Curling is a team sport played on ice. The Olympic medal sport originated in the 1500′s on the lakes and ponds of Northern Europe. The object of the game is for two teams of four players to slide 42-pound granite rocks down a sheet of ice 130 feet long by 15 feet wide. The rocks are delivered toward the center of a 12-foot diameter target similar to an archery target. The targets are painted into the ice just below the surface at both ends of the sheet of ice, to allow the game to be played back and forth, usually eight or ten times.
I stole the above paragraph from the introduction section of CurlTech, a curling school website because my legs are too sore to write something original. Seriously.
On Friday night, I played the game for the first time. The social committee at work organized it and we figured it might be a nice night out of the house. It wasn’t serious play, really. We played three different teams, each game was limited to 45 minutes with beer and pizza served during the night. We actually only played a total of 8 ends because time ran out. So, in total, I threw 16 rocks and did some sweeping for my teammates. I actually had a great time and thought I did half decent for my first time out.
My first time is probably my last time. When I got up on Saturday morning, I couldn’t move my legs. I have never, never been so sore. For the life of me, I don’t understand how walking back and forth the ice a few times and sliding a couple of stones around would make my upper thighs so stiff and sore I find it near impossible to descend a set of stairs or lower myself to a toilet.
Go ahead, laugh. But it ain’t funny.
