THE BEST SHOTS OF THE 2007 AND 2008 SAFEWAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

[thephantomerik]

Not all the shots were that great. They should have made this video shorter and only kept the really amazing shots.

[KrazyTea8]

If you don't slide tuck get out of my province

[weasel497]

How did I get here?

[kazooks1]

The olympic officials clearly had sufficient evidence to conclude that curling was a sport. Quite simple really.

[bluto780]

How in God's name did curling become an Olympic sport?

[tgreen3048]

enough said

[mtksbctk]

are there any curling venues in so cal?

[NASSAfellow]

Last shot is awesome

[cashmoneycollecter]

I bet Janitors invented this game

[tgreen3048]

thank u!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BlankJebus]

i love this sport...totally wanna to lean to play it

[marginallymental]

@BlankJebus me too!! Made reservations at the local curling club (who knew there was one?!) for next week. I'll fall on my butt, but that's the price of future greatness -))

[Radamanthyzs]

I never played this, but it seems really hard to master (:

[hurleyhurley84]

haha 'speep' = 'sweep' ;) in my last post.

Also, to fusionstar916's post:

Sweeping the rock would NEVER be considered cheating. Here's why:

1. It allows teams to make better shots. We all want to see better shots!

2. It adds another dynamic to the sport. If you have a bad set of sweepers, you wont do as well. (ie. so train hard to sweep hard!)

3. The yelling!! HURRRYYY HARRDD!! It just makes it more fun. Without that, curling is becomes borderline boring (and I'm a curler!!)

[ColdSummerProd]

@hurleyhurley84

Sweeping also also cleans the debris from infront of the rock. If that 42lb rock catches a pebble or hair, it could be sent way off course and slow it to a complete stop within feet!

Beleive me I play over 110 games a year, it sucks when it happens!

[hurleyhurley84]

@ColdSummerProd

Yes! You are absolutely correct! Thanks for mentioning that. To the others: this is also the reason why you hear the skip yelling 'CLEANNNN, CLEANNNN' this means that they want the sweepers to lightly brush infront of the rocks in order to keep the rock from sliding over debris.

Thanks for the comment!!! :)

[hurleyhurley84]

Just to clarify for those who do not understand curling or are new to the sport:

How does sweeping affect the rock?

1. It makes the rock go further

2. It makes the rock go further BUT prevents it from curling as much (overall).

Why speep the rock?

1. Because the players think that without sweeping, the rock will not go as far as needed.

2. Because the players think that without sweeping, the rock will curl too much and end up too far to the left or right of the target.

Any questions, ask! :)

[marginallymental]

Okay, hurley, I have one. When is it permissable to sweep the other guys' rock? When it's in the house and is drifting out of it? And am I mistaken...have I seen fellow teammates sweeping their OWN rock when it's drifting out of the house? I'm so confused!

[hurleyhurley84]

Good question! :) Here are the answers:

1. A player can sweep the OTHER team's rock ONLY after it has passed the tee line (the 'tee line' is the line that runs horizontally across the house (coloured rings). It runs through the centre of the house.) If the OTHER team's rock is past the tee line (meaning it is in the lower half of the house closest to the end of the sheet of ice (out of play area)), then the opposing player can sweep it.

[hurleyhurley84]

2. The fact that fellow teammates are sweeping their OWN rocks out of the house is purely strategy. Sometimes it is better if your rocks are removed from the back of the house (area of the house closest to the end of the sheet). This is because the other team can put one right infront of your rock in the back of the house and still sit closer to the centre (called a 'freeze'). YOUR ROCK, being behind the other team's rock acts as backing and makes the other teams rock more difficult to remove.

[marginallymental]

And another question: how on earth do the sweepers stay clear of either the rocks in play or the ones jes' settin' there? Are feet broken as they're learning as children? How do they slide almost backward and not bang into a rock? This game has so many arcane details, I'm going mad till I try it myself to get a feel of the dynamics!!

