On Ice
"Sir, sir! The peasants are revolting!" "Yeah, they stink on ice."
OK, gotta weigh in with this. Dig it or not. Your call.
I see a lot of hockey talk here. No sweat. It's just not my deal. I've lived near the Mexican border nearly my whole damn life, so you can guess how big hockey is down in the desert. Yeah, we got the Coyotes, but it's kinda like the Phoenix Cardinals --- no one really cares deep down except the snowbirds (and even THEY don't care about the Cardinals.)
So, if I don't chime in on the hockey, it's because I'm not gonna be the guy who tries to yap it up when he don't know the score. We got a drive-time sports DJ in the afternoons here in Tucson -- he's kind of a tool, but hey. Whaddayado. But he spent a half hour the other day telling us that he doesn't know hockey and doesn't want to talk about it. What a frickin waste of time. I'm not gonna be that guy.
So instead, I'll waste your time with a story from a couple of months ago about another ice sport I sampled, that frankly I should have had even less of a chance to play than hockey.
---
Back in March, I had to go to Fargo, North Dakota for a funeral. I was up there nearly a week. One night late in the week, my cousins and I got restless and had to go do something. And there ain't a hell of a lot to do in Fargo on a Thursday. After we exhausted our inner Lebowskis at the bowling alley, we were still bored and a little buzzed from tossing back pitchers of bowling alley brew.
Turns out that one of my cousins had connections.
Gentlemen --- I give you curling.
My cousin had an in with the owner of the Fargo-Moorhead Curling Club. After the curling league finished for the night, we got the run of the place. It was the first --- and likely only -- time I'll probably ever get the chance. I admit to being a little skeptical at first. Seriously --- it looks like shuffleboard on ice. But for a shining couple of hours, I got to live out my Olympic dream. And man law says that a sport you can play while drinking beer is OK.
A few observations :
1) It's a lot harder than it looks. Really tricky to push off with enough speed to let go of the rock without slowing yourself down from friction on the ice.
2) Sweeping in front of the rock is fun, but ultimately it looks as silly in person as it does on TV.
3) Gotta love a curling rink where the soda machine is stocked with beer. Buck a can. Glory days.
4) For my money, this was a pretty pimp rink. Had a few rows of bleachers with TV's pointed over the targets. So your posse could chill and watch the action.
Maybe you Seattle-ites already are down with curling -- I doubt it, but you never know. I see you have the only dedicated curling club on the West Coast.
It's good for saying you did it once for the braggin' rights anyway.
OK, gotta weigh in with this. Dig it or not. Your call.
I see a lot of hockey talk here. No sweat. It's just not my deal. I've lived near the Mexican border nearly my whole damn life, so you can guess how big hockey is down in the desert. Yeah, we got the Coyotes, but it's kinda like the Phoenix Cardinals --- no one really cares deep down except the snowbirds (and even THEY don't care about the Cardinals.)
So, if I don't chime in on the hockey, it's because I'm not gonna be the guy who tries to yap it up when he don't know the score. We got a drive-time sports DJ in the afternoons here in Tucson -- he's kind of a tool, but hey. Whaddayado. But he spent a half hour the other day telling us that he doesn't know hockey and doesn't want to talk about it. What a frickin waste of time. I'm not gonna be that guy.
So instead, I'll waste your time with a story from a couple of months ago about another ice sport I sampled, that frankly I should have had even less of a chance to play than hockey.
---
Back in March, I had to go to Fargo, North Dakota for a funeral. I was up there nearly a week. One night late in the week, my cousins and I got restless and had to go do something. And there ain't a hell of a lot to do in Fargo on a Thursday. After we exhausted our inner Lebowskis at the bowling alley, we were still bored and a little buzzed from tossing back pitchers of bowling alley brew.
Turns out that one of my cousins had connections.
Gentlemen --- I give you curling.
My cousin had an in with the owner of the Fargo-Moorhead Curling Club. After the curling league finished for the night, we got the run of the place. It was the first --- and likely only -- time I'll probably ever get the chance. I admit to being a little skeptical at first. Seriously --- it looks like shuffleboard on ice. But for a shining couple of hours, I got to live out my Olympic dream. And man law says that a sport you can play while drinking beer is OK.
