Tuesday, March 15, 2011
\nColumn HR38
\nIs \u201cwith\u201d a preposition?<\/b><\/p>\n
English teachers implore students to \u201cnever end a sentence with a preposition.\u201d As the rule doesn\u2019t apply to those who don\u2019t know what a preposition is it\u2019s a mystery why this rule is so important. One of the two people who regularly read this effort supplied the answer. \u201cIf you end a sentence with a preposition you are in danger of having a dangling modifier.\u201d We all know that you never want to have your \u201cmodifier dangle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s \u201cYouth must be served.\u201d W. C. Fields was once asked, \u201cDo you like kids?\u201d His answer? \u201cYes my dear. I like them parboiled.\u201d That may reflect the feelings of some PDC players after the PDC Pro Tour stopped at the Barnsley Metrodome for a pair of UK Qualifier\u2019s which are like Players Championships but different.<\/p>\n
Included in the darting festivities was a PDC Unicorn Youth Tour event held after the \u201cbig boys and one lady\u201d finished PDC play on Saturday. Michael Smith, a 20- year- old, which is a little old for a \u2018YUT,\u201d tossed a nine-darter but couldn\u2019t get the better Shaun Griffith in the final, losing 4-2. Could Smith\u2019s 9-darter \u2013 the first on the Unicorn PDC Youth Tour \u2013 be a forecast of what would happen during Sunday\u2019s PDC play? Consider this, \u201cif it didn\u2019t make a difference why would it be mentioned?\u201d<\/p>\n
Since joining the PDC in 2007 Steve Brown has racked up nary a win. That all changed when he escaped three 6-5 wins using a nearly 104 average handling Ian White 6-3 in Saturday\u2019s final. Simon Whitlock appeared to be carrying the form he showed in his last Premier League appearance losing in the semi\u2019s 6-3 to eventual winner Steve Brown. Toeing the Oche tipped a name to watch as Dave Chisnall. For the second week in a row he eliminated Yank Unicorn Women\u2019s World Champion Stacy Bromberg. Bromberg though played well hitting 5-180\u2019s and racking up a 164 finish. Not too Chablis but not Cheateu Lafiete Rothchild 1958 either. Chisnall found himself in another quarter final for the third event in a row losing to Ian White 6-3. White as mentioned lost in the finals after taking out World Champion Adrian Lewis 6-1 in the semis.<\/p>\n
Sunday brought a dose of \u201cYouth must be served.\u201d Michael \u201c9-dart\u201d Smith, runner-up for the Youth Tour event on Saturday evening, made up for it Sunday with a win in the \u201cBig Boy\u201d event. Smith went thru his early opponents like corn through a goose, dropping only five legs in three games. Smith found himself in deep stuff in the last 16 when he was down 5-2 to Robert Thornton. Thornton couldn\u2019t close the sale which allowed Smith to advance 6-5. After taking out Vincent van der Voort 6-2, Smith eliminated an in form Simon Whitlock 6-4. Dave Chisnall, playing on the other side of the draw, got by Wes Newton 6-5 to reach the semi final for the first time. A 6-4 win over Darren Johnson placed him into his first final.<\/p>\n
The final between the two youngsters, Smith and Chisnall, was a barn burner although it didn\u2019t start out that way. Smith catapulted to a 3-0 lead with a 106-finish in the first leg, then two missed Chisnall doubles and a pair double tops in the third. Chisnall returned the favor with 3-0 run of his own to level. The best leg in that run was a 12-darter of 140, 180, 145. With 36 remaining Chisnall worn it down to 18 which he hit with his third dart. The two would then trade legs the rest of the way. Smith at 4-3 which could have turned the match into 5-3 but Smith missed the bull on a 130 escape after a 171 approach. Smith back in front 5-4 on 14 darts. Both players scored 180\u2019s but Chisnall used his taking 82 with double top to level at five. Smith missed three darts which gave Chisnall a chance for the win but his one dart at double top was low. Smith then erased double 5 for the victory.<\/p>\n
PREMIER LEAGUE Par Quatre<\/b><\/p>\n
With an overflow crowd of over 4,000 the Premier League hit Exeter with the Raymond van Barneveld-Phil Taylor match being the main attraction. The semi main attraction at the PL is always \u201cfunny costumes\u201d proudly being shown off by \u201cfolks\u201d drinking beer while proudly mugging for TV cameras. Good fun that. While some of the attire was good it didn\u2019t come close to the \u201ccostumes\u201d worn by San Diego State students at the recent San Diego State-BYU basketball game. A large number of San Diego State students came \u201cdressed in dark pants, white shirts with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, simple black ties, back packs and bicycle helmets\u201d much like the attire worn by BYU students while on mission. If San Jose State is the Harvard of the West then maybe San Diego State is the Duke of the West.