Curling, Etcetera_ A Whole Bunch of Stuff About the Roaring Game - Bob Weeks [36]
5. Throw in one of them miniature-golf windmills.
4. Instead of a granite stone, use the frozen head of Walt Disney.
3. 40% of final score comes from the swimsuit competition.
2. You don’t think curling is exciting? What are you, insane?
1. First place gets gold medal, the rest are sent to Camp X-Ray.
CURLING ART
There are a number of remarkable curling paintings around the world, but few that match the impressiveness of Charles Lees’ work of the Grand Match that took place January 25, 1848. Titled “The Grand Match at Linlithgow Loch,” it shows what appears to be a wild game of curling with men in top hats and full dress. According to historian Bob Cowan, the curling was between 35 teams from the north and 35 from the south. Reportedly, 6,000 people were present. The painting of this event showed only a small number of these folks, and many notables of Scottish curling are represented. In fact, Cowan stated, there is evidence to suggest that Lees travelled to the homes of curlers to sketch them. The painting was completed in 1849, and the Royal Caledonian Curling Club purchased it in 1898. For many years, it hung in the curling club at Perth. In 2006, Sotheby’s appraised the work at £500,000. The work now hangs in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.
TV PAY DAY
Ed Werenic and Russ Howard
The TSN Skins Game is an innovative, made-for-television event that was developed at a time when curling was suffering from plenty of low-scoring, defensive play that left audiences snoring. It not only became one of the most popular curling events for viewers, but also one of the most lucrative for curlers. A few notes about the skins:
• The idea for the format was developed by Jim Thompson, then vice-president of TSN, and entrepreneur Doug Maxwell. They decided to break all the rules in building a new event that would sell to television audiences.
• The event has been held in all ten provinces as well as the Yukon.
• McCain Foods sponsored the tournament from 1989 to 2004, then it went dormant until 2007, when it was revived and held at Ontario’s Casino Rama.
• The highest payout for a single skins game came in 2004 when Kevin Martin earned $100,500.
• Wayne Middaugh has been a member of seven winning teams and has earned a total of $365,750 in his skins game appearances.
• A women’s version of the skins game was held for eight years but dropped in 2003.
CURLER STATS
Who are curlers? If they live in Canada, there’s a pretty good idea of their profile, demographically speaking, thanks to the Print Measurement Bureau, a research organization aimed at the print media.
Here’s who the Canadian Curler is as of 2006:
• one of 754,000 Canadians
• 55 per cent are male
• between the ages of 35 and 49
• lives in a community between 500,000 and one million residents
• lives in a rural prairie location
• 20 per cent have a university degree
• had an annual household income between $75,000 and $99,000
• 49 per cent engage in volunteer activities
• a majority also golfed or fished
CURLING IN TELEVISION COMMERCIALS
Curling has appeared numerous times in commercials, being used to sell everything from beer to cellphones. Here are some of the more memorable commercials.
Advertiser: Cialis (a drug for erectile dysfunction)
A man is shown delivering a stone, and in doing so falls and appears to be injured. His wife comes to comfort him, and he announces that he’d better quit because of the injury. The next scene shows the couple leaving the club for their car, and the woman confronts her husband about his “injury,” which appears to have suddenly healed. A large Cialis logo then appears.
Advertiser: Labatt Beer
A snowy street scene is the opening shot of this commercial, with a hot dog cart as the central feature. The operator of the cart is putting it into place for the day and drops a bag of buns. When he bends down to pick them up, he lets go of the cart, which starts to slide down the street, turning like a curling