Curling, I just can't quit you

You may have thought curling had gone into another four-year hibernation, while we wait for the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. But au contraire, even if the 2006 World Men's Championships weren't next month in Lowell, curling lives on each night of the week at the Broomstones Curling Club in Wayland, Mass., as careful curling observers already know.

The future Mrs. N-B and I were there Saturday night for the Learn to Curl class, where I skipped (in non-curl speak: captained) our team to a two end, 1-1 tie.

Our team was me, Mrs. N-B, a fat adult, and a fat eight-year-old. We were up against a similarly constituted opposing team, though in place of the fat kid, there was a guy who, by his own admission, curled "about nine times a week." We'll call him The Pro.

Mrs. N-B threw two great stones in the first end, but I couldn't deliver with my final two and left The Pro the chance to score one in his end.

In the second end, this time with the hammer, we really hit our stride. The fat guy and fat kid still couldn't manage to get any stones into regulation, but Mrs. N-B delivered what the pro called "the perfect stone" to hide on the eight-foot, directly behind an opponent guard. I followed that up with a shot right into the bullseye. The Pro did a single take out. I had a chance to lay two and give us a win, but I over-curled my shot, and we settled for a 1-1 tie.

Suffice it to say I have a new respect for the sisters Johnson, but I think I'll be able to take them by the time the 2010 games roll around.