Olympic Curling Attracts Wide Audience

February 22nd, 2010

Ah, the Vancouver Olympics. I tend to get a bit attached to my TV whenever the Olympics are on, but instead of getting absorbed in the aerial tricks of Shaun White or the lightning-fast speed of Lindsay Vonn, I have a new obsession: curling.

Curling is not a new sport, though it seems that many people, like me, are just noticing it now. It actually is said to have originated in Scotland during the 16^th century, and it did make a few appearances in the Olympics in the early 20^th century before its official return to the Winter Games roster in 1998.

I think the draw of curling is that it looks like something a regular person can actually do, like bowling. Of course, bowling always looks easy—especially on Wii—until I actually hurl the heavy ball with a resounding thud directly into the gutter. Even though I still feel that I could actually be a contender for the Olympic curling team going to Sochi in 2014, I suspect that my first try at curling would instead involve my sliding ungracefully across the ice on my stomach and bumping my head into one of those heavy granite “rocks.”

My Olympic pipe dream aside, I would love to try curling one day and am quite jealous of those colleges and universities that have teams. Check out this partial list of schools who have competed or still compete in national curling competitions—not surprisingly, these schools are in states notorious for rough winters, so curling must be a good way to warm up during the frigid months:

Bowling Green State University

Cambridge Community College

Carroll College

College of St. Scholastica

Gustavus Adolphus

Harvard University

Hibbing Community College

Lake Forest College

Madison Area Tech

Marquette University

Michigan Tech University

Minot State University

Moorhead State University

North Dakota State University

Rutgers University

St. Olaf College

University of Minnesota at Duluth

University of Minnesota at Morris

University of Wisconsin—most campuses, including Milwaukee and Madison

Williams College

Winona State University

–Barbara Bellesi

Entry Filed under: College Sports