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In Bonspiel Thread

Mets – Willets Point Feb 09 2014 11:10 PM

Here we discuss the great sport of Curling. [youtube:2g36i3op]DFn5Zc8-m-0[/youtube:2g36i3op]

Zvon Feb 09 2014 11:43 PM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

Its the 48th anniversary of the Beatles curling in HELP!. [youtube]622AzYWXBTA[/youtube]

Ceetar Feb 10 2014 07:41 AM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

The US team has roughly no chance.

MFS62 Feb 10 2014 07:44 AM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

Curling is an interesting sport to watch. But I'd much rather watch a Mets sweep. Later

RealityChuck Feb 10 2014 07:51 AM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

Curling and hockey are the only winter olympic sports with head-to-head team competition. And, like baseball, it's slow enough to spot the strategy.

Vic Sage Feb 10 2014 08:40 AM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

How is curling a sport and shuffleboard isn't? I want to see some Olympic shuffleboard in the summer games, people! Who can we talk to? Curling = shuffleboard + bowling + sweeping off the ice like a zamboni = Olympic sport! Seriously, how bored must they have been in medieval Scotland to come up with THIS? And as a more general matter, where on the continuum of recreational activities does a hobby become a game become a sport? For the sake of argument, lets agree that "hobby" is any form of recreational activity we regularly engage in, unrelated to work and purely for fun, and a "game" is any sort of recreational activity with a defining set of rules creating a competitive dimension (differentiating from "hobby" which does not require competition), and that a "sport" is a particular kind of game where the recreational activity requires a degree of physical skill (unlike other subsets, like party games, board games, educational games, kid's games, etc) and may be related to one's work (or BE one's work). I fully acknowledge that these categories are not cut and dried, but that's another conversation. Although, sure, we can have that conversation too. but where along the "physical activity" continuum does sport begin? tiddlywinks? chess? shuffleboard? competitive video-gaming? curling? pool? fishing? drag racing? dog-racing... actually there is no human physical activity at ALL in dog-racing; should the activity be a human activity to be deemed a sport? should a sport require objective scoring systems, or do exhibitions of physical skill with subjective (judge-based) scoring fit within a working definition of "sport"? ANd if it does, does a critic's review of a dance performance (with either a thumbs up or down, or a numeric star rating) make that dance a sport? Serious minds want to know.

Centerfield Feb 10 2014 09:06 AM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

My friends and I have debated this many times. Best we could come up with is this: *All games involving physical activity require some degree of hand-eye coordination. *Some games involving physical activity require some degree of athleticism (how fast you run, how high you jump, strength, reflexes, flexibility). If the activity in question gives an advantage to the superior athlete, then by our definition, it qualifies as a sport. Sometimes the advantage of the superior athlete is insurmountable. However, just because superior hand-eye coordination can outweigh an athletic advantage, does not make it less of a sport, so long as the superior athlete walks in with an advantage. Three Examples to Illustrate: Sprinting: The fastest man wins the 100 meter every time. No amount of hand-eye or strategy outweighs this advantage. Clearly a sport. Tennis: is a sport by this definition. If you take two people who have never played before and have equal hand-eye coordination, logic dictates that the better athlete will win a majority of those matchup. However, if you take a 50 year old John McEnroe, and pit him against an olympic decathlete who has never picked up a tennis racket before, McEnroe wins that match. Athlete has the advantage, but an experienced player with better hand-eye can overcome this advantage. Billiards: Not a sport by this definition. The only factor in billiards is hand-eye coordination. That one of the competitors can outrun, outjump, and outlift his competitor has no impact on the outcome. (Clarified on edit)

Ceetar Feb 10 2014 09:19 AM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

Centerfield wrote: My friends and I have debated this many times. Best we could come up with is this: *All games involving physical activity require some degree of hand-eye coordination. *Some games involving physical activity require some degree of athleticism (how fast you run, how high you jump, strength, reflexes, flexibility). If the activity in question gives an advantage to the superior athlete, then by our definition, it qualifies as a sport. Of course, superior hand-eye coordination can outweigh an athletic advantage, but in a sport, the superior athlete should walk in with an advantage. So take, for instance, tennis is a sport by this definition. If you take two people who have never played before and have equal hand-eye coordination, logic dictates that the better athlete will win a majority of those matchup. However, if you take a 50 year old John McEnroe, and pit him against an olympic decathlete who has never picked up a tennis racket before, McEnroe wins that match. On the other hand, billiards is not. The only factor in billiards is hand-eye coordination. That one of the competitors can outrun, outjump, and outlift his competitor has no impact on the outcome. What about the mental strategy aspect of the games with only hand-eye coordination? Take chess, or Curling, or archery. If two people with equal physical skills play, they're probably not going to play equally. One person is going to grasp the strategy better, make utilize the hand-eye coordination better. Take into account the wind in archery, or gravity, or see more moves in advance in Curling and chess and figure out what to do, with equal skills, to win those games. And it's not like mental strategy is absent from games, or from spectators, like tennis. You can see a player pushed back, or drop shots over the net, and root for and be excited by it. So isn't that still sport?

