World Curling tightens sweeping rules, bans firmer broom foams ahead of Olympics
25 comments
·June 22, 2025ortusdux
jerrycruncher
It's almost certainly related. I wouldn't be surprised if the sleeper hit podcast of the same name[1] that was released last year played a role in resurfacing the issue, too.
[1] https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/1427-broomgate-a-curl...
peeters
In some ways it's a shame because I love the finesse game as a counterbalance to the focus on power that seemed to peak around the time Brad Jacob's crew was dominating the scene. I don't follow curling quite enough to know what the impact will be on the meta game though. More guards? Fewer? More takeout attempts? It's interesting because finesse and power both have critical roles in both scoring and defending so it's not obvious to me where the negative/positive impacts to the game will be.
gucci-on-fleek
> In some ways it's a shame because I love the finesse game as a counterbalance to the focus on power
The relatively recent ban on takeouts before the 5th rock [0] has pushed the game back towards finesse, so if you haven't watched curling for the past few years, you might find it to be a little more interesting to watch now.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curling#Free_guard_zone:~:text....
mattmaroon
Curling is proof that with enough alcohol anything can be a sport.
jdougan
You have to admire the "Winners buy the drinks for the losers." curlture.
jackschultz
My brother in law curls. Asked him about this and he said that it's been coming for a while, the men's teams at Canadian nationals has a self imposed a ban on them, and for amateurs it doesn't really affect them since they're not good enough to have it make a difference. Seems like it means it's not that big an issue and players aren't arguing to keep them.
Now golf on the other hand has a much bigger equipment issues if people want to see some big time drama.
MegaDeKay
I remember back in the day when the brooms were real corn bristle brooms. You had to have forearms like hams to slap those brooms back and forth hard enough to get those stones to move. The side effect was that every now and then a piece of straw would bust off and cause the stone to veer way off course.
schlauerfox
US has a curling team too. I wish the US had better olympics television coverage, but it's become mini athlete docs, a little of US performances and it robs us. There's this too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMLU6-NHINQ
munificent
There is a "sweeping rule change" pun right there and the author lacked the courage to use it.
exabrial
It was just brushed aside unfortunately.
mattmaroon
I actually thought they were making that pun a couple times and then realized they weren’t.
sunrunner
Curling is a serious sport and not something to be joked about.
rtkwe
Sometimes you get swept up in the excitment of a good pun.
rpmisms
Any sport can be joked about. If you feel the need to defend it...
mynegation
You knocked it out with this pun!
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parpfish
curl -X PATCH http://worldcurling.gov/rules/firm-foam \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"status": "BANNED"}'m3kw9
Like those Nike marathon shoes, Vapor flys
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jmclnx
I remember seeing Curling on TV as a young kid in the 60s. Most competitor were out of shape and they tossed the stone almost like one would bowl.
I was shocked decades later seeing how it changed. I miss the old days :)
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Reminds me of Broomgate - a 'technology doping' scandal from 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broomgate