I’ll be live blogging Curling from the Olympics.
Not really. I just thought it sounded funny to say that.
My husband and I are SO into curling, as of, um, yesterday. So zen. Of course you throw the stone while almost lying down - you have to be drunk to play this game. It was invented by my ancestors, the cranky Scots, who had nothing to play with one frozen day but a rock, and a broom.
Dordi Norby! Say that 10 times!
I nominate this OP for Threadspotters… pre-emptively.
I reckon it’s going to be a hoot. 
well, it’t not actually a requirement in the rules - more just a matter of custom.
and make sure you get the long Norwegian O’s into it. 'Dooordi Nooorby" 
Yesterday during USA vs. Norway Women’s Curling, they brought out the gauge to verify which rock was closest to the button (Don’t I sound knowledgeable!)
Here is some of the commentary provided on USA Network:
Commentator One: Yup
Commentator Two: Yup
Commentator One: Yup
Commentator Two: Yup
So did anybody see the USA vs. Finland game yesterday afternoon? I was so pissed–it came down to the last shot, and the American skip could have played it one of two ways–the easy way, or the hard way–and he chose the hard way, and missed. What was he doing, trying to show off?
I was so frosted that I was tempted to start a Pit thread, except that the thought of a Pit thread about curling was . . . well, sort of a disconnect.
Yepper, I watched that match. The only curling we do in this part of the country involves hair, rollers and Marge the stylist but I do find it most interesting in a once-every-4-years kind of way. Apparently, the mis-play that the US skipper made yesterday was an elementary blunder. My 14 year old son was watching with me and kept screaming “NO! Don’t do it that way, it’s too risky!”. He went ballistic when the Fins got the point and the match. Of course, then he said “I just got all worked up over curling. How stupid. I’m going to my room”.
I was reading the rules of the game yesterday, I didn’t realize how intricate and involved the rules were. Very interesting stuff!
My building’s full of curlers (there’s a C.C. nearby with a sheet, a rarish thing here in the Lower Hudson). These past few days I spot them by looking out the window at 3:30am and seeing whose lights are on.
Curling has apparently taken place of synchronized swimming as the Olympic sport to mock.
Well, it’s got unfortunate associations with groups it’s always OK to make fun of: whites, drinkers, and Canadians.
Was this the match where the one announcer was so upset by the shot selection that he said he wasn’t going to watch? I loved it. “Just hurry up and take a shot! My feet are getting cold!”
I informed my wife of my intention to become a Curling Hooligan for the next Olympics.
I recently took up curling down here in the USA, and it’s great–it’s a fun game, played by men and women of all ages, lots of nice people. But I have to say, it’s one of the most non-ethnically-diverse things I’ve ever done. Out of about 100 people that I’ve met at the club so far, there have been 99 whites and one Asian!
No, no, no! I refuse to allow my sport to be associated with synchronized swimming! Curling is mocked in a friendly sort of way–“those goofy Northerners”. Synchronized swimming is just evil.
That was the one!
I love it. I absolutely love it. “Angry Finns rampage with brooms after disputed loss!”
I didn’t pay very close attention to the way it was played, but it seems to me that it’s basically shuffleboard on ice. As one who plays, Freddy, is this far off? I think I’ll do what ronincyberpunk did and read the rules later on tonight, but I’m just looking for a very basic intro right now. I don’t think there are any curling clubs anywhere near Scranton.
Curling is a very serious sport. Of course, the performance enchancing drugs you have to watch out for are nicotine and alcohol.
My husband and I are in a friendly competition to see who can become the biggest know-it-all about curling in the shortest amount of time. We’re flinging phrases at each other that meant nothing to us a few days ago, such as 'Awesome double takeout!" or “I’d call for a draw raise if I were the skip.”
This website has some good animations of the rules and strategies of curling.
The Wikipedia article on curling has a lot of info. I think it was written by a Canadian. It has listings of famous women Canadian curlers, famous men Canadian curlers, famous children that were Canadian curlers, Canada’s favorite curlers, best Canadian curling clubs, and so forth and so on.
Believe it or not, I’ve never played shuffleboard, so I don’t really know if it’s a good comparison. In curling, you throw eight rocks per team per end, and you’re trying to get as many of your rocks as possible (a) in the house (the series of concentric rings) and (b) closer to the “button” (the center of the house) than the other side’s closest rock.
Only one side can score in an end, and they can score anywhere between one and eight (lower scores are more common, and eight is extremely rare and probably unknown in Olympic-level competition). It’s also possible that neither side can score in an end, because no rocks are in left in the house, and this is actually more common in higher-level competition.
Same thing with the club I belong to. It’s a few blocks from my house, in a community that’s about 20% black. Except for one Asian, all the members are white. Lots of Jews, though (including myself, after I convert), which I find a bit amusing.
Are there any black curlers anywhere?
Here is the obligatory link for Men With Brooms.
I wish that there would be some TV coverage in the US of either the Briar or Bonspiel.