Is Curling really a Sport?

luvflyin

luvflyin

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Luvflyin
So I'm watching the Swedes destroy the USA in Women's Curling. And I got to thinking about relating winter sports to flying. Freestyle skiing would be like Aerobatics. Cross country skiing, enough said. Hockey would be like air to air combat. And Curling would be like flying IFR.
 
I would say that it's more of a sport than that gymnastic stuff with the ribbons or skateboarding.
 
I’ve done that. Bunch of guys sitting around day before a wedding and the father of the bride rounds a bunch of us up to get out of the house, doesn’t tell Us why. . He takes us to a curling rink outside of Ithaca. He hired trainers and rented the place to teach us. It was a lot of fun. It is very challenging. But like most sports the pros make it look real easy.
 
When I played, it seemed like curling was a reason to drink beer. Lots of beer.
Any movement down the rink was solely for the purpose of warming up those who had not drank enough beer. (the others were staggering too much to do any of that physical stuff)
However, it was a fun time-waster.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
When I played, it seemed like curling was a reason to drink beer. Lots of beer.
Any movement down the rink was solely for the purpose of warming up those who had not drank enough beer. (the others were staggering too much to do any of that physical stuff)
However, it was a fun time-waster.
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Pretty much the reason for any sport on the ice…hockey, ice fishing,….
 
It's not a sport; it's a game.

For an activity to be a sport there must be a reasonable chance of death, or at least severe injury. Bull fighting, automobile racing, downhill slalom, cave diving, parachute jumping, and arguing with Mrs. Half Fast are examples of sports. Most of the rest are merely games.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
When I played, it seemed like curling was a reason to drink beer. Lots of beer.
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Isn't that what golf is for? (I don't play golf either, but I can drink beer just fine without it.)

I always assumed curling was invented by a bunch of drunken Scots on the way home from the pub on an icy night.
 
Half Fast said:
For an activity to be a sport there must be a reasonable chance of death, or at least severe injury.
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So, tennis, baseball, soccer, and basketball are not sports? But hunting is.
 
bflynn said:
So, tennis, baseball, soccer, and basketball are not sports? But hunting is.
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Tennis, baseball, etc. are games. Hunting? It depends. Lion hunting might be considered a sport. Dove hunting, not so much.
 
I worked with a bunch of guys who played basketball on their lunch break. I lost count of all the broken wrists and ankles, smashed elbows, etc... and they thought I was the crazy one for flying paramotors and experimental airplanes.
 
Half Fast said:
Tennis, baseball, etc. are games. Hunting? It depends. Lion hunting might be considered a sport.
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LOLOL clearly your athletic ability extends to thumb wrestling the TV remote. Top tennis players are top athletes...but yeah not quite the level of these guys. :rolleyes:

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It’s a sport if you live where it’s colder than hell all winter and you don’t have anything better to do.
 
SkyDog58 said:
Doesn’t take much to shoot an animal at long distance with a high powered rifle. And there is no sport to it.
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you'd be surprised at how bad some people are at shooting
 
Re: hunting, I’d say that since the animal is only able to use its natural defenses (teeth, claws, etc.), if you hunt it using only a human’s natural defenses (i.e. no weapons, and really you should probably be naked too), then I think it would qualify as a sport.

Re: Curling, it’s way more of a sport than Dressage.
 
RussR said:
Re: Curling, it’s way more of a sport than Dressage
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Your point? Watching paint dry is more of a sport than dressage.

(And I was forced to watch dressage at the 1996 Olympics while carrying @2-Bit Speed in a backpack, which doubled the fun.)
 
Dana said:
So if you're bowhunting for dangerous animals?
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and I guess flying is a sport. We all know that airplanes are kept in the air by the constant application of athletic skill by the pilot. Otherwise they would definitely crash.
 
Dana said:
Isn't that what golf is for? (I don't play golf either, but I can drink beer just fine without it.)

I always assumed curling was invented by a bunch of drunken Scots on the way home from the pub on an icy night.
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Per Robin Williams, that’s how Golf was invented.

 
Half Fast said:
Your point? Watching paint dry is more of a sport than dressage.
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I'm pretty sure my point was pretty clear, that "curling is way more of a sport than dressage."

Doesn't mean I want to watch either, however of the two, I would much rather watch curling. At least there strategy and direct competition.
 
bflynn said:
and I guess flying is a sport. We all know that airplanes are kept in the air by the constant application of athletic skill by the pilot. Otherwise they would definitely crash.
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Yes. But is it more or less of a sport than parachuting?
 
RussR said:
I'm pretty sure my point was pretty clear, that "curling is way more of a sport than dressage."

Doesn't mean I want to watch either, however of the two, I would much rather watch curling. At least there strategy and direct competition.
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Yeah. The strategy, precision and thinking ahead. It's why I equated it to flying IFR
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
When I played, it seemed like curling was a reason to drink beer. Lots of beer.
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I've heard curling described as the only Olympic sport in which you can participate without setting down your beer.

Two friends of mine with no previous knowledge of or exposure to curling recently joined a league on a whim, when they discovered they lived near the only curling center in the state. They've been having a blast.
 
GaryM said:
I've heard curling described as the only Olympic sport in which you can participate without setting down your beer.

Two friends of mine with no previous knowledge of or exposure to curling recently joined a league on a whim, when they discovered they lived near the only curling center in the state. They've been having a blast.
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Olympic curling might be more entertaining if there were a minimum beer consumption rule. Each competitor could be tested at the end for a minimum blood alcohol level.
 
Of course it's not a sport. But so what? Neither is ballet. Just because it's not a sport doesn't mean 1) it is easy, 2) it isn't fun to watch, 3) it isn't fun to do, 4) it does not require skill, or 5) it does not require athletic ability.
 
PPC1052 said:
Of course it's not a sport. But so what? Neither is ballet. Just because it's not a sport doesn't mean 1) it is easy, 2) it isn't fun to watch, 3) it isn't fun to do, 4) it does not require skill, or 5) it does not require athletic ability.
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Are you talking about curling, or "arguing with Mrs Half Fast" here? Because it's way more entertaining to read your post that way. As in "arguing with Mrs Half Fast requires athletic ability". :D
 
Bob Noel said:
I would say that it's more of a sport than that gymnastic stuff with the ribbons or skateboarding.
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Ribbons? Totally agree with you. Skateboarding? I'm not sure what your frame of reference is, but from what I have seen it is an extremely athletic sport. And like snowboarding, the use of the herb should not be a disqualifier, but rather a factored handicap.
 
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