Prior to the introduction of the electronic hog line sensor, officials called violations on curlers who slid over the line without releasing the stone. The curlers who were called for the violations almost always disagreed,who and some did so vehemently. And the more significant the event, the more they disagreed. Here are two of the most controversial hog line decisions:
• At the 2001 World Curling Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland, Canadian skip Randy Ferbey was playing the semi-final against Switzerland’s Andreas Schwaller. Ferbey was called three times for hog line violations, with the penalty being the removal of his rock. The official was Swiss, and for some unusual reason, that week, most of the violations came against the opponents of the Swiss team. Canada lost the game 6-5 to Switzerland, and Ferbey made his mark by chewing out the official after the third pull. Television replays show Ferbey clearly releasing the stone before the hog line. “It’s unfortunate that something like that got to dictate the way of the game going,” Ferbey said. “All week long I had one hog line call and all of a sudden I have three. I definitely question how they came to determine how I was over the hog line.”
• In the semi-final of the 1987 Ontario championships, Paul Savage played Russ Howard. In the eighth end of a close game, Savage played a takeout for two points, but before the stones were kicked off, an official came out and called Savage for a hog line violation. Instead of Savage scoring two, Howard took one and went on to win the game. Savage was livid for a number of reasons. First, sliding over the hog line on a takeout was nearly impossible, and Savage didn’t slide very long at the best of times. Second, instead of the necessary two hog line officials—one on either side of the sheet—there was only one. Third, in his many years of curling, Savage had never been called for a hog line violation. Even Howard said after the game he was surprised the rock was pulled.