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Engineering Marvel of the Winter Olympics: A Broom (nytimes.com)

Posted by msmash on from the little-boost dept.

Andrew Flemming and Geoff Fowler, both 29, along with their friend and business partner, Will Hamilton, 37, were pouring their creative energies into a high-tech training device the likes of which the sporting world had never seen. They were building a better broom. From a report: Not just any broom, but one that they thought could be essential to the sport of curling, which relies on the best broom handling out there as teams strategically cajole a polished granite rock across a sheet of ice. They wound up calling it the SmartBroom, and in a sport that can come across as vaguely primordial, their piece of 21st-century gadgetry could play a role in determining who wins gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Each SmartBroom has four sensors in the broom head that relay data to a small display unit. Hamilton took one for a spin down the ice, and the data was instantaneous -- line graphs along with a slew of numbers that showed his force in pounds and his stroke rate in hertz. Hamilton also pointed to a figure that he described as his "sweeping performance index," or S.P.I., a metric that combines power and speed in one easy-to-digest figure. Patrick Janssen, a world-class curler from Canada, has consistently registered an S.P.I. in the 2,800 range. The numbers by themselves might not mean much, Flemming said, but subtle changes in technique can lead to big differences in the quality of each stroke. And now curlers have that information at their disposal. They can experiment to see which stroke works best for them.

88 comments

  1. I think in golf stuff like that is banned by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    What is the Olympics rules on tools like this?

    1. Re:I think in golf stuff like that is banned by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's for training, not competition.

    2. Re:I think in golf stuff like that is banned by klingens · · Score: 2

      My guess this stuff is irrelevant for the game at the actual olympics, except having pretty numbers and graphs for the viewers on TV.
      However it will probably totally change training in the sport.
      If you have two kinds of brooms, both handle the same, but one is smart and the other not. You use the smart one to train and learn your best techniques, you use the dumbe on when in competition. Just using this wonderbroom in competition won't do anything anyways.

    3. Re:I think in golf stuff like that is banned by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Looks like it's a training aid, not used in competition. Golf, of course, has tons of miracle training aids designed to be used only on the driving range or putting green.

    4. Re:I think in golf stuff like that is banned by Hadlock · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I bought a bicycle computer and one of the features is to track pedal cadence (pedal rpm). I went from a cadence of 45-60 and after getting the computer changed to a cadence of 85-95 and it completely changed how I bicycled. Completely different way to ride a bike, engages muscles differently etc.
       
      This is basically the same as a pedal cadence meter on a bike. Some (very expensive) cycle computers will also calculate torque applied to left and right pedals allowing you to figure out if you favor one leg.
       
      Once you watch the computer for a few weeks you can judge in your head what your cadence is within ~7 rpm for me at least. I haven't used the torque meters (they're ~$800-3000 but the price is coming down) but I would imagine I could improve my torque to closer to 50:50 L:R. Right now I bet it's closer to like 35:65 as I favor the right leg.
       
      I'm sure after a few seasons with a "trainer broom" you'll be able to calculate this within X percent of ideal. Once they figure out the ideal situation given ice temp, broom temp and broom surface, etc.

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
    5. Re:I think in golf stuff like that is banned by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What is the Olympics rules on tools like this?

      You have to understand what is banned and when.

      While training, you can use any form of gadget to analyze your technique and tell you what your performance looks like.

      However, during competition, you can't use any of it.

      It says right there int the first sentence of TFS ... were pouring their creative energies into a high-tech training device.

      You use something like this in training to measure what you're doing, decide what works and gives the best outcomes, and by the time you're in competition, you've (hopefully) got it sorted out.

      This is really no different from the golf simulators and swing analyzers professional golfers use in their training, and I suspect a lot of sports have analogs.

      You sure as hell can't use it in competition, but there is no reason at all you can't use it in your training to get better. Measure and analyze the hell out of it before you're in competition, figure out what you can improve, incorporate it, and on the actual day the proof is in the pudding.

