Tracy's World

I have watched many winter Olympics, and I have to admit that I have never watched Curling. I know nothing about it. So, this post is dedicated to those of you, who like me, are behind the Curling times. I will give you a little history, catch you up on the correct terms to use and tell you how the sport is played. So, next time the topic of Curling comes up, you might have a little something to add to the conversation!

It all began around the 16th century in Scotland. Odd-shaped rocks called “loafies” were slid across frozen marshes and lochs by brawny Scots. The oldest known curling stone was found in Scotland and bears the date 1511. Scottish immigrants organized the Royal Montreal Curling Club in 1807 and when Scottish Soldiers and settlers brought the sport to Michigan, the Orchard Lake, Michigan Club was formed in 1832. Soon, the Scottish city of Perth became home to the World Curling Federation. The first Canadian national championship was held in 1927.

After World War II, the sport grew and the U.S. Women’s Curling Association was founded in 1947, and the first world championship tournament was held in 1958. Canadian teams have dominated the event, which is now conducted by the International Curling Federation (ICF), founded in 1966 and based in Edinburgh. There are more than 30 nations in the ICF, which estimates that about 2 million people worldwide regularly participate in curling. It became a full-fledged Olympic sport at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.

There are specific terms that must be used when talking about Curling in order to show your comprehension of the sport. Here are just a few:

• Bonspiel – A curling tournament.

• Button -The one-foot diameter circular area at the centre of the house.

• Curl – The curve the rock makes as it travels down the ice.

• Hack – The footholds mounted onto the ice at each end of the sheet. Used to push off from when the stone is delivered.

• House – The rings or bull’s-eye toward which play is directed and points are scored. The outside ring is 3.66 metres in diameter, the next ring is 8 feet in diameter, the next ring is 4 feet in diameter, and the inside ring (button) is 1 foot in diameter.

• Lead – The player on a curling team who throws the first two stones of an end.

• Port – An opening between two stones in play

• Skip – The player who determines the strategy, reads the ice, and plays and directs play for the team. Generally the skip delivers the last pair of stones for his team in each end

• Splitting the House – A play where two stones belonging to the same team are placed at opposite sides of the house.

• Third – Also known as the vice, vice skip or mate, this is the player who delivers the fifth and sixth stones in each end. When the skip delivers, the third holds the broom as the target.

• Whoa – The command given to the sweepers to stop sweeping.

How is the Game Played?

At the Olympic Winter Games, curling consists of two events: a women’s tournament and a men’s tournament. Each tournament starts with 10 curling teams. Two teams play against each other at a time. The game is played on ice, and the two teams take turns pushing 42 pound stones towards a series of concentric rings or circles. The object is to get the stones as close to thecenter of the rings as possible.

One game consists of 10 “ends” (similar to innings in baseball). During each end, each four-person team “throws” (in fact, slides along the ice) eight stones — two stones per person and 16 altogether. Team members sweep the ice clean in front of each stone to control the stone’s direction, known as its “curl,” and the stone’s speed. The team with the most points — more stones closer to the center of the rings — at the conclusion of 10 ends, is the winner.

Now that you know a little more about the sport of Curling, I hope you will enjoy it more often and take part in cheering on your favorite team during this 2010 Olympics!