Talk:Curling

How the sticks work?

I see it says that the sticks change the ice to move the 'puck', but HOW does it change it? I have always wanted to know. Thanks- Meap

broken reference and questionable statement

"Making and maintaining perfect ice conditions is as much art as science." Is this statement adequate? Also, the source is broken: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curling#cite_note-8 -> http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/topstory/story/4136247p-4728348c.html Gloomofdom (talk) 19:39, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

What it is is a cliche; perhaps it should simply vanish. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 20:55, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

Yes, that source is indeed borken, and try as I might on the paper's website, I couldn't find the article. I agree that re-wording would be best. Beyond My Ken (talk) 02:21, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

Actually, just excising the sentence seems the best thing to do, so I've done that. Beyond My Ken (talk) 02:23, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

artificial ice

Presumably all competitive games are on artificial ice, but when did this start, and when was 'pebbling' of the ice introduced? Hakluyt bean (talk) 01:37, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

No, actually I have yet to have heard of any competitive game being played on "artificial ice". Not sure when pebbling the ice first came into practise but I assume it's around the time that the game became more organized and national competitions started to form.--Firewire87 (talk) 02:07, 29 September 2011 (UTC)

Don't be confused by the term "artificial ice"--it means water frozen by a refrigeration plant instead of by the weather. So curling on natural ice is extremely rare compared to artificial ice. I assume artificial ice became the norm in the late 19th century or early 20th century. Indefatigable (talk) 16:28, 29 September 2011 (UTC)

According to this blogpost, the ice pebble developed in Canada, presumably when the curling rinks were moved inside. It seems as if the author of the post is saying that the pebble replaces the natural frost which covers curling ponds. "Artificial" ice probably became commonplace as curlers began to play in covered rinks, to protect curling ice from the influence of weather, possibly around the end of the 19th century. Prayerfortheworld (talk) 03:47, 30 September 2011 (UTC)

I started curling in the early seventies in rural Alberta, and what we referred to as "natural ice" was still relatively commonplace then in the smaller covered rinks that did not have budget to afford an ice plant. Natural ice was also pebbled; the reason for the pebble is so the rock would slide more easily to the other end. Without pebble the average curler would have great difficulty getting the rock over the far hog line. I do not assume anything but I would expect a bit of research would determine that the technique of pebbling has been around a lot longer than we have had artificial ice in large, indoor, controlled ice surfaces. Garth of the Forest (talk) 16:24, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

Sport vs game

Just to head off any issues with an editor who seems to be on a one man crusade to change curling from a sport to a game, it is clearly stated that curling is a game(edited out my mistake) sport on the websites of the official governing bodies in the UK, Canada, England, Scotland, New Zealand, and the USA. It is also clearly stated by the World Curling Federation. The only English-speaking federation that uses the words sport and game interchangeably is Ireland. --Biker Biker (talk) 19:41, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

I take it you mean the reverse, that these sites refer to it as a sport? --Ronz (talk) 19:56, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

DOH! Yes, of course I mean sport. Thanks for pointing out my numptiness. I made a small edit to my original post. --Biker Biker (talk) 20:48, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

"Official governing bodies" LOL okay, I mean official governing bodies for competitive eating call eating a sport. A neutral source is not a governing body. Whatever though I stopped caring anyway. This site is usually okay until you run into an admin or someone who's given more power than the average user, then it's up to them what goes on the page.

And by the way it's not a "one man crusade", I go on a forum and these threads about curling come up everyday, it's almost become an Internet meme now, everyone else laughs but doesn't care about changing Wikipedia, I did until every edit just got reverted every time.

It may not be a "one man crusade", but it is certainly a minority opinion. In Canada, the word "sport" is usually used as a "subset" of the word "game"; so, for example, we might refer to the sport of football as the game of football. We would not likely refer to the "sport" of chess. Most people use the word "sport" to refer to something that requires some degree of physical fitness, and, during play, a level of physical exertion, and usually refers to a game that may be, but is not always, played at a competitive, or professional level. I believe curling more than amply meets these criteria and I have referred to the game of curling interchangeably as the sport and/or the game of curling for my entire life. I believe those who wish to banish the use of the word "sport" in reference to curling are pushing a point of view that is not accepted by the majority of people interested in curling, either as participant or spectator, i.e. that curling is a game for old men and other people who aren't fit enough to play "real sports". That is complete hogwash. Yes, like golf, curling is a sport that can be played (even competitively) later in life - unlike, say, professional football or professional boxing. I compare this attitude to that of an extreme hockey fan thinking of hockey as a "real man's sport" but soccer (what the rest of the world refers to as football) is just a game, played by kids. I think the rest of the world where soccer (er, I mean football) is a bigger sport than hockey would find this attitude at least as offensive as competitive curlers like myself who know the degree of physical fitness and skill that is required to compete at a national or international level, find your comments. Are you also crusading to have shot put removed from the category of "sport"? What about fishing? Hunting? Get my drift? Your troll forums are not considered RS for encyclopedic purposes. Garth of the Forest (talk) 00:45, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

It's an Olympic sport that requires a great deal of athletic skill as well as a great deal of training. Olympic curlers work out for around 4 hours a day. It is easy for those who don't curl, or who have only tried it once or twice to dismiss it, but that's plain ignorance. -- Earl Andrew - talk 17:06, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Agreed. Garth of the Forest (talk) 00:45, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

Italics

Throughout the article there are many words that appear in italics. The words tend to be curling terms, but I'm not sure having them in italics adds to the article; it might actually detract somewhat from what is overall a well-written article. Should the italics be removed? --Robthepiper (talk) 04:11, 19 March 2011 (UTC)(talk) 04:09, 19 March 2011 (UTC)

Stones

1. Could someone familiar with the topic please update the information about who made the Olympic stones? Article currently mentions the stones for the '98, '02 and '06 games, but not the 2010 games. Note that the ref used does not mention the 2010 Games either.
2. This section should probably also mention the use of the Blue Hone granite for just the running edge to extend the supply of this material. Meters (talk) 19:24, 2 August 2012 (UTC)