Curling Rocks

Save your jokes — chances are he's heard them all. Sophomore Matt Mielke is a curler from Bismarck, North Dakota, two characteristics that earn him quite a few raised eyebrows and the occasional jibe.

Recently, Mielke represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Curling Association Junior National Championship held in his hometown from Jan. 29 to Feb. 5. He represented Massachusetts as a matter of geographical convenience; coordinating with a North Dakota team would have been a nightmare. Instead, he competed on a team with three players from the Boston area.

Attending Junior Nationals was nothing new for Mielke, who has already been to the competition three previous times. His best finish to date has been in the runner-up position, although this year his team tied for fourth place and then lost the tiebreaker that would have advanced them to the semifinals. The experience both on and off the ice was certainly memorable.

"There are teams there from all over, so you play with the best curlers in the country, and off the ice it's just a big party," Mielke said.

Mielke earned the bid to Junior Nationals after winning the Grand National Curling Club Championship.

Mielke's career as a curler is a product of circumstance. Because his father curled, he has been exposed to the esoteric world of rocks, brooms and Teflon shoes for most of his life.

"[Curling] is almost like the family business; I just kind of had to pick it up," he said. "I enjoyed it once I started, though, and I was never pressured to stay with it."

Mielke admits that "curling isn't huge in Bismarck." Still, he joined his father on the ice as soon as he was strong enough to get the 42-pound rocks to the other side of the sheet. Although he played several run-of-the-mill sports growing up, curling is the one he enjoyed most and the one he eventually concentrated on.

The most recent Olympic Winter Games have brought needed attention to the poorly-understood sport.

"People used to say, 'What is that?' but now that the Olympics have given it a bit of a forum, they're usually like, 'Wow, that's really cool. Is that the thing where you. . .' and then they do the rapid [sweeping] motion," he said with a laugh.

Mielke likens the sport to bocce ball. Rocks, the granite disks with handles on top, are "thrown" or slid from one end of the ice to a target at the other.

Each game is played with two teams of four people consisting of a lead, a second, a third and a skip. Each person throws both of their two rocks in an order befitting their position titles, and the skip goes last. The job of sweeping is shared by the first three, but it's "not a broom that you buy at Wal-Mart or something. It's a special broom," Milke said.

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Except for the skip, who doesn't sweep at all, everyone has the responsibility of sweeping when he is not throwing the rocks. This melts the ice and allows the rocks to go a little further and a little straighter.

"My position is skip. The skip is the person who calls the shots, so you can kind of equate it to a quarterback. They also have to shoot the last two rocks which are the most important, because after all the rocks have been thrown, that's when you add up the score," Mielke explained.

Finding suitable practice venues is something of a problem in the Princeton area, but Mielke has been able to find a club 40 minutes away. Because of the demands of university life, he is generally only able to practice about once a week. Unfortunately, the nature of the sport is one in which "you train mostly just through playing."

"If you've ever seen any of the good curlers, you don't have to be in awesome shape, so you don't have to go running or anything," he said. "Physically, it's not very demanding; it's all in the form and having the muscle memory and the strategy."

Mielke definitely plans to continue his curling career. Those plans "hopefully [include] the Olympics."

"I think 2010 is the soonest it would be at all possible," he said.

For now, though, he is content to enjoy the rest of the season.

"The main event of the season is Junior Nationals, but there are a few small tournaments around the region," he said. "Tournaments are usually pretty fun. If you think the Street is crazy, just go to a curling tournament."

For those still content to laugh at the sport, Mielke advises, "Give it a try. Most people who try it end up enjoying it."