      This is hardly new in sport.

    6. Re:I think in golf stuff like that is banned by Big+Bipper · · Score: 1

      It doesn't have to be used in the games themselves. It just has to allow you to enhance your technique to be effective.

      --
      You live and learn, or you don't learn much.
    7. Re:I think in golf stuff like that is banned by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

      the Russians use steroids in training and just go off of them to pass the competition test.

    8. Re:I think in golf stuff like that is banned by nuckfuts · · Score: 3, Informative

      Once they figure out the ideal situation given ice temp, broom temp and broom surface, etc.

      That's the fun part of curling. There is tremendous variation in ice texture and "speed" at different times and on different sheets. And it changes continuously throughout each game as the ice is swept and worn by rocks. There will never be an ideal situation. It's up to the skip to "read" the ice and call the sweepers on and off accordingly.

    9. Re:I think in golf stuff like that is banned by magarity · · Score: 1

      the Russians use steroids in training and just go off of them to pass the competition test.

      No, they use a secret door to swap clean blood samples for the tainted ones.

    10. Re:I think in golf stuff like that is banned by youngone · · Score: 1

      As does every other Olympic level athlete.
      it's not restricted to Russia and never has been. They have just been the most blatant at it, and the organised.
      You may have heard of Florence Griffith-Joyner who was American and won many medals in running in the most suspicious circumstances possible, then died in suspicious circumstances at the age of 38.
      You may also have heard of Lance Armstrong who has now admitted to being a drugs cheat despite never failing a test.
      As far as I'm concerned they are the tip of the iceberg, and anyone who wins a medal at this or any other Olympics is a drugs cheat.

    11. Re:I think in golf stuff like that is banned by rsborg · · Score: 1

      Which bike computer would you recommend?

      --
      Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
    12. Re:I think in golf stuff like that is banned by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Drugs in sport is old hat.
      The FACT is that the amount of funding, technology and associated facilities make MUCH difference to the comparative competitiveness of "athletes" than any short-term "drug fix".
      Get 2 sporting teams, with one training in a local park a few times a week and the other with state-of-the-art facilities, physios, nutritionists, cool-down and warm-up pools, indoor and outdoor training areas, personal coaches and trainers, guaranteed incomes and tailored programs and you KNOW which one is going to outperform the other !
      Wealthy countries don't do better at the Olympics because they have "naturally" BETTER athletes, they just have more RESOURCES available.
      It's all about the money.
      UK lotteries supporting athletes is WHY the UK has done so much better in recent years.

  2. Aaaahhh.. I was getting ny hopes up.... by DrTJ · · Score: 1

    ... I hoped for of a broom [http://www.ebay.com/bhp/harry-potter-broom?rmvSB=true] that would match the 1984 stunt [https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/jet-packs-in-flight-and-fiction/15/].

    1. Re:Aaaahhh.. I was getting ny hopes up.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "SmartBroom"? Such a lame name... shoulda called it the "Firebolt".

    2. Re:Aaaahhh.. I was getting ny hopes up.... by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      "Nimbus 2000"?

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  3. It's hard to see Curling as a sport by magzteel · · Score: 5, Funny

    Watching them sweeping furiously is pretty funny though.

    I want to see competitive vacuum cleaning in the summer games.

    1. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Its harder to see NFL as a sport....
      whats that - 13 minutes of ACTUAL play over 3 hours?

      WOW!

    2. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by magzteel · · Score: 1

      Its harder to see NFL as a sport....
      whats that - 13 minutes of ACTUAL play over 3 hours?

      WOW!

      I wouldn't last 15 seconds. They'd be carting me off the field after one play.

      The NFL does have too many breaks though. That's why I watch it on NFL Red Zone.
      No commercials, no time outs. Sometimes the screen is split between multiple games.
      It's awesome.

