Show Section Sunday November 23 2003 Page The Herald Journal 7j 1 t ' ' V Carl Malaret left arid Dan Sorenson members of The Dudes" team sweep ahead of ' a stone during a game at Saturday's Bonspiel s y s i ' - N s ' S’ - b ' 7 ' ' - ' AT vi' If Jj I-- : mentally tt- - and alot Of fun' “It’s a cool game once you start playing” Dan Sorenson of Ogden said during a break in last Sunday 'competition' ' 'Curling can be described as lawn bowling 40- played on a long narrow stretch of ice using stones The four players on a pound team deliver two stones each toward the house which consists of a “tee” or bullseye surrounded by circles with diameters of 4 8 and 12 feet The ' ' team with thestone closest to the tee after each “end” or round of 16 stones receives one point for each stone that is nearer to the tee than any of the opposition's stones A full game usually con- sistsof lOends The sweeping jsdonc to reduce' friction on the ice which has been sprayed with warm water to create the pebbled effect The reduced fric-- tion speeds the stone up and decreas- es the effect of its spin Sorenson who weighs 260 pounds said that on some ice surfaces sweeping can increase the distance of a throw by as much as 15 feet Tf I lean into it I can move a rock? he said “It’s all physics” The person delivering a stone stands in a “hack” which is the equivalent of starting blocks in a running race Curling shots aren't always aimed at the tee They can be used to knock an opponent’s stone ' out of position to guard a scoring stone or to knock a teammate’s stone into better position : The sport is immensely popular in the Great Lakes region as well as in Canada and Alaska — basically in ' places where there’s a lot of ice ed : : team-mate- ’s Text by John Wright ' ' '4- V- ' yK? - j ’ ' ' Although it is difficult to understand for newr comers and outsiders curling participants say the sport is highly challenging —both physically and : s - ut " “i ! 12-ho- ur ' r ‘ ‘ Crown-- v "iX'v ' and restaurants where participants can gathejr and play all night V'-"V - S vrV--“That’s what people want to start doingin Utah” Sorensoln said adding that the Ogden-- ' ' curling clubrecehtlypurchased a building foi1 a ' club “That's when it’s really fun’V V' ' The Cache Valiey Stone Society was x V bv Jason' started shortly after the Qlynipics (' '$£££' ' and Dan Gerbec Swan Dougli Jacksnn-Smit- h Qv ’ The club has about 40 members and practices-- 1 v ? A' ' eachMunday from 6 pin to Spm: at the '' Ice Center Eccles ' Gerbec who's from Canada said he's beep a fan of curiingall his life hut only started- ' playing-fivyears ago when he joined the Ogden club which was created to support the Olympic eftbrt ' ' Gerbec who's lived in jUigan for 2 12 ' years said the Ogdcn Club has been instrumen- j tal in supporting the Cache Valley club For exampje the Ogden club loaned scoreboards and many of the stories which' cost $1 50 to ' $200 each for last week’s event: over hackwainl ‘They ’ye bcen bending " to help us” he said Gerbec is also heavily involved with youth hockey in Cache Valley ‘This is pretty much my seairid home” he said oif the Eccles Ice Center ' He said that like hockey curling has the ' potential to become a legitimate in youth sport Cache Valley For ' ' example he noted that there was a : team from Utah State University at the Bonspiel Tf they can get enough support ' from the 'university they’d be able to enter national playdowns” Jic '' said adding that he’d also like to ' get younger kids involved “As this grows there’s np reason we " can’t have some youth curling and there’s no reason we can’t send some kids from Cache Valley to nationals” Neil Womack 17 was one of several members of the Ogden youth club which sent a team to ' nationals last year Womack who was also inspired by the Olympics said lie's been curling ' for about two years “I started getting good at it and tfiey asked me if I wanted to " first-everRo- vrf ' ' irig is done at isocial clubs Which include bars : n s - ? ' V-- - 4ji Sorenson said he began curling whehhe lived in ' Alaska fter receiving the signals from his skip the the slope toward the V player in the' hack delivers V V ' ' house: : As the stone slides down the pebbled rink the hack yells “Sweep it get it there hard hard keep it straight'’ The other two members of the team run along- - y sidethe stone frantically brushing the ice with- - their brooms in front it trying to get it to move ' - faster or curve less It's called ciirling and after getting a boost from the 2002 Olympics it’s a sport that’s quick-- 7 ' ly gaining popularity in Cache Valley and ' ' throughout Utah' ’ Last Saturday the Cache Valley Stone Society a local curling dub hosted its slide Bonspiel Ten curling teams from through-oevent which Utah competed in the was the first leg in the Utah Curling Triple ' vvt r V- A®- ' I4 S''"'" - : - : ' : " : ‘ Middle photo: Competitors watch the progress of a stone after it was dsKveted by Mary Sinnot Above: Sweeping ahead of a stone incraaeee the dntance it travels on its way to the house 1 - : ’ See STONES on C7 Photos by Mitch Mascaro |