I used to love curling back in the day when all the players would set their mixed drinks within easy reach and they got colder with each sip.
1
It is going to be like golf. There are clubs and balls that duffers play with that would never be allowed on tour. The pro game will end up banning the new brooms which is a good thing. What some of those gals and guys can do with a broom is truly amazing. If everybody can do it ...that would not be any fun.
1
I clicked on this story because the thumbnail said "Broom Controversy Sweeps Curling", which is a genius pun. Now a different, non-pun title on the page itself? I'm bristling with rage here. I can't even handle it.
7
Reading this article, you would think only men are serious curlers, but women's curling is equally popular and competitive. And fun. It's a great family activity! Not many people go straight home...
18th 'graph: sweeping *reduces* friction, thus influening the path of the stone.
1
I like O'cedar brooms.....they make life easier.
nothing is sacred anymore....
BTW, what's with "44-pound stones"? Try "20-kilogram stones", or at least write "20-kilogram (44-pound) stones".
4
I'm in favor of stock brooms, off the rack. But don't mess w/ the Norwegian team's pants!!!
1
MLB uses wooden bats. The NFL, NBA, and MLB use genuine leather balls. Curling should go back to cornstalk brooms.
3
There's no competitive "advantage" if everyone can use the new brooms.
And the argument that it allows teams of lesser talent to succeed is also a bit lost on me: After all, you still have to sweep "correctly" and anticipate the stone carrying as you think it will as you sweep. Not easy.
But, if these new brooms actually do any "damage" to the playing surface that's a different issue and one that's already covered under the rules.
And the argument that it allows teams of lesser talent to succeed is also a bit lost on me: After all, you still have to sweep "correctly" and anticipate the stone carrying as you think it will as you sweep. Not easy.
But, if these new brooms actually do any "damage" to the playing surface that's a different issue and one that's already covered under the rules.
2
The timing of the new rules is suspicious. And if Scott Taylor, president of Balance Plus, believes these new advances are bad, why did his company just unveil prototypes that are supposedly so much better than the IcePad? I would think if their new product is so good, they would want to sell more of them. I've only curled for a half season so I'm hardly qualified to say what goes on with the elites, but I'm surprised to hear that the broom tech can make steering the stone like using a joystick - that seems like a likely exaggeration.
1
Every sport has to decide how it deals with technology and how it wants to shape its gameplay. Sports like baseball have carefully restricted technology (at least since 1919) and this allows one to really compare players through history. Sports like tennis and golf have (to appeal to wealthy weekend amateurs who want an advantage over their competitors) bought into a technology arms race; with the collateral damage that fans have no way to gauge current players with past players. New technology always changes the skillsets necessary to excel, and alters the gameplay itself. Tennis has abandoned the beautiful strategic game of long volleys and net play for the 1-2 shot power game I cannot say one path is necessarily right or wrong, but I say if the game is beautiful it should be preserved as is, and not allow itself to fall in this downward spiral of short sighted technological advances. Now, advances in strategy and evolving changes in the strength/ training/ size of the athletes raise entirely new dimensions to these issues.
1
Lonely Canadians who must endure long, dark winter nights are the sports biggest fans. It also gives everyone a chance to practice their housekeeping skills, I suppose.
Seriously, most sports have adapted to technological changes in the equipment used to play that game. Perhaps curling should take a look at updating its equipment as well, after all the sport already uses high-quality ice water and carbon fiber "broomsticks".
Seriously, most sports have adapted to technological changes in the equipment used to play that game. Perhaps curling should take a look at updating its equipment as well, after all the sport already uses high-quality ice water and carbon fiber "broomsticks".
