Curling - a sport?

[WillieW]

I admit that I do not understand this "sport". 
Curling does not involve any kind of physical strenght -
finesse maybe. What do you think about curling?

[devilgrrl]

1. Curling is awesome - I love it!

:P

[asdjrocky]

2. If it is you have to count bowling,

shuffle ball, skeet ball, marbles and pitching pennies.

[NM_hemilover]

15. I thought that was you

I saw at the international penny pitching quarter finals ;)


Curling looks like something that a cold beer, and a fatty can be passed around while you play,.. don't see a down side. Not the most exciting to watch, neither is golf. If it weren't for the beer cart, golf would be like fishing.........alone and sober.

[asdjrocky]

24. Lol, yeah, my Dad would have been happy with me being a professional sports anything.

But I'm still pretty sure he would have made fun of me for curling.

Besides, not a lot of curling courts in my neighborhood. Do you call them courts?

:hi:

[NM_hemilover]

34. If it can loosely be called a sport, I'll watch it

Ten or so years ago I could be called a half-assed athlete, but somebody has to fill those seats in the stands.
I could probably run all the way down the road....if something with teeth was chasing me. But it would catch me pretty quick.

Curling "courts" are known as the "after hockey practice you can have that little piece of ice.....way over there"....spot.
No Doz may have finally found their sport to sponsor.

-but-

We watched it, hell we RECORDED it and watched it at all hours of the morning, but my girlfriend and I will also root for the ducks and geese that fly over to catch up.

[FSogol]

3. The definition of almost anything has exceptions

Curling is a sport as are bowling, horse racing, auto racing, and golf.

Delivering the mail or being a UPS driver is just as physically demanding as some sports but, they lack the competition element thus working at a quarry or in a steel plant is not a sport.

The better definition of sport would be an activity done in the spirit of competition with a physical element.

Now, is darts a sport? It is very similar to curling.

[MineralMan]

4. It is, according to the IOC.

That's good enough for me. I don't see how it matters, though, one way or another.

[Brickbat]

6. +1.

[xultar]

11. There is a move to get pole dancing in. Have you seen the world championships on youtube?

OMG, seeing those made me want to be a pole dancer. It was the same feeling I had back when I was a kid and saw the gymnast.

[NM_hemilover]

19. watching that gave me the same feeling,

I got when I saw my first pole dance.

[Iggo]

26. Gave me a different feeling. (n/t)

[xultar]

27. Boing, oing oing oing oing....

[NM_hemilover]

35. I got dizzy from blood loss to my skull.

[xultar]

5. My thought, they have to have at least one sport where black folk will be like...

lets let them have this one bruh, k.


:evilgrin:

[Brickbat]

7. LMAO!

[NM_hemilover]

8. Just enough pool, and bowling,

with a little shuffle board twist. Plus you can drink and smoke while you play and/or watch. Count me in.

The topless photos of Melissa from Germany, show off some "curling sexiness" too.

[TexasObserver]

9. I think you ought to try it before dismissing the physical requirements.

Try shooting. There's the position. There's the push off. There's the sliding of the stone at the proper speed and alignment.

It's about ten times as hard as bowling.

And there's the sweeping and moving alongside the stone while avoiding all other stones.

All on ice.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

28. Yuppers.........

The stone itself is over 40 lbs., and the sweepers can sweep over 80-90' of ice when a shot is en route. I believe its much more physically demanding than folks give it credit for.

[SidDithers]

30. Plus, they teams play 2 matches in a day during tournaments...

each of which takes 3 to 3.5 hours.

People make fun, but it really is a physically demanding sport.

Sid

[TexasObserver]

32. Just standing on one foot and sliding on the other is arduous.

One leg gets one set of muscle requirements, and the other gets another entirely. That is an imbalance in the way the two legs are used, and it has a real physical impact.

[LakeSamish706]

29. Great suggestion... It is a very demanding sport with the sweeping especially. n/t

[Statistical]

10. There are many sports that don't require large amounts of strength. n/t

[negativenihil]

12. this was the first time i actually watched curling

...this Olympics that just passed. I went in with an open mind and an open beer and found that i rather enjoyed it (esp. the women's teams. there were a few pretty hot players sprinkled around the sport).

It takes skill and team work.

Based on your assertion "Curling does not involve any kind of physical strength", I'd like to assume you've tried to Curl... but we both know that would be a silly assumption.

[wolfgangmo]

13. Great sport.

IT is very exciting to watch a close match with 2 great teams.

I don't play but I tried it once and it is much harder than it looks.

