THE WINTER OLYMPICS have dominated NBC programming at nights and on weekends, as the event has been held in a lovely city to our north and west — Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It’s a beautiful setting and a beautiful city, teeming with healthy young athletes from all over the world.

There are many events which I do not watch, but others which have long been favorites. The ski jump is one of the events I recall from my childhood, probably the main winter event I have always watched. I also enjoy the speed skating and speed skiing events.

The newer events — such as ski boarding — have added to the beauty and excitement of the winter Olympics. I get a kick out of watching the young men and women compete in this free-wheeling run down the half pipe. Watching someone complete three 360-degree spins in the air is pretty exciting stuff.

The figure skating can also be captivating. I like the couples best, as that combines the beauty and athleticism with the additional component of team work. It’s one thing to skate that well by oneself. It is quite another to do that in unison with a partner, or to do it while holding that partner aloft.

I have never been a hockey fan, but I can always get interested in seeing a smaller country such as the Czech Republic trying to beat a large, perennial power such as Russia.

THE EVENT I have most come to enjoy, however, is curling. Until a few years ago, I completely ignored curling and considered it a silly game that had no place in the Olympics. It’s clearly a game of skill, although not so much one of athleticism.

Curling is similar to shuffle board, but with large rocks slid down an ice runway toward a target on the ice. A game consists of 10 ends, which is the term for something we might call an “inning” in baseball. Each team has eight rocks to play in each end, so there are 80 rocks for each side. Scoring takes place only at the completion of an end, based upon the arrangement of the rocks. The objective is to get as many of one’s team’s rocks on the target and closer to the center than the other team’s rocks.

If at the conclusion of an end there are two of my team’s rocks closer to the center than the closest rock from your team, my team gets two points for that end. There is a running score kept, based upon the results of each of the ten ends.

A shooter from one team places their rock somewhere down the ice by pushing it, releasing it before crossing a line, much like bowling. The rock slides down the lane and stops when the force behind the throw abates. In order to make the rock slide further or faster, teammates of the shooter will sweep in front of the sliding rock to make it go faster or slide a certain direction. The movement of the rock can be influenced by the spin the shooter puts on the rock, much as used in bowling, or even billiards. When the rock that is shot collides with rocks shot in earlier turns, the dynamic is much like combinations shots seen in pool.

THERE IS much strategy in curling, and the participants huddle often and openly to discuss the shot they wish to make and how to make it. This makes curling somewhat unique. I don’t know of any other Olympic event where the viewer and opposing teams can hear a team talk about what they’re getting ready to try, and why.

NBC tricks me into watching curling. I will be watching the afternoon business news on CNBC — partly to find out the numbers for the day, and partly to find out what spin the Wall Street talking heads will try to put on those numbers. Then, at 4:00 p.m., NBC preempts the regular broadcasting and I find myself unintentionally watching curling.

I used to laugh every time I saw curling. I always figured it had to be invented by some Canadian husband whose wife in mid winter screamed “get these kids outside playing a game, and if you don’t have one, grab some brooms and make one up!” Dad dutifully grabbed a couple of brooms, a couple of lumps of coal, and herded the kids outside to the icy sidewalk, where he drew up a target and commenced the game.

“Now, Winston, you stand down there and shove the rock at the target, eh, and Billy and Luke, you boys skate down here beside it, sweeping aboot (Canadian for “about”) a foot or two in front of the rock as it slides.”

That’s how I have always imagined it. As much as I enjoy my version, I decided to find out how the game really came to be. Turns out the Scottish invented it in the icy winters north of England. There are paintings which date to the mid 1500s which show people playing curling. There is a curling stone that has the date 1511 inscribed on it. The Scottish Highlands would have no shortage of ice or large granite rocks, so add brooms and a flat surface and you have curling.

While it is not a Canadian game by origin, it is a thoroughly Canadian game. It is ridiculously civilized. There’s cheering on one’s own team, but not a hint of animosity toward the other team. When one team deems itself too far behind, that team forfeits. Just Sunday, the women’s U.S. team got down by 8 stones at the end of the seventh end. Even though there were three ends remaining, the U.S. team conceded the game to Canada, because they deemed the lead insurmountable. There is no other Olympic team event in which one team simply says “you’re too far in front, let’s call it a game.”

There’s a strategy that evolves in the game, and it’s quite interesting to watch. It is a slow paced game, and easy to watch while doing other things. That works for me. I hardly ever watch any sporting event without having at least one other thing going on. Curling can be easily watched while multi tasking.

It’s a fun game to watch. Give it a try.

© 2010, Jim “Pappy” Moore, All Rights Reserved.

Jim “Pappy” Moore is a native son of East Texas who still makes the piney woods his home. oaktreefm58@hotmail.com