Centerfield Feb 10 2014 09:21 AM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

Back to curling, it is the only "sport" one can engage in during long layovers at the airport. All you need are: 1. Rolling luggage 2. An area of the floor where there are lines/tiles/some other straight edge. Approach and release your rolling luggage. Designate a spot ahead of you as the target line. Have your kids count how many RyanFeet or StellaFeet (name changes depending on the name of your child) your luggage has strayed from the original center point. Hours of fun. It is also helpful to have duty-free stores to distract your wife while you and the kids conduct your competition.

Ceetar Feb 10 2014 09:25 AM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

USA is embarrassing themselves meanwhile. (airs at 5 on NBCS i think)

Vic Sage Feb 10 2014 09:37 AM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

i can live with our national inability to sweep and roll stuff at a championship level.

RealityChuck Feb 10 2014 09:39 AM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

I just wish we could see more Team Handball. That's a great sport just waiting to catch on.

Ceetar Feb 10 2014 09:43 AM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

and stupid NBC has no curling during prime time in favor of yet another dancing thing. So boring.

Frayed Knot Feb 10 2014 09:47 AM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

Centerfield wrote: Back to curling, it is the only "sport" one can engage in during long layovers at the airport. You can also engage in curling while drinking. That fact alone recommends it highly.

Ceetar Feb 10 2014 09:53 AM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

Frayed Knot wrote: Centerfield wrote: Back to curling, it is the only "sport" one can engage in during long layovers at the airport. You can also engage in curling while drinking. That fact alone recommends it highly. Also, others can drink while you're curling, which can be hilarious when you factor in the low-friction surface.

Vic Sage Feb 10 2014 03:28 PM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

actually i think drinking is mandatory either to curl or to observe curling.

Frayed Knot Feb 10 2014 04:59 PM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

Vic Sage wrote: actually i think drinking is mandatory either to curl or to observe curling. It should even be part of the rules: while you're sliding along getting ready to release the stone with the one hand you are required to hold a drink in your left with points getting taken off if you spill.

Ceetar Feb 11 2014 05:54 AM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

Vic Sage wrote: actually i think drinking is mandatory either to curl or to observe curling. if drinking is mandatory to watch curling, what do you need to do to watch figure skating? Grain alcohol?

Vic Sage Feb 11 2014 09:32 AM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

crack.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 11 2014 09:53 AM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

Magic. Or bath salts.

Ceetar Feb 16 2014 09:34 PM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

[youtube:fpebbmz0]ur4stgoS99U[/youtube:fpebbmz0]

batmagadanleadoff Feb 16 2014 09:47 PM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

We went through a brief phase in elementary school to see who could spit the farthest. That could be a sport. I remember learning that you could spit farther if you'd just finished drinking some orange juice. Also, if you had one of those snot congestion colds, you could inhale with your nose to suck up the snot into your mouth. Phlegm laced saliva travels farther.

Zvon Feb 16 2014 10:41 PM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

batmagadanleadoff wrote: We went through a brief phase in elementary school to see who could spit the farthest. That could be a sport. I remember learning that you could spit farther if you'd just finished drinking some orange juice. Also, if you had one of those snot congestion colds, you could inhale with your nose to suck up the snot into your mouth. Phlegm laced saliva travels farther. Loogie Spitting

Mets – Willets Point Feb 16 2014 10:45 PM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

Watching Russia-Great Britain women's curling right now. I'm obsessed.

Zvon Feb 19 2014 09:52 PM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 20 2014 11:54 PM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

"This is nature at its most vulnerable... look how happy it makes them." So good.

Vic Sage Feb 21 2014 08:08 AM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

a day at a nordic senior center: grandpa plays shuffleboard while grandma sweeps, and the other residents stand around and watch.

Ceetar Feb 21 2014 08:19 AM Re: In Bonspiel Thread

Canada Women went completely undefeated on their way to a Gold medal and now the men are destroyed Great Britain for the gold.