    3. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Curling is one of those activities that looks really simple and kind of stupid... until you actually try it. Then you realize that being able to slide a 40 pound rock 130 feet to within an inch of where you want it by traveling in more than one spatial dimension simultaneously is a goddamn art.

    4. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Competitive waiting. Coming soon!

      Little do they know I trained with one of, no, THE absolute best trainer ever : hl2.exe

    5. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Watching them sweeping furiously is pretty funny though.

      I want to see competitive vacuum cleaning in the summer games.

      For the winter olympics, I want to see competitive snow shoveling. Given that's my primary outdoor winter activity, I would find it both engaging and entertaining.

    6. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by superdave80 · · Score: 1

      ...compared to zero minutes of actual play over 3 hours for curling?

    7. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      The feminists will hate this, but curling is one of my wife's favorite sports to watch on TV precisely because of the sweeping.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    8. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      Competitive waiting. Coming soon!

      Little do they know I trained with one of, no, THE absolute best trainer ever : hl2.exe

      For hardcore wait training, most professionals are waiting for Half Life 3.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    9. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's hard to see Curling as a sport ... Watching them sweeping furiously is pretty funny though.

      Honestly though, that's because like most people on the internet you're a loudmouth ass who speaks about stuff you don't know a fucking thing about.

      You figure luge or skeleton or skiing are easy? Because, really, all you do it go downhill and how hard can that be? Is NASCAR easy because you only turn left?

      Tell you what, go fucking try it ... like any sport, some asshole who knows nothing about it might think it's easy, but that's more of a reflection on you being an idiot than the actual sport.

    10. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by nitehawk214 · · Score: 1

      I wouldn't last 15 seconds.

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    11. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The feminists will hate this, but curling is one of my favorite sports to watch on TV precisely because of the women.

    12. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've never tried it, but I can imagine it being fun to do. Like you say, there's plenty of challenge and skill.

      To watch though? Not so much.

    13. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by Wulf2k · · Score: 2

      I agree, lots of sports are stupid.

    14. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by XXongo · · Score: 1

      Competitive waiting. Coming soon! Little do they know I trained with one of, no, THE absolute best trainer ever : hl2.exe

      For hardcore wait training, most professionals are waiting for Half Life 3.

      Amateurs. I'm still waiting for my flying car.

    15. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      From Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy;
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTartgZ6n9Q

    16. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by quantaman · · Score: 1

      I've never tried it, but I can imagine it being fun to do. Like you say, there's plenty of challenge and skill.

      To watch though? Not so much.

      Throwing the rock is a similar sensation to hitting a golf ball, the actual play has a lot strategy, teammates, and if you're a skilled sweeper you can get a bit of exercise there.

      As for watching, you might need to need to play to appreciate it. But I find the strategy adds a lot to the game, a very small difference is rock placement have a massive effect, and there's a lot of rock arrangements where it's very uncertain if a certain shot is even possible.

      You also get a lot of individual shots during the game where a minor mistake can put your team in huge danger and maybe cost you the game.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    17. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by sjames · · Score: 1

      Don Duguid's commentary during previous Winter Olympics really helped non-curlers to appreciate the sport and understand it's strategy.

    18. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by Brickwall · · Score: 1

      Well, as any good Canadian will tell you, the real challenge is to do it after you've had 4 beers. Helps when you're watching, too!

      --
      What was once true, is no longer so
    19. Re:It's hard to see Curling as a sport by Brickwall · · Score: 1

      He's great.. I get to watch, er, listen to him all the time during the Brier (Canadian championship). He's able to explain stuff without seeming condescending, and he has real natural enthusiasm for it. The Vin Scully of curling!

      --
      What was once true, is no longer so
    20. Re: It's hard to see Curling as a sport by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Four beers? Those are rookie numbers.

      Darts players are barely warmed up by that fourth pint.

    21. Re: It's hard to see Curling as a sport by Brickwall · · Score: 1
      yayaya... at my frat, when we played darts, score was not even a consideration.

      The point of the game was to throw your dart into the board hard enough that the other guy had to use pliers to remove. Now, that's darts!

      --
      What was once true, is no longer so
  4. S*** - two weeks of "Olympics" article are coming! by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1, Insightful

    >> Yada yada Olympics yada yada

    Is there a filter to screen out useless PR-driven articles about the Olympics?

    This kind of stuff is is only a step above the Olympics commercials Coke and McDonalds crap out every two years (as if any athlete would get near those brands except to collect the check).

  5. Do you know what this means? Do YOU? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Every custodial engineer, each and every janitor with dreams of fame and fortune, can have a chance to strike GOLD this winter. They can set aside their plans of becoming a president of some firm for the moment, sweep and sweep like they have never swept before, and raise their fist in mock defiance of that dictator Kim Jong Whatever, and make his stand known throughout the world!

    But erm, you have to put on the skates first. Rules of the sport, you know, must be observed at all times. Their restrooms have an iced surface for the very same reason; so I've heard. And when you step outdoors to take a wizz, the air is fricking freezing that the stream freezes in mid-air, and you have to snap it in order to zip up, leading not to climate change but to this well-known phenomenon known as yellow snow.

  6. As with all metrics... by ThomasBHardy · · Score: 2

    You get what you measure.

    This index score is only relevant is it can only be achieved by skilled, proper sweeping. Otherwise you are just having people train to get a high score, not to sweep properly to win. Someone with an alternative method might score very poorly on the index but do well for rock control.

    --
    Warning: Teh poster of this messaeg is lysdexic
    1. Re:As with all metrics... by quantaman · · Score: 1

      You get what you measure.

      This index score is only relevant is it can only be achieved by skilled, proper sweeping. Otherwise you are just having people train to get a high score, not to sweep properly to win. Someone with an alternative method might score very poorly on the index but do well for rock control.

      Agreed, are they measuring pressure? Energy transferred into the ice? Do they account for the area the broom covers (no point sweeping outside the path of the rock)? You might be able to sweep harder if your broom is farther away from the rock, but that tradeoff might not be worth it.

      I've tried my own controlled experiments with sweeping in the past and it's really hard to actually figure out what works, there's a huge variance from shot-to-shot, and even if you throw the exact same path the surface still changes between shots. Even the directional sweeping from a couple years ago, although elite teams could do crazy stuff neither myself, nor some of the sub-elite guys I knew, could do anything definitive.

      I know the elite teams claim to see some fairly subtle differences in how much difference a particular sweeper makes. At the club level I don't think sweeping does much more than cleaning, half the time people don't even sweep the path of the rock.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    2. Re:As with all metrics... by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      You have a point. But I hardly think that an athlete will use a measuring device like this to define ultimate success. Rather, s/he will use it to see how to improve technique and win games.

      Consider IQ tests. They don't really measure intelligence. They just measure how good you are at taking IQ tests. But there is a useful correlation between IQ tests and intelligence. Nevertheless, one must remember there is more than one kind of intelligence. Wayne Gretzky might score average on an IQ test, but put him on an ice rink with a hockey stick, and he's a genius.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    3. Re:As with all metrics... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This index score is only relevant is it can only be achieved by skilled, proper sweeping.

      No fucking shit, Sherlock ...

      Patrick Janssen, a world-class curler from Canada, has consistently registered an S.P.I. in the 2,800 range. The numbers by themselves might not mean much, Flemming said, but subtle changes in technique can lead to big differences in the quality of each stroke. And now curlers have that information at their disposal. They can experiment to see which stroke works best for them.

      Clearly they didn't think of any of that and they needed some random idiot on the internet to tell them that.

      Or, the obvious answer which is in the summary, is they put these metrics in the hand of top-performing curlers and let them work with it and decide if it was useful for them

      Tell you what, you go build something, and we'll all sit around and tell you how you got it all wrong. What? You can't build anything cool or interesting?

      Then maybe you should STFU.

