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Could there BE anything more boring?

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by GeorgeandTheBear, Nov 18, 2017.

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  1. deansrobinson

    deansrobinson VIP Whale

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    So both people showed up?


    I'm kidding, it's a joke! Just kidding. ;)
     
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  2. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    The Baxter Arena is not that large, actually. It's maybe 10000 if that. A small college hockey and performance venue.

    LOL, also for politicians who don't want to rent a hall they can't fill. :)
     
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  3. GeorgeandTheBear

    GeorgeandTheBear High-Roller

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    You're probably not that far off. At the event I saw on TV, the bulk of the people were dressed to look like empty seats. I'm thinking if you took out family members there would be no one left but the hot dog vendor and bathroom attendant.
     
  4. Nevyn

    Nevyn VIP Whale

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    It is called curling because the rocks curl. Weird, right?

    As for sport or not, the world and the olympics are full of non sport sports. And while I am not going to put it on an athletic level with some other sports, when you try it, you'll find aches and pains where you didn't know you had muscles for awhile.

    If you do follow, it can be great to watch, not only when you get a sense of what is and is not difficult, but as you get to appreciate the tactics involved.

    Ironically I enjoyed watching it for awhile before I got into playing it.

    As with the others you mentioned, it depends on frame of mind. And it builds situationally. So you can be cooking/cleaning, doing whatever around your house while following it, and focusing in on the most tense moments.
     
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  5. Geogran

    Geogran VIP Whale

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    :nono: :nono: :nono: :)

    The Olympic Committee should consider adding this exciting, crowd pleasing sport:

    image.jpeg
     
  6. WichitaMuskie

    WichitaMuskie VIP Whale

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    I seriously can't wrap my head around a NASCAR fan starting a thread wondering how people can watch ANY other sport. Mind boggling. :)

    Variety is the spice of life.
     
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  7. GeorgeandTheBear

    GeorgeandTheBear High-Roller

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    I know, different strokes for different folks.
     
  8. Nevyn

    Nevyn VIP Whale

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    Lol, so true.

    Phantom mostly nailed it, but to go into even more detail.

    Curling is a game that requires a lot of precision. Due to the ice 'pebbling', the rock will turn as it slows down. So to get an accurate shot, the person calling it must make an accurate guesstimate about how much the rock will turn, and then tell the person throwing where to aim and how hard to throw it. Getting both the guess and execution exactly right is a heck of a feat.

    The ability to sweep allows for a slightly higher margin of error because you can straighten it out or 'drag' it further. But since it accomplished both, you often need to decide on a tradeoff between straighter and further or turning more but going shorter.

    And to complicate that further, the sweepers are the ones keeping track of the speed of the rock, estimating exactly where it will stop, and communicating it, while the skip is tracking the path of the stone.

    It is really hard to appreciate just by watching how tough a sweeper's job is at the high levels. Moving laterally at pace with the rock with one foot sliding and the other pushing off, keeping exact sense of where the rock will stop while moving themselves, and then when sweeping moving the broom fast enough to melt ice pelets (which also means having their weight on it). And communicating with the skip. At the high levels it is a feat of balance, a strong interval cardio workout, a very practiced skill of gauging speed, and a practiced team skill of communication.
     
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  9. AndyAkeko

    AndyAkeko Time magazine's 2006 Person of the Year

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    If you think curling is boring now, you should have seen it in the late 80s when it scoring was down to almost nothing. Shots were so precise thanks to synthetic brushes that teams just played a straight peel game (i.e., knock out your opponents stones) as soon as they got a lead. 1-0 and 2-1 games were common.

    They eventually changed the rules so that you cannot knock out the first four stones thrown unless they're in the scoring area, which led to more rocks in play and a more strategic (and exciting!) game.
     
  10. bobby jones

    bobby jones VIP Whale

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    There was slapshot then there was this

     
  11. hammie

    hammie VIP Whale

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    Curling!? I thought you said Hurling!
     
  12. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    Irish hurling doesn't involve massive amounts of Guinness?!?
     
  13. Basil

    Basil VIP Whale

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    This. Remember having the Vancouver games on in the office, and all of the men getting really into curling.

    Liudmila Privivkova
    Wed-Lucy-2.jpg
     
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  14. Nevyn

    Nevyn VIP Whale

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    I was always more of a Saitova man
     
  15. BlacklabberMike

    BlacklabberMike MIA

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    Grumpy Old Men had some exciting ice fishing scenes




    when we get to a christmas movie thread...add that one in
     
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  16. AndyAkeko

    AndyAkeko Time magazine's 2006 Person of the Year

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    By the way, the Men's World Curling Championships are in Las Vegas next year at the Orleans, starting the same weekend as the NCAA Final Four.
    That place is going to be crawling with Manitobans.
     
  17. Breeze147

    Breeze147 Button Man

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    Now that is sure as hell appropriate. Curling at the Orleans, where the ancient gamblers go to die, where Air Supply is both the headliners and a necessity.

    The old bastards might try to start a wave during the Finals. In the walker and wheelchair section, which is the whole place.
     
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  18. djen

    djen Low-Roller

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    I find curling interesting to watch. It is easy to say, heck I could do that. Yet, go try it once, not nearly that easy. Damn ice is slippery.

    Besides soccer is in the Olympics along with several other sports I find boring.
     
  19. bobby jones

    bobby jones VIP Whale

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    I wonder if I can get media accreditation as a VMB reporter....
     
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  20. leo21

    leo21 VIP Whale

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    Off strip joints like Orleans are looking to make Vegas a destination for curling events just like they are developing their own rodeo events to drive business.
     
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