Monday, December 2, 2013
\nColumn HR103
\nThe greatest match of all time?<\/b><\/p>\n
A breath of fresh air… a lover stealing that first kiss… a fine wine in a crystal goblet\u00a0or a cold beer on a summer’s day.\u00a0 Oh yes, a romantic’s first love.<\/p>\n
\u201cA person remembers their first love\u201d.<\/p>\n
Not so the\u00a0great philosopher – the\u00a0ODC, says…<\/p>\n
\u201cThe old usually remember their last love.\u00a0 They can\u2019t remember their first anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some moments are gone in a flash. Others linger to be savored and treasured.<\/p>\n
In sport there linger many special moments.\u00a0 Older Americans will never forget the late Russ Hodges’ radio call of the “shot heard ’round the world.”<\/p>\n
At 3:58 in the afternoon on October 3, 1951 Bobby Thompson\u00a0homered in the bottom of the 9th to send the New York\u00a0Giants to the World Series.\u00a0 The call?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!\u201d<\/p>\n
Fast forward to February 22, 1980.\u00a0 The semi finals for\u00a0 hockey in the Olympics –\u00a0 Russia versus\u00a0 the USA.\u00a0\u00a0America entered the third period down 3-2.\u00a0 They scored to tie it at 3. Then the go-ahead goal. As time was running down Al Michaels made the call.<\/p>\n
“Twenty-two seconds. You\u2019ve got 10 seconds. The countdown going on right now! Morrow up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game.” And as the buzzer sounded ending the game, “DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES! YES!”<\/p>\n
The greatest call ever.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t get chills\u00a0something\u2019s wrong. The Michaels’ call was perfect.\u00a0\u00a0What the hell does this have to do with darts?<\/p>\n
For darts players there are moments to remember. The first T80, the first meaningful double or\u00a0just a great match.<\/p>\n
The semi finals of the Grand Slam of Darts was special to all that watched.\u00a0 Well those that weren\u2019t so full of stupid fluid they couldn’t comprehend what was unfolding.<\/p>\n
Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis engaged in a “wing-ding-doodle-slam-bang-what-the-hell’s-going-on” match for the ages.\u00a0 For almost an hour anyone watching had to be in a state of shock.\u00a0 This was a true heavyweight match where haymakers were the order of the day.<\/p>\n
Was it the greatest match in the history of darts? Probably.<\/p>\n
Did the darts speak for themselves? Yes.<\/p>\n
Yet commentator Rod Studd\u00a0yelled over and over and over, “This is\u00a0 greatest match ever!\u201d<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
Because he wasn\u2019t up to the task.<\/p>\n
Wayne Mardle the color commentator never forgot that darts is fun. Little Georgie Noble Jr., who is no longer that little, proved why he\u2019s the best caller-referee there is.<\/p>\n
In hindsight, always 20-20,\u00a0this meeting between the two was different from the outset. They warmed up together backstage which is never done. Their demeanor on stage was of two pals – which they were at one time and may still be – having a game and a pint at the local. This meeting would put the winner in line for the \u00a3100,000 first place check.<\/p>\n
Early on Mardle opined, “They seem like good buddies. I wonder how long that will last?”<\/p>\n
He then answered his own question, “As long as Phil Taylor wants it to.”<\/p>\n
Taylor has used the \u201cbuddy-pal-amigo\u201d gambit many times, luring an opponent into his trap then slamming it shut. Ask Barney. Clever bastard that Taylor.<\/p>\n
Lewis, rightly so,\u00a0has a reputation for\u00a0missing a couple of shots then going into a funk.\u00a0\u00a0His darts do the same. Not this time.<\/p>\n
At each break as they left the stage Lewis had Taylor in a bear hug, smiling and even kissing the top of his head. YUK.<\/p>\n
Very seldom does Phil Taylor get outscored.\u00a0 He did this time: 110.99 to 109.76.\u00a0 Lewis had an astonishing 18 maximums and 33 scores of 100+ yet Taylor would win 16-9.<\/p>\n
What the heck?<\/p>\n
The ODC has come up with a statistic that might answer that question.\u00a0 The checkout percentage is misleading. If a player uses three darts to hit a double the reported percentage is 33%.\u00a0\u00a0But this is wrong. His percentage is 100%. The first two misses are irrelevant.\u00a0 Lewis missed 9 darts in this match to win a leg he would lose.\u00a0 Taylor missed 3.\u00a0 That\u2019s +6 for Taylor.\u00a0 Taylor broke Lewis serve 8 times while losing 4 of his own.\u00a0 That\u2019s +4. Call it the “turnover” ratio or the “ODC Rule.”<\/p>\n