  7. Re:S*** - two weeks of "Olympics" article are comi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It beats the daily Tesla/Musk/Space-X/circle jerk fanboy crap.

  8. Kellyanne wants this for the WH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So does Blackie, her cat.

  9. technological doping by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ban them

  10. Re:S*** - two weeks of "Olympics" article are comi by bws111 · · Score: 2

    Yeah, who wants to read about people using technology to get better at what they do? We need more bitcoin articles!

  11. Re:S*** - two weeks of "Olympics" article are comi by ClickOnThis · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I always turn to the sports pages first, which records people's accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man's failures.
    -- Earl Warren

    --
    If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
  12. TMI (too much information) by cstacy · · Score: 0

    The latest tech will instrument that thing in your hand to analyze how well you are stroking off; big data indeed!

    Reminds me of that Bluetooth enabled device for women...

  13. Re:S*** - two weeks of "Olympics" article are comi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I strongly disagree. This article is about technology that's used in training for one of the sports at the Winter Olympics. I fail to see your objection, and it's actually very cool to see the spread of technology that's used to monitor athlete performance.

    There's a lot of science and technology going on behind the scenes at the Olympics, and sometimes it's an opportunity to demonstrate new ideas. I'm a meteorologist and I worked for someone who participated in the Sydney forecast demonstration project. That project involved testing several systems for making short-range forecasts on the scale of a few hours to predict thunderstorms. Papers about this were published in meteorology journals, such as: https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0434(2004)019%3C0131:SFDPCS%3E2.0.CO;2, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0434(2004)019%3C0115:TSOGFD%3E2.0.CO;2, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-84-8-1041, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0434(2004)019%3C0168:TSSAEI%3E2.0.CO;2, and https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0434(2004)019%3C0097:TIOANS%3E2.0.CO;2. All of those were published in peer-reviewed journals operated by the American Meteorological Society.

    This sort of thing has been done at more recent Olympics. For Beijing 2008, papers include https://doi.org/10.1175/2010WAF2222336.1 and https://doi.org/10.1175/2010WAF2222417.1. For Vancouver 2010, here's a scientific paper about forecasting during the Olympics: https://doi.org/10.1175/WAF-D-11-00114.1. Also for Vancouver 2010, here's an article in a peer-reviewed AMS journal that's intended for a more general audience: https://doi.org/10.1175/2009BAMS2998.1. The UK Met Office developed forecasting systems that they tested at the London Olympics: https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-13-00102.1. There was a similar project called FROST-2014 at the Sochi Olympics: https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-15-00307.1 and https://doi.org/10.1175/WAF-D-16-0048.1.

    There's a similar project at the PyeongChang Olympics: https://ams.confex.com/ams/98Annual/webprogram/Paper329045.html and https://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/arep/wwrp/new/SCMREX.html. The latter of those links, the WMO page, has a lot of links about past projects at various Olympics. These aren't journal papers because the project is taking place right now at the Olympics, but I fully expect there will be peer-reviewed papers about this as well.

    In my field, the Olympics are frequently opportunities to test out new systems and advance our forecasting capabilities. These are often organized by the World Meteorological Organization and are opportunities for international collaboration that advances the science of meteorology.

    Just because something is done in relation to the Olympics doesn't make it PR at all. I've linked to plenty of scientific articles about meteorological research and testing of forecasting systems at the Olympics. You should reconsider your statement.

  14. Sport used to be just for fun by Big+Bipper · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sport used to be something you played just for fun. Now only those competitors whose sponsors have the deepest pockets stand a chance. Sport should not require kids practicing 12 hours a day from age 6 to be competitive, and then in some sports be over the hill by their early 20s. Kids should be allowed to play sports for fun, not to become some short term corporate or national asset. Parents who permit or force their kids into such training regimens should be strung up for abuse. The Olympics haven't been about sport for a hundred years and this is just a another sign of that.