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a mistake to assume that \u201cOld Mo\u201d will ride with a player from one week to another in the PL. The previous week Mark Webster had been demolished by Gary Anderson 8-1. Webster was matched against World Champion Adrian Lewis. Nice spot for a come back? Not. But \u201cOld Mo\u201d like the female mind works in mysterious ways. Match referee and pal of the ODC \u201cYoung\u201d Georgie Noble had the pleasure of calling Mark Webster\u2019s spectacular dismantling of World Champion Adrian Lewis 8-2. Webster averaged over 110 with eight doubles from nine darts. Now that<\/i> is Cheateu Lafiete Rothchild 1958 with or without a crystal goblet or in a brown paper bag. Lewis fell behind 0-1 as Webster took out 101. With Webster at 65 Lewis wanted 80. Showing his immaturity Lewis opted for the exhibition like double top-double-top finish. He hit the double-double really showing up Webster. Lewis would then go on to lose six of the next seven. Besides his 101 in the first leg Webster also had a 124 and a 92. \u201cYou showed him Adie.\u201d Webster was in a word \u201cfantastic.\u201d Grow up Lewis and stop treating the PL as an exhibition. Period. End.<\/p>\n
Gary Anderson continues to lead the PL standing after his 8-3 stroll over the sleepwalking like James Wade 8-3. Regardless of what commentator Wayne Mardle said, this one was over early. Anderson took the first four on the trot with steady but not great scoring along with Wade\u2019s inability to string anything together. Anderson\u2019s set up in the 4th leg was great with a 137 to leave 36. The only big scoring came for both players in leg five when one T80 was answered with another. Mardle also said that \u201cAnderson is currently the best player on earth.\u201d Horse Doodle. Anderson\u2019s finishing still leaves much to be desired with only eight of 24 hitting the lipstick either red or green.<\/p>\n
Simon Whitlock celebrated birthday 42 in high style dealing Terry \u201cThe Steer\u201d Jenkins an 8-1 pasting. Jenkins was coming off an 8-2 defeat at the hand of Phil Taylor. Simon Whitlock\u2019s birthday present was that \u201cOld Mo\u201d was hanging with the Aussie as he gets back to where he was. It\u2019s possible that Jenkins could have altered the course of this match but he missed two darts in the 2nd leg and one in leg five for wins. In fairness the 5th leg miss was the tail end of a 124 finish. \u201cIf\u201d Jenkins scored with those the match is even at the break. Of course, if \u201cands and buts\u201d were nuts and honey we\u2019d all be in paradise. Whitlock\u2019s set ups early were good with 180 to leave 40 and 96 to leave 40. “I broke him early on and it gave me the momentum to go on from there.” The Thunder from Down Under speaks the truth.<\/p>\n
The van Barneveld-Taylor match was over at the break when Taylor took a 6-0 lead. Barney had his chances as he missed doubles in three of the first six legs. In the 3rd leg Barney was on 40 when Taylor made 147 do a \u201cHoudini.\u201d Taylor\u2019s 4th leg was by far his best with 180, 140 and 165 to leave 16. Taylor got it done for a 10-darter. At 6-3 maybe the best two players of the modern era looked like a couple of yahoo\u2019s in a beginner\u2019s league. They wallowed with five doubles apiece before Taylor hit double one. “He kept clawing back but missed crucial doubles to make it 6-4 and that turned the game because I was starting to think I’d settle for a draw at that point.\u201d If you\u2019re Phil Taylor with a 6-0 lead which becomes 6-3 and you\u2019re thinking of a draw at seven someone is telling \u201cPorkies.\u201d Porkies? \u201cPork pies lies.\u201d<\/p>\n
PRIEMER LEAGUE Par Cinq<\/b><\/p>\n
One of the ODC\u2019s favorite people is an Irish gentleman named Frank Lyons. Lyons plies his trade on TVG the horseracing network. He likes to say that when a horse is \u201cgelded\u201d it is the \u201cultimate equipment change.\u201d The ODC implied that Terry Jenkins had undergone a similar operation last week after getting clipped by Simon Whitlock 8-1. He stopped referring to him as \u201cThe Bull,\u201d calling him \u201cThe Steer.\u201d The Bull is back as he got the 8-4 win over Mark Webster before a crowd of over 7,500 at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester. Jenkins did it with timely scoring along with economic finishing. Jenkins had six 180\u2019s evenly divided with and against the darts. Jenkins tossed a 180 in the first leg to leave 8 which he missed with three. Eliminate those three misses and Jenkins was eight for 12 closing. Webster won the opening leg against the darts. In leg two Jenkins used 180 to leave 40 which he erased. Webster appeared on his way to winning the 3rd leg but Jenkins took out 140 for 2-1 lead. Webster would level at two but then \u201cThe Bull\u201d charged with a run of five on the trot going up 7-2. Webster was coming off a win with a 110 average over Adrian Lewis.<\/p>\n
Gary Anderson has sailed through the first weeks of the PL with a clean slate so his meeting with Phil Taylor was \u201cThe Match.\u201d Anderson, a great scorer, has trouble with doubles and it was doubles that did him in losing 8-6 in a match that was there for the taking. Writing of Anderson\u2019s problem Dave Allen, PDC info guy, wrote that he \u201cwas left to rue missed doubles in the penultimate leg.\u201d With the match level at six Anderson had two darts miss double top for a 7-6 lead and the darts in the decider. Taylor miscounted with his approach in the same leg to leave 34 instead of 32 but converted. Taylor captured the match with a nifty 12-darter.<\/p>\n
