The curling has started at the Olympics.  They are again yelling, “HARD!”

Yes!

I love the curling.  It’s just so great.  Sweeping hard, making hard choices…sacrificing hard stones at the right time.

It has a huge following.  It’s like that mysterious kid in school that no one knows too well, but he has that mystique…a coolness that we can’t really define.  We want to approach him…hang out with him…but we’re not sure if we should.  If we can.

I’ve spent a lot of time in Canada and know there is a HUGE curling following there, and it’s really great…a real thinking-person’s game.  It’s grown.  Apparently the curling fans today numbered close to 5,000 people

They call it chess on ice.  The cerebral meeting of strategy and sport.  People love that.  They love intrigue.

I heard a human-interest comment about the American women’s team.  Some of them are moms.  They have full-time jobs.  Families.  And they balance it all with their curling.

In some ways, it takes a great strategist to manage the life of an Olympic athlete.  There are many stories of athletes who aren’t supported in a major monetary way, unlike in other countries.  They scrape by, trying to make ends meet to pursue their passions.  One of the American skaters is a DJ and skate sharpener to help pay the bills while he pursues his dream.

And did you hear about the Russian skater who gave up her Japanese citizenship to live and train in Russia with a particular coach?

Now THAT’S a calculating move for passion.

It’s not just for curling, I guess.  There are always hard choices we make to do the things we love.

That’s the brilliant draw of the Olympics.  That’s why we watch.  That’s why we can’t turn away, even when it gets sharp, fast, or dangerous.  We want to see the passion of sport.  We want to see the thrill of competition.

We want to see how lives of calculation and sacrifice, at just the right time, come together for gold.

No matter how “HARD!”

-josh