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Is curling really a sport? Americans aren't sure
By Brad Rock
Deseret News sports columnist
OGDEN — Curling isn't America's favorite sport. That's because a lot of Americans aren't sure it is a sport, period.
The United States women lost their semifinal match Wednesday, falling 9-4 to Switzerland in the Winter Olympics. That much most Americans understood. The loss cut the U.S. team out of a chance to win gold or silver, but left open the door for a bronze medal. That fact wasn't lost on the crowd at the Ogden Ice Sheet, either.
Some of the other stuff, well, it'll take awhile.
After all, this is curling.
The good news for curling is that it's gaining fans. That's what being an Olympic sport will do for you. It's not like they didn't sell out the Ice Sheet for this week's competition. There's even a magazine of the sport, appropriately called Sweep.
Perhaps the biggest boost curling has received, though, was this week when the American women earned a spot in the medal round. People who wouldn't know a hog line from a hog call were suddenly checking up on the game. One curling publicist has been receiving 150 e-mails a day. The American team has been receiving 200-300 e-mails daily.
That, of course, doesn't mean curling is everyone's cup of ice. TV talk show host Jay Leno, for one, has had a week's worth of material, compliments of curling.
"People tend to mock what they don't understand," responded Ann Swisshelm of the U.S. team. "I'm not going to say there aren't some funny elements compared to other sports, but for someone who's never seen the game of baseball, the first time they see it, it seems absurd. And I've got to tell you, the first time they see a great battle or a great pitching duel, they're hooked.
"Something happened when we had some tight games. People walked away from the Ice Sheet here in Ogden thinking this is one of the most exciting things they've ever seen in sports. Whether people want to consider it a joke . . .
"I'll take Jay Leno on anytime on the ice. If that's the best material Jay's got, then, you know . . . "
OK, she's a little sensitive. But don't blame Leno. Any sport that uses brooms and a rock is asking for trouble.
Truth is, curling in America remains a curiosity more than a phenomenon, a skill more than an athletic endeavor. It's something you check out because (a) the tickets were cheaper than anything else, (b) it was part of the ticket package or (c) you have a relative on the team. It has only been a sanctioned Olympic sport since 1998. It has odd equipment and complicated strategy.
It is a sport of skills, in the sense that golf or archery are sports.
First clue that curling isn't an "athletic" event: Joni Cotten, an alternate on the U.S. team, will be 49 in May.
That said, the house was full for Wednesday's event, to cheer the American team on. A shot at a medal is a shot at a medal. At times, the crowd broke out in chants of "U-S-A! U-S-A!"
In the fifth end, when a measuring device determined the American stone was closest to the tee, the crowd went nuts. Whether many of them knew what they were cheering is another matter.
And whether this type of publicity will translate into Utah becoming a curling capital, like Wisconsin or Minnesota, is debatable. But there is an Ogden Curling Club up and running.
Jason Laurie, of Lake Tahoe, Nev., has a suggestion to build interest. "Full-contact curling," he explained. "Do some body checking."
Steve Sherwood of Deer Valley showed up because he wanted to see something at every venue. But he wasn't convinced it will be passing baseball as the national pastime.
"I wouldn't expect it to catch on," he said.
Swisshelm remains undaunted. In fact, she invoked the name of another non-athletic sport to make her point.
"If there's competitive poker on ESPN-2," she said, "there can be some real sports like curling."
Takes one to know one.
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February 21, 2002
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