Preview: Panting for curling

All games can be seen live online. TV listings can be found here.

EVENT SCHEDULE

Feb. 10 Round Robin games: Men’s - midnight ET; women’s 5 a.m. ET; men’s 10 a.m. ET

Feb. 11 Round Robin games: Women’s - midnight ET; men’s 5 a.m. ET; women’s 10 a.m. ET

Feb. 12 Round Robin games: Men’s - midnight ET; women’s 5 a.m. ET; men’s 10 a.m. ET

Feb. 13 Round Robin games: Women’s - midnight ET; men’s 5 a.m. ET; women’s 10 a.m. ET

Feb. 14 Round Robin games: Men’s - midnight ET; women’s 5 a.m. ET; men’s 10 a.m. ET

Feb. 15 Round Robin games: Women’s - midnight ET; men’s 5 a.m. ET; women’s 10 a.m. ET

Feb. 16 Round Robin games: Men’s - midnight ET; women’s 5 a.m. ET; men’s 10 a.m. ET

Feb. 17 Round Robin games: Women’s - midnight ET; men’s 5 a.m. ET; women’s 10 a.m. ET

Feb. 18 Tie-breaker games: Men/Women’s - midnight ET; Men/women’s 10 a.m. ET

Feb. 19 Semifinals: Women’s 5 a.m. ET; men’s 10 a.m. ET

Feb. 20 Women’s bronze: 3:30 a.m. ET; women’s gold: 8:30 a.m. ET

Feb. 21: Men’s bronze: 3:30 a.m. ET; men’s gold: 8:30 a.m. ET

(Note: Olympic Talk will feature daily matchups. Click here for specifics.)

OUTFITS

Might as well get this out of the way: here are a few images of Norway’s audacious curling get-ups:

Norway skip Thomas Ulsrud, wearing rose-painting knickers and a patterned flat cap, delivers the stone during curling training at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Robert F. Bukaty

In this image provided by Loudmouth Golf, members of the Norway’s Men’s Olympic Curling Team from left Thomas Ulsrud, Torgor Nergard, Christoffer Svae, and Havard Vad Petersson wear their new Sochi 2014 suits as they pose for a photographer in New York Tuesday Jan. 21, 2014. So what will be the must-see moments at the Sochi Olympics? When it comes to curling, there’s no doubt what the show-stopper will be. Yes, Norway’s men’s team is back with their crazy, funky pants. And they’ll be more outrageous than ever when the players emerge for their first game at the Ice Cube. (AP Photo/Cassie Kovacevich, Loudmouth Golf)

AP

MORE: Where’d you get those pants?

Norwegians get treated like royalty because of their pants

HOW IT WORKS

Want to know the rules? Vernon Davis guided Arsenio Hall through the process, which you can enjoy in video form here.

US OUTLOOK

Men: Skip John Shuster heads into his third Olympics hoping for a better finish than 2010’s last-place mark. The United States barely made the tournmanet, needing an Olympic qualifying win against the Czech Republic to clinch a spot. A men’s curling medal for the U.S. would likely be an enormous upset.

Women: The U.S. women’s team probably has higher hopes than the men. All four United States curlers have been to the Olympics at least once, with skip Erika Brown being the headliner. Unfortunately, they remain underdogs as well, having not won a medal at a major international even in seven years.

INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOK

Men: Canada has been a dominant force in curling, winning the last two Olympic gold. Sweden beat Canada at the 2013 World Championships, keeping them on the radar. Norway cannot be ignored, and not just because of their pants.

MORE: Sweden features Niklas Edin, a curler who has been compared to John McEnroe.

Women: Canada could mop up gold in curling, as its women’s team is a favorite as well. The Canadian women’s team hasn’t had the same luck grabbing gold at the Olympic level as the men, however, failing to do so in the past 16 years.

Great Britain and Sweden could round out the rest of the podium favorites followed by Switzerland.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins