February 14, 2014 at 4:48 p.m.
Pond curling taking hold in the Northwoods
Pond curling taking hold in the Northwoods
While it can get lost among the high profile Olympic sports like hockey, downhill skiing and even bobsledding, one lesser known sport is starting to earn its own cult following in the Northwoods.
Curling, popular in Canada and possibly best known at this year's Olympics for the Norwegian team's eccentric uniforms, is played on a long strip of ice called a sheet. Teams of four compete to get their stones closer to the center of a bull's-eye, or house, than the other team.
Although curling has never had much of a following in the Northwoods, in recent years, the patrons of Johnny Nick's Bar and Pizza in Sugar Camp have taken an interest. It didn't stem from watching an Olympic qualifier though. This hobby grew from a simple seed three years ago.
"To be honest with you, we started playing it on the Wii," said John Nickoloau, owner of Johnny Nick's. "We were just playing it a lot and we got real competitive about it. We almost made a league out of it. It got to the point where we were getting together once a week and playing it. It was addicting. Eventually, we thought 'Why not try to do it on the ice for real.'"
The group got to work researching more about the game. They knew they didn't have the facilties or equipment that serious curling clubs have access to so they needed to be resourceful.
"We researched everything online and found out how to make curling stones out of dog bowls," Nickolaou said. "We took the idea and made our own design, and it grew from there."
They tried to start the Northwoods Pond Ice Curling League, held in conjuction with Kathan Inn Bar and Grill.
That plan is no more though. Creating an entire league outdoors was a bigger challenge than they anticipated, especially for a sport so obscure in the area.
"It is basically just a couple of teams," Nickoloau said. "It wasn't working out the way we wanted. We tried it for a couple weeks and it was a non-factor. To do it takes a lot of time. You have to get the ice prepared every week and that's a ton of work. We've just decided to do a tournament instead."
So the Northern Wisconsin Pond Curling Classic was born. Now in its third year, approximately 20 teams are expected to take part in the competition on March 1 at the bar's new location on Mill Lake.
Nickoloau said people are still learning about the game and every year the tournament gets a little more competitive.
"The public perception is that it's shuffleboard on ice," he said. "It's much more than that. There's teams that have played both previous years and they're starting to get it. I think in the future, if someone really put the work in to start a league, it could be really successful up here."
Curling has been an official Olympic sport since the 1998 games in Nagano, Japan. The sport's origin spans back much farther though.
Curling can be traced back to 16th century Scotland when curlers used smoothed down river stones instead of the handle-infused equipment of today. Scottish immigrants brought the game to Canada where it first took hold in North America. The first curling club in the United States was formed in 1959 on Orchard Lake, 30 miles outside of Detroit.
The game is played on a long surface called a curling sheet, measuring 146 to 150 feet long and 14.5 to 16.5 feet wide. The targets on each end, called a house, are distinguished by three rings of different colors. The interior ring, colored red, is four feet in diameter. The middle ring, white, has a diameter of eight feet and the blue exterior ring is 12 feet across. The rings don't represent a difference in scoring, but instead aid in judging which stone is closer to the center. However, a stone must at least be touching the outer ring to be considered for points.
The game consists of 10 rounds called ends where each team gets to deliver their eight stones in alternating order.
The skip, leader of the team, stands behind the group to decide on tactics and observe. The thrower is in charge of delivering the stone. He pushes off from the hack and uses his momentum to determine the speed of the stone. Before letting go, he puts a slight spin on the stone.
Then, the sweepers take over. Manned with curling brooms, the other two members of the team are the last to influence the trajectory of the stone. They sweep the ice in front of the stone to reduce friction to make sure it reaches the house at the right speed.
Points are scored when each end is finished. The team with the stone closest to the middle is awarded a point, and scores an additional point for each of their stones closer to the middle than an opponent's stone.
Nickoloau said curling strategy takes some time to learn.
"A lot of it depends on which team goes first, and that's determined by a flip of the coin," he said. "Whoever has the last stone generally has an advantage because they can knock it out. You want to get it as close to the center of the house as possible, but you also need to knock the other team's out and guard as well."
While Nickoloau is looking forward to this year's tournament, he's just glad the sport's taken off like it has and hopes the trend continues.
"It's grown every year and I don't see that slowing down," he said. "When people see it, they want to get involved. It's a lot of fun."
Andy Hildebrand may be reached at [email protected].
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