    --
    You live and learn, or you don't learn much.
    1. Re:Sport used to be just for fun by Pseudonym · · Score: 1

      You're not wrong, but on the other hand, sport is the new space when it comes to technological spinoffs.

      --
      sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
    2. Re:Sport used to be just for fun by danbert8 · · Score: 0

      And for the winter Olympics it's even worse. At least in the summer Olympics any poor kid in the savanna can run and run and run to train. There aren't any of those sports in the winter... Good luck having a shot in hell at competing if you didn't grow up fabulously wealthy vacationing at ski resorts and spending hefty sums at training facilities from a young age. I mean unless you want to make a great movie... Then the Cool Runnings method works great!

      --
      Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
    3. Re:Sport used to be just for fun by nuckfuts · · Score: 1

      Sport used to be something you played just for fun.

      The Olympics has never been about fun. It's about personal glory and national pride.

    4. Re:Sport used to be just for fun by dj245 · · Score: 1

      Sport used to be something you played just for fun. Now only those competitors whose sponsors have the deepest pockets stand a chance.

      That's not completely true. Despite Under Armour spending millions of dollars on the 2014 US speed skating team suits. The skates were similarly highly engineered. And yet, they failed to win a single medal. Several other countries with (I assume) lower budgets won medals. Initial blame was on the equipment but it turns out that a better skater will win despite a competitor using cutting edge technology.

      Sport is something that people should do for fun. Being a winner is icing on the cake, but camaraderie and challenging oneself physically is satisfying enough for many people. If that isn't happening with our children, I blame the parents for focusing too much on winning. Sports are just physical games and getting too excited about winners and losers is equivalent to flipping over a Monopoly table.

      --
      Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
    5. Re:Sport used to be just for fun by eriks · · Score: 2

      100% agree. As a card-carrying Nerd, I would like to be able to *enjoy* geeking out about sports (it's funny how many sports fans don't necessarily see it that way) but I find most professional sports rather distasteful, for the same reasons you mention: they've taken all the fun out of them with big money, forcing kids into a militaristic training regime from age 3, and to a lesser extent: the "fans", which is short for fanatics, which pretty much sums up what some of them seem like to me. If I could, I think I'd enjoy being a sport-enthusiast, but never a fanatic.

      I guess for some sports, I am exactly that, and it's even on-topic. I love curling! They're courteous (sportsmanlike!) to their opponents and the players seem to actually enjoy playing the game, and while they do take it seriously at the highest levels of competition, it's only "game serious" not "cancer serious" like many other pro sports. I hope the popularity of the sport doesn't change it's character.

    6. Re:Sport used to be just for fun by quantaman · · Score: 1

      Sport used to be something you played just for fun. Now only those competitors whose sponsors have the deepest pockets stand a chance. Sport should not require kids practicing 12 hours a day from age 6 to be competitive, and then in some sports be over the hill by their early 20s. Kids should be allowed to play sports for fun, not to become some short term corporate or national asset. Parents who permit or force their kids into such training regimens should be strung up for abuse. The Olympics haven't been about sport for a hundred years and this is just a another sign of that.

      I agree... but it doesn't really apply to curling.

      First this broom is $3k, and $3k isn't much when you're talking elite sports.

      And second, curling still is an amateur sport. Almost all of the top players have full-time jobs and I suspect most of the top-20 teams spend more on equipment and travel than they make in winnings and sponsorship.

      And most elite curlers don't actually hit the elite level till their late 20's and they stay there into their late 30s. Up until a few years ago three of the best skips (most critical player on the team) were all in their mid-to-late 40s. Fitness matters, but skill and experience are huge.

      I don't think you can stop people from absurd amounts of training because people fundamentally like to win, but curling isn't really suffering the issues you're complaining about.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    7. Re:Sport used to be just for fun by Obfuscant · · Score: 2

      Sport is something that people should do for fun.

      Sport is something that people should do to fulfill personal goals. That goal might be "have fun". That goal might be to lose weight and build muscle. That goal might also be "be the best at this in the world". To each his own.

