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If USA wins a Medal in Curling someone might wnat to think about showing some Curling events on TV and try to take adavanatage of some of this new interest.

I'm thinking the Outdoor Life Network.

If they keep airing these non-outdoor events, they're gonna have to start up a new channel called Indoor Life Network....

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Seattle has the only club in the US west of Minneapolis.

Actually, Seattle has the only designated curling ice west of North Dakota. There are plenty of clubs throughout the west, they just have to share ice with hockey and skating rinks. Jessica Schultz of the U.S. team currently in Italy was a long time member of the Anchorage Curling Club before joining up with the Johnson sisters in Minnesota. I myself am a member of the Boise Curling Club and we just completed our season...

You're right. Thank you. I keep forgetting ND is there. ^_^

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Well, considering both men's and women's US rinks are skipped out of Bemidji, MN (check my location), Olympic curling is getting a lot of play here... To answer the origional question, I have played in the past, and it is great fun. It's like golf, in that it's a sport you can play your whole live, from youth through retirement. Yes, the stones are heavy (as someone put it, 44 lbs.). There are two techniques to throw, however (one where you simply pull, then push, the other where you actually lift up the rock), so you do not realy ever nead to lift one if you don't want. Third, the shuffleboard analogy is not entirely correct. Yes, you do bump, and points are awarded for where stones lie, but there's a whole lot more than that. Either way, check it out - you'll enjoy it...

Moose

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For a boring sport, curling is strangely addictive to watch. No one watches shuffleboard, and that's basically what curling is, just on ice. Maybe a bit of darts thrown in. But it's mesmerizing how someone can slide the stone and with help from the sweepers, get it to and exactly on the bullseye.

The World Championship of Curling (men's) will be held next door to my home, at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Mass. I'm thinkinh about going one night, someone I know is going the night of the najor rivalries, and it should be fun to crowd-watch that night.

The Greater Lowell area has a curling team, but since there aren't any curling venues around, the teamhas to travel 10 miles to New Hampshire to practice.

Back-to-Back Fatal Forty Champion 2015 & 2016

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But it's mesmerizing how someone can slide the stone and with help from the sweepers, get it to and exactly on the bullseye.

The irony is that, the first time you watch curling, all you see is this big target. But the point is almost NEVER to get a rock in the "bullseye".

Yeah do that.  Do exactly THAT

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I am just amazed at the precision the good players have when it comes to putting the stone right where they want it or hitting the opponents rock exactly in the spot they want to make it go in the direction they want.

JeffB

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Damn, Cassie Johnson's a cutie. It's a shame they're out of contention.

Yep, she is. She's been a treat to watch, regardless of the US's outcomes.

Just how long is an official curling sheet, in terms of hockey distances. I've noticed that the sheets look pretty long on an overhead shot, where you can outline the hockey rink's perimeter......

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Just how long is an official curling sheet, in terms of hockey distances. I've noticed that the sheets look pretty long on an overhead shot, where you can outline the hockey rink's perimeter......

From back line to back line, it's 126 feet.

Rink dimensions

Four times IHL Nielson Cup Champions - Montréal Shamrocks (2008-2009 // 2009-2010 // 2012-2013 // 2014-2015)

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I finally did it!!

I got up early and spent two hours this morning learning the fine sport of curling. We had a pretty big group, 30 people, but the instructors were good. The two guys that worked with my group had been curling for 10 years each.

It's a lot harder than it looks...

We started off by practicing pushing off the hack without the rock, and just trying to keep our balance. A lot of guys were spilling all over the place. I toppled over a couple times. My balance is pretty good, but my flexibilty isn't.

Then, we tried it with the rock, and after a few tries I was getting some pretty decent releases. Later, we worked on releasing the rock with a bit of curl. That's quite a bit harder, it's easy to put too much on it. Sweeping isn't as easy as it looks, either, mostly because I was wearing a taped-up sneaker instead of a shoe with a removable slider. It's pretty hard to follow the rock when one foot permanently has no traction.

