by George Karrys / Canadian Curling Association photos by Michael Burns

It started with some chats on Facebook. Then Calgary Herald curling scribe Al Cameron – who also spouts off for The Curling News once in a while – blogged this reveal. This prompted the Canadian Press to jump in. Then came this amusing display of punnery from the Vancouver Sun.

The story, such as it is, is that Team World – who are taking on Team North America in the Continental (kinda Ryder) Cup of Curling starting today in Langley, B.C. – have instituted an alcohol ban amongst their ranks.

Stung by his World team’s crushing loss to North America last year, World coach Peja Lindholm of Sweden – who witnessed the Slaughter in St. Albert firsthand – and World captain David Hay of Scotland have dropped the hammer this time.

“We have a code of conduct as a group about how we should be behaving and how we should treat the event,” Hay told the Sun. “In today’s modern world, sponsorship is exceptionally hard to get for any sport. We’re very lucky we have (sponsors) backing this event. In my view, it’s extremely disrespectful to our sponsors to turn up at any part of this competition not 100 per cent fit for the job. We’ve got lots of time to celebrate or commiserate on Sunday.”

Said Lindholm: “We’ve seen players who haven’t been sharp on every shot, and that’s not professional. Are we taking the fun out of the event? I must say this: If you need alcohol to have fun, you must be a very boring person.

“The players are here because they’re the world’s best. They should have a relaxed feeling. We will have fun. We just don’t want the fun to be too much fun.”

Well now... obviously, the secret is out. Curling athletes enjoy partying, and imbibing, off the ice – at the Continental Cup, anyway.

Norwegian skip Thomas Ulsrud, who is once again Pantless for this event, said the feeling was that last year’s team socialized too much.

“This will be the first week our team only drinks soft drinks for a whole weekend," Ulsrud told the Canadian Press. “I guess it's going to be a new experience for us as well. We'll see how it goes. Maybe we'll be even better.”

Members of Team North America, including Amber Holland and Glenn Howard, appear to be surprised by the Team World approach.

“We’re all adults here,” Holland told the Canadian Press. “So I think everybody has to test their judgment on what they have to do off the ice to best perform on the ice.”

“I don’t get it," said Howard. “I'm so old school. If you want to have a drink, go have a drink. Come on. We’ve got to have some fun out here.”

Clearly this is a growing scandal of epic proportions. Team North America includes U.S. players: what if mainstream U.S. media catch wind of this, and discover that the U.S curling stars do NOT have a booze ban? Good heavens.

And there's something else. At the 2007 Continental Cup in Medicine Hat, the athletes from both teams were surprised and delighted to see the Chinese women – led by skip Bingyu Wang, photo at top – arrive at North America's late-night hospitality suite, grab some drinks and play their first-ever game (in wide-eyed wonder) of Beer Pong. It was, trust me, quite a sight to see.

How, pray tell, will Wang's continuing education in party games continue in Langley? Will Cola Pong or Juice Pong resonate without the beer?

So many questions.

[The 2012 Continental Cup of Curling begins today in Langley, B.C. and wraps up on Sunday afternoon. Consult the Curling TV Guide in the January issue of The Curling News for all broadcast information]