The Olympics have created a buzz around curling, even among unlikely characters
The Royal Montreal Curling Club is the oldest of its kind in North America, and it's taking advantage of the buzz around the Olympics to introduce newcomers to the sport.
The popular club's president, Michael Stearns, said interest in the sport is at its peak thanks to the international sports competition.
"It just looks like fun, all that screaming, all that sweeping," Stearns said.
Some unlikely characters have been jazzed on the sport lately, including the A-Team's Mr. T — he told CBC's As It Happens he finds the sport calming.
On Tuesday, Mr. T praised the Canadian mixed doubles curling team for winning gold in the competition. He then lauded the athletes and the sport, introducing the hashtag #curlingiscoolfool.
"I like the finessing, and the cool and the calmness of everything, I like the strategy. Things like that," he told CBC Radio's As It Happens host Carol Off.
Curling 'easy sport to pick up,' club president says
The Montreal club hosted an open house aimed at turning newbies onto the sport today, and many people showed up to give the winter sport a try.
Cameron Dieck was among a group of young men that came from Buffalo, NY for a bachelor party.
"With the Olympics going on, we had a lot of interest in trying out curling," Dieck said. "It's just one of the most exciting sports to watch, honestly, on TV."
According to Stearns, curling is a relatively easy sport to learn.
"It requires no physical strength, no skills — we teach all the skills," Stearns said. "It's an easy sport to pick up and it lends itself to all age categories."
The real athletes take to the curling rink tonight — both the men's and women's teams are taking on Switzerland.
