Ice, stones, and brooms- it's a 'spiel of a good time

Don't know what a bonspiel is? Do you think curling is something one does to their hair? Well hang on tight and prepare for a wondrous journey into the Great White North's signature sport.

Many have seen the sport of curling shown during the recent Winter Olympics. (Curling defined; Bonspeil defined). The Fairbanks Curling Club (FCC website) hosted the 73rd Annual International Bonspeil, which attrached men and women from all about, bringing in tow their ice-sliding stones and super fast broom sweeping talents. I read about the event in the local newspaper and couldn't resist some good Alaskan sports spectating.

I arrived full of wonder. I didn't know what to expect; either the players would be old men sharing shots of Medimusal between stone sliding, or it would be younger people just curling in between online Wold of Warcraft sessions. I was wrong on both accounts. I found a full spectrum of players that ranged from older professionals to young college students, with many teams consisting of all sorts of players.

I did learn that curling is a real chess match consisting of getting your team points while preventing the other team from getting their points (like most sports).

While watching and eavesdropping on other spectators' conversations, I realized I was totally lost and all I heard was a foreign language I dubbed as curlingese, which I could not understand. They might as well have been speaking French.

All in all it was a very interesting time and curling appears to be a very team orientated social sport. I just wish I could convince some of those guys to come over and sweep my cabin. What takes me about 20 minutes, they could accomplish in three.