17th
Sure, I’ve heard the word curling before, and I know first-hand that it exists, since I’ve seen with my own eyes the exterior of the St. Paul Curling Club (conveniently located next to the Happy Gnome). And that is where my expertise ends. I thought curling was going to be something much more Highland Games-y, like the hammer throw. Actually seeing it for the first time on television yesterday (possibly drunk, I’ll add) kind of blew me away.
I really love the Alien-cum-Nobel-Prize-winning-physicist-like feeling I get when I discover things like curling not only exist, but are OLYMPIC SPORTS. So, like any responsible letterpress printer/scotch-drinker/anthropologist, when I saw this spectacle on the big screen at the bar I immediately needed to know what it was called. This is me describing the primary tenets of the game over the phone:
“well… where to start? first of all, it’s pretty amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it. there are a few men on the playing field (I think it’s ice, but I’m not sure). their attitude is a weird mixture between bowlers and chess players. what? no, they’re not wearing ice skates. umm, I know what hockey is, thanks. this is more like a golf/darts/bowling/pool hybrid. it looks like they’re on a team, but they’re not really interested in their teammates; more like parallel play. there’s a Michael Graves-inspired ball/puck thing* and the guy does a really graceful modern-dance/ballet serve, like Jesus from the Big Lebowski, then slowly lets go of the ball- like bowling. it’s all pretty laid back. they just stand around talking and stuff. no- wait! let me finish! but then these other guys come out with these short-bristle brooms or Swiffer-type things and they just start frantically mopping the ice. frantically. it gets really intense for a few seconds and then the puck slides into a bulls-eye with the other pucks from the previous players, and I’m guessing they get points, like darts (which I actually played for the first time last month, so I’m definitely qualified to make the comparison). there aren’t any goalies or anything, and I’m not sure if you’re supposed to hit the other team’s ball or not (like pool). it’s pretty fascinating. yes, it’s on right now! have you ever heard of it?”
well apparently he knew it was curling the whole time, but just let me go on for fun.
*I did some research today and found out that the thing they’re sliding across the ice is called a “stone”, and it’s actually made of granite. What a beautiful, primitive word. I really love that. (There’s some other great terminology as well, like “the hammer”, “bonspiel”, ”burning” a stone, a ”draw-to-the-button” contest, a “biter”, ”hog-to-hog”, and “keen ice”.) And I think that’s what struck me about this game. It seemed like something really archaic or medieval, somehow translated over the years into this silly, sophisticated, high-brow game of precision and finesse and argyle.
And, of course, that’s because it did.
You can find lots of fascinating information about the history of curling here (including special curling drinking songs).
Plus, it’s sponsored by Laphroaig.
Smithsonian article on Kays of Scotland, who have been making curling stones since 1851.
