Becoming a medal sport changes the nature of the beast. Or at least sharpens its fangs.
Nearly 10 years ago during the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France, curlers playing demonstration games were competitive, but they never tasted gold. Or silver or bronze, for that matter. They came from curling clubs throughout the world. Most had curled together since they were kids at the local ice sheet. They even gave the perception they were social animals. Losers buy the drinks.
Then came Nagano in 1998. Winners wore gold, silver and bronze around their necks. In the past decade, teams have hired trainers and sports psychologists. They don't "throw" (curling term for sliding a granite rock along the ice) twice a week. They practice daily. They still compete with long-time friends. A curler will always be a social animal. They are known for their sportsmanship and camaraderie with opposing athletes. But curling teams (or "links" in curling terms) now comprise the best from throughout a region or even a country.
"We've taken it to another level," said Lisa Schoeneberg, curling coordinator for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Games. "It's a different game now. After Nagano, more teams started getting the best players on their teams and got teams together that they felt could get to the Games. The whole build-up was to get to the Games."
And they'll be here in February. Ten men's teams and 10 women's teams will compete at the Ice Sheet in Ogden f or the thrill of hearing their own national anthem. In curling, you "throw" a granite stone, which has a handle on it, toward a "house," in the shape of a bull's-eye, on the other end of the ice.
Opponents try, on their separate turns, to knock your rocks out of the house while getting as many in the house as they can. Points are scored according to whose rocks are closest to the center. There are 10 ends (or innings) in each game.
Curling has been called chess or golf on ice. It is believed, according to material from the World Curling Federation, to have developed as a sport in the 16th century in Scotland, where the first evidence of curling was found.
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Predicting curling champions is not easy, as the sport is based greatly on mentality and strategy. (That's not saying curlers aren't fit. "Throwing" 42-pound granite rocks takes strength and flexibility.)
At the world championships this year, the Canadian women won gold. The Canadian men didn't fare as well, finishing fourth; Sweden grabbed gold. The U.S. men finished eighth in overall standings; U.S. women, sixth.
Whoever wins, though, local curlers will be watching, including Jeanne Bruckner of Pleasant View, Weber County, who will be a volunteer on-ice official at the Ice Sheet.
"It's always fun to be able to share your favorite sport, but then to actually watch people who are really the top athletes in that field makes it even more fun," she told the Deseret News.
Bruckner started curling three years ago after watching a Salt Lake Olympic presentation on the various sports. "I fell in love with it. I liked the fact that it's a social sport having really high sports ethics as far as sportsmanship."
She also likes the fact it's a family sport for any age, adult, youth, even children. She has curled with her 14-year-old son, Michael, in bonspiels (curling term for tournament). "I'm hoping that it will really become a popular sport in Utah. I think it fits the culture because it can be a family activity as demonstrated by Michael and me curling together in competition. There aren't many sports where families can get together.
"In our league, we have a grandmother curling with her granddaughter. How many times can you see that in your life? That's pretty common in curling."
Whether together or apart, this seems to be a curling family. Michael Bruckner is headed to the curling junior national championships in January in Kettle Moraine, Wis. His mother curls with the Utah Women's Competitive Curling Team each year now and even went to nationals in Madison, Wis., last year.
She'd like nothing more than to be an "on-ice" athlete in the Olympics in four years.