curling is cool
i think people are in two camps on curling. it's awesome, or it's bullshit. i don't feel like i've talked to many people who are in the middle, or indifferent towards curling.
i can totally see where the "it's bullshit" people are coming from: look at it, it really is a joke of a "sport". it's really more of a game. i honestly don't know, is there olympic darts? olympic bocce ball? i don't feel like there is. on the other hand, there is olympic archery, and target shooting during the biatholon. hmm, so that's kind of up in the air. anyway, if you think curling is completely bullshit, i understand.
i personally fall into the "it's awesome" camp. i think the "bullshit sport" factor actually makes it hilarious. but most important, here's why i think people can get into it: you can tell when something good or bad happens. when you're watching curling, you might not know all the rules and strategy, but you can watch and obviously know when a good shot happens or a bad shot happens. you know your oponents stone out? nice! you land right in the exact center? very nice! you kind of screw up and your stone only makes it to the blue ring, or overshoots center and leaves the white ring? dumbass! i don't think the average person can say the same about many other winter games. obviously you can watch the clock and know if someone is going too slow or fast enough. if an ice dancer falls, you know it's bad. a bobsled shouldn't be banging against the wall all the way down, but can you really eyeball whether it's in the optimal line or not? can you guess a figure skaters score, within a point, at the end of a routine? can you guess which skiier is going to be fastest without looking at the clock? but, can you look at a curling match and tell who's winning based on the stones on the target? yup. every can look at that and say, "yellow is closest to center, they must be winning." that's why i like curling.
granted, it's not alone in that area. if you watch ski jumping, you can tell if a jumper jumps way further than other people, and get excited. races with more than one person at a time on the track are good, because you can look and see who's in front. but games that fall into that catagory, in my mind, are the more enjoyable ones.
i can totally see where the "it's bullshit" people are coming from: look at it, it really is a joke of a "sport". it's really more of a game. i honestly don't know, is there olympic darts? olympic bocce ball? i don't feel like there is. on the other hand, there is olympic archery, and target shooting during the biatholon. hmm, so that's kind of up in the air. anyway, if you think curling is completely bullshit, i understand.
i personally fall into the "it's awesome" camp. i think the "bullshit sport" factor actually makes it hilarious. but most important, here's why i think people can get into it: you can tell when something good or bad happens. when you're watching curling, you might not know all the rules and strategy, but you can watch and obviously know when a good shot happens or a bad shot happens. you know your oponents stone out? nice! you land right in the exact center? very nice! you kind of screw up and your stone only makes it to the blue ring, or overshoots center and leaves the white ring? dumbass! i don't think the average person can say the same about many other winter games. obviously you can watch the clock and know if someone is going too slow or fast enough. if an ice dancer falls, you know it's bad. a bobsled shouldn't be banging against the wall all the way down, but can you really eyeball whether it's in the optimal line or not? can you guess a figure skaters score, within a point, at the end of a routine? can you guess which skiier is going to be fastest without looking at the clock? but, can you look at a curling match and tell who's winning based on the stones on the target? yup. every can look at that and say, "yellow is closest to center, they must be winning." that's why i like curling.
granted, it's not alone in that area. if you watch ski jumping, you can tell if a jumper jumps way further than other people, and get excited. races with more than one person at a time on the track are good, because you can look and see who's in front. but games that fall into that catagory, in my mind, are the more enjoyable ones.