New Take on Olympic Sport.

I apologize for not publishing yesterday.  I was stuck in Bethel which has been having internet issues for several months and the internet they have is not always reliable.  Its only good enough to check your mail for periods of time.  I finally made it home about 3:30 and went straight to bed for a nap.  I've been fighting a flu bug while trying to survive my presentations at the conference.

So I got to the airport at a nasty 7:30 am with a bit of blowing snow and roads that made it look like early spring complete with pot holes and jarring teeth.  You have to log in that early for the first flight which doesn't usually leave till almost 10AM even though its scheduled to leave at 8:30.

Unfortunately, the first flight was cancelled due to the runway being too icy for any planes to take off.

We looked out the window and saw the employees outside on the ice with cones spread between two planes.  A few of them had regular brooms and a couple of spare tires from the airplanes. We watched them slide the tires across the icy ground with people sweeping in front as the tires were more likely to run into cones than get to the end.

In addition about 50 percent of the time, the person trying to throw the tire across the ice ended up on his belly after loosing  his footing.  Although this took place at the airport in Bethel, Alaska, the guys put as much enthusiasm and determination as the Olympic competitors in South Korea.

What made it even more interesting is the fact that the United States was in the middle of a game with Canada at the same time the guys played their game.    We won the game by one point at the Olympics but I don't know about the local game.

It was so entertaining that people lined up against the windows to watch, take pictures, and even snap videos due to the entertainment value of this unusual event. It was fun watching the guys laugh every time the slung a tire, fell, managed to sweep as they slid to their butts, or any other move. 

Honestly, the form was not quite the same because a tire does not have a handle as the rock and I don't think they even weigh the same amount.  Their form was more primitive than most Olympic curlers but their enthusiasm made up for their lack of form.

Have a great day, let me know what you think.