Even though it’s Monday, I’m off to a leisurely start today, definitely low-key. That may change as the caffeine level rises, though. As far as “leisure” goes, though, most of the world’s spare time focus is on the Winter Olympics that is now gearing up to full speed.
The Winter Games are the ones that I enjoy watching the most. There is plenty of visual excitement and drama of competition with things like ski jumping, free-style skating, hockey, and bobsledding. I always liked the bobsledding. Partly, I believe, because this is the only time you get to see it and I enjoy the speed. Of course, you know that I like the hockey. But when it comes to watching Olympic events, I have another favorite: Curling.
You read that right….. I said Curling. That strange game that gets many Canadians through the winter that was brought over to North America by Scots immigrants more than a hundred years ago that involves sliding a granite stone slowly down the ice and attempting to score in the same manner that a shuffleboard game is played. Curling is widely recognized by the strange practice of a couple of teammates trying to trot along ahead of the stone with brooms and sweeping the path clear for the stone.
I first got hooked on the game eight years ago watching the 2002 games and I found out that if you pay attention to what’s going on, there is genuine drama there. It’s subtle but it’s real, albeit a lot slower than most other contests. But once you get into the game, it’s gripping at times. Knowing that most tv viewers are unfamiliar with curling, the announcers usually do a good job of explaining what’s going on. And if you know how shuffleboard is played, then you can grasp the rules easily. The strategy of the team play is what makes it exciting.
There is one more reason why I enjoy curling, and that is because the game is a purely amateur sport. No high-dollar pro’s coming in and dominating the games. These are just ordinary folks who love the game and work their way up the competition ladder to make it to the Olympics. People of any age, sex, or size can do it, and that is what I think the entire Olympics should be. In the last games four years ago, one of the men’s teams that was in the finals was a group of employees and the owner of a little pizza parlor in a small town in the far north of either Saskatchewan or Alberta, I can’t remember which. That was absolutely great, just watching this group of good friends making their once-in-a-lifetime appearance on the world stage.
The first televised coverage of the sport will be tomorrow, Tuesday, so if you want to get familiar with the game ahead of time, CLICK HERE for a website that gives you the basics. The Milwaukee Curling Club has a series of informative videos that explain how the game is played HERE.
We’re all set here….we’ve already got the brooms. So let’s get the equipment checked out and I’ll get the coffee started.
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