Albeit I am a tad 'long-in-the-tooth' (participated in the first car tournament in Nipawin, Saskatchewan in 1946, curled against the Garth Campbell and Ernie Richardson, used the 'blackjack' brooms; and curled when there was no temperature-controlled buildings: the integrity and the joy of participating in the sport should be honoured over that of corporate profits and corporate sponsorship. Ah, yes--the days when Garth demonstrated the 'the art of the delicate draw' and Ernie demonstrated 'the art of the rapid take-out' and when a beer (notably a Carlings!) was the drink of choice to that of the martini (be it shaken or stirred!) and when overalls and grandmother's knitted sweaters took priority to that of Armani pants or pearl earrings! Must scoot now--struggle out of my walker and hobble over to the 'sheet' and prepare to chuck my first rock with the total dedication, focus and effort to get the damn think past the FIRST hog-line!
9
I suspect Colbert or John Stewart will make comedy of this, but it's not funny when country club activities from the Siberian north move South. The "working poor" need to eat, but business people will continue to be business people and the country club mentality will still remain in visibly stark contrast to the millions of poor who will never play golf or curl the stone on ice. The extremes of competition will always be rejected by purists who know the true value of sincere recreation. Competition over cooperation will destroy us all, whether in sport or global politics.
thank-you mr billy witz.
after my first hour of reading news...
this brilliant article brought a much needed silly grin to my face today. :)
after my first hour of reading news...
this brilliant article brought a much needed silly grin to my face today. :)
1
There's something strangely appealing about this drama--especially with the other, real problems that have been in the news this week. I have some strange desire to see it litigated on a television show (complete with street protesters with witty signs) just to distract us from the pain of the rest of the headlines.
1
I have little knowledge of curling, aside from watching a few matches every four years during the Winter Olympics. But I do remember my parents going to the Brookline Country Club (although they were not members) on weekday evenings in the mid-1960's for curling, and by George, the brooms they used looked just like the brooms in Harry Potter. What's wrong with those?
2
It sounds like the best of the elite curlers ar upset that a new technological invention has made it relatively easy for the very good but not quite elite curlers to beat them. This doesn't mean the game is now unfair though. Rather, it means that the fundamentals of curling strategy need to be reworked. If shots that used to be impossible for all but the best are now possible for many others, then the best need a better defense syste.
trust me folks, in Canada this is a HUGE issue, cuz, as you all know, we are the slam-dunk world champs many times over. I was jumping in here to agree with Bob that the article did a poor job of explaining why you even use a broom and what's the advantage of these new fangled ones, but then Darren comes through and explains broom mechanics on ice. Let me just add: do you know why you can't ice skate at about - 40 C? It's because your weight on the skates is not longer sufficient to melt a little bead of water in the shallow curve of your skate blade, and it's that bead of water that lets you glide across the ice, just like a curling stone glides smoothly on the bead of water created by sweeping.
17
"...do you know why you can't ice skate at about - 40 C? "
Not to mention the pebbling.
Not to mention the pebbling.
My GOD that ever I should have lived to see this day!
11
Clearly, widespread doping is a much greater scourge upon the integrity of curling than some newfangled broom technology that might increase the friction quotient of the donut's path by a couple of nanometers. Dig deeper, NYT!
2
This article doesn't really explain how these so-called brooms produce an advantage. That is, what are they doing that a conventional curling broom does not do? And just how bad is the ice anyway, that a broom can make such a difference?
Once they go down the path of elaborate technology and rules, do they have to have a standard for the temperature of the ice surface, for the kind of water used to make the ice, etc?
Once they go down the path of elaborate technology and rules, do they have to have a standard for the temperature of the ice surface, for the kind of water used to make the ice, etc?
7
Bob -- I'll try to explain with words, but having a diagram would greatly assist your understanding. First off, the ice is very, very good -- the top ice makers make ice with ultra-purified water, virtually free of any minerals. When the water freezes, the minerals act as tiny bits of sandpaper and the rocks glide over the pebbles (tiny rain-like droplets that freeze on the surface of the ice producing a surface that the rock can glide on. Without the pebbles, the rock has too much surface area on the ice and cannot glide down the 140ft of playing surface. Ice prep is everything in curling -- an analogy is having a perfectly level and consistent surface on a pool table, where any imperfection affects the shot.
