I wrote about this last year at this time but it's worth repeating. Wouldn't it be great if the Great Minds of curling would come up with a format for an outdoor curling match. The success of the outdoor classic in hockey shows that an innovative idea might work for the roaring game as well. Of course back in the day, all curling games were outdoors, right? On the frozen locks in Scotland. Heck, they even used to curl on Lake Ontario at the foot of Yonge Street.
Here's the thought -- put the top two teams in the game together, say Martin and Howard, and put in an outdoor sheet in a stadium somewhere. Not a big stadium but something more manageable where you could sell it out. Or, if you could be assured of cold weather (hello Edmonton), how about on a lake or river?
Then, to add to the fun, make the teams use corn brooms.
Sure, the ice would be crappy, but that's half the fun of it. Do it all for charity and get CBC to slap it on TV during the holiday break.
I think it would fly, how about you?
Update: Here's another idea that just came to me. Why not approach the NHL to run a curling game in conjunction with the next outdoor classic, which is supposed to be held at a Canadian site. You could easily build a sheet of curling ice next door to the main rink and feature the curling game as a sort of pre-hockey event. How about it CCA?
I don't know what teams are supposed to be there, but sometime in February there will be some outdoor ice in Nathan Phillips Square to promote the Olympics.
ReplyDeleteNice thought on the outdoor match. If we could get to the point of staging a Grand Match, like they do in Scotland, that would be a dream come true. By the way, "loch" is the proper spelling, not "lock".
ReplyDeleteThey tried this on NBC at Rockafeller Centre with a US and International team (can't remember who) and it was terrible curling due to the conditions. Would need a good icemaker, otherwise it would be slightly better than jam pail curling.
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