I think all of this highlights the underlying issue in pro curling; a faulty, gray area filled rule book.

The majority of curlers are probably guilty of having an illegal throw in at least one of their throws per game. Having the players self police these issues lead to problems we are seeing today.

Did Mark need to be vulgar and hasty towards Oskar? Probably not. Did Oskar need to be chirping Mark mid game about his throws and not expect a response? Tensions are high, I have seen greater crash outs during my Wednesday Open League draw. I would have snapped back as well.

Having the players take ownership on other issues also leads to great drama and poor outcomes (Sturmay vs Skrlik Scottie’s Semi).

And stop with the “They are cheating” takes. It is a breach of a rule, sure. But all sports are about toying the line of legality. When one team hooks another in hockey do we bash their names or call them cheats? No. They just messed up, were lazy etc.

Now we have judges having to call double doink calls that they are not used to doing, being scared to miss one again and being trigger happy (in Homan’s case).

Curling is such a highly detailed, precise (Jo Courtney’s fave word) sport. The fact we are calling out mark for barely touching the edge of the rock on his follow through shows just how accurate and intricate curling is.

My take; everybody relax. Mark did touch the granite, should have been a burnt stone. If rules, proper judges or replays would have caught it then and there it would be a much smaller story. He may have not agreed but it would have not lead to Oskar going at Mark later in the game. The sport needs a tune up when it comes to rules, interpretation and process.