Eventually, we got the hang of it and played 3 modified ends against one of the other groups. I say modified, beacuse each group had 5 people in it, so instead of 4 of us playing two rocks each, we only played one each. Also, our instructors served as skips and lined up the shots for us. Not that it really mattered who lined up the shots, we were off target most of the time anyway.

I had the hammer in the first two ends, but left it well short both times. We lost the first end, but won the second, each by one rock. In the final end, I had second to last rock. I got off a much better shot, but even though I got it into the house, I put a bit too much curl on it. Instead of knocking the other team's rock out of the house, which would have had us sitting at 3 points, I tapped it closer to the button and left us with just 1. It didn't matter, though, because the guy with the hammer missed our rock completely and overshot the house, giving us the 2-1 "win".

Fun stuff, though... I'm definitely going back.

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I watched hours of curling during the Olypmics for one purpose....

to see more of CASSIE JOHNSON!

I have trouble admitting this, but I fell in love :D

cassiejohnson5tz.jpg

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And my favorite

cassie44ax.jpg

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ROCHitman - I'll tell her you said hi next time I see her around town :P

Moose

Does she live in Bemidji? or just train there on occasion?

I just gotta see her damnit! :D

Hye, I found this while I was hunting down photos of CJ. Thought you might want it for an avatar or something.

bemidji9gw.jpg

staffordsigbuffda6.jpg

Owner of

Kalamazoo Tech Kobras (Nat'l College Fant. Assc. Basketball, Football, and Hockey)

2006-07 NCFAB National Champions

2006 NCFAF Midwest Conf. Champions

Rochester Patriots (Major League Hockey - AHL Fantasy League) 2005-06 Neilson Cup Champs

Detroit Black Panthers (Xtreme Hockey League) 2005-06 Yzerman Conference Champs

Sheldon Motorsports (TRAC) - #20 Guinness Chevy & #21 UPS Chevy #44 Syracuse University Chevy

Commissioner of

MLH (Major League Hockey, an AHL Fantasy League)

TRAC (Team Racing Auto Circuit, NASCAR)

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ROCHitman - I'll tell her you said hi next time I see her around town :P

Moose

Does she live in Bemidji? or just train there on occasion?

I just gotta see her damnit! :D

Hye, I found this while I was hunting down photos of CJ. Thought you might want it for an avatar or something.

bemidji9gw.jpg

I know some sources listed the entire women's team as having Bemidji as their home-town, but only Cassie and Jamie Johnson are from Bemidji (both are Bemidji State University graduates in 2005 - see my sig for the BSU Beavers hockey team). I'm not sure if either are planning on sticking around town, as Cassie graduated from BSU with a graphic design degree (Jamie's degree is in design technology). Who knows, maybe they're into logo design...

FYI, on the men's side, Pete Fenson lives in Bemidji and owns Dave's Pizza, while Joe Polo lives in Cass Lake, a town about 15 miles east of Bemidji.

Moose

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In honor of my favorite curler I have ditched my Steve Yzerman avatar in favor of....

cassie5bz.jpg

Yep, she's wearing a Sabres jersey.

If you only knew how much I love Stevie Y.

staffordsigbuffda6.jpg

Owner of

Kalamazoo Tech Kobras (Nat'l College Fant. Assc. Basketball, Football, and Hockey)

2006-07 NCFAB National Champions

2006 NCFAF Midwest Conf. Champions

Rochester Patriots (Major League Hockey - AHL Fantasy League) 2005-06 Neilson Cup Champs

Detroit Black Panthers (Xtreme Hockey League) 2005-06 Yzerman Conference Champs

Sheldon Motorsports (TRAC) - #20 Guinness Chevy & #21 UPS Chevy #44 Syracuse University Chevy

Commissioner of

MLH (Major League Hockey, an AHL Fantasy League)

TRAC (Team Racing Auto Circuit, NASCAR)

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