About Justin Cox
Justin Cox is a twenty-something youth minister who dabbles in web design. This site is his window on the world where he mindlessly chatters about his various interests. Hopefully you'll find something enjoyable. Perhaps a classic posting?
Curling is Cool
With the Olympics in their final week I have become almost addicted to the sport of Curling. Perhaps it’s the daily coverage that CNBC has given the sport, the strategy involved, or the beautiful Johnson sisters who run the US Women’s Team but Curling has got me hooked.
Before these Olympic Games I thought Curling was just a weird sport that was easy to make fun of. I mean they take this 42 pound rock and slide it across a sheet of ice trying to hit a target. At the same time some other people use a broom and sweep the ice trying to effect the movement of the rock. But after watching a few rounds, some of them even live thanks to CNBC and a day off, I pretty much understand the sport. There are some detailed rules that I don’t know, but I understand the basics — just enough to make it fascinating.
It’s all about the large target area on the other side of the ice, it’s called the House. At the end of the End, the team with the closest rock (shot rock) to the center (button) gets a point for ever stone they have inside the house that is closer than the other team’s closest rock. The strategy comes in when one team puts up a guard rock trying to make the shot to the house more difficult. The question then becomes “do you peel away the guard or curl around it and aim for the house?”
As I mentioned above, the US Women’s Team is lead by the beautiful Cassie Johnson and her older sister Jamie. This, of course, is part of the reason that I became hooked on the sport. Though, they have been eliminated from the Olympic tournament. They finished a sad 2 and 8, but you can’t win them all and the US has never won a Curling medal anyway. However, the US Men’s Team has made it to the Medal Round. They play Canada today and if they win, they play in the gold medal game. If they loose, they can play for bronze.
Curling is exciting and if you don’t believe me, just turn on CNBC at 5pm and check it out.
UPDATE (2/24/06):
Today, February 24th, the US Men’s Team won the first American curling medal ever! They beat Great Britain 8-6 today to pick up the bronze medal!
12/21/06 at 10:41 pm
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