Curling: a game played on ice, especially in Scotland
and Canada, in which large round flat stones are slid across the surface
towards a mark. Members of a team use brooms to sweep the surface of
the ice in the path of the stone to control its speed and direction. - OED
1. It is simple. Curling is a sport played between two team of four players. Each player throws two stones (17-20 kg lumps of granite) from one end of the 45m ice rink to the other. Players from each team alternate throwing stones. Once all eight stones have been thrown the team with the stone closest to the centre of the target (aka the button) gets points equal to the number of their stones closer to the button than any of the stones of the other team. Stones which do not touch any of the three rings (the house) don't count for points and any stone which does not cross the second 'hog line'- dark line in the picture labelled HOL- or which hits the sides of the 5m wide rink are removed from play . This is repeated 10 times (10 "ends") and the team with the most points wins.
Obviously the team throwing the last stone in each end has an advantage to that privilege is given to the team which did not score in the last end.
Additional rules:
The stone cannot be touched by any player or with a broom once it has touched the first "hog line" - dark lines in the figure above. However two players from the thrower's team can use brooms to slightly melt the ice to adjust the stone's trajectory until it crosses the 'tee-line' - the line across the middle of the target- after which one player from either team can sweep the ice to move the stone.
Finally since the early 2000s there is a "free-guarding rule" where until the first four stones have been thrown any stones which stop in front of the rings (the house) but beyond the hog line cannot be removed from play to prevent overly defensive play.
2. It is complex. The skill required to slide a 20kg lump of granite 45m on a curved path potentially ricocheting off other stones and have it stop within millimetres (yes I have seen games won or lost by a matter of millimetres) of its intended target is astounding. Beyond the skill of hitting your target are the many different shots and strategies used in a single game. The simple rules allow a huge variety of strategies to be employed by various teams making each and every end unique. The factors to consider when deciding how to throw each stone include everything from the player's individual abilities, to how well used (and thus more slippery) different parts of the ice sheet (aka rink) are, and from the positions of the stones in the house to how far into the game the end is. Sometimes the teams are careful and the play can be dull other-times they take risks or get forced by their opponents into playing extremely difficult, nail-biting shots. And unlike more fast-paced sports as a spectator you often end up holding your breath as the tension builds from the initial discussions of which shot to try, to the lining up of the shot, to the 30 seconds of agony while the stone slides down the ice to end either in euphoric success or the despair of failure.
3. No Performance Enhancing Drugs. Since curling is a sport of precision and strategy rather than strength or endurance there is no point in players using performance enhancing drugs like steroids or EPO. In addition, curling careers regularly last decades because the bodies of the players aren't destroyed in the process of playing - for instance Jennifer Jones representing Canada at Sochi has been playing in major championships since 2002 and Kevin Martin competed in both the 2002 and 2010 winter Olympics. In contrast it is uncommon for competitive skiers to get more than one or two shots at participating in the Olympics and hockey players frequently end up with serious brain damage in their later years.
4. Minimal technology. Most of the technology involved in curling has gone into making the ice as even as possible which evenly benefits all competitors equally. In contrast to sledding events where the outcome can be decided by the design of the sled, helmet or outfit used by the competitors. The stones are generally provided by the host not brought with the players and are so highly regulated the granite must come from one of two particular mines in the UK. The only real team-specific innovation has been the move from corn brooms to synthetic brushes for sweeping which had such little effect on the game that it took many years of arguing and collecting data to decide brushes are superior to brooms.
5. Sportsmanship. Curling is a sport that really lives up to the sportsmanship ideals espoused by most sport-organizations. It is expected that players will call their own rule violations and the vice-skips (the second in command of each team) will agree amongst themselves the score for each end. Only when if it is too close to call (less than a centimetre difference) will a sport official be called to use the fancy measuring device to determine which stone is closer to the button. Finally, unlike other sports in curling it is considered honourable to concede the game if a team determine it is implausible for them to win, so in reality curling games generally last between 8 and 11 ends (11 if it is a tie after the 10th end). In fact the 2006 Olympics Men's final should have lasted only 6 ends (Finland was down 3 to Canada's 10 and wanted to concede) except that the rules now require major championship games to last at least 8 ends (to facilitate TV broadcasting schedules).
Lastly, curler's can be just as sexy as athletes from other sports.
