From: Niatpac Krik
Commander, GalacticSurvey Craft N-914
To: Culneaj Dracip
Grand Curator, 143rd
Survey Division
Dear Cul:
Some 14 astral cycles have lapsed since you requested more survey data, but bio-mechanical problems with the ship's archiving system have delayed us. Please forgive our slow response.
As you recall, our survey craft is parked in Status Two orbit above the third planet of a G-Class star in Sector D of the Milky Way galaxy. It is known as "Earth" to its inhabitants and as Terra on our charts. Our designated study zone is identified on Earth maps as the Wasatch Front.
Per your recent information request, we have spent a full semi-lunar rotation monitoring the peculiar cultural phenomenon that is taking place at the northern end of the study zone.
Evidently, it is a recreational diversion of some kind and is commonly referred to as "curling" by the native population.
The Ship's Cultural Anthropologist and his staff admit they are baffled by this so-called "sport" but have pulled together the following analysis:
Curling apparently is accomplished by two personnel units of four people each who congregate on a sheet of ice in a large rectangular structure not unlike our shipboard refrigeration units.
The groups are usually referred to as "teams." The two teams form opposing sides and members then pick up sticks and proceed to shove dense 42-pound stones at each other. At first, we mistook this for a warlike behavior similar to that displayed by the Nocturnal Rockchucker population on Antares Four.Requires Adobe Acrobat.
But we later learned the players, called curlers, are peaceful folk who simply try to win points by strategically placing those stones inside a group of three colorful concentric rings at the opposing end of the floor.
Players call those icy rings "the house," although it is only 12 feet wide and does not have a roof or basement like most Wasatch Front houses.
The small circle in the middle of the house is known as "the tee" or "the button." Since the circle appears to resemble the center of a bull's-eye more than a golfing tee or a clothing fastener, our Linguistics Unit is in a quandary about some of the terminology used in this sport.
They suggest you consider it a separate language from English, which is the most common lingual device used in the geographic area. Perhaps we could designate it "Curlingua" or "Curlspeak."
But I digress. The contest itself consists of eight to 10 divisions called "ends." These are analogous to "innings" in the game of American game of baseball (see previous report comparing Terran sporting institutions with indigenous religions) or an oooglongg in the Polarian game of Skwrrk.
Each player on each team, also called a "rink" to the dismay of our linguistic staff, gets to propel two large stones some 93 feet across the ice and toward the "house" during each "end."
My rudimentary mathematical calculations indicate this adds up to 16 stones per end. Points are scored according to which team has placed stones closest to its button by the end of each end.
While there are usually eight to 10 ends per game, (10 in champinoships round XXXXXX) , there may be as few as seven and as many as 11 or 12 if additional ends are needed to settle ties.
Team members are distinguished by title. The leader is called the "skip" (short for skipper), and the other players are called the "First," the "Second" and the "Third."
The "Skip" oversees strategy and directs where rocks should be placed in and around the house. It is the "Third" who directs play when it comes time for the "Skip" to deliver his stones.
Players, who provide propulsion for the stones by using their legs to push off from a stationary device called "the hack," guide the delivery of each stone using their body and arms in a graceful forward gliding movement.
However, they must release the stone from their grasp by the time they reach a point called "the hog line." Our semantics team has been unable to extrapolate some kind of plausible relationship between "hog lines" and the Terran animals commonly referred to as pigs.
A stone must pass the opposing "hog line" in order to be in play.
Our first impression was that the stones themselves might be semi-sentient creatures, much like the Gwmmsdrrrfs that populate Rigel VI because of their seeming ability to travel independently on a curvilinear route toward the "house."
We have since determined to our considerable embarrassment that conclusion was incorrect.Requires Adobe Acrobat.
Players themselves provide additional external guidance for the stones by twisting on the handle provided on the top of each stone. This creates a gentle curve or "curl" in the travel of the stone -- hence the name "curling."
Each casting of a stone falls into one of three categories.
A "draw" puts a stone in scoring position while a "takeout" strikes an opposing stone hard enough to move it out of play. A "draw" that places one stone in front of another to prevent a "takeout" is termed a "guard."
The final stone cast in each end is called the "hammer" and, as you have probably deduced, can have a substantial impact on the scoring for each end.
One unusual aspect of the sport is the sweeping.
At first inspection, we believed the spectacle provided by two players scouring the ice with brooms ahead of a moving stone was simply a commendable effort by custodial staff to maintain a clean playing surface.
But our inertial engineering section suggests the Terrans may be using the brooms to generate friction that melts the ice slightly and creates a thin film of water that allows the stone to travel longer distances.
Thus, more furious sweeping motions result in a greater length of travel.
Strategy for curling is apparently very complex and takes years to master, so that will have to be the subject of a future supplemental report.
Suffice it to say that the personnel unit with the most stones closest to the tee wins the round.
I hope this report meets your needs, for my staff must now turn its attention to an evaluation of a local political institution called the Utah Legislature that just ended its annual session. Our psychiatric and vocational rehabilitation teams have been tearing their collective hair out trying to figure out what that body really does and why.
You can expect a full report next cycle.
Cordially,
Commander N. Krik,
Galactic Survey Directorate