CURLING
It was recently pointed out to me that when I discussed
non-football sports, I left out curling. I guess I left out a lot of winter
sports – except for the X-Games, which has both winter and summer sports, and I
addressed the under-televised X-Games. This led me to think about those winter
sports – except hockey, which I clearly expressed my thoughts on that – and to
address those winter sports in this post.
Let me start by saying, I actually like curling – for a
sport seen on major (American) television once every four years during the
Olympics. I remember the first time I saw a curling match. I don’t remember the
exact year, but it had to be between 2003 and 2007. I was on a cardiac surgery
rotation while in residency, and we were about to do a heart transplant. There
was a delay such that the attending surgeon and myself were forced to wait for
about 30 minutes in a small room in a very small hospital somewhere in the
middle of Idaho. In the corner of the room, there was a tiny television (obviously,
everything was small there) and the Winter Olympics were on with a Curling
Qualifying Round as the highlight for the evening. Now, first of all, I didn’t
even know what curling was and secondly, was shocked that this li’l known sport
would be the highlight. It was fun to watch, though, and I soon found myself
wanting to learn more about the sport.
The World of Curling Federation1 dates the sport
back to the 1500’s, starting from Europeans throwing stones across ice as a
pastime during the winter. Obviously, the current sport has a definitive form
and a definitive set of rules. It first appeared in the Olympics in 1924.
Basically, two teams of four face off throwing stones towards a “bull’s eye”
down a lane of ice. Each player throws 2 stones, which are 19.1kg and made of a
rare polished granite.2 The “Skip” is like the team captain. As the
stone is thrown, two other players (primarily the “Lead” and “Second” unless
they are throwing) will sweep the ice to make the stone go faster or slower and
curl left or right.3 The order of throwing is Lead, Second, Vice and
Skip, but it is the Skip who is giving instructions to the sweepers on how to
sweep. Some excellent resources to learn more about curling can be found at the
official USA website: http://www.curlingrocks.net/
and The Curling 101 website: http://www.slideshare.net/CompeteAt/curling-101-the-basics-of-the-sport-of-curling-presentation
. YouTube also has some good videos. Enough about curling…
Briefly, as to other sports I may have missed… Many of them
just don’t get adequate mainstream coverage. Soccer, which is awesome, is
starting to change some of that, but it has certainly been hurt by a deficiency
of media representation in this country – unless, it’s the World Cup or
Olympics. In that case, we’re all in (meaning we are watching the US Women’s
Soccer team win games.) I love rugby – more on that later, though, because I
have a Southern story involving a combination of rugby and an important day in
American history. I also have some really hilarious anecdotes from my days as a
player. Now, figure skating, speed skating, gymnastics, wrestling, boxing, martial
arts, etc. – all of those take incredible dexterity, strength and endurance. I
respect those athletes – but you can ditto the above statement. With the
exception of professional boxing, they aren’t as often highlighted unless it’s
a world championship or the Olympics. We could also talk about archery,
volleyball, bobsledding, bull fighting – even bocci ball. I could get into
discussing body building, scuba diving, cheerleading, cricket, darts, diving,
equestrian, hand ball and log rolling. There’s kayaking, lacrosse, sailing,
luge, racquetball, rock climbing and shooting. Let’s not forget surfing, weight
lifting, polo, water polo and even the old fashioned tug-o-war. There are so
many sports, and I intermittently follow many of them. I certainly respect
these dedicated and self-sacrificing athletes laboring to master their chosen
sport. However, I don’t avidly seek those events out or look out for every
competition, news clip or update.
It’s just that…. well, those sports aren’t football, and
that sport is still king of The South.
REFERENCES
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