Olympics Curling

Curling stones are made of a very specific type of granite mined from one of two quarries in the United Kingdom: Ailsa Craig, a small island off the coast of Scotland, and Trefor Quarry in Wales.

The lights are on the lower round plastic part of the handle, just in front of and to either side of where the actual part you grab meets it.

The lights are used to indicate hog line violations.

The "hog line" is the thick line running across the sheet 15 feet out from the house. The rock must be released from the shooter's hand before the rock reaches the hog line. If the rock is not released in time, it's called a "hog line violation" or "hogged rock," and the rock must be removed from play immediately, with no do-over of the shot.

It used to be that an official would sit at the hog line and watch for violations, but that was subject to human error. Now, at major national and international competitions, electronic touch-sensitive handles are used instead. Green lights illuminate if the rock is released before the hog line. Red lights flash if the rock is not released in time.

"Vice" or "vice-skip" is the nickname for the player in the Third position on a curling team. This name comes from the fact that the Third usually takes the place of the Skip in the house while the Skip shoots his stones.

The friction from sweeping creates a tiny film of water on the ice that reduces the friction between the stone and the ice. The effects are that the stone travels both farther (up to 8 or 10 feet farther) and straighter ("curls less"). Whether one or both or neither of these effects are desired determines whether the team will sweep a stone.

Actually, the different rings do not have different points values. The entire area of the rings is called the "house." Any rock that is inside or touching the house is eligible to score. When all the rocks have come to a rest, the score is taken. Whichever team is closes to the center of the house scores. The number of points scored is however many rocks are closer to the center than the opponent's closes to the center.

The rings are just there really as a visual aid so it's easy to judge which rocks are closest and farther from the center, and measurements only have to be made on rare occasions.

The profesionals have been taken all the medeals so more people have decided to become a profesional.

The pants are made by a company called Loudmouth Golf based out of Britain.

Here's a link to the red/blue/white pants:

http://prostores1.visioncourse.com/servlet/loudmouthgolf_uk/Detail?no=14

Here's the more subdued red/white/grey pants they've worn in other games:

http://prostores1.visioncourse.com/servlet/loudmouthgolf_uk/Detail?no=10

Both of those sites are for shipping to Europe, but you can go back to the main Loudmouth site for shipping to North America.

The first Olympic curling event was in 1924. It was absent from the games until 1998, when it was re-instated. Since 1998, it has been getting more and more TV coverage during each Olympics, and its popularity in the US has greatly increased.

Angles

If there is a lot of rocks in the front of the house (rings), the skip will ask the thrower to 'clear' or 'clean' the house. The skips is asking the thrower for a fast, hard shot to clear as many rocks away from the front as possible.

This type of shot is usually seen in the 9th or 10th for one of two reasons:

1. The team leading the game wants to keep the free guard zone (the ice in between the hog line and the 12 foot circle) clear of rocks so the team needing points has nothing to hide behind.

2. If your path to the button (pin in the middle of the house) you clean house to get to it.

Scotland

Scotland

If your time expires, you automatically lose the game. Thus, making quick strategic decisions and being ready when it's your turn to shoot is very important in curling. Because the penalty for using up your time is so harsh, you almost never see it happen in high-level curling.

Both involve opposing players or teams sliding round objects down a long narrow playing surface towards a target, and trying to knock the other team's objects away from the target. Besides that, they aren't too similar. Calling curling "shuffleboard on ice "doesn't begin to properly explain the game, but journalists love to use the comparison.

Britain triumphed in the 2002 Winter Olympics primarily through its curling team, which achieved a historic victory by winning the gold medal in the men's event. This success was marked by their strategic gameplay and teamwork, culminating in a thrilling final match against Norway. Curling itself is a precision sport where players slide stones on a sheet of ice towards a target area, with teams taking turns to deliver stones while teammates use brooms to influence their trajectory. The sport requires a unique combination of skill, strategy, and teamwork, making it a fascinating event during the Winter Games.

yes it all about speed. also u have to make the thing to go faster by sweeping the snow aside.

At the start of a game, last rock is awarded to either the winner of a coin-toss, a draw to the button or in competition, the team which is the top seed.

During a game, last rock is given to the team who has just been scored against. For example, Team A is playing Team B. Team A scores points in an end. In the next end, Team B gets to play last rock.