By 
‘Dave Drags the Foot 3’
courtesy of ‘tbridge’
I’ve talked a very big game all week when it comes to curling. Inspired by the perfect combination of Norwegian pants, live broadcasts online and the sheer novelty of the sport, I have tried to throw all of my perceived curling expertise around whenever I got a chance. I’ve made my puns about throwing rocks at houses and bacon curling in pans (including overusing the #CurlingRocks hashtag). I have cheered loudly and emphatically for the US teams in Vancouver, and have conversely made criticisms of John Shuster that would make Byung-Hyun Kim say, “alright, easy there.”
It’s been a wonderful hobby for the week; part of the appeal of the sport is not only how often it is on during the Olympics, but the accessibility of it. “That totally seems like something I could do.” I gave it in my first run on a modified, synthetic sheet on Friday afternoon at the Hilton Garden Inn’s weekend long expo. After a well-documented victory over DCist’s Aaron Morrissey, my confidence was at an all time high. I still believed I had a handle on the sport.
And then I took my first steps on the sheet out at Potomac Curling Club in Laurel, Md., and I finally had to admit that this whole thing is just a tinge harder than it looks. Confidence swept away, all my hopes and dreams for a birth on the Sochi 2014 team were on thin ice.