Is Curling Finished?
This appears to be the first post on this blog in a wrong while. I fear strongly this is a symptom.
I am currently watching the Continental Cup on TSN and have NO motivation to blog about it. Why, I ask myself?
And I think I know.
It is really boring.
And in a way this is shocking.
It is really sad to see the quality of the talent involved in this competition and see the incredibly large number of empty seats, despite TSN's clear efforts at obscuring the lack of bums in seats, and I would guess viewers (though I am here for the moment, but maybe not till the end).
Why do I care about these teams? They are a jumbled-up mix of actual playing teams, and yeah I LOVE watching Carmen Schaefer deliver a rock, but everyone here is playing in some weird artificial tournament, with teams not resembling teams I know and care about, and I would guess also suffering since they are such artificial teams. It is VERY clear that the key elements of communication in teams is utterly eroded by the team jumbling.
What happened? Wasn't curling supposed to pick up steam with its Olympic recognition? And yes it was.
Instead, it seems to have challenged its traditional notions of team formation, in Canada, at least, which is I suspect the only place to have an impact in sponsors.
Instead it seems to have undermined what made curling REALLY work in Canada?
Am I wrong?
All I can say is *I* find it really hard to motivate myself to watch this tournament any more (and have found it really hard the last couple of days).
This is despite the fact that this is REALLY a bunch of the best players in the world. But it is not like the Ryder Cup. It is not just the question of tradition, though that can be a bit of it.
I hope this blog finds new life but for some reason I feel imperiled by the curling world.
We shall see.
posted by Alan Adamson @ 12:02:00 p.m.
2 comments
2 Comments:
That's a shame you're not enjoying watching curling lately.
I've been volunteering at the Continental Cup and watching a bunch of games, and I think it's been a really great event so far. Everyone down at the arena seems to be enjoying it and from what I've seen, the curlers are having a good time! Personally I think it's refreshing to see a game where everyone is relaxed, and have enjoyed the new formats such as mixed, singles and skins. It's not every day you get to see the teams mix up and play these formats, so for me it's been enjoyable.
One explanation to the lack of people in seats is that there is standing room all along the arena, and this area is always full. It seems to me people would rather stand and have that type of view, than sit closer to the ice with an obstructed view, though that's where the camera would pick them out. The standing spectators also have the benefit of moving from one house to the other to see all the action. If all these people sat down instead, the seats would be close to capacity. Also, the weather has been super cold (-25 to -30) and snowy, so road conditions aren't the best. This could also be keeping people at home. Last nights game was reported as a sell out.
It'll be back to normal competition in a few weeks, so I plan on enjoying the last couple days of action from the Continental Cup. Enjoy it for what it is - good fun!
I will try to give it another shot today, though there remains the problem of the NFL competition! Thanks for the clarifying comments!
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