Continental Cup of Curling in Las Vegas: Finally, some excitement in that town

Finally, Bugsy Siegel's real dream for Las Vegas is being realized. Curling is in the midst of a long weekend on The Strip.

Oh, you didn't know? The famed mobster who founded Las Vegas back in the 1940's was an immense curling fan. At least he would have been if I'd been able to successfully change his bio on Wikipedia.

With the Continental Cup taking over the Orleans Arena (home of the - wait for it - Las Vegas Sin of the Lingerie... excuse me, Legends Football League as well as the Wranglers of the East Coast Hockey League), one of the more bizarre marriages of sport and location is being consummated.

Appropriate, that. If there's any place on earth where odd courtships can and should be brought to union, it's the place where Elvis-themed drive-thru chapels are as prevalent as donut-themed ones are in Kamloops. Come to think of it, the drive-thru aspect of those chapels is perfectly suited to the world of the Canadian curling fan; "Yes, we do take each other in lawful matrimony... and can we get two large regulars and a dozen sour cream glazed Timbits as well?"

Although the surrounding landscape is an exceptional change for Canadian curling fans who have flocked South to see some of the best curlers on the planet (9 of the 12 teams involved will also be seen at the Sochi Olympics), inside the arena - at least as is translated through my television screen - there isn't much unusual.

Well, that is, outside of leggy, scantily-clad showgirls leading the competing teams onto the ice before their games. That ain't no usual event volunteer and a sure sign that you're not in Sault Ste. Marie anymore.

It's not very likely that Buddy from Texas, who likes to make the odd jaunt to Vegas to test his luck and see a show, has built his annual trip around this event. More likely is that Buddy - after pulling a Rob Ford in a bar around the corner - stumbles into the Orleans arena in a drunken stupor and plunks himself down in a seat thinking he's watching a new Cirque du Soleil ice show, disappointed that he doesn't see Michelle Kwan out there.

You'd only hold Buddy's attention if - and I think this is a great idea - you hired Nik Wallenda to tightrope back and forth across the ice during play, praising Jesus with every step he takes and with every perfectly executed double takeout.

The tone of the event, which usually veers between super serious and whimsically lighthearted, is primarily one of professionalism. Bringing what has to be considered as oddball a spectacle as has ever been seen in Vegas (stranger still than three-down football or a Carrot Top show) is not just about having fun, even if the twitter feeds of many of the competitors are rife with touristy photos. It's about the continued attempts to massage the surge in curling's popularity in the United States. To surf a little on the zeitgeist.

Besides that, giving Canadians a hotspot travel destination in the dead of winter where they can actually slip inside to watch a little roaring game seems a blessed idea. You think the "Patch" or the "Heartstop Lounge" are fun? Try adding casinos, showgirls and roving Michael Buble impersonators to the mix. Might have gone one too far there.

Good for the fans and good for the competitors, too. If curlers at last year's Players' Championship thought Toronto was a way cool addition to the tour, have to think they'll see Vegas as like throwing stones on another planet. And while going for gold will make Sochi seem exotic, they may start clamouring for curling events in Monaco, or Rio or... Dubai!

Will a Vegas event capture the imagination of a curling non-believer any more than a Ron Burgundy visit to the television booth? Any more than another declaration of love from San Francisco 49ers star Vernon Davis?

Not sure that it will but that's actually of little consequence. The real catalyst in that regard will once again be the Olympic Games, which have helped build the sport's profile as well as it's changing reputation (witness the article in this week's Wall Street Journal, entitled "Curlers: They're Not So Fat Anymore").

Although the name of the game is to win and to send a message to competitors you could well meet in an Olympic medal game (Eve Muirhead did that by blasting Jennifer Jones, 12-2, in the opener) here's hoping that the legendary Vegas magic that can lead one to getting a Mike Tyson style face tattoo will loosen the conservative nature of the curlers on the ice. Inject a certain amount of devil-may-care. John Morris' sleight of hand shooting at last year's event would fit in well here. Kaitlyn Lawes felt uninhibited enough to attempt her first ever spin-o-rama last year and that was in Penticton for gosh sakes.

If we get lucky, the over the top Vegas feeling will lead to us seeing even more of curling's version of swinging from the chandeliers.

Personally, I think they've already missed an opportunity here.

Had they been thinking, really thinking, one of the houses would have been painted like a giant roulette wheel, Jeff Stoughton continually spinning in the centre. Place your bets, folks. That'd get Buddy from Texas to stay.

Crowds from the first two draws have been pretty good, maybe even better than when the event is held in Canada, remarked commentator Russ Howard, as the mixed doubles event was playing out on the ice below.

"We're walking around in Vegas and getting recognized and I never thought that was going to happen in my life," remarked Stoughton vice Jon Mead, in an interview on TSN.

Just another oddity in this merging of Siegel's den of debauchery and Scotland's game of good graces.

Perhaps, then, when the sport and the city awaken on Monday morning, and roll over to spy each other through bloodshot eyes, maybe they won't each be thinking "my God, what've I done?"