Curling, that odd yet entertaining Winter Olympic classic began today in Sochi. You can check out the full schedule for this sport here. The Women's draw is already underway with America going down to Switzerland 7 -4. The Men's Round Robin competition has also begun with the American team losing to Norway 4-7. There is more American curling action coming your way with the Women taking on Russia at 12:00AM and the Men taking on China.
So what exactly IS curling you ask? Well it's very similar to shuffleboar or bocce, except it's on ice. There are two teams with four players who attempt to slide a 44-pound stone across a lane of ice, called a 'sheet', and try to get their stones as close to the target on the other side, the 'house.' Each game at the Olympics features 10 'ends' or innings. Each team throws eight stones back-to-back. The last stone is called the 'hammer' and players often yell when they drop it.
Each member of the team has a specific job, with the more experienced players throwing towards the end of the, well, end. After the stone is thrown, two players follow just in front of the it, sweeping at the ice in the stone's path to slightly alter the stone's direction under the team captain's (or 'skip's) instructions. The winning team is the one with the ston nearest the center of the house or the "button." After the first few throws then, players have to decide whether to go for the button or knock the other team's stones out of scoring range.
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