Curling

One thing I learned over the past month is curling. This game is not known to Taiwanese at all. I guess most of us have seen this game at one point of our lives and do not have a clue what it is. I learned the rule and had a very good time watching curling at Olympics and Tim Horton's Brier.

Nice thing about curling is that it is slow and predictable, quite contrary to other sports like baseball or hockey, when I have a hard time knowing where the ball is from TV even. In the curling game, there is normally a short discussion among the team members regarding the next rock they throw, and camera then focuses on the house. It is a great time to have a discussion with friends the options they may have and what not, it being a raze, take off, tap and roll, or even just a freeze. The rock is big and visible the whole time during the throw, and it is so easy to keep my eyes on the rock on TV. I don't even need any comment to know if that is a good throw or not. It is so enjoyable.

And a better thing is that, when both teams are equally competitive, it is always a good game until the very last rock.

I felt sad that once I returned to Taiwan, I would not be able to watch curling anymore. Well, I was checking TSN's website the other day to read news about curling, and then happened to find that, TSN actually uploads ALL the games online. All means all the ends of every single draw. I get to review any game of Brier or Scotties whenever and wherever I'd like to. I hope they'll do the same thing for women's world championship, which is coming up on March 20th. Not sure if it will be still as fun to watch it alone, but I'll definitely watch it.

Attached is the final rock from Kevin Koe, who represents Alberta in the Tim Horton Brier. This is a game that is good till this very last rock when Alberta beat Ontario by few inches. What a shot!