It's curling season - are there any other curlers here?

[goddess40]

I curled in high school and started again three years ago.

It's a sport you can play your entire life. One of the nearby clubs has a man in his 90's still hurling the stones.

[motely36]

1. My hair is naturally curly

So I miss out on all the fun

:(

[procrastinator]

2. Never knew much about curling, but always wondered..

What the heck are the brooms for?

[goddess40]

5. to keep the stone going straighter and keep dirt from stopping the rock

Some people think it makes the stone go faster, that would be impossible but it does keep it from slowing down so that it goes farther.

[RubyDuby in GA]

3. Please explain what on earth curling is.

I'm from a place that shuts down if there are 4 flurries of snow. We just don't get winter sports :shrug:

[goddess40]

7. This is what curling is

CurlGame is played between two four-member teams who use stones with different colored handles. Each game consists of ten ends, which are similar to innings in baseball. During an end, each team member alternates throwing stones toward a circular target area, called the house, the center of which is approximately 93 feet away. Only one team scores points per end. The team with their stones closest to the center of the target area, called the button, gets one point for each stone between the button and the opposing teams nearest stone. After each end is completed, play is switched to the house at the other end of the sheet.

Curling teams consist of four players: the lead, second, third (or vice-skip) and the skip, who is the team strategist. As each player releases the stone, an in-turn (clockwise) or out-turn (counter-clockwise) release is used to rotate the stone as it glides down the ice sheet. This turn or “curl” gives the sport its name. The vigorous sweeping actually melts a thin top layer of the ice surface, reducing the friction between the stone and the ice. Vigorous sweeping helps the stone travel straighter and farther, increasing the distance by as much as 10 ft.

[RubyDuby in GA]

8. Um.........ok

Y'all need new hobbies. :7

[one_true_leroy]

9. Colored stones with handles, burning irons, ice, sweeping brooms...

my ensconced Southern mind is reeling... I feel faint.

[stray cat]

4. Haven't curled for years

Enjoy! It was always fun.

[Dora]

6. Can't. I always burn my neck with the iron

and then I'm so embarassed I tell people that the burns are really hickeys.

[Krupskaya]

10. I prefer broomball, myself.

But I see the appeal of curling, living in a curling state like I do.

[Tweed]

11. Ah curling, the reason a man can by 50+ overweight and an Olympian

I enjoy curling, but I don't get to play it often being in the heart of Chicago. They have clubs out in the suburbs, but they are pricey and only have open curls on select Sundays.

[pdx_prog]

12. How much alcohol do you actually have to drink

to participate in Curling?...

[goddess40]

13. Well, the beer is included in our yearly fees

as is the soda.

I curl two times a week from November to March for $300 and like I said that includes the beer I drink.

[nine23]

17. In Canada, there's a bar attached to virtually every curling rink.

Does that answer your question? And those red noses curlers get ain't necessarily from the cold...

[HEyHEY]

14. I would be if I lived in vancouver

Too late to join the club I'm moving too

[Say_What]

15. Curling Quiz...

Only people from the North Country or other cold-as-hell-places know what curling is. :D

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/2002/news/curling_quiz/

[ScreamingMeemie]

16. It is also a sport that will make you stiff as hell in the morning.

:) When I was in high school, my father and I signed up with a Canadian friend (we live just across the border in MI) for a curling seminar. We put tape on the bottom of one shoe, practiced with the brooms and a great coach...and proceded to get our butts whooped. It was fun though!! Until I woke up unable to move from stretching my body out to throw the stone. I give curlers all the credit in the world now for the athletic sport of balance that it is. :hi: