JR: "Hey everyone, Lets Go Curling!
Everyone: "Yay! Let's go!
So I have just left the airport, driving through the snowdrifts trying to get the hotel in downtown Calgary, and I get a text from JR.
JR to TBG: Hotel Lobby, 8:20. Curling.
Lovely.
I still haven't recovered from the double testicle-grope at TSA or the anal probe I got from Canadian Customs & Immigration...
CCI:"Looks like you had a felony charge against you in 1995... Tell us about it."
TBG:"What?! You're going to have to tell ME about it, since I don't know anything about it. Last time I was in jail was that little incident in Panama in 1981."
TBG to JR: "Will there be booze & food?"
You've got to have your priorities.
JR to TBG: "Restaurant & Full Bar."
Ok... Twist my arm.
So... Here I am in th e lobby-
8:15 - Nobody
8:20 - Still alone
8:25 - Fuggit. They left me.
TBG to JR: "8:20 in lobby. Where is everyone?"
JR to TBG: "Oops. Lobby at Westin. Forgot we have you in the OTHER hotel."
(Apparently ne'er-do-wells and sub-standard peons like Yours Truly get to stay at the OTHER hotel... The NHL Leper Colony Inn, I guess.)
So, a 3 block walk in -2 degree temps later, I was on the bus and we were off to the North Hill Curling Club for an evening of slipping and sliding and tossing 40lb hunks of granite at each other.
First, a little orientation, a demonstration, a warning and some rules.
Don't pick up the stones, slide them; if you're a righty, slider goes on your left foot. Get the rocks in the circle. If you fall, get up quick- we don't like butt-prints melted into the sheets.
And we were off-
Team IT was amusing.
DanO, JR, Scott & Luc were playing against a crew from Events- Dean, Sofia and two staffer I didn't know.
I got quite a few action shots-
Luc started things off... He had quite a knack for the game and will be joining a curling club back in Montreal when he goes home. He might even build a curling sheet in the backyard at his humble abode.
DanO listens to a strategy discussion between Dean and Sofia prior to his first throw.
The actual throw is less graceful than planned...
But he did improve his form through the evening...
Ahhh. A much smoother delivery.
JR had some issues...
A good line up...
Nice control...
And for the release...
Carefully...carefully
Uh oh... Better pull that tongue in, you ain't Michael Jordan.
And down he goes...
The USS JR has capsized...
He's quickly back on his feet, though... No damage done.
He had a few other issues-
He needed assistance to get the slider on his foot. Dean, from the other team took pity on him and gave him an assist.
Sofia showed good form on her delivery...
Nice extension. Very artistic...
Scott had an interesting delivery too.
Kind of a stand-up form.
Hey, whatever works for you...
DanO and JR were on-hand to sweep the stone down the sheet...
For a bunch of noobs, the game was quite competitive.
Team IT landing a stone in the center ring...
Curling - It's not just Snowbilly Bowling...
HOWEVER -
As much as they tried to tell us how important things like Respect, Decorum, Adherence to the Rules, and Good Sportsmanship were, there was a group on one of the far sheets that were playing by some odd variation on standard curling rules.
Ummm. Ouch!?
Hmmm. Maybe I'll look into membership at a local curling club...
TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE
Everyone: "Yay! Let's go!
So I have just left the airport, driving through the snowdrifts trying to get the hotel in downtown Calgary, and I get a text from JR.
JR to TBG: Hotel Lobby, 8:20. Curling.
Lovely.
I still haven't recovered from the double testicle-grope at TSA or the anal probe I got from Canadian Customs & Immigration...
CCI:"Looks like you had a felony charge against you in 1995... Tell us about it."
TBG:"What?! You're going to have to tell ME about it, since I don't know anything about it. Last time I was in jail was that little incident in Panama in 1981."
TBG to JR: "Will there be booze & food?"
You've got to have your priorities.
JR to TBG: "Restaurant & Full Bar."
Ok... Twist my arm.
So... Here I am in th e lobby-
8:15 - Nobody
8:20 - Still alone
8:25 - Fuggit. They left me.
TBG to JR: "8:20 in lobby. Where is everyone?"
JR to TBG: "Oops. Lobby at Westin. Forgot we have you in the OTHER hotel."
(Apparently ne'er-do-wells and sub-standard peons like Yours Truly get to stay at the OTHER hotel... The NHL Leper Colony Inn, I guess.)
So, a 3 block walk in -2 degree temps later, I was on the bus and we were off to the North Hill Curling Club for an evening of slipping and sliding and tossing 40lb hunks of granite at each other.
First, a little orientation, a demonstration, a warning and some rules.
Don't pick up the stones, slide them; if you're a righty, slider goes on your left foot. Get the rocks in the circle. If you fall, get up quick- we don't like butt-prints melted into the sheets.
And we were off-
Team IT was amusing.
DanO, JR, Scott & Luc were playing against a crew from Events- Dean, Sofia and two staffer I didn't know.
I got quite a few action shots-
Luc started things off... He had quite a knack for the game and will be joining a curling club back in Montreal when he goes home. He might even build a curling sheet in the backyard at his humble abode.
DanO listens to a strategy discussion between Dean and Sofia prior to his first throw.
The actual throw is less graceful than planned...
But he did improve his form through the evening...
Ahhh. A much smoother delivery.
JR had some issues...
A good line up...
Nice control...
And for the release...
Carefully...carefully
Uh oh... Better pull that tongue in, you ain't Michael Jordan.
And down he goes...
The USS JR has capsized...
He's quickly back on his feet, though... No damage done.
He had a few other issues-
He needed assistance to get the slider on his foot. Dean, from the other team took pity on him and gave him an assist.
Sofia showed good form on her delivery...
Nice extension. Very artistic...
Scott had an interesting delivery too.
Kind of a stand-up form.
Hey, whatever works for you...
DanO and JR were on-hand to sweep the stone down the sheet...
For a bunch of noobs, the game was quite competitive.
Team IT landing a stone in the center ring...
Curling - It's not just Snowbilly Bowling...
HOWEVER -
As much as they tried to tell us how important things like Respect, Decorum, Adherence to the Rules, and Good Sportsmanship were, there was a group on one of the far sheets that were playing by some odd variation on standard curling rules.
Ummm. Ouch!?
Hmmm. Maybe I'll look into membership at a local curling club...
TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE
2 comments:
I currently receive the "NHL Center Ice" as a preview and was just watching the Oilers and Canadiens (even spell check says it's "Canadians", take that frog!) last night. It was a feed from the CBC, with TONS of commercials for upcoming curling coverage. It is a rather curious sport(?).
At any rate; I'll be watching the winter classic, rooting for the Canadien/Canadians, all the while knowing the Uncle Jay is lurking. Hopefully in warmer confines.
This is the awesomest Olympic sport EVAH, because 50 year old, fat Bubba can set down his can of bud and play. Or at least, thinks he can.
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