As many an initially ironic Olympics watcher has learned over the years, curling is a surprisingly fascinating sport to get sucked into, full of precision shots, opponent-crushing hits, and brooms. (There are a lot of brooms.) It’s enough to give the oddball sport its own passionate fanbase, something actress Kirstie Alley learned to her discomfort earlier this week.
In a since-deleted tweet, Alley stepped out onto thin, well-brushed ice a few days ago, issuing these fateful words: “Im not trying to be mean but…… Curling is boring.” And then, Alley learned why the sport is sometimes known as “the roaring game,” as the members of the U.S. men’s curling team’s fired back at her with all the perfect aim and coordination you’d expect of people who do this sort of thing for a living:
The team’s supporters came out in force, too, including frequent Olympics booster Mr. T. With that kind of power coming to bear, it’s no surprise that Alley eventually relented, like a team going 4 to 1 with a single end left to go on the ice. (As far as we know, that last bit was a curling term. Please don’t yell at us, Mr. T.)