This is true. We have a guy at our club who has no legs – he walks in on his “walking legs,” takes them off and puts on his “curling legs” to go play, and then swaps ‘em again afterwards. When I saw him for the first time, I thought, "well, to hell with a little knee pain – if this guy can play without frickin’ legs, I can certainly find a way to play until I die!"
I played at a club years ago in Kitchener that also had a member in the men’s leagues who was legally blind and came out on the ice with his seeing-eye dog, had someone help him to the hack and aim him in the right direction. He’d throw his rocks, more or less by hearing, and then sit down and wait for his turn again. Pretty darn cool, I must say!
Since I go up to Canada quite often to visit my kids, I’ve spent many a late night watching curling tournaments on the hotel TV after the kids have fallen asleep. I think the game grows on you. Plus, the pose of a hot female curler pushing the stone is a true thing of beauty. It reminds me Tori Amos playing the piano, or Camilo Villagas lining up a putt.
I think that it really cool that Schmirler the Curler is regarded as one of the best female curlers in history. Unfortunately, she died tragically at a very young age.
You know, I was thinking seriously about linking a picture of Sandra Schmirler as someone who is really missed at this year’s Olympics. She did die far too young.
I love that the curlers include guys like Kevin Martin - while all the other Olympic athletes are practically (and actually, in some cases) teenagers, you’ve got this 43 year old guy who goes out and wins an Olympic gold medal, then goes back to running his business Monday morning.
I have a few curling questions about the free guard zone.
Situation:
At the beginning of an end
Yellow slides a rock into the guard zone
Red hits the yellow guard and pushes it back into the house (I understand this is legal as long as the yellow guard is not knocked out of play)
Yellow slides another rock
Can red now knock the first yellow rock out of play, or does it retain its status as a protected guard even though it has been pushed into the house?
Situation:
At the beginning of an end
Yellow slides a rock into the guard zone
Red slides a rock
Yellow slides a rock which curls around the guard into the house
Red plays a runback shot, knocking the yellow guard into the yellow rock in the house, which is knocked out of play
If the shot rock is knocked out and the guard stays in play (probably in the house), is this legal?
If the guard is knocked out of play, it’s placed back in position as a guard. (correct?) What about the shot rock, does the invalid hit on the guard mean that the shot rock is put back in place too, or is it kept out of play because it was not a protected guard?
I hope the curling pros are still visiting this thread.
I’m not an expert, but I’ll give your questions a shot. Anyone who is more informed than me, please correct any mistakes. I’m drawing on what I know from a few seasons of rec curling and The Rules of Curling for General Play (available to view or download here, direct link to the PDF is here).
I believe it is still a protected guard, as it was originally a guard. The first four rocks thrown are protected until the fifth rock is thrown, as long as they were guards when they were initially thrown.
I believe it’s legal as long as the guard (yellow rock #1 [YR1]) stays in play. It’s fine for RR2 to remove YR2 (in the house) from play, as YR2 was not a guard.
Yes, if a rock in the free guard zone (YR1) is knocked out before the fifth rock of the end, it is replaced in it’s original position. I think the shot rock (YR2) is replaced as well. I’m basing this on the General Rules of Play that I linked to above. Quote from page 18 with my emphasis added:
Free guarding is based on where the rock was at the beginning of the shot, not where it was originally thrown. The team with the hammer can take out a guard in two steps, first raising it into the house and then taking it out.
Likewise, if you raise your own guard into the house, the other team can then take it out.
A rock which illegally takes out a free guard is void, just as if you burned it. Take it out of play, restore the free guard, and restore any other rocks which were moved.
Since the sweepers have 2 different shoes, one for pushing and one for sliding, do they change shoes depending on which side of the stone they’re sweeping?
Also, a follow-up to my team question. I assume that Kevin Martin’s team won the Canadian olympic tourney, since they represented Canada and won the gold. But prior to the Olympics, could he have unilaterally replaced members of his team, or does the team have to consist of the same 4 members all the way through?
Curling shoes come with a gripper that fits over the slider, so you don’t have two pairs of shoes, you just have one pair plus a gripper. Everybody that I know wears the gripper while sweeping.
In a pair of curling shoes, one will have a gripper sole of flat rubber designed not to slide on ice, and the other will have a teflon slider sole. If you’re right handed, the slider will be on the left shoe, and vice versa. Shoes will often come with gripper oversoles for the slider foot. Sweepers can either leave the slider sole exposed, or slip on the gripper oversole for additional traction.
When one steps off the ice, it’s important to remember to step off with the slider foot first. Also, walking off the ice with a slider sole exposed is not recommended.
There will usually be brushes to clean your shoes at the end of every curling sheet. If you step off the sheet, brushing your shoes before you step back onto the ice is critical to keep the ice free from hair, dirt, and other impurities that can displace a curling stone.
