curling, softball and global warming

I know that I have led a somewhat sheltered existence across these 48 years, but I had never been exposed to "curling" until the winter olympics this year. My wife says that it is like shuffleboard on ice. My younger daughter and I are trying to figure out if the people who skate along and scratch the ice are slowing the puck (is it a puck?---this is a rhetorical question---don't answer please) or speeding it up. Maybe it's just a way to involve more people in what would otherwise be a pretty solitary endeavor. Curling must be an supreme example of the human ability to adapt to his or her environment. If you live in really cold, icy weather, you invent a sport that requires two things: a disc-like object and concentric circles. Of course, with global warming, there may be fewer venues in which to practice the art of curling, but that is another story.

On the other hand, I cannot believe that softball has been ruled out as an olympic sport. But then I grew up in a softball culture, and most every church I have ever served has had a softball team (I can't remember whether my friend Stanley Hauerwas approves of this or not...I know somewhere he has commented on softball). The ruling may have something to do with how the world feels about the U.S. at this moment in history (we are not in anyone's favor), but it is a shame.

So, more curling, less softball. Although, with the global warming that is affecting out planet's weather, there is a brighter future in softball.

Think about it, while you are watching curling.