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What is more exciting? Curling or a pair of pants?
When it comes to the Norwegian team, the answer is not always clear.
The Norwegian curlers have made a name for themselves with their flashy pants since skip Thomas Ulsrud began the trend in 2010 in Vancouver.
"Everyone else wears black pants. These are not black pants," explained chief pants fan Anthony D'Orazio.
In Pyeongchang, the Norwegian pants party is back and D'Orazio is bracing for an upswing in traffic on his dedicated pants-focused fan page.
"I know for a fact we've only seen the tip of the iceberg, they've got 12 pairs of pants ready for the Olympics," D'Orazio said excitedly.
"They suit the team's personality very well."
Norway's pants dance has actually given the sport a legitimate leg-up.
Brazilian fans pressed their case for a curling rink as a result on the fan page and even got the Norwegians to zip over and help out.
"It's a sport on the fringe of sport, but the pants have raised that profile," D'Orazio said.
"It's having a real impact."
Despite the old-school culture of the sport, D'Orazio hopes future trend-setters are cut some slack in the curling fraternity.
"It Canada it's a very serious sport, they are very focused and it's a culture that gets ingrained," he said.
"There are actually rules on the books that say you have to wear black pants."
Those rules do not apply to the Europeans, and so Norway's team has been given a license to fly by the seat of their proverbial (and real) pants.
"Not every team has their personality," D'Orazio said.
"As these rules go off into the sunset, you'll see teams get crazy. Maybe it won't be pants, it could be shirts."
These truly are exciting times.
"I'll be watching all the matches live from New York," D'Orazio said.
"I'll be keeping some odd hours over the next few weeks."
Odd is an appropriate word for a sport in which pants can legitimately steal the spotlight.
Topics: winter-olympics, winter-sports, sport, korea-republic-of, norway
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