5 ms·

How can something be "too good for the sport" is beyond me. I get that it makes comparing the past to the present, but it literally based on the description in

by nxzero 10y ago

How can something be "too good for the sport" is beyond me. I get that it makes comparing the past to the present, but it literally based on the description in the story made it seem like the changes were improving the "sport" on the competition.

roywiggins 10y ago
> “It got a little out of hand this season where it became more of a line-calling game and a sweeping game as opposed to a throwing game,” explained Miskew. “We don’t want it to be about the fabric on your broom head. We want it to be about throwing it [the rock] well.” So it sounds like they make the throwing part of the game "obsolete" since the sweepers have so much control that it doesn't matter how bad the throw was. So it's unbalancing the game in unexpected ways.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- hyperpallium 10y ago
  Nerf OP broom.
tsunamifury 10y ago
Don't be silly. The sport is about improving players skill, not technology. The brushes, like aluminum bats in the MLB basically provide so much of an advantage that the skill factor is reduced significantly. I mean we could have robots play the game perfectly and that would be a lot less fun... or at the least a fundamentally different sport.
- dang 10y ago
  > Don't be silly. Please edit personal swipes out of comments here. Your comment would be just fine without that.
Someone 10y ago
"How can something be "too good for the sport" is beyond me" Here is a similar, but possibly easier to understand, example that would revolutionize/kill the sport of shooting: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/01/17000-linux-powered-rifle-brings-auto-aim-to-the-real-world/ http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/01/17000-linux-powered-r.... A later article (http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/08/gun-linux-on-the-range-with-trackingpoints-new-ar-15s/ http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/08/gun-linux-on-the-rang...) wrote: "my photojournalist buddy Steven Michael nailed a target at 1,008 yards—about 0.91 kilometers—on his first try, in spite of never having fired a rifle before" The first person using such a gun in shooting competitions would probably be called a genius in the sport, but soon every competitor would use it, and nobody would miss anymore. The curling situation is similar in the sense that, if this were allowed, curling players no longer need to have good control of direction, speed, and spin of the stones they throw.
rtkwe 10y ago
Sports regulation deals a lot with what's the 'heart' of the sport. ie what's the skill that's supposed to be on display, in this case curling is mainly about the throwers skills and the new materials made that much less important. Another goal of regulations is also making a leveler playing field where competitions don't come down to who could afford the most advanced tools.
z3t4 10y ago
i guess that if curling becomes too easy, the team who has the last stone would always win, unless they are amateurs. Kinda like if it was possible to check mate in the first move in chess, so that whoever started first would win. side note, i think sport is too professional. And that it might actually be more fun for amateurs if they could curl better.
- wRastel27 10y ago
  It totally changes the game and it's even worse on an amateur level. Professionals are making 80-90% of their shots, and the sweeping techniques were pushing that percentage higher. However, amateurs are only making 50% of their shots, and this technique/fabric can make a shot go from a miss to a perfect hit. Although the WCF did rule that for local bonspiels (tournaments), any fabric can be used so this discussion for the amateur level is quite moot.
Cpoll 10y ago
A metaphor is a baseball bat that allows a player to hit a home run every swing.

by nxzero 10y ago

roywiggins 10y ago

> “It got a little out of hand this season where it became more of a line-calling game and a sweeping game as opposed to a throwing game,” explained Miskew. “We don’t want it to be about the fabric on your broom head. We want it to be about throwing it [the rock] well.” So it sounds like they make the throwing part of the game "obsolete" since the sweepers have so much control that it doesn't matter how bad the throw was. So it's unbalancing the game in unexpected ways.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
hyperpallium 10y ago
Nerf OP broom.

tsunamifury 10y ago

Don't be silly. The sport is about improving players skill, not technology. The brushes, like aluminum bats in the MLB basically provide so much of an advantage that the skill factor is reduced significantly. I mean we could have robots play the game perfectly and that would be a lot less fun... or at the least a fundamentally different sport.

dang 10y ago
> Don't be silly. Please edit personal swipes out of comments here. Your comment would be just fine without that.

Someone 10y ago

"How can something be "too good for the sport" is beyond me" Here is a similar, but possibly easier to understand, example that would revolutionize/kill the sport of shooting: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/01/17000-linux-powered-rifle-brings-auto-aim-to-the-real-world/ http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/01/17000-linux-powered-r.... A later article (http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/08/gun-linux-on-the-range-with-trackingpoints-new-ar-15s/ http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/08/gun-linux-on-the-rang...) wrote: "my photojournalist buddy Steven Michael nailed a target at 1,008 yards—about 0.91 kilometers—on his first try, in spite of never having fired a rifle before" The first person using such a gun in shooting competitions would probably be called a genius in the sport, but soon every competitor would use it, and nobody would miss anymore. The curling situation is similar in the sense that, if this were allowed, curling players no longer need to have good control of direction, speed, and spin of the stones they throw.

rtkwe 10y ago

Sports regulation deals a lot with what's the 'heart' of the sport. ie what's the skill that's supposed to be on display, in this case curling is mainly about the throwers skills and the new materials made that much less important. Another goal of regulations is also making a leveler playing field where competitions don't come down to who could afford the most advanced tools.

z3t4 10y ago

i guess that if curling becomes too easy, the team who has the last stone would always win, unless they are amateurs. Kinda like if it was possible to check mate in the first move in chess, so that whoever started first would win. side note, i think sport is too professional. And that it might actually be more fun for amateurs if they could curl better.

wRastel27 10y ago
It totally changes the game and it's even worse on an amateur level. Professionals are making 80-90% of their shots, and the sweeping techniques were pushing that percentage higher. However, amateurs are only making 50% of their shots, and this technique/fabric can make a shot go from a miss to a perfect hit. Although the WCF did rule that for local bonspiels (tournaments), any fabric can be used so this discussion for the amateur level is quite moot.

Cpoll 10y ago

A metaphor is a baseball bat that allows a player to hit a home run every swing.