Unusual Sport

I watched a few minutes of the Olympic Swedish and Japanese Women’s Curling Teams last night, while snuggling in bed with my husband. I had never seen the sport before. I was fascinated by their ability to move a large rock so precisely. The sweeping and chatter as it moved down the ice was even more amusing. It looks like fun.

My husband pointed out the physical differences between the Swedish and Japanese teams. He said that I would fit in on the Swedish women’s team since they were tall blond and obviously Svensk. I liked listening to them speak, since I could understand bits of their conversations.

I like the simple bowling game in pubs. The object is to slide the metal puck at the target/pins. Curling is larger scale--on ice. It is a more complex drinking game, which combines shoe skating with shuffleboard. I imagine it could get dangerously sloppy if you’ve had too many neat martinis. (I'd rather have a sweet Lemon Drop with a yummy pimiento stuffed olive on the side.) I also learned that if your team wins, you are expected to get tanked and go streaking, as my husband put it. Woohoo! I’m in!

Anna Bergström, Cathrine Lindahl, Eva Lund and Anette Norberg

"Hard, hurry, hard!"

Those three words are familiar to Canadians who love curling. And really, if you don’t love curling, you're not much of a Canadian.

Sweden is another curling hotbed. But not only do they throw their rocks hard, they like their rock hard. So while Swedish metal band Hammerfall and the reigning women's world curling champions might seem like an odd pairing at first, it's really not.

Hammerfall enlisted the Swedish rink skipped by Anette Norberg to star in their video for "Hearts On Fire," (weird/funny!) a song from the group's 2002 album, Crimson Thunder. The song has been reissued as a single in Sweden to give a boost to Norberg's team as they prepare for the Winter Olympics next month in Turin. (They beat Japan last night.)

"With heavy metal as a source of strength, the girls can now focus on bringing home the gold," guitarist Oscar Dronjak wrote on the band's website.

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