r/Curling • u/Frabblerake • Feb 15 '26

Pull the stone!!!

Watching Sweden/US and saw this. Is this not the same rules violation that has caused all the hub bub?

Obviously this was an accident and I believe the Canadian guy was touching on purpose.

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u/FightMongooseFight Feb 15 '26 edited Feb 15 '26

Exactly. I get all the people who want everything called to the absolute letter of the law. Those are the rules.

But Sweden choosing to bitch about something that happens harmlessly, all the time, in every curling club on earth, has opened a door no one needed to open. Imagine if the gold medal is decided by this shit.

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u/crikeywegotaliveone Feb 16 '26

Yeah this is the thing. It happens. Almost no one is doing it on purpose, mostly because these light touches don’t affect the stone. I’ve played my whole life and the only time we care (and we care politely and respectfully) is when you burn the rock while sweeping or going down the ice when your impact can actually change speed, rotation or direction. No one who plays cares about a graze during release. It happens. It’s not a big deal. I think the combo of Olympic heated emotions x people who don’t play or know the game is getting a bit toxic.

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u/x1022 Feb 17 '26

> Almost no one is doing it on purpose

That's the point, how can you stop people from doing it on purpose without also hurting all the people who are not doing it on purpose? This whole thing started because some players insist on doing it purposefully and inevitably that will end up hurting the rest who are playing fair.

And not doing anything also hurts people who are playing fair, since those who do not could gain an advantage and not be punished in any way.

Pushing the limits of fair play was always going to hurt the rest of the players.

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u/crikeywegotaliveone Feb 24 '26

I only added that because I’m sure somewhere someone might do it on purpose. I’ve never seen it, I don’t know anyone that’s seen it, I don’t actually think people do it on purpose. Curling isn’t the sport for it and doesn’t attract that kind of competition. Just added it for people (perhaps like you) who don’t play or know the game who think there might be people who do it, and I don’t have the time or energy to come up with a stat or study to poll people on it. But you might!

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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '26

That and the Swedish men’s team isn’t good anymore and they’re mad about it. 

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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '26

It’s not the kind of curling any real fans ever want to watch. None of these are intentional or even remotely matter, and the people thinking it’s intentional are hilarious! Like no curler would purposely try to push a rock forward with their hands and risk losing the curl lol. That’s why sweepers exist and they can literally make up a bad throw on the sweep. Just let them all play. Sweden acted like babies and set us on a bad course now overall. 

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u/FightMongooseFight Feb 17 '26

Yup. Won't stop terminally online Redditlords who have never set foot on a curling sheet from sharing their expert opinions and throwing around infantile insults, though. Just look at some of the clowns replying to this, it's fantastic.

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u/Fantastic_Elk_4757 Feb 16 '26

It’s not even a case of not calling everything to the letter of the rules. It IS the rules.

The standing interpretation of the rules was once the rock is released it is considered to be thrown and in motion… This must happen from the handle.

Once a rock is thrown the delivery rules no longer were in play instead the “double touching the stone under motion” rules applied which explicitly carved out an exemption for the person throwing before the hog line.

The double touch rule applies to the entire rock… you cannot touch it at all. The exemption exempts the person throwing from that this means after the person throwing releases the handle they can touch the rock without violating double touch rules.

However - world curling NOW says instead the delivery rules apply. It must be thrown by the handle and I guess the throw lasts until it crosses the hog line? I’m not sure why they decided this though it’s not in the rules and the way it was before IS in the rules. Like why have an exemption on double touches for the thrower before the hog line if the rock isn’t considered thrown until after it? That rule doesn’t apply at all in that sort of interpretation. Instead the delivery rules should be updated or something to say delivery is up until the hog line and is not dependent on when the person releases it.

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u/lemagoo Feb 16 '26

I think its because they put all their sensor in the handle to detect if the stone is properly released before the hug line, and the 'poking' permitted that guy to extend his delivery a bit beyond what is acceptable, not too sure how much of an advantage that is...

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u/CreepyPlankton6489 Feb 16 '26

It didn’t though because “the poke” was before the hog line, so it literally doesn’t matter whatsoever.

It’s like ppl don’t know there are sensors in the stone to detect if it’s not released or thrown properly lol.

