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Torino 2006 What is Curling?
Sweeping, hog line, button, curl, clean, pebble? Are these really sports terms? They may not provoke the same images as tackle, sack or throw a bomb but they are in fact terms used in the sport of curling.
At first glance curling looks like a sport where anyone could excel. After all, we all have experience with a broom and anyone who has lived in a northern climate has learned to walk on ice. But there is more to curling than just cleaning the ice.
Curling has been around since the 16th century when it was played in Scotland during the winter on frozen ponds, marshes and lochs. Because it is played on ice, curling is most popular in cold weather countries. Canada, Norway, Switzerland, Great Britain all did well at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Curling debuted in Nagano Japan at the 1998 winter games.
The competition is held on ice between two teams with four players on each team. The two teams take turns pushing a 19.1 kg (42 pounds) smooth granite stone with handles towards a target (the house). The house is actually at the center of a set of concentric rings. The goal is to get the stone as close to the center of the circles as possible.
Each game consists of ten “end’s with an end being similar to a baseball inning. During each end, each team delivers eight stones – two stones per player. Just like a line-up in baseball the team members deliver the stones in an order that is set prior to the game.
As a player delivers the stone, sweepers move into position. Sweepers position themselves a couple of steps ahead of the stone and with brooms; they sweep with a side to side motion warming up the surface of the ice so the stone will go farther or straighter. A player is allowed to knock the opponent’s stone out of the way.
Points are calculated based on the number of stones that land closest to the target. The score for the end is calculated after all 16 stones have been delivered. The team that scores in an end shoots first in the next end. The team with the most points at the conclusion of ten ends is the winner.
Each end lasts about 15 minutes and each game lasts about 2.5 hours. If the score is tied, an extra end is played. In a typical competition a team would score 5 or 6 points. Both men and women participate in the sport though they compete separately.
We can all learn a thing or two from curling. Fairness and sportsmanship are the most important characteristics of curling. An opponent will often point out if they have broken the rules so they are not given an advantage. Curlers are competitors and they play to win, but not to humble or embarrass their opponents. Players do not attempt to distract an opponent or to deliberately break the rules.
Dates: Play starts on February 13, Women’s semi-finals and finals
will be held on February 23, Men’s semi-finals and finals will be held
on February 24.
Location: Pinerolo Approximately 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Torino.
Posted by Jackie on January 10, 2006
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