Curling is a sport marked more by its politeness than its competitiveness, but in 2015, a seemingly simple change to a piece of equipment set off an uproar that still cuts deep for many in the sport.
It was called Broomgate, and as a competitive curler, I found myself in the middle of it. I was one of the first players on the World Curling Tour to use a Hardline broom, and I thought I knew just about everything there was to know about the story: A new broom company emerges on the scene and club curlers really like their brooms.
They praise their lightness and the speed at which they can move the broom head, as it's made out of a material that reduces friction between the broom head and the ice.
Competitive curlers like me start to use it. We really like it. It holds the rock straighter than ever before. It makes the rocks go further than we thought possible.