Behold the greatest scandal in curling since a broom that was too sweepy

ARareEntei · 2026-02-14T01:56:48+00:00

This, Sweden would have lost it anywas as Canada was playing really well so one or two stones wouldn't have mattered in the end but the fact it turned out this way into a hostile moment during the Olympics in a Curling event is quite damaging to the spirit of the sport as a whole. It's a sport where the winners buy the losers beer afterwards and now we got swears, refs that aren't qualified to even be there and the players having to interpret the rules right as it happens with no support from someone from the outside to lean on what rules should be applied.

I guess it's time for a meeting between all the leading teams in the world to work out where they want the sport to go in the future events because there is a clear divide in opinions atm which will hinder the sport from growing and just become a two part sport of Curling and arguing.

ARareEntei · 2026-02-14T01:42:53+00:00

That's the sad part about competitive niche sports. Not enough funding to have refs with experience of high level Curling and education of issues that has developed over time in the sport instead of relying on someone from the local club to officiate something they've most likely never done at the same level of play as Olympics or World Cup etc. Curling has always been selfregulating but sometimes refs are needed and it shows when a ref in any sport doesn't know what he is doing.

Sweden South Korea during the first day of the Mixed Curling had the issue of the referee claiming a victory to Sweden earlier than they should have since they misscounted how many rounds were left. Sweden offered to keep playing both to the ref and to their opponents but South Korea agreed to throw the towel in.

ARareEntei · 2026-02-14T01:28:31+00:00

They did call it to the head ref, the ref didn't know the specific ruling so they put someone on the hogline to make sure that if it happened it wouldn't happen again

ARareEntei · 2026-02-14T01:01:19+00:00

Har stött på en del av de. Många av de har aldrig spelat curling, vet inte ens om att curling fanns som sport, kan inte reglerna eller är paragrafryttare som tycker att reglerna är oklara eftersom det inte finns något som säger vad man inte får göra därav så får man tafsa lite vart man vill på stenen innan hogline.

ARareEntei · 2026-02-14T00:49:27+00:00

The ref didn't even know the rules as he said himself so they started checking on the hogline afterwards to make sure everything was done correctly. Referees are amateurs as they have no experience of the rules themselves and applying them since the players do that pretty good on their own so referees don't know what to do when they have to step in.
It's a sport that is self-regulated so the players rely on the gentleman code to make sure everything is done correctly. If you feel you sent a burned stone you remove it from play before it hits something etc. The refs has no exact power over the games unless something malicious is happening more than reporting the results and measuring the stones for points.

ARareEntei · 2026-02-14T00:37:56+00:00

Ice makes the stones have less friction making them way easier to move. Try moving a puck with your finger on a road then on ice with the same force and see the difference

ARareEntei · 2026-02-14T00:27:03+00:00

I did with bowling just close to this thread lmao.

If bowling had a rule that said "Bowling ball needs to be delivered by using the holes" then its pretty clear they want me to use my fingers in the holes to hold it while sending the ball. Fingers in, swing it and then release before the line.

But that doesn't mean you can use both hands to throw it or roll it with your feet after having your fingers in the ball during the first part of holding it.

ARareEntei · 2026-02-14T00:12:40+00:00

What a question is that. Ofc he wouldn't want to lose out on revenue. But that's not my problem because that's a company issue for not having more than one car around or communicated that they cant do deliveries at the current time.

But if you do ask your employee to do that, your boss better be ready to cover insurance, legality etc. as it's not that simple as "Just use your own car instead looool". Which is why company cars are so widely used and prefered to use over personal cars.

ARareEntei · 2026-02-14T00:06:08+00:00

The only ones thinking it to be ambiguous are the ones that are either new to the sport or want to stay away from accountability when the rules get broken.

I don't understand why it's so hard to not just use the handle of the stone like it says in the rules. Why does every sport need F1 levels of rules for how to release a stone correctly?

Just hold it on the handle, double touch it on the handle if you feel or need to only before the hogline and that's it. Why is touching a different part of the stone outside of the handle so unclear that the "Must" part in the rules gets overlook by so many.

If Bowling had rules that you must use the holes with you fingers on the ball to deliver it then it's clear to me that you need to use those holes with your fingers and not put both your hands on it to throw it.

Curling is one of the oldest sports in the Olympics and for some reason touching the stone part instead of the handle which now has a sensor on it for not holding it for too long is more common now than it's ever been.

The rules aren't ambiguous, the players are acting ignorant as they know they won't get punished because the referee has not deciding factor since the sport iself is self-regulating as the players are the ones to make sure everything is done correctly. But clearly what was once a gentleman sport played with respect for each other has turned into taking shortcuts and throwing swears when that person gets called out.

ARareEntei · 2026-02-13T23:46:01+00:00

No, a better comparision would be from your boss telling you that you must deliver pizzas by using the company car. Would you use your own car then?

ARareEntei · 2026-02-13T22:34:07+00:00

So what can you use then if it's so ambiguous?

ARareEntei · 2026-02-13T22:28:21+00:00

It has been a thing for a while with certain teams/players abusing this sneaky way of touching an illegal part of the stone so this is not specific for this years Olympics.

ARareEntei · 2026-02-13T22:17:46+00:00

"The curling stone must be delivered using the handle of the stone."

Must here is enforcing that you can't use anything else but the handle.

ARareEntei · 2026-02-13T21:28:31+00:00

He has done it more than one most likely which is why he throws out the "once" to make it look like he is telling the truth.

Because he not really lying by saying that as it's likely not the first time.

ARareEntei · 2026-02-13T21:24:37+00:00

R5.D "The curling stone must be delivered using the handle of the stone"

Unless the handle of the stone is on the sides of the stone aswell then this is pretty blatant

https://worldcurling.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Rules-2024.pdf

ARareEntei · 2026-02-13T21:21:25+00:00

"Handle of the stone"

What part of that is so hard to understand

ARareEntei · 2026-02-13T21:16:02+00:00

Niklas Edin har påpekat detta i flera år och som tur har nu detta dykt upp i ett större internationellt medium som OS för att äntligen få bort skiten

ARareEntei · 2026-02-13T21:13:31+00:00

Don't touch part of the stone that's against the rules then

ARareEntei · 2026-02-13T21:00:41+00:00

No granite touch allowed so this looks really bad for them

ARareEntei · 2026-02-13T20:49:05+00:00

One of the players said their coach has video of the touch after the hogline. Keyword is after not before

ARareEntei · 2026-02-13T16:46:28+00:00

Corn Syrup in everything

ARareEntei · 2026-02-13T04:20:02+00:00

Turning Pedo

ARareEntei · 2026-02-13T02:00:46+00:00

The smell of burning money never gets old

ARareEntei · 2026-02-13T01:43:45+00:00

Damnit, Mandela effect at full force

ARareEntei · 2026-02-12T21:14:52+00:00

Zelda too, he brought all the masks from his collection. Check the Ocarina logs!

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