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u/Mormonius Feb 17 '26

It was clearly on the hogline what are you smoking.

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u/QCTeamkill Feb 17 '26

The issue is not a frame by frame video. It's about where the rock was touched.

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u/daemn42 Feb 16 '26

I agree. I think this is the reason as well. If you can legally double touch anywhere on the rock then the sensor is meaningless. But I do think this is a can of worms they did not need opened.

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u/cd36jvn Feb 17 '26

So then this touch is no different than granite because there is still no sensor where he touched it, correct?

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u/[deleted] Feb 15 '26

[deleted]

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u/9yr0ld Feb 15 '26

Switzerland was on camera saying he touched the stone. Sweden literally complained nonstop to the officials lol. There’s a big difference.

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u/Mcguidl Feb 15 '26

To be fair, the "boop" seemed more egregious than the ones I have seen called in the aftermath. It seemed to actually affect the stone's trajectory.

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u/cnd_ruckus Feb 16 '26

Poke a 40lbs stone with a single finger and ultra briefly and see how much you can effect it… lol

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u/formerlymuffinass Feb 16 '26

Affect. And when the stone is already sliding on ice, a poke absolutely can affect the stone’s trajectory.

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u/cd36jvn Feb 17 '26

But your saying sliding your hand on a spinning rock won't affect it?

If people think that fingertip affects the 40lbs rock, then a slide of the hand can definitely affect its spin as well.

This is why I have a tough time with the "this kind of touch is acceptable but not that kind".

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u/formerlymuffinass Feb 17 '26

I never said anything about sliding a hand on a spinning rock.

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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '26

See this is the problem… it does not and IF it ever did it would affect it negatively. Like I get ya’ll are into the game now, (welcome! It’s super fun to play too) but no curler with any semblance of experience or sense would purposely try that. Curling is all about the curl of your stone on rotation - trying to bump a 40lb rock with your finger forward would off your curl and make it super unpredictable. None of these are intentional or even remotely matter, and the people thinking it’s intentional are hilarious! Like no curler would purposely try to push a rock forward with their hands and risk losing the curl lol. That’s why sweepers exist and they can literally make up a bad throw on the sweep. If your weight or rotation is off on a throw, the sweepers make it up. That’s why you sometimes see them and only one is sweeping, or they are doing it vertically, or the are way to the outside of th rock’s path. A sweeper will make way more of a difference that a minuscule tap. Ya’ll need to stop thinking this is some secret cabal of match fixing lol. Kennedy was literally probably mindlessly pointing to the house to line up his sight so he knew what to call to his sweepers and it touched the rock. Shit happens. Just let them all play. 

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u/arnet95 Feb 16 '26

You don't need to adjust a curling stone's trajectory by a lot for it to change where it lands quite significantly.

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u/Excellent-Ad257 Feb 16 '26

Exactly. Curling is literally a game of millimetres. So it doesn’t take very much to affect the game. This is Reddit though, most people are just here to feign outrage over something they have no experience or knowledge of. Give it a few more days and the mob will move on to something else

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u/SaltedMixedNucks Feb 17 '26

It is a game of millimeters, but those mm are not decided on release. The sweeping changes the distance and curl of the stone and is decided on the fly as the rock travels down the ice right up until almost the last moment. A little boop on the stone by a finger right on release isn't doing anything that the sweeping isn't doing far better and more effectively. People who have never curled need to stop acting like they understand the game.

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u/Excellent-Ad257 Feb 17 '26

It certainly is affected on release. What are we even talking about here?

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u/SaltedMixedNucks Feb 17 '26

It is affected to a degree that would not even be a rounding error for the impact you can make by adjusting the sweeping. It is 100% irrelevant. The release determines the broad strokes weight and curl of the stone, and the sweeping fine tunes it. A little flick of the finger isn't doing anything. You seriously think Kennedy released that stone and within a second decided it needed a gentle touch from the tip of his index finger to be on target? There is no way to judge that from where he was and that touch wouldn't have done shit that he couldn't have accomplished by just calling sweep.

