A Pic That'll Make You Curl

Surprisingly, our players have lives outside of the trivia arena. One of our Bubes players, Charles of the Fool Monkey, was recently featured in the morninig newspaper. To find out what Charles is looking at, look here. In honor of Charles, we'll have one curling question this week.

And here's the accompanying article from the Intelligencer Journal, written by Madelyn Pennino:

Throwing Stones

There's something about the way a stone sounds as it slides across the ice that's soothing to Charles Scharnberger. It's one of the things that drew the Millersville resident to the sport of curling.

"There's something aesthetically pleasing about it," Scharnberger, 62, said.

"The way the rock looks as it slides down. Hearing it ... it's kind of like a hum. It's the experience of reading the ice and judgment."

As usual, the sport of curling has received a massive wave of interest since its return to the world stage in the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

A relatively little-noticed sport in the United States in off-Olympic years, curling has a long history.

Though this year marks the game's fourth appearance in the winter games, it was invented 500 years ago in Scotland by farmers who wanted something to do during the winter months.

That's just a smidge of curling history courtesy of die-hard curling fans Lenius and Mary Gottliebsen, both 80, of West Lampeter Township, who introduced Scharnberger to curling 10 years ago.

"We call it a closet sport that's now coming out of the closet," Gottliebsen said.

The Gottliebsens, to say the least, are crazy about curling and haven't missed an Olympic curling match since the Turin games began.

Mr. Gottliebsen said he was thrilled when the U.S. men's team won the bronze medal for curling Friday morning by defeating Great Britain.

"That was really something to watch," Mr. Gottliebsen said.

During the last two weeks Mr. Gottliebsen has seen all the drama unfold.

"We haven't missed any of the (curling) matches."

The couple discovered their love of curling in 1979, when their son invited them to the Philadelphia Curling Club.

Mr. Gottliebsen said he was instantly interested in the sport.

"As soon as I walked in and saw the ice," he said, "I said, 'This would really be a neat thing to do.'" Mrs.

Gottliebsen, who stopped playing the sport four years ago, said she likes the chilvalrous part of the sport.

"It always begins with a handshake and ends with a handshake," she said.

Mr. Gottliebsen founded Keystone Curling Club in Lancaster several years ago.

But the club disbanded after two years due to a lack of members.

As millions of Americans tune into the Olympics, some are asking what the "rock throwing" sport is all about, how it is played and how score is kept.

The Gottliebsens and Scharnberger shared some insights into how curling is played and why it often becomes a lifelong passion for those who take it up.

Here's how the game works: Curlers compete in two teams of four, each curler getting two turns per game at sliding, or "throwing," a 42-pound granite stone at a bull's-eye-type target at the opposite end of the ice.

As each curler prepares to throw the stone, he or she places one foot in a "hack," a sort of starting block.

Then curler pushes the rock across the ice.

The object of the game is to get more stones into the center of the bull's eye, called the "house," than the opposing team.

Other members of the team, called "sweepers," brush the ice in front of the stone so it glides more easily.

In Olympic curling, the game is broken down into 10 rounds, or "ends."

In club curling, there are eight ends that usually last about 15 minutes each.

Scharnberger said one of the appeals of curling is that it's always exciting.

"It's never boring," he said.

"No two ends are ever the same. There are a variety of situations that can arise."

It's also a game of strategy that weighs heavily on the shoulders of the team "skip," whose job it is to decide where the throwers should slide their stones.

Mr. Gottliebsen, who stopped curling last year due to health problems, played several roles on the team, including that of a skip.

He said he liked sweeping better than being a skip.

"I preferred sweeping," Mr. Gottliebsen said.

"It was great exercise, very aerobic. By the time you get done, you really feel great."

Scharnberger agreed curling is tiring, but it's got wide appeal.

"It's a game you can play at any age," Scharnberger, who is a member of the Philadelphia Curling Club, said.

Mr. Gottliebsen said he has participated in a number of curling championships.

His wife led the Philadelphia club's women's curling team, called the Philadelphia Bells.

Mrs. Gottliebsen said she loves the sport because it's easy.

"It's not hard to learn, and it's nice to see yourself improve," she said.

Neither of the Gottliebsens have curled since retiring from the sport.

Mr. Gottliebsen said he misses it, however.

"Every time I shave I look in the mirror and think about it," he said.

He said he keeps a curling stone in his home office to remind him of his love for the sport.

"We use it as a paperweight," he laughed.