Curling ‘Rocks’

Until today I have to admit I knew nothing about Curling. Every 4 years I’d catch it on the Olympics, wonder what was going on, and then quickly change the channel. When Marc and I were presented with the opportunity to learn a little bit more about the sport and play a game at the The Ardsley Curling Club, we decided why not. The first thing I learned is that those things you throw down the ice are called ‘stones’. They each weigh about 40 lbs and like Bocci or shuffle board, your goal is to slide/’deliver’ the stone across the length of the ice to land in the center of the bullseye/’house’ at the other side. Sometimes your delivery is a little ‘light’ and may not make it to your desired position on the ice so your teammates help out by ‘sweeping’ back and forth in front of your stone slightly melting the ice and assisting your stone to travel even further (apparently good sweeping can add up to 10 ft to a throw). I’d consider curling to be 1 part shuffleboard, 1 part bowling, and 1 part air hockey. It is certainly 100% addictive and easy fun for all ages. I’d certainly recommend it to anyone who loves strategic games. I also found ‘sweeping’ to be great cardio.