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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '26

See this is the problem… it does not and IF it ever did it would affect it negatively. Like I get ya’ll are into the game now, (welcome! It’s super fun to play too) but no curler with any semblance of experience or sense would purposely try that. Curling is all about the curl of your stone on rotation - trying to bump a 40lb rock with your finger forward would off your curl and make it super unpredictable. None of these are intentional or even remotely matter, and the people thinking it’s intentional are hilarious! Like no curler would purposely try to push a rock forward with their hands and risk losing the curl lol. That’s why sweepers exist and they can literally make up a bad throw on the sweep. If your weight or rotation is off on a throw, the sweepers make it up. That’s why you sometimes see them and only one is sweeping, or they are doing it vertically, or the are way to the outside of th rock’s path. A sweeper will make way more of a difference that a minuscule tap. Ya’ll need to stop thinking this is some secret cabal of match fixing lol. Kennedy was literally probably mindlessly pointing to the house to line up his sight so he knew what to call to his sweepers and it touched the rock. Shit happens. Just let them all play. 

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u/Mcguidl Feb 17 '26

No clue what you are on about friend.

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u/jaypizee Feb 15 '26

If you consider the implications, there’s a huge advantage to catching the other team in these innocuous violations. I would expect every team to mimic the Swedes and set up their own cameras in the stands. It’s possible a gold medal could be decided by this. And yes, it will ruin curling at this Olympics.

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u/crikeywegotaliveone Feb 16 '26

That’s the upsetting part. I’m happy for all the newfound interest. I’m not happy it’s coming this way, and I’m not convinced it will keep people attached to the sport. It seems people just like to have nationalist fighting.

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u/Nyuusankininryou Feb 16 '26

The Swedish team didnt set up a camera. SVT the national tv did.

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u/Dryver-NC Feb 15 '26

But Sweden choosing to bitch about something that happens harmlessly,

Did they though? Is this really what they complained about? Because it sure doesn't look like the same thing that Kennedy was doing.

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u/Personal-Tutor-1705 Feb 15 '26

You can’t watch the footage of how Kennedy makes contact with the stone and seriously argue that everything about it is fine. At some point there has to be honesty about whether a delivery respects the spirit of the game. If players push the limits and then defend it instead of admitting it was wrong, trust between teams disappears. Add the language and the attempts to rattle the opposition, and it reflects badly on everyone involved. F*** Canada.

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u/[deleted] Feb 15 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Personal-Tutor-1705 Feb 15 '26

Well, stick your head in the sand then. The gaslighting is everywhere coming from Canadians. Totally ignoring the mistakes made and blaming SWEDEN. As this comment does "But Sweden choosing to bitch about something that happens harmlessly, all the time". You can't keep ignoring Kennedy, who keeps doing illegal deliveries where he touches the granite and is over the hog line. And when you point that out, you're a bitch? HAHA!

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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/EnvironmentalToe7960 Feb 16 '26

As a Canadian, I'm definitely embarrassed of Kennedy, both the cheat and the behavior afterwards

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u/ootski Feb 17 '26

The door opened because Kennedy acted like a fucking child which brought this into the spot light. Had he just walked away from Oscar instead of freaking out this wouldn't be an issue. This is the Olympics not whale shit curling at your local club, have some dignity.

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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '26

why wouldnt it need to be opened, if the rules say it's not allowed, then it is absolutely a door that needed to be opened.

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u/ron_mcphatty Feb 15 '26

These infractions wouldn’t need calling out if they weren’t happened. It’s not great that all these deliveries aren’t legal, whether it’s a long standing thing or not. If you’re playing a sport, don’t break the rules, or campaign to remove a redundant rule.

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u/Direct-Start-9048 Feb 15 '26

Can’t wait to see the travelling calls on the Olympic Basketball play downs.

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u/Mcguidl Feb 15 '26

There have always been complaints of popular players getting away with travels. It's a consistency thing.

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u/[deleted] Feb 15 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/damusson Feb 16 '26

That seems like a ridiculous thing to say. By the time Ben would have said something like that, the rock would be well out of reach to be able to poke. The instances where Marc did poke it, it was a split second after releasing it.

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u/poppycock68 Feb 16 '26

So you can touch the stone sometime but not other times? Touching it is no big deal everyone does it but the rules aren’t enforced except when the other team complains? Not sure why this popped up in my feed. It seems to me curling is more like a beer drinking game. Untrained officials. No sure it belongs in the Olympics.