As for the boom -- because the sweepers apply a lot of pressure on the ice surface, through friction they "heat" the ice allowing the stone to run further; slowing at a slower pace and; keep the running line more linear. When the stone is thrown, it rotates about 3-4 times during the entire 140 ft run producing an arc -- very similar to lawn bowling. The skill in the game is figuring out the proper "arc" with the proper speed of the rock to get it to the centre of the (target) to score points. With the new broom pads, they essentially allow the sweepers to etch the ice surface in addition to regular actions described above, thus allowing the team to almost "steer" the stone into the position. Teams of less talent gain a significant advantage. Hence, conflict!
As for the boom -- because the sweepers apply a lot of pressure on the ice surface, through friction they "heat" the ice allowing the stone to run further; slowing at a slower pace and; keep the running line more linear. When the stone is thrown, it rotates about 3-4 times during the entire 140 ft run producing an arc -- very similar to lawn bowling. The skill in the game is figuring out the proper "arc" with the proper speed of the rock to get it to the centre of the (target) to score points. With the new broom pads, they essentially allow the sweepers to etch the ice surface in addition to regular actions described above, thus allowing the team to almost "steer" the stone into the position. Teams of less talent gain a significant advantage. Hence, conflict!
32
Wonderful explanation, thanks Darren. Interesting that no one has defined how much more effective the new brooms are because it would be very difficult to determine how many "extra feet or possibly only inches" the stone travels when the new brooms are used. If the sweepers could add two feet to a draw shot that would be a significant advantage to the team using the new brooms. Skips are very specific when they call for a shot and if the sweepers can "move" the stone closer to the right spot on the ice, the advantage would be critical at the top levels of competition.
Bottom line is that everyone needs to use the same equipment and the sport will keep growing.
I can remember the transition from corn to push brooms and in additions to cleaner ice(the corn brooms came apart under the pounding of strong sweepers) and debris ruined may shots. Horse hair brooms also lost hairs that ruined shots. The new generation of brooms solved those problems but now we have to settle these new issues.
Bottom line is that everyone needs to use the same equipment and the sport will keep growing.
I can remember the transition from corn to push brooms and in additions to cleaner ice(the corn brooms came apart under the pounding of strong sweepers) and debris ruined may shots. Horse hair brooms also lost hairs that ruined shots. The new generation of brooms solved those problems but now we have to settle these new issues.
I am curious: what type of shoes are the curlers(?) wearing? Are there standards for those? Since they are "brooming" the path, can their shoes affect how the ice surface behaves? I do apologize if I used incorrect words to describe aspects of the sport; I am now going to go curl up with a book.
2
Good heavens, then let's go back to the old cornstalk broom. You just can't please everyone.
6
Right, but then the argument would be, "should it be only from organic, non-gmo corn?"
It would really good if the curling community could come up with an appropriate process to consider issues of this sort on a timely basis and with input from representatives of all affected parties. Most sports do not do this sort of thing very well at all and the effect is to penalize a large proportion of the athletes.
1
Sports should evolve with the times. Imagine if hockey were using the same equipment as 50 years ago? The skates and sticks they use today are far superior than the ones they used back then but the players are no less talented. Use the new brooms, the sport will survive.
5
Your argument is in error. This isn't the case of using a new type of hockey stick but more akin the shape of the stick's blade. In hockey the curve of the blade is regulated because it allows a player to exert too much control over the puck and therefore create shots that would otherwise be impossible. This is the same issue as in curling; the new brooms allow too much control. No one is complaining about using metal or carbon fibre shafts in lieu of wood nor are they complaining about using modern materials for the sweeper. It's just that the newest sweeping material enables a curler to control the rock much more than ever before. So maybe looking to hockey as an example is right for the wrong reason. They banned excessive curve for blades to keep the integrity of the game so why not ban these new types of brooms for the same reason. As in all sport, as technology evolves so too do the rules.
1
Curling is considered a sport?
1
You try several max effort 140' long sweeps in a row (with the team skip yelling at you) and tell me that there isn't the physical effort there involved in a sport. There's a reason why the top players now spend more time at the gym than at the pub...not that that's not still in the picture.
