2018 Winter Olympics: Why I love watching curling

First time I watched Olympic curling match on television, a thought occurred to me that is surely shared by anyone watching the sport for the first time: What the hell am I looking at?

It was during the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, and I listened to the live broadcast at the start of the women’s medal match. I was amazed by the agility of the players and how they were able to easily lower those huge, bulb-shaped stones across the ice. But everything else about it was confusing. It sounded like a game of shuffleboard, but with more screaming. And a lot of strange things. The grammar, the language, the way they use brooms…Brooms!– To make the stones slide around. It seemed very boring. How can anyone bear to watch a sport that lacks obvious athleticism, such arcane gameplay, and such a lethargic pace?

Two hours later, I was irritated. I still don’t understand the purpose of brooms, but I’m starting to understand the rules. The language is starting to make sense. And I was completely consumed by the drama. When the game ended, I quickly set my DVR to record every live feed for the rest of the game Olympic Gamesincluding reboots. I was hooked. What started as a chance encounter with an esoteric sport, instantly ended in an insatiable thirst for more.

Curl you know this is true

Curling is definitely the best sport to watch on television, especially for viewers looking for an escape from the “more, faster, bigger, higher” of most televised games. Watching basketball or hockey can get you so excited, you feel like drinking Red Bull and doing jumping jacks. Watching a curling ball game makes you want to drink a glass of red wine and lie down on the shaggy rug. The nets are intentional. Thoughtful, even. Games move very slowly. Players spend a lot of time talking about strategy. There are quiet gestures and words of encouragement; There are rarely disagreements. When it’s time for a team member to play his or her turn by moving a puck on the ice, the movements are elegant. There is winding, pushing, sliding, and gentle releasing. Such poise and finesse!

Before my words turn into a series of staccato sighs, let me tell you about the game itself. Curling is actually similar to shuffleboard (also bocce or pétanque), where the goal is to get as many game pieces as possible close to the mark at the other end of the playing field. The team consists of four players each. One player moves the stone down the ice while two other players sweep the ice in front of the stone with brooms to try to control the stone’s speed and direction of travel.

Then there’s all that funny language. The stone is often called “the rock.” The playing field is a “card”. The target mark on the other end of the sheet is called the “house.” There’s some funny equipment too: special shoes, those brooms, and the rocks themselves. The smooth, 44-pound pieces of granite make wonderful sounds when they hit each other. (There is a Rock emojinatch.) Stones slide differently depending on the paper, going straight or naturally curved, and sweeping can control these factors. The team captain is simply “Skip”. Skipping leads to most of the shouting, known as “cross-line calling.” These are commands to the sweepers that tell them how “hard” or “easy” the sweeping process is.

Each round of play is called an “end”. Teams throw eight rocks at each end. The more stones you take home, the more points you score, although only one team can score in each end. You collect the winner’s points at the end of each end; After ten finishes, the team with the most points wins the match.