Curling Is Ideal for the 12-Ounce Curls for Beer Drinking Fans; Switzerland Hosts 2012 Championship
It’s not exactly the Super Bowl or college football tailgating.
But the World Men’s Curling Championships, taking place March 30-April 8 in Basel, Switzerland, does provide people with a good party opportunity.
Now I know what you are thinking. Curling!?
I was right there with you until I saw Canadians watching it as if it were a hockey game during the Vancouver Winter Olympics. I even have a friend from Toronto who goes to matches. On a regular basis. And he actually likes it.
“Are you kidding!?,” he said when I asked him if he didn’t have better things to do with his time, such as shining his bald head in that ball polisher at a bowling alley. “It’s a party! People drink beer like crazy. There’s tons of people. It’s better than the bars.”
Even accounting for the fact that Canadians drink beer even when they are going to the store to get beer, this seemed a bit unusual. Curling?
“It’s a slow-moving sport,” he said. “So there’s a lot of time to drink beer. It’s a great sport for drinking beer! The Scots started it and we just followed their lead.”
Okay, doing 12-ounce curls at a sport called curling. Makes a bit of sense once you think about it for a moment.
Note that in the 2012 World Men’s Curling Championships, Canada plays the last match on March 31, and again and everyday thereafter thru April 5. There’s a four-team playoff on Saturday with the final on Sunday, April 8.
In addition to the Canucks, the tournament also has teams from host Switzerland (is there anything such as a home-curling advantage?), Scotland (of course) China, New Zealand, Norway, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Scotland, Germany, France and the good ‘ol USA (don’t expect any miracles on ice here, tho).
As far as the host city, Basel, I’ve not been there but with Swiss rail you can easily get to Zurich. Still, Basel has its own charms. It’s Switzerland’s third-largest city, is located on both sides of the Rhine bordering both France and Germany and has a nightclub (Musikpark A2) in the bottom of an ice rink.
Sounds like a party to me!
LINKS:
• Basel City Guide From Tourism Switzerland
• World Men’s Curling Championships Site
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