Curling, as you may know, is an ancient Scottish sport that is popular in Canada and many areas of the Northern U.S.
However, did you know that the first Curling Club in the U.S. was in Detroit? And that the current version of this club is still going strong in Ferndale?
Curling is a little like lawn bowling on ice: the object is to slide a ~40 lb. "stone" (it's like a giant puck of polished granite, with a handle on top) with just the right amount of "weight" (momentum) down a "sheet" (lane) so that it stops as close as possible to the "button" (red target circle) which is in the "house" (a rectangle defined by the large blue circle). As the stone glides down the sheet, two players with "brooms" can "clean" the ice in front of it. If they do this vigorously enough, they will melt the ice surface, creating a thin film of water that will make the stone go faster. Some control over the stone's speed (but not direction) can be attained this way.
On Valentine's Day, my brother Bart--a true Romantic--organized a visit to the Detroit Curling Club. I, being the most strategically-minded of the crew, was the "Skip" (by a happy coincidence this also meant that I didn't have to be a "broomer;" since as anyone who's ever lived with me will tell you, I'm not really sure how to use one of those things anyway...).
The bottom line? Curling is hard, and fun. It also seems to have a poofing effect on my hair.
 Mary & Becca & a stone out da' howwwwse |
 Vince preparing to unleash hell's fire on ice |
.JPG) Denny showin' form |
 Mary puts on some weight while Becca brooms |
 You've never seen two men broom like this |
 Eileen in da' hack |
 Stacy the red-eyed she-devil takes the hack |
 The Annihilators |
Copyright © 2004 Vince Cavasin. All rights reserved.