Posted on 01/20/2018 9:14:02 PM PST by nickcarraway
Dont bother telling Joe Rockenbach your curling jokes. Hes heard them all.
As president of his local curling club, Rockenbach has listened to people tell him that curling is not a real sport. Or about how curlers must be skilled house cleaners because their sport involves sweeping.
Those comments used to irk Rockenbach, a 37-year-old Philadelphia native, but hes seen the game humble enough people that now the slights slide right off.
Almost anybody who comes into it with the attitude of, This is nothing, I got this, when they get off the ice, [they say], this was way different than what I expected, Rockenbach said, and theyll gain a lot more respect for the game.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Got a Cliff’s Notes for what is involved in playing with that thing?
We got hooked on curling during one of the Olympics. It is one of those sports they used to NEVER show.
Those are fine ambassadors for the sport! Bring home the gold, ladies!
Almost like a game of marbles with 42# marbles.
Yep! Watching a game will make better sense of the strategy guides I linked.
I will take up curling if I can be her teammate.
Not too different than how hockey came about.
Curling is one of my favorites.
Anybody remember the curling scene from the Beatles movie Help? George’s quote...bah, soft game!
You want sports;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eton_wall_game
Something like rugby played against a brick wall. No goals have been scored in 108 years.
Irish road bowling
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_road_bowling
It’s like, well... nothing else. Sounds like a good bar sport for St. Patty’s Day. Occasionally played in some American cities.
“... if a player sets down his drink to take his turn, its not a sport.”
A weak response ... if you played defense in football, what did you do when the offence was on the field? I’ll tell you - sucking down Gatoraide until it was your turn to play whereupon you put down your drink to take your turn.
Granted curling is shuffleboard on ice but it takes a lot more to do curling than shuffleboard will ever aspire to. I enjoy watching it also.
Very popular in Duluth, Minnesota. For casual players, it’s got the same kind of social purpose as softball in summer.
No way, it’s too dangerous. A friend of mine tried it once, fell on the ice and fractured his pelvis.........
They werent sipping Gatorade when curling ;-). I doubt many football players are grabbing a whiskey coke between plays.
I was really just pointing out how I teased my brother back then-thats why I mentioned the sports I played vs curling. It was an ongoing rivalry.
Like I said, I hail from a tiny town that prides itself on its curling tradition. I love the game. It requires skills more than extreme physical effort-even when sweeping like crazy to direct a rock. My brother was a competitive curler and his clothes were never dripping wet with sweat like my sons football uniform after a game. Its very different than typical sports.
Agreed - that said, I watched a few bouts of curling in the ‘60s - it was almost as boring as watching barrel jumping on ice skates. I guess it takes aficionados of the particular sports to get enjoyment out of watching them...
Here is Ernest Hemindways take on the issue: There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.
Yup. Ive always suspects that beer and Canadians were involved in the invention of curling...
Or maybe aquavit and Scandinavians...
;-)
...or better yet, Ernest Hemingway...
Gotta' love that crusty old bastard.
Not beer pong?
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