Taylor broke fast with a pair of 12-darters for a 2-0 lead.\u00a0 Lewis would win 3 on the trot helped when Taylor\u2019s 177 left 110 which he would fail to erase with d15. Following the break Taylor would take three only to give 2 back.\u00a0\u00a0The leg that tied it at 5 was a Rembrandt by Lewis.\u00a0 He led off with a pair of T80s. Still, Taylor would have won the leg – but he threw a brick.\u00a0 His\u00a0third dart to finish 126 didn’t land. It had to – as Lewis then erased d16 for an 11-darter.<\/p>\n
Lewis got his 9th T80, in 11 legs, sitting comfortably on 52 when\u00a0Taylor would find the bull he missed in the previous leg to erase 167.\u00a0 Lewis drew even\u00a0at 6 with a 12-darter when Taylor missed d12.\u00a0 Lewis reclaimed the lead with a spectacular 170 set up that left 32. They would split the next two legs with T80s aplenty – Lewis had 3 and Taylor\u00a02.\u00a0 They would hold serve – Taylor with a d3 after which he displayed a grin as if to say, “Easy huh?”<\/p>\n
After 15 legs the scoring averages were Taylor 112.19 with Lewis 114.92<\/p>\n
Down 7-8 Taylor turned on “The Power.” Kind of.<\/p>\n
He leveled with a 132 leaving 42. Then it was 9-8 Taylor with a break of throw finishing 88 on the bull.\u00a0 That became\u00a010-8 when Lewis missed a pair at tops and Taylor hit d5 with his third dart.\u00a0 Of course that\u2019s all he had.<\/p>\n
Then it was 11-8 as Lewis wanted tops for a 160 check, but missed – but Taylor didn\u2019t\u00a0miss the\u00a0 160 check.\u00a0 Behind a pair of T80s Taylor\u00a0won his 5th leg on the trot and took a 12-8 lead.\u00a0 Taylor would go up 15-8 before Lewis would win another leg but then see the match end 16-9.<\/p>\n
During this match commentator Rob Studd – nice stage name – repeatedly opined, “Robert Thornton has got to be loving this in the practice room,” implying that either Taylor or Lewis would be easy pickings in the finals to immediately follow.<\/p>\n
Yea right!<\/p>\n
That prediction looked golden as\u00a0Thornton got\u00a0to a finish first\u00a0in leg 1. He missed bull at the end of an attempted\u00a0121.\u00a0 Thornton then proceeded to miss 8 darts at a finish allowing Taylor\u00a0four at a double to close the deal. He did. It\u2019s as if Taylor was thinking, “You had your chance mate.”<\/p>\n
Taylor then\u00a0went through Thornton like a dose of salts building\u00a0cushions of\u00a0 5-1, 8-2 and 11-3 before winning 16-6.<\/p>\n
Whether Lewis-Taylor was the greatest match of all time is debatable. But it did provide a lot of special moments.\u00a0 According to the ODC it ranks right up there with himself having Ronnie Baxter down 0-1 in\u00a0 N’Awlins.<\/p>\n
Stay thirsty my friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A breath of fresh air… a lover stealing that first kiss… a fine wine in a crystal goblet or a cold beer on a summer’s day. 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breath of fresh air... a lover stealing that first kiss... a fine wine in a crystal goblet or a cold beer on a summer's day. Oh yes, a romantic's first love...","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":17,"user_id":4,"is_guest":0,"slug":"howie-reed","display_name":"Howie Reed","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/111howie.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/111howie.jpg"},"first_name":"Howie","last_name":"Reed","user_url":"http:\/\/www.dartoidsworld.com","job_title":"","description":"Astute, often controversial, and always humorous, the Old Dart Coach, Howie Reed (a former rodeo cowboy and advertising executive), is heralded as the Dean of Darts Chroniclers - the most prolific and widely followed writer ever about our sport. He goes back decades with the legends and knows where the skeletons are buried (just ask any of the ADO and WDF old-timers!). Here are four well-known facts about the Old Dart Coach: 1) he is a Republican, 2) he loves the ladies, 3) he can drink most anybody under the table, and 4) he throws darts as bad as Dartoid."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6420,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5323\/revisions\/6420"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5323"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}