A few observations :
1) It's a lot harder than it looks. Really tricky to push off with enough speed to let go of the rock without slowing yourself down from friction on the ice.
2) Sweeping in front of the rock is fun, but ultimately it looks as silly in person as it does on TV.
3) Gotta love a curling rink where the soda machine is stocked with beer. Buck a can. Glory days.
4) For my money, this was a pretty pimp rink. Had a few rows of bleachers with TV's pointed over the targets. So your posse could chill and watch the action.
Maybe you Seattle-ites already are down with curling -- I doubt it, but you never know. I see you have the only dedicated curling club on the West Coast.
It's good for saying you did it once for the braggin' rights anyway.
posted by D-Money at 6:37 PM
9 Comments:
Good use of Man Law....although at some point D-Money will need to be informed of "Lodge Rules"
Not quite sure where to go with this one.....
I gotta say, out of everyone I know...I like a good rant...but I have a sour taste in my mouth after the first paragraph explaining how unimportant Arizona's major sports teams are to the residents of that fine state......so I may just abstain for now and chime in on this after the bile has receded from my throat.
Gotta say...LOVE Tuxson....Love it....miss it. But, for some reason...I don't miss Arizona...is that possible?
...oh yeah....YAY Curling! ...seriously though, where can I play? I'd love to try and mix any sport with a few pints. Fact is, I'm pretty pissed that I can't find a nice Bocce' club around here. WTF?!
beeeer in a vending machine!?!?!
Hockey and football don't have giant support outside of Phoenix. Hockey because of marketing and geography. But the football is squarely because of 20 years of Bidwill failure. When your high point is Jake Plummer, you've got serious issues.
That being said, the Suns and the D-Backs have HUGE support statewide, and have had that support for a long time. So we're not completely oblivious to sports down here. I think the Coyotes are still seen as a novelty, and the current state of the NHL's recovery from labor issues and their crummy national TV exposure don't help. As far as the Cardinals.... they suck, they always have sucked, and the ownership doesn't seem to care.
But the Cards are the frontrunners for the NFC West this season, right?
....just like they have been for the last two?
Maybe we can build the Renton Events Center and bring that lame ass hockey team up here......I actually enjoyed catching a few games when I was down in Tucson...both the Coyotes and those UofA Wildcats at the old TCC!
as for the post overall d-money. i agree with sean that the intro need more "oomph" to it. especially on your trial period you need to bring out some raw material. i post just weird stuff, but it puts a bang into the lodge consciousness that duke is "the strange one". everyone has a niche or compliments each others points of interest. consider what points of interest have been lacking.
i really do like your focus on tv watching - and as much as we do get inundated with sports material - pop headsup on tv broadcasts new & old is a good place to go, especially with a new perspective you could bring to light more information.
this is not meant to nudge you one way, but it is good to explore areas of interest needed and what you are nerdy about.
I had an opportunity to go curling in Seattle a couple of years ago, but missed out. I think it's an interesting sport, and if it's on CBC and nothing else is on, I'll definately check it out!
I love the topic, random, I'm not a perfect poster so I'm not one to criticize. Great Topic!
everyone's a critic...but I think Duke brought up some good points above...
As for AZ sports...Here is my top 5(and I believe only five) list of the only times I've ever rooted teams from AZ:
1-Dbacks over the Yankees
2-UA to win the NCAA (good for the Pac 10, and they played a good brand of bball)and I think they were playing UK, which always makes me root for the other team unless that team be Duke, FLA or OSU
3-Steve Nash vs. Kobe last year
4-Steve Nash vs. the Mavs last year
5-The Cardinals to beat the Bears on MNF,
That's it...I will give you that it's a much better state than Floridaaaaaaaaaa, but it's hard for me to trust a place that doesn't have 200+ days of rain and overcast...maybe that's just me
*special mention goes to whenever USC,Cal or ORE play ASU or AU in football, but that can be said for any team Cal, USC or ORE play...
As for Curling, I always thought of it as something that existed on TV, but never crossed over to real-life until now...nice story...
See, now this is what I'm talking about. Originality... check. Good story-telling that Goose told us about... check. Beer vending machines... bonus.
As for Arizona... I like the Airport.
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