alter the surface was a good idea. I keep thinking how much it must _suck_ to be a sweeper, to have the highest effort-to-actual-impact-on-the-game ratio in sports, mainly because you can never touch the stone **at all** no matter how horribly tempted you get. Extreme Curling might have yet another player behind the stone to blow on it to make it move faster. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/44 "2022-02-17T08:08:31Z")
I just want them to grab that handle and chunk that rock as hard as they can & as far as they can. Just once. Maybe because they are pissed. Or just unhinged, 🤪momentarily. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/45 "2022-02-17T12:28:28Z")
Distance curling! The winter version of shot put. They’d need to find a frozen lake, tho, as the hockey rink may be too small. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/46 "2022-02-17T12:42:13Z")
> [@Hoopy\_Frood](#): > > Or if you’re French, “boules”. If you’re French, boules or petanque mean the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/47 "2022-02-17T12:47:42Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > If you’re French, boules or petanque mean the same thing. That sounds like bouleshit to me! ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/48 "2022-02-17T13:45:47Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > I believe this is so the bib doesn’t interfere with their arms when they’re doing all the twisting motions. With the bib worn normally, it may bind or provide some resistance when they throw their arms around. With it under just one arm, it’s not going to be able to restrict motion of the arms or shoulders to the same degree. It may still affect the one arm it goes over, but that force should be minimal since it should be able to easily slide around their body no matter what the other arm is doing. Skiiers doing the stunt competitions (big air, half-pipe, etc) also appear to wear the bib under one arm, so I suspect your belief is correct - it has to do with all the twisting and spinning in the stunts. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/49 "2022-02-17T14:00:51Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Mainly I’m baffled as to who thought having two players who can do nothing but very, very slightly alter the surface was a good idea. I keep thinking how much it must _suck_ to be a sweeper, to have the highest effort-to-actual-impact-on-the-game ratio in sports, mainly because you can never touch the stone **at all** no matter how horribly tempted you get. And it’s the same near-futile grind for seven shots a round for nine rounds. As @AlsoNamedBort said, the sweepers don’t just sweep. Each team plays eight stones in an end. The lead player delivers the first two stones and sweeps the other six. The second player sweeps two, throws two, sweeps four, etc. And sweeping is not near-futile. A good sweeper has to judge how fast the stone is travelling, communicate that to the skip, sweep early or late to affect the line, and track the condition of the ice as it changes throughout the game. Two good sweepers can add 10-12 feet to the distance a stone travels. The rules were changed a few years ago so that all players have to use the same material on their broom heads because sweeping was having too much of an effect. When the skip puts the final stone in the four-foot circle to score, that’s thanks to the sweepers. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I just want them to grab that handle and chunk that rock as hard as they can & as far as they can. Just once. Maybe because they are pissed. Or just unhinged, 🤪momentarily. They do, or very nearly. When they need to take out multiple stones on a single shot, or knock a guard back into the house to take out another stone, they’ll deliver their stone pretty damn fast. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/50 "2022-02-17T17:14:43Z")
This just gets more interesting as we speak about it. Wow! I’m kinda more motivated, to look at it in a different light. Thx! Mr.Arm. Tell me more, plz. 😌 ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/51 "2022-02-17T17:18:19Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > As @AlsoNamedBort said, the sweepers don’t just sweep. Each team plays eight stones in an end. The lead player delivers the first two stones and sweeps the other six. The second player sweeps two, throws two, sweeps four, etc. Also, in mixed doubles curling, players sweep their own stone after they throw it. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/52 "2022-02-17T17:28:09Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > It doesn’t hurt that they are, on the the whole, quite attractive people. I started watching Curling about 20 years back because the skip was an ultra-attractive mom from Lake Forest or some other northern Chicago suburb. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/53 "2022-02-17T17:36:33Z")
I’ll just leave this here: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/5deGCvJOGg0/hqdefault.jpg "Curl - Jonathan Coulton - with Stephen Colbert & the US Olympic Curling Team") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5deGCvJOGg0) ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/54 "2022-02-17T17:43:42Z")
I’ve loved watching curling since I was a kid. Growing up in southeast Michigan, we got the local Canadian channel, and I’d watch it whenever it came on. I got my wife into watching it at the Olympics 12 years ago, and now this year, I got my father-in-law into it. Whether I we go over to my in-laws’ house right now, he’s got a curling match on. On-demand viewing of the Olympics is an amazing advancement. I really wish they’d develop a proper professional curling league in the US, not just tournaments and bonspiels. Give a team to each of the largest curling clubs, have the smaller clubs serve as a minor league to the majors, have a set schedule and finish it off with a big ol’ bonspiel to determine the champs. I’d watch the shit out of that. At the very least, I wish USA Curling would put out a curling app for Roku/et al, and put up videos of tournaments and whatnot on-demand. It’s like every for years people have an abundance of curling to watch, and it’s pretty popular, and then… basically nothing once the Olympics are over. I think the demand would be there for a television audience, if USA Curling would get their shit together and market the sport better. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/55 "2022-02-17T17:43:43Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Thx! Mr.Arm. > > Tell me more, plz. I’ve never played at anything close to their level, but even in social leagues the sweeping matters. The ice is a little different every night. When I’m sweeping, I use a stopwatch to time how long it takes the stone to travel between two lines on the ice, and I see how far that stone travels. When it’s the skip’s turn to throw, I can tell her how fast the ice is and how hard she should throw to put the stone where she wants. We don’t get it right all that often, but we try. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/56 "2022-02-17T20:13:11Z")
Any of these ideas would make me very happy! I hope someone is listening. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/57 "2022-02-17T20:50:41Z")
good movie! curling also has a danger element as a stone could explode, or fly into a person/foot. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/58 "2022-02-17T23:36:17Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Any of these ideas would make me very happy! I hope someone is listening. Just FYI, [USA Curling has a “Contact Us” page](https://www.usacurling.org/contact-us). And also FYI, I contacted them about launching a Roku app for featuring tournament play and other curling programming. Mayhaps a few more emails would let them know this is something people would be interested in. Hell, their YouTube channel has a number of tourney and interview videos, so its not like they aren’t already videoing matches producing content. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/59 "2022-02-18T00:04:15Z")
NM, db post ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510/60 "2022-02-18T00:43:12Z")
There are several tabletop curling games out there. We have one (the roll-up mat version). It’s fun. And there’s also a large-format floor version with bigger ”stones” that would be good in a room with good floor area. Although your kid may be more into the idea of making a game than having a game. 😁 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-crazy-i-noticed-2-things-about-the-olympics-well-3/959510.md?page=4)