I have seen the future...

... and it scares me.

Yesterday, as is my routine of late, promptly at 11:00 am Central Time, I turned on the USA network. Regular programming? Ok, let's try CNBC. Regular programming. Hmmmm... ok, MSNBC. Regular programming. Desperately started flipping through channels in an attempt to find the Universal channel. Nothing. NBC itself? Nope. Nothing.. ok, next to nothing... the Today show.

It was then that I realized I've turned into (much to the dismay of most of my family) a curling junkie.

At first I was pissed, I quickly blamed NBC for losing interest since both American teams failed to make it to the semi-finals. A quick check of the schedule showed me that was not the case. There was only one match scheduled that day, a one-game playoff between the men's teams from Great Britain and Sweden, later in the day. I was crushed. My viewing routine was thrown into turmoil and disarray. NBC went from "Nothing But Curling" to being practically devoid of the sport.

Like many here in the US, the sport of Curling was a curiosity. We watch it despite the fact most of us only have a tenuous grasp at best of the rules and strategies. But these Olympics have us watching and learning and loving this sport. The fact that most of the people playing in the Olympics are rather easy on the eyes certainly helps, but seeing teams made up of ordinary folks, not bulked up freaks of nature, surely plays a major part in its appeal.

And yet, when these Olympics are over, we'll be denied any regular coverage of our new-found love. Most of us will have to wait 4 long years before we will be able to see it again.

As an example of how curling has really started to catch on here, I've even seen discussion threads started on the Chicago Cubs message board about it. Seriously? Americans are really starting to pay attention to it on a large scale. Our TV networks, be they cable only or broadcast, would be damned foolish not to give it some air time. ESPN? Come on guys, you started out covering stuff like this! Someone needs to capitalize on this golden opportunity. Honestly, you've been feeding us a steady diet of something we now need, and you're going to just yank it away from us like that?

All I know is that next week is going to suck.

Until then, I'll be watching all I can. Oh, and since the US is officially done, I'm jumping on the Team Canada bandwagon. Same continent, so it's ok, right? Go Canada!