The Brier

By good fortune, I found myself at the Brier today. It was pretty cool to see. There were a couple of spectacular shots, and I learned a lot, mostly since I knew nothing before.

Don’t get me wrong, here. I’m not a fan of curling. It’s not that I don’t like it. I wouldn’t know. I’m sure it’s fun. But I wouldn’t call myself a fan by any stretch of the imagination. Bowling and darts are fun too (which I have played), but I’m not a fan of either, in the therefore-I-want-to-watch-someone-else-do-it sense of the word. I did have one chance to try curling, just last summer. It didn’t work out though, because I was leaving for a tournament and I had a pulled groin, which already wasn’t the best combination.

I only have heard of a couple of curlers: Brad Gushue who I got to watch today, and Martin. I think he was the Alberta dude. We didn’t see him. I don’t even know if he’s Martin and in Paul Martin or as in Martin Short. It was glad to see Gushue play, because, hey, if you’re going to watch anything, why not watch the dude with the Olympic gold medal in that thing? If I were going to watch someone assemble a toaster, why not watch the gold medal toaster assembler in action? (read: I don’t think curling is a sport. I don’t mean to trash it though, those dudes were good at their target game).

It was interested to me that in curling, no ones seems to mind you yelling at your teammates. Funny, in the sports I play, no one likes that too much. ;) I was kind of surprised that the sweeper dudes never yell back.
Example:
Skip: "HURRAY HARD!"
Sweeper: "YOU THROW IT HARDER NEXT TIME AND STOP YELLING AT ME, YOU DINK!"

As a spectator, I had to resist the urge to yell offensive, sexually suggestive heckles all game.
Example:
"hit the BUTTON! The BUTTON! Come ON! That’s not the BUTTON! Come ON! YESSSSSSSSSS that’s the BUTTTTTTOOOOONNN"

All in all, the Brier was something cool to see.