Olympic curling and the romance genre: siblings in scorn?

Noting that the CNBC coverage of Olympic curling was being touted on the sister stations, I admit to a lip-snarl. Curling? Really? How big an audience was there for that?

Then I remember that I used to watch it on lazy Saturday afternoons, probably on ABC's Wide World of Sports. Why it's an Olympic event is beyond me, but then I'm not sure what snowboarding has to do with Mt. Olympus either except I was told it would draw a younger, much wanted, audience. Good. What a relief to know that young people are no longer interested in hockey and snow skiing. Then again, curling didn't become an Olympic event until 1996. I must have had some really boring Saturday afternoons as a child. Come to think of it, I did.

That aside, I got to thinking about curling and the romance genre. I've heard both denounced from all sides. So, is curling the romance genre of the Olympics? Is it a guilty pleasure shared by many who would be loathe to admit they watch it, yearn for it? Hmmm?

So, romance fans, think on that the next time you dish another person's joy.