THE WRITING ON AND OFF THE WALL AMID THE NOISE AND CONTROVERSY, AT LEAST WE HAD CURLING.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH

Do you believe in 42-pound hunks of polished granite with handles glued on top?

After seemingly nonstop TV coverage during the Winter Games, Americans must believe it's a miracle they've been swept up by this sport named after something you don't necessarily want the big rock to do as it glides toward the giant bull's-eye.

Curling came to a quirky, quiet ending Friday night after the men's gold-medal game. We'll miss it dearly.

We've no clue about the rules. We barely know any strategy. We're trying to decipher the lingo.

But in essence, we appreciated its simple brilliance.

No judging scandals, no drug accusations and no arguments over who got selected and who didn't came out of the place called the Ice Sheet in not-nearby Ogden, Utah.

Those who wanted to be there didn't stumble upon it by accident on their way to Vegas. They knew better. Same with those who eventually found it on TV waiting for the next hockey game to start.

Pure and simple, it was just what it was advertised. Sticks and stones. No broken bones. And names will never hurt it.

Some might complain that this obscure activity introduced in the 16th century by the Scots belongs in the Olympics as much as a game of ``Twister.'' Keep up the argument. No one's listening.

Instead, all we'll hear reverberating are the grunts and groans of the skip, yelling to the vice skip and the second when and where to sweep after the lead let go of it behind the hog line, trying to scoot that thing into the house.

That was because this was a sport that allowed the TV people to fit the players with cordless microphones. And they didn't throw a fit? Imagine that.

It was a sport that had about 120 hours of live coverage. It was so much that Olympics cable TV host Jim Lampley said that MSNBC stood for ``Must Show Nothing But Curling.''

It didn't matter if it was men or women participating. Fact is, we'd like to have seen the men play the women. The women would win. Not because they're better sweepers - knock off that stereotype. Because it's the polite thing for the men to do.

During a rock 'n' roll Olympics that has given us few opportunities to catch our breath, we appreciated the peaceful afternoon. Now that it's over, we hope it won't curl up and disappear.

The demand for it at the local ice rinks should force figure skaters and hockey players to share more space. That's the power of TV.

Instead of bowling nights after work, maybe there will be competitive curling leagues. Instead of parties down at Chuck E. Cheese, hopefully the kids will be begging to play ``Ice Target'' with friends on their birthday.

Hopefully, the sport with the inferiority complex finally will understand its place in a new generation.

Not everyone wants to snowboard, freestyle ski or play video games at warp speed. We don't need any more overzealous broadcasters making more of what's going on than actually is.

This wasn't Moe, Larry and Curling. It was background interlude in our loud and sometimes obnoxious sports soundtrack.

In a Winter Tilt-A-Whirl, we found the ring toss. And that's enough of a prize for us.