July 3, 2004
Column 166
Go to Philly Darts!!!
A while back I posted a column called “The Top Ten Darts Websites in the WORLD.” While I may have gotten some wrong and missed a few others (for instance, Andy Fairclough’s “Superstars of Darts” web page at Superstars of Darts), one site that I was definitely not mistaken about as one of, if not THE best, was the site run by the Professional Darts Corporation’s (PDC).
Even though competition is still underway at the Las Vegas Desert Classic, like many Americans, I’ve returned home for the July 4 holiday. We are all fortunate, not just that the PDC hosts the tournament on our soil (and has plans for more) but that they file detailed reports following each match and make the play-by-play available by live audio feed and their special Score Center. By all means you should check this out at http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/Welcome.
The one thing you won’t find at the PDC location, at least not any more, is the Dartoid’s World column. Although nobody has told me this officially, it does not seem coincidental that the postings of my Desert Classic series abruptly stopped when I issued my comments a few days back about the injustice done to Ricky Villaneuva. But that’s okay. I stand by them. Someone had to say something. I encourage more of you to do the same.
The fact remains that I think the PDC, and Tommy Cox, do a tremendous service to the sport of darts. Even though I have left the Desert Classic tournament arena, there is nothing that could stop me from clicking to their web site to keep up on the action. This is something that will never change.
Today’s matches were brilliant and the write-ups, presumably by the PDC’s Gayle Farmer, are outstanding. To get a sense of what transpired during quarter final play, all you really have to do is glance at the titles: Mardle De-Rails Rocket… Painter Brushes Past Smithy… Part Moves Into Semis… The Power Surges On. It’s exciting stuff. Reading the copy beneath the headlines makes one feel, almost, as if they’re nursing a beer just beyond the stage.
Next to being there or sitting in a pub in London with your mates watching telly, the only thing better is to click to Mike Broderick’s Philadelphia Darts web site at http://www.phillydarts.com and follow the PDC’s audio feed and Score Card while chatting with darts fanatics from all over the world.
This is where I spent the entire afternoon. I don’t know who most of the visitors were. They logged in with screen names like BigT783, BigT (no relation, I presume), DBPlays (which turned out to be Doreen Berry), GT, MikeMac, Cryttle (who asked that I pass on greetings to Phil “the Infamous” Fried, who is still in Vegas — probably stuffing money into a slot machine), Bullzi17, igator (who turned out to be Philadelphia’s Joyce Hamilton) and even A1dartr180 (Stacy Bromberg, who’ll be battling Carolyn Mars in the semis for the ladies).
And this is exactly where I will be spending my afternoon tomorrow for the semi-final matches between Kevin Painter and Phil Taylor, Wayne Mardle and John Part and, for the ladies, Gayl King and Trina Gulliver and Bromberg and Mars.
Join me at http://www.phillydarts.com. It’s gonna be GREAT!
From the Field,
Dartoid
