There’s very little one could do to take the fun out of curling.

It is one of those rare sports that strikes the perfect balance between exercise and standing around shooting the shit. Not only that, but curling rinks have bars with free popcorn. It truly is the ultimate Canadian sport! And if, as they say, your life-style determines your death-style, then curlers are going out with flying colours — with brooms”¦ on ice.

Glow curling, the curling equivalent of glow bowling, is offered in Saskatoon at the Nutana Curling Club. It’s been experiencing great success, as glow bonspiels are in the works with clubs at the U of S signing up in solid numbers. It’s currently only offered as a special event and you have to contact Nutana Curling Club to find out the weekly availability — as a general rule, though, Saturdays would be your best bet as there are leagues Monday to Friday. Groups can rent single sheets of ice for $88 for two hours. This is the same price as regular curling but, of course, its availability is more limited.

I had the opportunity to hit the black-light-ice a few weeks back.

The thing about glow curling is… if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. I mean, I don’t want to come across a fascist or even a traditionalist. In truth, I haven’t curled that much in my life. Sure, I can tell the difference between the hack and the house, but I have no idea when to put a guard up or how much curl to put on a rock. More importantly, if it were up to me you could drink booze right on the ice; in other words, I’m not opposed to change if change is for the better. But when I found myself gliding down the ice in near darkness with constellations of dandruff lighting up my shoulders, I had to ask: why all the froo-frah?

At the Nutana Curling Club, the glow pattern in the house alternates between sheets: one sheet has the button lit up, but on the next one it’s dark. Now I must ask, how can you aim for something that’s invisible? Unless the assumption is that glow curling should only be done when you’re blindingly drunk.

On that point, I must admit, it’s fun to slide around in the dark. And it’s fun to slide around in the dark after a few drinks. In fact, if you aren’t concerned about playing a solid game, glow curling is really fun.

Actually, I take it all back. Just because I’m a grumpy old man doesn’t mean you won’t have a good time glow curling. It just means you’ll see more giggling college kids in neon clothes then well-thrown rocks.

Also, get up to the karaoke machine before the College of Law club. Man those kids are greedy! For shame!