I LIKE CURLING AND FEEL SORRY FOR THOSE WHO DON'T.
Good episode overall. I appreciate the producers making the games a character episode rather than actually about the games; that works for me because otherwise we'd be re-treading the stuff we've already don in the episode running up to the games themselves. Spike's stage mojo was a little unfocused, but at least it wasn't a direct repeat of Fluttershy's stagefright earlier this season. Plus there is plenty of world building payoff here, between the Griffon nation (GOTTA go there someday!), the return of the "horses" from Saddle Arabia, some other delegates we've never seen before, etc.
And I also liked the ice archery. Seems awful dangerous to have ONE errant arrow potentially cause disaster in the stands... Shouldn't some pegasi have been minding the clouds above?
Mark