[SidDithers]

14. Spoken exactly as someone who's never tried the sport...nt

Sid

[Common Sense Party]

16. If golf counts as a sport, curling would, too.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

31. I agree....

A commentator at the Olympics said of golf and curling: "Its two sports created by the Scots, designed to make us insane."

[City Lights]

17. I became a huge fan during the Vancouver games.

I haven't tried it, so I can't state with first-hand knowledge whether it does or does not involve any kind of physical strength, however, what I learned while watching is that the better teams have improved their games by increasing their fitness training. Those calling the games stressed that upper arm and thigh strength are required to sweep successfully, especially since the teams often played two games per day during the Olympics.

I find it interesting that you admit you don't understand this "sport," yet state with such certainty that "curing does not involve any kind of physical strenght."

[ChoppinBroccoli]

18. It May Not Be An "According To Hoyle" "Sport"...........

...........but I really enjoy it.

Then again, I've been lobbying for years to have Golf de-classified as a "sport." It's NOT a sport. It's a game.

[Towlie]

20. My first exposure to curling:

It looked so silly I thought it was just something they made up for the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeLsy-Dq7HA

[Towlie]

21. ...

...

[Double T]

22. Curling is different but a great sport.

The players and spectators are really charged and get a trill out of it.

[Iggo]

23. If golf is a sport, then so is curling.

In fact, curling is more of a sport because there's defense.

[ProfessorGAC]

33. Defense?

I think i know what you mean, but i wouldn't call it defense. It may be a defensive strategy, but you still do the exact same thing.

I guess thinking at it as an ex-basketball player, what i do when we've got the ball is totally different than when the other team has it. Same in football, although i never played it in an organized way.

So, i don't think there's any more defense in curling than in golf. Cuz, in golf, there are defensive strategies that come into play when one is in match play.
GAC

[Iggo]

36. Defense as in you put your pieces in their way.

Like in pool. But not like in golf.

[ProfessorGAC]

37. I Knew What You Meant

I was just giving you the business because i'm defensive (get it?) about golf!
GAC

[Iggo]

38. Oh!

Duh...

[laughingliberal]

25. Looked like a sport to me

Skill and strategy are required for it. Seemed as much a sport as golf.

[bvar22]

39. If no one is bleeding after a match...

...its not a sport.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Kidding.
My wife and I watched the Olympic Curling, and were completely fascinated.
It counts in our book.
Congrats to ALL the athletes from EVERY country in every competition.
.
.
.
There was only one small exception.
We really tried to like Lindsey Vonn, the American winner of the Gold Medal in Women's Downhill, but were unable to do so.
She was superb on skies, but just too damn smug and whiny in the interviews.
Was it just us?:shrug:

[Iggo]

40. Didn't see any interviews....

...but I generally try to avoid the US media darlings.

Saw a thing with Ohno (sp?) and immediately regretted it. (Except for the part where he said "I know it's only Friday, but as I like to say, 'Any given Sunday.'" That was pretty funny.)

[murphyj87]

41. Wrong.....

If you've ever watched sweepers you would know that not only is brush head speed a factor but the main aspect is downward thrust, which is directly a function of strength. Curlers spend as much time in the weight room as any athlete. A curling stone is not thrown with the arm. The speed of the stone is provided by leg drive, which is totally a function of leg strength and the ability to adjust that leg drive to go from guard weight all the way up to peel weight and in many curlers peel plus weight.

[Awsi Dooger]

42. Absolutely it's a sport

I'll use the same example for curling as I've done for golf. Let's say there was a curling distance competition, simply how far you could flail a 42 pound stone. I have no doubt the cave man mentality would have no problem accepting that as a sport if it were packaged cleverly and featured musclebound primaries. Meanwhile, that type of lame activity would require perhaps 5% the skill and talent and strategy of curling itself. Similarly, golf long driving competitions are flooded with failed golfers.

As in golf, there are numerous physical variables that aren't immediately apparent. The curlers test every stone before the competition and during daily practices to identify the characteristics, whether they play a few inches or feet faster or more prone to curl than the other stones. There's literally a book on every stone. In the Olympic finals the teams were picking specific stones from different sets. Viewers never see anything like that, identical to golf where a ProV1 has different spin characteristics than a ProV1X and players may alternate depending on the needs of the specific course or the playing conditions.

Chess is not a sport. Poker is certainly not a sport and I'm disgusted it's so prominent on ESPN. Sports like golf and curling have no likeness to darts or chess unless you're a runaway simpleton who notices only that aim is the first variable.