Canadian Inventions Codexery

Eye on the Hog

Electronic sensor handles for detecting hog line violations in curling.

Last updated

The Canadian Curling Association was the first adopter of this technology.[1] Electronic officiating for curling, known as the Eye on the Hog, detects when a stone fails to clear the hog line.[2] This technology, often called "sensor handles", originates from a University of Saskatchewan patent; Startco Engineering developed it further, and Littelfuse later purchased Startco.[2]

Quick Facts

Field
Sport officiating technology
Known for
Electronic detection of hog line violations in curling
Developer
University of Saskatchewan and Startco Engineering
First major event
2003 Continental Cup of Curling
Adopted by
Canadian Curling Association (CCA)

Facts from the source article.

How it changed

The rule evolved from restricting slides at the tee line to requiring release before the hog line by 1974.[3] The 1974 Air Canada Silver Broom was the first event using the modern rule.[4] Human enforcement proved error-prone, as visual calls favored false positives and put the onus on curlers.[5] Canada placed hog line officials at elevated positions in 1982, but curler Colleen Jones criticized this viewpoint and was nearly suspended in 1984 for using vulgar language about the calls.[6][7][8]

Officials were moved back to ice level in 1985.[6] The sensor handle debuted at the 2003 Continental Cup after testing at Sutherland Curling Club.[9] The technology eventually led to rules prohibiting gloves that could circumvent the sensors.[10]

What the maker and period sources say

A 2013 Toronto Sun article reported that Colleen Jones missed the 1982 world championship banquet because she was angry about hog line violations.[7] The same article noted she was threatened with ejection from the 1984 Scotties for saying she was "pissed off" about officials in a gondola above the ice.[7][8] A Government of Canada biography states that Ken Watson's "long slide" caused considerable controversy but became popular with young male curlers in the 1940s and 1950s.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Eye on the Hog" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Officer, "Regina Worlds: Cardboard Cheaters and More", The Curling News, April 8, 2011; "Eye on the Hog: History"; Kevin Mitchell, "High on the hog", The StarPhoenix, 2003 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Eye on the Hog" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Curling rock and apparatus and method for detecting a hog line violation"; Lazare, "Chicago company helping defuse a controversy in curling", Chicago Business Journal, February 18, 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Eye on the Hog" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Garber, "Tales from Sheet Nine: Watson's book packed full of history, attire lessons", United States Curling News, Fall 2016; "National curling body kills rule against sliding past hogline", Montreal Gazette, March 7, 1974; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Eye on the Hog" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "40: Expanding The Brier and Scotties to 18 Teams; Our Guest: "The Connor McDavid of Curling"", Inside Curling, 2021-01-21; "National curling body kills rule against sliding past hogline", Montreal Gazette, March 7, 1974 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Eye on the Hog" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Weeks, "Curling, Etcetera: A Whole Bunch of Stuff About the Roaring Game", Wiley, 2008; Murray Rauw, "Testy release point has curlers hog-tied", Calgary Herald, March 3, 1986; Spencer, "Jones has hog-line trouble", The Globe and Mail, April 9, 2002 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Eye on the Hog" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jones, "Throwing Rocks at Houses: My Life in and out of Curling", Penguin, 2015, p. 71; Tim Baines, "A mellowed Colleen Jones back at Scotties", Toronto Sun, February 18, 2013; Sean Fitz-Gerald, "Watch your mouth: Scotties rules you might not know about", National Post, February 20, 2013 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Tim Baines, "A mellowed Colleen Jones back at Scotties", Toronto Sun, February 18, 2013. facts only, no text reused. torontosun.com
  8. Sean Fitz-Gerald, "Watch your mouth: Scotties rules you might not know about", National Post, February 20, 2013. facts only, no text reused. nationalpost.com
  9. Wikipedia, "Eye on the Hog" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Doug Maxwell, "Coming soon, to a hog line near you, the Startco sensor", Canadian Curling News, December 2002; "2003 Continental Cup of Curling Media Guide", Canadian Curling Association, 2003 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Eye on the Hog" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kevin Mitchell, "High on the hog", The StarPhoenix, 2003; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. "Ken Watson (1904-1986)", Government of Canada, 2016-02-15. facts only, no text reused. canada.ca

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Eye on the Hog (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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