Curling!

[CTM]

Once every 4 years one of my favorite sports resurfaces into the mainstream. Curling is hands down my favorite winter Olympic sport to watch.

Any other fanatics out there?

[Jaws]

Once you start watching it hooks you in.

[CanDB]

Long time curling fan! I played it for many years. Watch it a lot.

I learned how to play in the club that Jennifer Jones came from.

Where I'm from, almost everyone tries curling at least once. Good game if you like to socialize, and share a glass afterward.

[Jaws]

Long time curling fan! I played it for many years. Watch it a lot.

I learned how to play in the club that Jennifer Jones came from.

Where I'm from, almost everyone tries curling at least once. Good game if you like to socialize, and share a glass afterward.

Is it difficult to stay on your feet when curling?

[CanDB]

Is it difficult to stay on your feet when curling?

If you are drinking....yes!

Actually I don't recall falling in all the years I played. I guess us canucks are good "at ice". But it's a balance you learn. The ice can be quite slippery obviously, but there seems to be sufficient grip most of the time.

But folks use a "slider" when shooting. It is placed on the forward foot, and is meant to allow you to go quicker out of the hack, so that you can slide to the line and thereby be as close as you can to the house without going over the line. That would disallow your shot. Some slick curlers with beautiful slides, can go all the way down the ice after shooting the rock.

If you watch closely, the really flexible types can really tuck in their front leg, which puts a lot of stress on the knee. Years of that type of slide can cause some knee issues. I could not tuck the way some can. Mine was a more average delivery, with a little less bend in the knee. It's not a measure of success to tuck in like that, but it allows you to get lower to the ice, which is useful when eyeing your rock and the broom you are shooting at. It gives you a good target perspective.

Sorry for the extra info. Curling is a great sport and years ago a lot of folks (not from Canada/Great Britain) made fun of it. But it's part chess, part physics, part execution. Good skips have a plan each end, and making those shots is not easy. The ice is different in different spots. There are even ridges that are hard to see, and failure to figure them out will cost you. Some ice is fast, some not. Sometimes the ice changes during the game. When you watch great teams struggle with the ice, that speaks volumes, because on a perfect sheet, they make almost all their shots.

I like to believe Canada is still the best overall curling country in the world. Currently 3 of the top 6 womens teams in the world are from my province - Fleury, Einarson and Jones. But Great Britain, with Scotland as the home base, is a phenomenal curling nation! Muirhead is legendary, and this Mouat team is so hard to beat these days! And Murdoch's team was amazing as well!

[Jaws]

If you are drinking....yes!

Actually I don't recall falling in all the years I played. I guess us canucks are good "at ice". But it's a balance you learn. The ice can be quite slippery obviously, but there seems to be sufficient grip most of the time.

But folks use a "slider" when shooting. It is placed on the forward foot, and is meant to allow you to go quicker out of the hack, so that you can slide to the line and thereby be as close as you can to the house without going over the line. That would disallow your shot. Some slick curlers with beautiful slides, can go all the way down the ice after shooting the rock.

If you watch closely, the really flexible types can really tuck in their front leg, which puts a lot of stress on the knee. Years of that type of slide can cause some knee issues. I could not tuck the way some can. Mine was a more average delivery, with a little less bend in the knee. It's not a measure of success to tuck in like that, but it allows you to get lower to the ice, which is useful when eyeing your rock and the broom you are shooting at. It gives you a good target perspective.

Sorry for the extra info. Curling is a great sport and years ago a lot of folks (not from Canada/Great Britain) made fun of it. But it's part chess, part physics, part execution. Good skips have a plan each end, and making those shots is not easy. The ice is different in different spots. There are even ridges that are hard to see, and failure to figure them out will cost you. Some ice is fast, some not. Sometimes the ice changes during the game. When you watch great teams struggle with the ice, that speaks volumes, because on a perfect sheet, they make almost all their shots.

I like to believe Canada is still the best overall curling country in the world. Currently 3 of the top 6 womens teams in the world are from my province - Fleury, Einarson and Jones. But Great Britain, with Scotland as the home base, is a phenomenal curling nation! Muirhead is legendary, and this Mouat team is so hard to beat these days! And Murdoch's team was amazing as well!

I think it looks like a great sport to try.
if only we had winters like they used to have round here. A hundred years ago our lake used to freeze solid enough for my Gran to go skating. There was even an incidence where someone drove a car on to it.

[CanDB]

I think it looks like a great sport to try.
if only we had winters like they used to have round here. A hundred years ago our lake used to freeze solid enough for my Gran to go skating. There was even an incidence where someone drove a car on to it.

So are you big Muirhead fan?

She's lost a little from her elite days, but still one of the best. But the lady is very athletic, and is a really good golfer as well.

[Jaws]

So are you big Muirhead fan?

She's lost a little from her elite days, but still one of the best. But the lady is very athletic, and is a really good golfer as well.

She's a cool head.
They scraped through to the knockouts. Pity Canada didn't quite make it.
The Men get to play for the gold.

[CanDB]

She's a cool head.
They scraped through to the knockouts. Pity Canada didn't quite make it.
The Men get to play for the gold.

We're doing pretty good these Olympics, but not in curling. Only Gushue has a chance at a Bronze. These things happen. There are a number of countries who can win these events, and all it takes is a team on a roll, or if you just miss on a key shot or two. Our mixed doubles lost out of the playoffs by one of the closest measurements I've ever seen. And Jones was off a little. Gushue lost a gold medal game opportunity on his last shot against Edin/Sweden. These teams are so good that you can't just show up and expect to win.

But good luck against Sweden, in both men's and women's. If I was betting, I'd go Mouat to win. Muirhead has a good chance, though Sweden is also very, very good.

With no NHL teams involved, the men's hockey is uninteresting, but I was quite happy that our ladies won the gold.

[CanDB]

Well Jawsie, Muirhead is in the gold medal game after that wild extra end win over Sweden. There were big ends throughout this match. I only saw the end, but they must have been free wheeling, and going for points as opposed to keeping it relatively clean.

[Jaws]

Well Jawsie, Muirhead is in the gold medal game after that wild extra end win over Sweden. There were big ends throughout this match. I only saw the end, but they must have been free wheeling, and going for points as opposed to keeping it relatively clean.

That was such an exciting semi.
That 9th end I thought they had definitely won it and then the Swedish Skip played a blinder to level.
I was worried the momentum shift would see it slip away in the extra end but was ecstatic to be proved wrong.
Congrats Canada on bronze for the Men.
Really looking forward to the Women's final Sunday which is at a good time for us, lunchtime.
Our guys go for gold at the crack of dawn tomorrow, hoping to catch the final ends over breakfast.
This curling success is much needed for team GB. Not a single medal otherwise throughout the games.

[CanDB]

That was such an exciting semi.
That 9th end I thought they had definitely won it and then the Swedish Skip played a blinder to level.
I was worried the momentum shift would see it slip away in the extra end but was ecstatic to be proved wrong.
Congrats Canada on bronze for the Men.
Really looking forward to the Women's final Sunday which is at a good time for us, lunchtime.
Our guys go for gold at the crack of dawn tomorrow, hoping to catch the final ends over breakfast.
This curling success is much needed for team GB. Not a single medal otherwise throughout the games.

Great Britain is really good in the Summer Olympics.

Again, it's tough watching these games without recording them, staying up late or recording. The trouble with me is that when I record games, I tend not to watch them back fully once I know the outcome. And it's so hard not to know the end results in many cases, especially in big games involving your own team.

I guess I should even appreciate the Olympics once they are held nearby.

As a kid in Canada, I watched The Olympics and marveled at the different events. I remember building a tiny bobsled type run down a snow hill in our backyard. I used marbles as sleds on my mini hill, and tried to groom the run with icy surface.

But back then we savoured any medals we got. There were few. A gold was huge! That does shape you a little as a person, when you work for every little thing you get. It manages your expectations as well. And it certainly makes each achievement that much sweeter. Winning all the time is great, but it can make a person lest appreciative, if it comes too easy.

But we've come a long way in the Olympics, thanks to more investments I suppose. The Vancouver event was our best, winning the most gold. It helps to hold events at home.

[Jaws]

I always used to dream about doing the bobsled as a kid too CanDB. And the Ski Jump!
Now I'm grown up I can't think of anything worse lol.
I get what you're saying about recording, it just isn't the same.

[Jaws]

An extra end again today, but with the reverse outcome this time!
I managed to tune in from the 9th end.

[CanDB]

An extra end again today, but with the reverse outcome this time!
I managed to tune in from the 9th end.

Edin has been great for a long time, so I am not shocked that he beat Mouat. That game was so close.