Rocking The House

It had been ages since I had been to PEI and I was glad that Jack’s panic attack was over. We drove into the city and put the Great George into the GPS. I was surprised by how upscale it was, my parents were simple people and usually opted for a Best Western of something. It was a good thing I had made a reservation last night but the only thing available was the Perkins Suite. I was glad when Jack had offered to pay half with me.

We checked in and got settled in our room before I decided to try and reach my folks. I dialed the operator and asked for their room. Should I have been surprised when there was no answer? I pulled out my laptop and googled the Scotties, looking for tickets. I sighed when I saw that it was sold out and the only way to get tickets was to buy the week long package. “Look’s like we’re going to be watching a whole lot of curling bud.” I turned to Jack and showed him the screen.

“Good, cuz it might take me that long to learn how this sport works.”

“Well, let’s head over and see if we can spot my parents.” I shut the laptop and grabbed my room key.

We had missed the first game of the day but the ticket lady had advised that the second one would be starting in about twenty minutes, and since we had bought the VIP weeklong package we had after game behind the scenes rights. I rolled my eyes when I thought of being stuck in a room full of crazy curling fans. I thanked her and picked up our tickets before going inside to find a beer. If I was going to survive this I was definitely going to need beer.

We got our beer and were sitting in our seats just in time for the game to start.

“I thought you said there were going to be hunnies here? A lot of these women are old.” Jack whined.

“Yeah um, curling is a sport where you don’t peak until your like thirty or so. I mean, Kevin Martin won the Olympics in his fourties.”

“Kevin who?”

“Never mind. I’m probably not the best person to ask your questions to. I’m pretty limited on my curling knowledge.”

Jack looked over the cute brunette sitting beside him and tapped her on the shoulder. “Excuse me, are you familiar with curling?”

She looked up at him and I was startled by her soft blue eyes, they took my breath away. I looked down at my beer and tried to focus on the game in front of me.

“Yes I am. Do you need me to explain something to you?”

“How about everything. Where I come from no one even knows what curling is.”

She looked him over before grabbing her own beer and leaning over so she wouldn’t have to yell above the cowbells and blow horns. “Okay, so curling one oh one. There are four players per team, plus usually one alternate. Each province is represented plus last years defending champions who are known as Team Canada. Any questions so far?” She asked. Jack shook his head as she took a sip of beer and continued. “Okay, so the leader of the team is called the Skip. They call the shots and throw the last rocks, then there is the Third, or Vice Skip, they hold the broom when the Skip throws. The Lead and Second are called the Front End and they are usually experts on judging the speed of a rock and are excellent sweepers.

She paused long enough for Jack and me to look over at her. The fact that she could talk curling like I could talk hockey made my heart race. She was obviously very passionate about the game.

“So how do you score points?” I asked, not realizing I had spoken until the words came out.

“Okay, well, you see those red and blue rings? That’s called the house. So basically the team with a rock closest to the middle or button as it’s called in curling lingo scores the points. The most you can score in a single end is eight points but that literally never happens, like ever. Especially in a competition like this.”

“Cool, so what’s with all the yelling?”

“That’s how the Skip communicates to the sweepers that it’s time to sweep. Usually they yell ‘Yes!’ and ‘Hard!’ or ‘Hurry Hard’. You guys really need to watch Men With Brooms.” She laughed. I liked her laugh. “So why don’t you guys watch a few ends and if you have any questions just ask okay?” Jack and I nodded and turned our heads back to the game.

We watched a few ends and then had to tap the girl on the shoulder again when they brought the stick out. “What’s that for?” I asked.

“They have to measure which rock is closest. There is a dial on it that will register which rock is closer. Take a look up at the screen and you’ll see.” We watched them measure the stone on the screen and then heard a roar of cheers when they pointed to the closer stone. Curling fans were intense, I had no idea.

By the time the game was over I was overloaded on knowledge but still didn’t really understand the game that well. I guess I would get the hang of it later. Before we left our seats I leaned over and asked the girl if she would be back for the next game, in case we had questions. She smiled and nodded. “Great! And I’m Sid by the way, and this is Jack. We’ll look for you at the next game.” I turned and started walking towards the stairs, I really needed to find my parents. As soon as we were out of ear shot Jack nudged me in the ribs.

“You totally want her.” He teased.

“What are you talking about?” I tried to lie, but I was never very convincing.

“Sid, I have never seen you look at girl like that before. You are totally into her. You can have my seat for the next game.”

I spotted my parents on the other side of the foyer, dressed in the dark blue and white of Nova Scotia wearing ridiculous yellow rain hats. They were hard to miss in the crowd. I wasn’t sure I would want to be seen with them. I grabbed my phone and dialed my mom’s number, knowing that I would at least be able to hear her now.

“Hi Sid! How are you?”

“Good mom, really good. Hey, I was just wondering if I took you to lunch if you would take your stupid hat off.”

“What do you mean? Where are you Sid, how do you know about?” She stopped short and looked up and when she saw me I waved. She put her phone down at her side and ran towards me. My dad hot on her heals. They both flung their arms around me and I couldn’t help the cheesy grin that was on my face. It was good to see them. “What on Earth are you doing here?”

“Decided to take a little road trip with Jack.” I waved my arm to my side so they would notice him. He gave a wave and a wide smile to my parents before they were both all over him, I wasn’t sure if he could breath.

“This is such a wonderful surprise!” I could tell by my mom’s voice that she was on the verge of tears.

“Come on mom, you just saw me a few weeks ago. Don’t do that. How about lunch and then you can tell me why you and dad decided to become avid curling fans all the sudden. I’m having a hard time with it. Jack hadn’t even heard of curling until yesterday.” My dad put his arm around my shoulder and started dragging me towards the exit.

“We can draw you diagrams at lunch if you want. That might help.” He chuckled.

At this rate I didn’t think Jack and I were ever going to understand it, but seeing the look on my mom’s face made the trip all worth it, whether we understood or not.