    8. Re:Sport used to be just for fun by Jfetjunky · · Score: 1

      This happens to any sport which gains mass appeal. Once popularity spikes, it can become profitable to be the best, and the deep pockets come out of the woodwork. Unfortunately, mass appeal and deep pockets set a metaphorical interdependent mouse trap. They feed off each other as long as they are allowed. If attendance starts to drop, the trap threatens to be sprung, taking the whole thing down with it.

      Profitably drives obsessive, competitive, and cutthroat behavior, just like businesses. All the while people that were in it originally just enjoying themselves are pushed by the wayside.

      U.S. Drag racing is very near and dear to my heart, and is one of the prime examples of this, imho.

    9. Re:Sport used to be just for fun by bws111 · · Score: 1

      Amateur sports are 'enjoyment' for the participants. Pro sports are enjoyment for the spectators - it is entertainment. Pro athletes are employees whose (well-paying) JOB is winning - of course they take it seriously.

      As for the training from an early age: you will find that characteristic in just about everyone who is at the very top of their field. Chances are excellent that a world-famous violinist has been at it from a very early age, does that prevent you from enjoying his concert? Same goes a renowned physicist - he was probably inside studying when the other kids were out playing.

    10. Re:Sport used to be just for fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cross country skiing is the winter equivalent. All you need are skis and snow, no resort or mountains required.

    11. Re:Sport used to be just for fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pick a different sport. My kid fences. He practices about 10 hours a week, bit even that is optional. He's in the top 50 in his age group nationwide. No concussions. Only the slight risk of getting impaled. Bruises a lot though.

    12. Re:Sport used to be just for fun by apoc.famine · · Score: 1

      For me, it's "watching 9 year-olds ragequit and cry". But as you say, to each his own.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
    13. Re:Sport used to be just for fun by Brickwall · · Score: 1

      the "Pinty's Grand slam of curling" offers over $2 million in prize money, and there are a ton of other cash spiels and tournaments. curling is extremely popular on TV in Canada, and these guys and girls are celebrities wherever they go.

      --
      What was once true, is no longer so
    14. Re:Sport used to be just for fun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My favorite moment in sport EVER was watching Aussie Steven Bradbury win the 1000m speed skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics, after ALL the other skaters in front of him fell over on the last corner !!!
      Awesome stuff !
      So many life lessons right there !

    15. Re:Sport used to be just for fun by quantaman · · Score: 1

      the "Pinty's Grand slam of curling" offers over $2 million in prize money, and there are a ton of other cash spiels and tournaments. curling is extremely popular on TV in Canada, and these guys and girls are celebrities wherever they go.

      Total prize money over multiple events maybe, but the top earning team on the tour last year got $190k, Canadian. That's less than $50k a person when you divide by 4.

      The top skips might be minor celebrities but they still walk down the street in relative anonymity (which they probably prefer).

      There's a lot of curlers who've retired from top teams while they were still at the top of their game so they could focus on their non-curling careers.

      --
      I stole this Sig
  15. Have the got regular toilets yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Last time I was in SK the toilets were flush with the floor. No thrones anywhere. Lots of dogs hanging from bridges, but no American toilets. What a country. SK made Russia look 2nd world. And no, India, it did not make you look any different. At least SKs use toilets! And no, don't drink the water.

  16. When is the special Winter Olympics? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Retards on ice?

    1. Re: When is the special Winter Olympics? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's whenever the Americans show up. Bigly! Gerber babbies for all!

  17. Re:S*** - two weeks of "Olympics" article are comi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    >> Yada yada Olympics yada yada

    Is there a filter to screen out useless PR-driven articles about the Olympics?

    This kind of stuff is is only a step above the Olympics commercials Coke and McDonalds crap out every two years (as if any athlete would get near those brands except to collect the check).

    Wait until BeauHD posts a story about technology in the Olympics.

    He'll somehow turn it into a diatribe against Russia! Russia! Russia!