1
Indeed it is. The stones are 42 pounds and require just the right combination of strength, touch and ever so slight wrist action and the ability to slide. One could challenge golf as a sport too.
When I "curled" in Winchester, the brooms were corn there were the push brooms too. I guess one could equate the new brooms with the evolution of tennis racquets & gold clubs from wood to titanium.
When I "curled" in Winchester, the brooms were corn there were the push brooms too. I guess one could equate the new brooms with the evolution of tennis racquets & gold clubs from wood to titanium.
1
Decent research and well-written. NYT is fast-approaching "savvy" in its curling coverage.
3
Curling is not a sport in my book. It is a game. Anything that you do with beer is not a real sport. Maybe we should add competitive drinking games to the Olympics.
3
So if an athlete has beer after a game it is not a sport? Check out the locker rooms of our national pastimes and you will realize that athletes drink beer after competition. What a revelation! Watch a curling match and appreciate the athleticism involved. It takes years to develop the skills involved and holding your liquor is not part of the training.
6
Twenty years ago, I might have agreed with you that curling was just game invented to keep you entertained between trips to the bar. But take a close look at the modern game. Curling legends like Eddie the Wrench wouldn't stand a chance against teams today. Similar to the change in attitude about fitness and training that Tiger Woods brought to golf (which I still don't view as a sport!), the top men and women's teams a true athletes. Plus, if you understood how important the mental aspect of the is to winning, you'd be much less scornful.
PS. Watch for the Men's team from China next Winter Olympics. They gave the Canadians (and me) a big scare in Sochi. China takes curling seriously!
PS. Watch for the Men's team from China next Winter Olympics. They gave the Canadians (and me) a big scare in Sochi. China takes curling seriously!
1
Curling needs all the help it can get. If it were easy, they'd call it hockey.
12
Beauty!
When I rowed in college on the 60s we used corn brooms. Bring them back.
return to hog's hair and level the playing field.
4
The sport of curling can do nothing but add to the evolution of broom technology. I would be grateful to be using a more advanced broom than the kind of broom that was used in the 1500s- the very same ones that witches have sat astride. Man has gone to the moon, with the same broom.
4
I was quite taken by the statement that the sales of curling brooms started to "skyrocket." Big market in those brooms, is there? Who could have known?
10
To many Canadians curling is the sport which helps get them through the long dark winter. Many have worked for many years to obtain their skill. Making it easier just doesn't seem right.
8
Thankfully, I was wearing my Apple Watch when this “alert” came thorough, so I was able to excuse myself from an expensive dinner and race to the lobby where I could sit quietly and prepare myself for such unsettling news.
I want one of those brooms for the garage.
I want one of those brooms for the garage.
33
The motion of both the stone and the sweeping wear down ice pebbles to such an extent, albeit slowly, that over the course of a game, smooth pathways tend to develop, effecting the play calling and the skill of the throwers. That is an important and subtle part of the game, especially at the higher levels. Hence, I would suggest that let the curlers use whatever brooms they wish, let the manufacturers continue to improve brooms and sweeping and keep the regulators away. Let players use their favorite broom and employ the best of their skill throughout the match.
5
On the surface, Nick, your response sounds reasonable, however the broom fabric not only gives teams using it a significant advantage, but it also breaks down the ice surface much quicker actually destroying the integrity of the game. With respect to the advantage that teams have, its analogous to a pool player having a gyro on their pool cue which would be very difficult to strike the cue ball out of balance and direction. The player that has a regular cue is at a disadvantage, and further the gyro cue would actually destroy the cue ball with little knicks as the game progresses, resulting in a ball that's now off-balance. While one might argue to let all players play with the gyro cue, in so doing the game looses integrity and lower skilled players can do as well as highly skilled players. If that were to happen in any game or sport, it would ultimately loose in popularity.