[hurleyhurley84]

haha, its actually sometimes very difficult to do, depending on the arrangement of rocks. There are times when the sweepers have to stop, but there are also many times when the sweepers are able to keep sweeping. Good sweepers are already leaning quite a bit onto the broom. Most of their weight is shifted to the broom head, therefore, it doesnt take much to lift your legs and maneuver over the guards (rocks sitting in play infront of the house).

[hurleyhurley84]

Again, good question! let me know if you need any further clarification.

Cheers! :)

[ygemara]

Is it hard to curl the rock? Can someone who has never played before do it? It's pretty cool how they have control of something that will happen in 8 seconds. Also, can any player be the guy who throws the rock or do they have to switch? If not, why doesn't the best guy just throw it every single time? Thanks

[hurleyhurley84]

Well, it depends on the ice actually. Sometimes, depending on how the ice is made or even by the air temperature/humidity, it will allow for the rocks to curl more or less. Sometimes rocks will curl more in one spot on the ice and less on another spot. ALSO, the amount of curl can change during a single game! That's where it gets interesting. Players have to make sure they keep on top of the changes in order to keep making their shots.

[hurleyhurley84]

In general, however, when a rock is going faster, it will curl less. In summary, curling the rock is not really 'learned'. It is more learning how to throw the rock with a clean delivery with the desired amount of weight and the curling comes from the condition of the rock itself and the ice.

[hurleyhurley84]

To answer your other question:

There are 4 players on each team. Each player MUST throw 2 rocks. This means that every player on your team has to be a good thrower. In general, the key shots are the last two, therefore, the player that throws the best under pressure (generally) is made to throw the last two rocks. That being said, the other 6 rocks beforehand are important to 'set up' the end, so every player must throw well :)

[fusionstar916]

so why are they scrubbing the ice again?

[flipitgood2]

to change the speed or curl (like the "english" in billiards.

[fusionstar916]

@flipitgood2 isnt that kind of cheating? once you let it go, you shouldnt be able to alter its path.

[golferman215]

Completely WRONG.

You cannot change the speed...that would imply sweeping can make it slow down...which is NOT true.

Also, you cannot change the curl either...that would also imply that you can get an out turn to become an inturn...which is completely false.

[golferman215]

Both of those are leading you a little astray. They cannot "change the speed" or "curl" of the stone. All it does is help the rock to extend it's path, it does not "speed up" only continue moving at the same speed. The "curl" is affected because the brooms actually warm the surface of the ice and prevent the rock from grabbing onto the "pebble" or water droplets on the ice. It really is a complete science and those two previous posts are wrong.

[ColdSummerProd]

@golferman215

Agreed. You cannot make the rock pick up speed, but you can drag it a long long way. For instance, myself and a team mate swept a rock sooo far it went to the tee line when it would have stopped 2 feet short of the house. That was in the 2008/2009 season and we were only 16 then.

Also just to let you know, science has proven that it you have the right person close to the rock, you can get more curl out of it. And if the other person is close you can hold the line better.

[theonlyajever]

It was the end of the end. they were all counted. he was just cleaning them out. and the "target" is called the house.

[JonasClark]

He's nudging out of the way a rock that was pushed out of the field of play.

[JonB83]

no, that was the last rock of the end...

[reyknow]

its a weird closet "sport", rather play billiards

[prf1027]

curling is so fun to watch.

[puffyfan2]

Curling is the most AWESOME game ever!! Along with chess!! GREAT games!!

[pk22cm]

Wrong camera angle, should be a roofcamera.

[bierhauler]

Curling rocks. Don't knock it till you've tried it.

[pk22cm]

Ha ha

[Kixher]

i 100% agree with totoph1, curling is garbage. i dont even know how this video appeared in my related videos bar... yeah this probably takes "skill" and i can see it takes teamwork but this really isint a sport.

[totoph1]

Curling is pure shit, that's not a sport, that's the most stupid thing i've ever seen!!

[SuperDuperFunSquad]

w000000000TTTTTTTTT

[CsrbGangSTAR]

god this is the most boring shit ive ever seen

[nabby120]

My Favorite Shot Was Rae Hainstock's cross house double FOR 5 !!!

[nabby120]

Global didn't have the cameras rolling as he made that shot ;P

[frostcurler]

Missed Daley's triple for 5.