    The rotten carcass of the shark /. jumped a few years back just washed up on shore.

  18. I once caught a match on TV, by jenningsthecat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    and the team that was losing broke out the old-time straw brooms. Not because they're better in any way, but because they tend to leave debris on the ice that might mess up subsequent shots, aka 'the other team'. It was a bit controversial and the sportscasters discussed the strategy, which is how I knew what was going on. I'm guessing those old brooms have now been outlawed.

    --
    'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
    1. Re:I once caught a match on TV, by quantaman · · Score: 2

      and the team that was losing broke out the old-time straw brooms. Not because they're better in any way, but because they tend to leave debris on the ice that might mess up subsequent shots, aka 'the other team'. It was a bit controversial and the sportscasters discussed the strategy, which is how I knew what was going on. I'm guessing those old brooms have now been outlawed.

      Banned, after broomgate they severely restricted what kind of brush head you're allowed to use in competitive events.

      The fabric is a specific colour, comes from a specific manufacturer, and the broom actually has to be signed by an official.

      --
      I stole this Sig
  19. Re:S*** - two weeks of "Olympics" article are comi by quantaman · · Score: 1

    >> Yada yada Olympics yada yada

    Is there a filter to screen out useless PR-driven articles about the Olympics?

    This kind of stuff is is only a step above the Olympics commercials Coke and McDonalds crap out every two years (as if any athlete would get near those brands except to collect the check).

    This is literally a story about hobbyists hacking together hardware and software to make a training device now used by national teams.

    I think it handily qualifies as "News for Nerds".

    --
    I stole this Sig
  20. f**k brooms by MrL0G1C · · Score: 1

    Make a toaster that can toast bread evenly, this current bunch of retards can't even make a toaster that toasts the whole slice from top to bottom, a 5 year old could explain what the solution to that problem is.

    --
    Waterfox - a Firefox fork with legacy extension support, security updates and better privacy by default.
    1. Re:f**k brooms by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Making an awesome toaster is easy... making a profit on it is not. If you want to pay me say ... 1000€ ? ... I'll be happy to make you a toaster that'll do whatever you like to your bread.

  21. Re:S*** - two weeks of "Olympics" article are comi by nuckfuts · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I always turn to the sports pages first, which records people's accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man's failures. -- Earl Warren

    Yes, impressive accomplishments like tossing a ball through a hoop.

  22. Brooms have many engineering marvels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This isn't that surprising, actually. People have been improving brooms quite a lot, lately. Like the vibrating Harry Potter broom. Quite stimulating for young people's... imaginations.

    I wonder what SPI this broom would record if people try to 'ride' it...

  23. Buy it! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hillary Clinton will be the first to buy herself this new kind of car.

  24. Re:S*** - two weeks of "Olympics" article are comi by magarity · · Score: 1

    (as if any athlete would get near those brands except to collect the check).

    Ah the irony; Olympic grade athletes are the only people with the caloric burn rate to eat that stuff and not show it.

  25. Re:S*** - two weeks of "Olympics" article are comi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, impressive accomplishments like tossing a ball through a hoop.

    Sounds like somebody's upset that the ball hardly ever goes through the hoop when they toss it...

  26. A better-engineered broom?!? by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    My ex-wife will definitely be interested in this! Wait... it's NOT for flying on? Nevermind...

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  27. Re:S*** - two weeks of "Olympics" article are comi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Except that sports pages document FAILURES as well.
    For a "winner" on a sports page, there HAS to be at least one LOSER, often many losers. Even draws are "failures".
    Following SOME sports teams means experiencing nothing BUT "failure", week after week and year after year.

  28. Sounds, er, fun by TJHook3r · · Score: 1

    Don't know about you but I find stories like this depressing. I imagine all Olympic athletes start as enthusiastic kids but to reach the top they have to become the equivalent of white mice, everything worked out for optimal performance by scientists. Sounds horrendous to be honest.