🥌 Curling comes to Nashville
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Curling space at the sports bar Tee Line. Photo courtesy of Tee Line
Retirement never felt right to Marc Bulger. After years as an NFL quarterback with the then-St. Louis Rams, he couldn't give up the rush of competition.
- So he turned to curling. Bulger spent years honing his skills and traveling the country to curl with a crew of NFL alums, including All-Pro defensive lineman Jared Allen, before turning his focus back home to Middle Tennessee.
Flash forward: In October, a few years after the group of former NFL players' curling efforts drew national attention, Bulger wove curling into a new business venture.
- The result is Tee Line, his new sports bar near The Nations in West Nashville.
- Built in a repurposed warehouse, Tee Line has three sheets of ice for curling alongside four bowling lanes and an extensive menu.
Why it matters: The bar offers an unorthodox counterpoint to Lower Broadway as the only place in Nashville offering curling lessons in between orders of wings and chili.
- And the venue is particularly topical with curling events underway at the Olympics in Beijing.
Between the lines: Curling became a natural outlet for Bulger's competitive drive and professional ambition. For one thing, it's nowhere near as punishing as being tackled.
- "It's something that everyone can do," Bulger tells Axios, pointing out with pride that families of all ages have stopped by during his first months in business.
- "It's just that competitive edge without risking our bodies too much," he says. "It's nice going home and I don't have to ice down my knees and my back."
What she's saying: Metro Councilmember Mary Carolyn Roberts tells Axios the arrival of Tee Line is further proof of Nashville evolving into an "international city."
- "Tee Line is bringing a world-class training facility for a Winter Olympic sport to Nashville and I'm grateful they chose our district to put it in," she says.