Curl power: Olympic sport is sweeping up fans
Due to Games, ‘shuffleboard on ice’ is drawing fans in bars, Google searches
Mike Celizic TODAY contributor 2/25/2010
For four years at a time, curling is played with great dedication in various countries around the world and no one notices. But during the Olympics, when entire broadcasting days are given over to matches on NBC’s sister networks USA, CNBC and MSNBC, the sport becomes a favorite.
Everybody wants to watch it — even in bars.
“
It’s Friday night. Basketball games are on, and people want to watch curling,” said Gust Hookanson, co-owner of the Lion’s Head bar on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. “We have people that are requesting televisions — multiple televisions — to watch curling. Not the small sets on the side, but the big flat screens over the bar.”
Hookanson obliges the paying customers; a happy crowd is a profitable crowd. But the phenomenal popularity of curling with the viewing public caught him by surprise.
“I’m scratching my head,” he told TODAY. “It’s shuffleboard on ice.”
But when he thinks about it, it becomes clear. “People look at it and say, ‘Hey, I can do that. It’s like bowling,’ ” Hookanson said.
As people watch, they get out their smartphones to find out what the origin and rules of the game are on Google, Hookanson said. The statistics bear him out: Google reported this week that
curling is the most-searched Olympic sport, beating out even women’s figure skating.
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