I know many readers will find this controversy rather humourous, however for those of us that have played for years, this is a big issue -- especially when the sport is gaining so much popularity since becoming an Olympic sport. But I do have to chuckle a bit -- who would have thought years ago that there could be ANY controversy in curling!! Just goes to show that when money's involved, people will do anything to get an advantage.
I know many readers will find this controversy rather humourous, however for those of us that have played for years, this is a big issue -- especially when the sport is gaining so much popularity since becoming an Olympic sport. But I do have to chuckle a bit -- who would have thought years ago that there could be ANY controversy in curling!! Just goes to show that when money's involved, people will do anything to get an advantage.
15
"But I do have to chuckle a bit -- who would have thought years ago that there could be ANY controversy in curling!! Just goes to show that when money's involved, people will do anything to get an advantage."
Right on!
In true Canuck style, I am at once delighted to see the game grow and horrified at the commercialism. I need to think about this over a couple of brewskis.
Right on!
In true Canuck style, I am at once delighted to see the game grow and horrified at the commercialism. I need to think about this over a couple of brewskis.
What a refreshing change from the burning issues of our times. But you see; even this little-understood sport requires oversight and regulation to ensure a level playing field and that one team does not have an unfair advantage over another. A nice story.
14
"How much control is too much control?" ...A classic "slippery" slope debate. ;)
19
The physics of the sweeping are the friction melts the ice in front of the stone and it is the water that sets the stone on its path. The biggest change has been that the men throwing 1st and 2nd stone look like NFL linebackers. The world's best curlers are athletes and 99% of us are recreational curlers. Even the best arm wrestler at the local pub would have a hard time in beating a lead or second from an elite woman's team.
The truth be told is that the most hi-tech broom in the hands of 99% of all curlers is no better than the broom I used 50 years ago but is another weapon in the arsenal of elite professionals.
The truth be told is that the most hi-tech broom in the hands of 99% of all curlers is no better than the broom I used 50 years ago but is another weapon in the arsenal of elite professionals.
14
Wow. The truth has been swept under the rug...
9
I wish you had waited until after the holidays to publish such a controversial article. This is going to cause widespread family conflict. I am disappointed in you.
All across the upper Midwest and Canada this Thanksgiving and Christmas, people will be mildly perturbed by the controversy, and gently assert their polite opinions of the issue.
Some may even shake their heads in dismay, and volunteer to go shovel snow, just to take a break from the modest dissent of beloved family members.
Why, NYT, why??! Couldn't you have waited?
All across the upper Midwest and Canada this Thanksgiving and Christmas, people will be mildly perturbed by the controversy, and gently assert their polite opinions of the issue.
Some may even shake their heads in dismay, and volunteer to go shovel snow, just to take a break from the modest dissent of beloved family members.
Why, NYT, why??! Couldn't you have waited?
89
So, the NYT is the Grinch who stole both Christmas and Thanksgiving.....
1
Having grown up in Bemidji, MN where curling is a big deal and passive aggressive behavior is an art form, I can vouch for this statement.
Now I'll be the last one to put down another's sport (though I do draw the line at things that injure or kill animals). The NYT had a story a few months back about men in NY going to a park to see whose - I think it was canaries - sang the best. What's not to like?
Having said that, I went with my relies in northern MN once to a "curling match." Maybe you need more anti-freeze in your blood and more beer in your hand, but I froze my keister off and was more than a little baffled by the whole thing. Still I could see skill and certainly dedication.
It seems curling is an old and frankly "folk" sport. It out to stay that way. In an era where CBS via MaxPreps is trying to commercialize every high school sports event, I'd sure vote for tradition. I'm not likely to see another curling match (they're rather rare here in AZ), but tradition and real skill rather than yet another techno gizmo should triumph.
Having said that, I went with my relies in northern MN once to a "curling match." Maybe you need more anti-freeze in your blood and more beer in your hand, but I froze my keister off and was more than a little baffled by the whole thing. Still I could see skill and certainly dedication.
