The popularity of curling

[AngeloV]

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/author/chris-zelkovich/ with all the talk of toronto not caring about the Argos... you would expect TFC TV ratings to be awesome... 68000 for their second game?

It is unbelievable how good curling ratings are. I don't know anyone that is a big curling fan.

[rdavies]

Terms change as time passes. Much like the rouge is now called a single by many fans.

Actually, I've noticed in past past few years (seems fueled by increasing American interest on TV) that people have started calling it a rouge again.

[rdavies]

It is unbelievable how good curling ratings are. I don't know anyone that is a big curling fan.

Curlers are, I don't think it is unbelievable at all, it's part of our heritage and still very popular.

[Double Dare]

It is unbelievable how good curling ratings are. I don't know anyone that is a big curling fan.

Maybe because your friends are "Toronto-centric"? Curling is HUGE in the prairies, Martimes/NFLD, northern Ontario. etc. I actually don't like curling (except for some of the female curlers). Let's just keep talking about curling and derail this TFC thread! Ha, ha.

[rdavies]

People may laugh but I think there has been an effort to sex it up.

I always supply empirical evidence to back up my posts :)

Team Yukon


And now back to our regularly scheduled thread

[rdavies]

Maybe because your friends are "Toronto-centric"? Curling is HUGE in the prairies, Martimes/NFLD, northern Ontario. etc. I actually don't like curling (except for some of the female curlers). Let's just keep talking about curling and derail this TFC thread! Ha, ha.

People may laugh but I think there has been an effort possibly benignly insidious (what?) to sex it up. Let's face it the talk of Van 2010 was the "Canadian Cougar" I see the women's game emulating a lot of what golf was doing transitioning way back to Jan Stephenson and of course also modern tennis.

Check out curling now compared to 30 years ago, players are much younger and fitter. There is a great clip of Orest Meleschuk on Youtube back in the early 70s delivering a rock at the World Championships with a smoke in his mouth. And after the end he was either drinking a Pepsi or a beer, none of that hydration science crap for the Big O :) The clip also shows the beginning of the infamous Labonte curse.



And NOW back to our regularly scheduled thread

[Golden Fleece]

It is unbelievable how good curling ratings are. I don't know anyone that is a big curling fan.

Curling is like golf--if you play you want to watch the pros.

Actually, I've noticed in past past few years (seems fueled by increasing American interest on TV) that people have started calling it a rouge again.

Ever since I learned the history of the term rouge I couldn't go back to calling it a single. Glad it's still part of the rules.

[AngeloV]

Curling is like golf--if you play you want to watch the pros.

I like to golf, but can't stand watching it.

[ArgoRavi]

It is unbelievable how good curling ratings are. I don't know anyone that is a big curling fan.

AV, curling is one of those sports that gets lost in the GTA but it is big in many parts of the country. I grew up in northeastern Ontario and it is huge there. My parents, now both in their 80s, watch curling fairly religiously as they curled themselves when they were younger. The large ratings don't surprise me at all. I think that there are quite a few similarities that curling and the CFL have in common in this country (re: popularity).

[Wobbler]

There was so much curling talk (with so little relevance to the TFC thread) that I've separated the two. Both are potentially interesting discussions, but they didn't belong together.

[Wobbler]

FWIW, I like curling. It's accessible but at the same time exotic enough to feel like an Olympics-suitable event, unlike golf. (Maybe I'll change my mind about Olympic golf this summer, but I'm not there yet.)

[rdavies]

AV, curling is one of those sports that gets lost in the GTA but it is big in many parts of the country.

A lot of things seem to get lost in the GTA

[AngeloV]

AV, curling is one of those sports that gets lost in the GTA but it is big in many parts of the country. I grew up in northeastern Ontario and it is huge there. My parents, now both in their 80s, watch curling fairly religiously as they curled themselves when they were younger. The large ratings don't surprise me at all. I think that there are quite a few similarities that curling and the CFL have in common in this country (re: popularity).

Oh, I get that Ravi. I do occasionally watch for a bit while channel surfing, but my point was that it isn't exactly "office chatter" material. to get over a million viewers is huge no matter what you are talking about in Canada. I find it hard to believe that the number gets that high without a decent GTA number as well.

[rdavies]

Curling has something that few sports have and seems to get lost in discussions about it. And that is, intimacy, or almost reality TV. How many sports use audio to such an extent? Very few that I can think of. Are we able to go into a football huddle and listen to Ricky Ray call the plays? Nope. Do we hear manager John Gibbons talking to his pitcher when he's about to get yanked, nope. You hear that in curling though.

It's also nice to watch something without the ridiculous posturing and in your face crap of a lot of bad Muhammad Ali imitators.

Curl power: Olympic sport is sweeping up fans
Due to Games, ‘shuffleboard on ice’ is drawing fans in bars, Google searches
Mike Celizic TODAY contributor 2/25/2010

For four years at a time, curling is played with great dedication in various countries around the world and no one notices. But during the Olympics, when entire broadcasting days are given over to matches on NBC’s sister networks USA, CNBC and MSNBC, the sport becomes a favorite.

Everybody wants to watch it — even in bars.

“It’s Friday night. Basketball games are on, and people want to watch curling,” said Gust Hookanson, co-owner of the Lion’s Head bar on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. “We have people that are requesting televisions — multiple televisions — to watch curling. Not the small sets on the side, but the big flat screens over the bar.”

Hookanson obliges the paying customers; a happy crowd is a profitable crowd. But the phenomenal popularity of curling with the viewing public caught him by surprise.

As people watch, they get out their smartphones to find out what the origin and rules of the game are on Google, Hookanson said. The statistics bear him out: Google reported this week that curling is the most-searched Olympic sport, beating out even women’s figure skating.

Full article

[rdavies]

I find it hard to believe that the number gets that high without a decent GTA number as well.

We could get into a whole other debate about the existence of a GTA "bubble" or a disconnect with the ROC.

[rdavies]

a million viewers is huge no matter what you are talking about in Canada.

And I'd say those numbers (for curling) are down from a few years ago.

[Double Dare]

Oh, I get that Ravi. I do occasionally watch for a bit while channel surfing, but my point was that it isn't exactly "office chatter" material.

: ) I work amongst many curlers ... they even have curling trophies and mementoes displayed in their cubicles. I guy I work with took weeks off work to go to some "nationals" or something as a coach that was held in the Northwest Territories. Insane following.

[rdavies]

I like to golf, but can't stand watching it.

Moi aussi

[rdavies]

: ) I work amongst many curlers ... they even have curling trophies and mementoes displayed in their cubicles. I guy I work with took weeks off work to go to some "nationals" or something as a coach that was held in the Northwest Territories. Insane following.

I'd say the social aspect (outside the game) is probably greater than most sports. Many curlers have a big involvement with their club aside from when they are on the ice ie fundraising, social events etc

[Double Dare]

Curling has something that few sports have and seems to get lost in discussions about it. And that is, intimacy, or almost reality TV. How many sports use audio to such an extent? Very few that I can think of. Are we able to go into a football huddle and listen to Ricky Ray call the plays? Nope. Do we hear manager John Gibbons talking to his pitcher when he's about to get yanked, nope. You hear that in curling though.

It's also nice to watch something without the ridiculous posturing and in your face crap of a lot of bad Muhammad Ali imitators.

This is all true (and like I said before, I don't really like curling, I just catch a "end" here or there on TV). You hear all the strategy of each team. Someday, I'm waiting for a F-bomb or two to be dropped by a curler because they are so "miked up". Another big thing is that curling is just as popular (the playing and watching) for both sexes.