Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Why Not An Outdoor Curling Classic?


Over at the (no longer Canadian) Curling News blog, there are some links to a fine story about ice God Hans Wuthrich’s work with the outdoor ice classic the NHL is running in Chicago on Jan. 1. If Hans has anything to do with it, the Red Wings and Blackhawks will have good ice.
But that got me wondering why we don’t stage a big outdoor curling event? Certainly there have been lots of outdoor exhibitions, including one at Rockefeller Plaza in NY, NY. A few years ago there was a big event at High Park in Toronto where they played on Grenadier Pond. There was even an attempt at throwing the longest rock, i.e. they built a strip of curling ice a few hundred feet in length and tried to see how far someone could throw it. I remember John Kawaja tossed it a pretty fair distance but I can’t remember if it was a record of any kind.
I also know there are lots of folks who curl outside for fun across the country. Gord Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies has a set of curling rocks at his cottage that he uses for an annual spiel.
But rather than some sort of fun exhibition, why not make it a televised event, with money on the line. A serious competition. How about moving the TSN Skins Game outside? Maybe you could hold a cash event outdoors? Sure some curlers would complain because the ice conditions wouldn’t be great if the weather was off, but imagine the attention and the notoriety it would give the game?
What have you got to lose?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

We want to do just that. Winter 2011 - I'll keep you posted!!