The Wild Side of Curling

Who were those guys with the Loudmouth pants? 


And who ever thought up this crazy game?


During the 2010 Winter Olympics. the Norwegian Men's Curling Team gained notoriety for their red white and blue diamond pants. A Facebook fan page created for Norway's pants drew more than 500,00 fans during the games.


Many Americans knew little or nothing about curling until the Winter Olympics. By now we have perhaps forgotten the little we knew.

Like golf, curling originated in Scotland in late medieval times (before 1500 AD). One of those old guys said, "Why don't we start sliding 40-pound stones across the ice?" And a second guy said, "Great idea!  I'll get me wife's broom and sweep away those ice chips along the way!"


Traditionally, all of the granite for curling stones comes from the island of Ailsa Craig, on Scotland's west coast.


Firmly established in Canada (perhaps our second-most-played ice sport), it provides a good excuse for people to get together and drink alcoholic beverages. Popular as well in Minnesota, Sweden, Switzerland, and now New Zealand and Australia. World championships have been held since 1959.

Those wild pants were created by Loudmouth Golf, an American company (check them out on Wikipedia -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudmouth_Golf ).


Let's get together and play an end sometime!