It seems curling is an old and frankly "folk" sport. It out to stay that way. In an era where CBS via MaxPreps is trying to commercialize every high school sports event, I'd sure vote for tradition. I'm not likely to see another curling match (they're rather rare here in AZ), but tradition and real skill rather than yet another techno gizmo should triumph.
9
Curling is rare in Arizona? I'll be curling here in about 3 hours, and I played in a bonspiel in Tempe last weekend! Arizona is home to the southernmost dedicated curling facility in the U.S.
9
Last time I checked there was a 12 year wait at the curling club on Cape Cod for lessons and ice time is hard to get. It would be even more popular if there was more ice access. Have you checked the online coverage?
I am so relieved that this issue is finally being addressed. Whew!
15
I can't begin to express how concerned I am about this.
18
Sort of like hockey sticks -- gone from wood which I use to high tech composite material. Too bad; takes away from the skill needed to succeed in the sport.
4
I could be wrong but raising the profile of the sport from one with friendly competition to increased competition and attracting more money is likely to change things in terms of equipment and the players attitudes.
Brooms do not speed the path of curling rocks. They reduce the rate of a rocks loss of speed.
The slower the rock travels, the more likely it will move to the left or the right, determined by whether it is rotating clockwise or anti-clockwise.
Sweeping delays the curl, and enables the stone to travel further from a throw of a given force.
The ice surface is made up of tiny pebbles formed by spraying hot water onto the ice surface before play begins. The surface will wear unevenly, so rocks thrown with the same weight will react differently depending on the path they travel.
Sweeping helps adjust that path.
The slower the rock travels, the more likely it will move to the left or the right, determined by whether it is rotating clockwise or anti-clockwise.
Sweeping delays the curl, and enables the stone to travel further from a throw of a given force.
The ice surface is made up of tiny pebbles formed by spraying hot water onto the ice surface before play begins. The surface will wear unevenly, so rocks thrown with the same weight will react differently depending on the path they travel.
Sweeping helps adjust that path.
22
I can't wait to hear my Canadian relatives' take on this controversy at our next reunion.
20
As someone who curled for a couple of years and loved it, I'm totally against the high-tech brooms. Let the matches and bonspiels be decided by the most skilled curlers.
14
Veritas
Hi tech brooms are useless unless you are willing to spend the 14 hours a week working out at the local gym. Watch one of the world's major bonspiels. Somehow these magic brooms seem to only work their magic when someone whose arms and shoulders put Popeye to shame grasp the broom handle.
Hi tech brooms are useless unless you are willing to spend the 14 hours a week working out at the local gym. Watch one of the world's major bonspiels. Somehow these magic brooms seem to only work their magic when someone whose arms and shoulders put Popeye to shame grasp the broom handle.
8
Was only a matter of time. I pay no attention to "new world record" anymore since the majority are due to scientific improvements in equipment, not human performance, any more. From mermaid swimsuits to skis, bobsleds to rifles, there is no comparison to previous records. The only possible area for real records perhaps is gymnastics. And horsemanship.
3
The skip and third do very little sweeping and somehow it is the best thirds and skips that do all the winning. Much like golf in curling it is the putting where the games are won and lost.
6
Scientific improvement isn't a human accomplishment?
1
Don't forget bowling. The world record 886 3-game series was bowled in 1939 and held until the mid-1990s when ball technology accelerated due to CAD and advanced reactive resin ball material. There have since been 27 sanctioned perfect 900 series since the mid-1990s. 27!! Yet no bowler - amateur or pro - would ever consider not using this kind of gear. The game has been destroyed, and no one cares.
1
So long as teenagers aren't threatening each other with this new technology or committing suicide as a result, what can be the harm of using technology here, such because someone can and can charge a lot for new "brooms"? Unless it drives the players out of their minds because of technology's intrusion into someplace it was never intended to be. Is technology like some new form of cancer, or what; foisting itself onto things unwantedly, and for no good reason other than entertaining bored engineers?
1
Yes, some new technologies ARE a new form of cancer. So much new tech has brought negative consequences that the inventors never considered.