The remaining two matches were blow outs from the start. Raymond van Barneveld lost the first leg to James Wade then took eight of the next nine for an 8-2 win. Barney probably should have won eight of eight but Wade took out 136 in the 5th with Barney on 32. One dart writer called Wade\u2019s performance \u201cunder-par.\u201d He was being kind. Simon Whitlock took out 81 with the darts in the first leg to go one up on Adrian Lewis. For the \u201cThunder from Down Under\u201d the next seven legs were ugly as Adrian Lewis was brilliant with finishes of 72, 113, 96 and 116 topped off with a 136 for the match and an 8-2 win. Lewis, playing like the World Champion, which he is, was eight for 11 with doubles averaging 102. It\u2019s not as if Whitlock didn\u2019t have chances. He connected on only two of 10 attempted finishes. “Since I beat Phil Taylor in my opening game, maybe I’ve been too relaxed but I’ve worked hard since last week,\u201d said Lewis.<\/p>\n
THE UK Qualifier<\/b><\/p>\n
Trevor Denman is the premier race caller in America. One of his signature calls, which comes when a horse is coming down the homestretch and adding to his lead with every stride is \u201cHe\u2019s racing like the wind.\u201d Had Denman been calling the UK Qualifier at Wigen\u2019s Robin Park Tennis Centre he would have been saying of Adrian Lewis \u201cHe\u2019s playing with the wind at his back.\u201d Lewis backed up his spectacular Premier League romp with a come from behind 6-4 against Robert \u201cI Can\u2019t Hold Lead\u201d Thornton. Scottish star Thornton sped to a 3-0 lead after Lewis missed 10 doubles in losing the first two legs. The third went to Thornton with a pair of 180s as part of a 12-darter. Lewis got his three on the trot which included a very keen leg with 3-140s and an 81 bull finish. Thornton got it to 4-3 then fell behind 5-4 as a result of a 124 Lewis finish. Lewis opened the 10th leg with 180 which Thornton answered with two of his own that left 41 after nine darts. Playing with the darts Lewis finished 88 with double 14 in 11.<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s event was an all Dutch final between Vincent van der Voort and Raymond van Barneveld. Regardless of the 6-4 win for van der Voort this one was a photo finish. Both players missed double 12 for 9-darters while scoring in bunches. The two were tied at 1-, 2- and 3-all. Van der Voort moved ahead when he broke serve with a 180 followed by double 6 as Barney watched at 40. The lead would be 5-3 then narrow to 5-4 after van der Voort missed a double 15 for a 150-out giving Barney a second chance at a double. The match went into the van der Voort column with a 70-finish. For Barney, making a rare appearance in a non-televised event, the \u00a33,000 won as runner up will qualify him for the UK Open televised finals in June. Why? NO EYE DEAR.<\/p>\n
THE ODC SPEAKS<\/b><\/p>\n
Kathy Maloney is hosting the \u201cNo Bologna Maloney Reunion Dart Tournament\u201d April 22-23 in Gulfport, Florida. Dartoid\u2019s World asked, \u201cWho would you like to partner with?\u201d Is \u201cwith\u201d a preposition? NO EYE DEAR.<\/p>\n
Jerry Umberger leads the list followed by John Lowe who both will be there. Lowe is also planning a fall tour of the USA. Bookings available.<\/p>\n
I was wrong when I claimed that golf commentator David Fererty was English. Roger the Dodger emails, \u201cThe coach is ill-informed on this occasion. David Fererty is British by way of being born in Northern Ireland, but no way is he English. We never like \u2018hookers\u2019 in England, well not that type anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watching the Premier League on the computer is good fun and an afternoon well spent. March 17th, St. Patrick\u2019s Day, is the next day of PL play. The viewer can go to Justin TV at 11:00 a.m. on the left coast which is 2:00 p.m. in the east.<\/p>\n
On St. Patrick\u2019s Day we celebrate St. Patrick driving all the snakes out of Ireland. Most of them have resurfaced at various night clubs located in Las Vegas casinos. One blogger scribed, \u201cDarts fans have severe fetal alcohol syndrome.\u201d The end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
English teachers implore students to \u201cnever end a sentence with a preposition.\u201d As the rule doesn\u2019t apply to those who don\u2019t know what a preposition is it\u2019s a mystery why this rule is so important. One of the two people who regularly read this effort supplied the answer. \u201cIf you end a sentence with a preposition you are in danger of having a dangling modifier.\u201d We all know that you never want to have your \u201cmodifier 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Reed","author_link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/author\/howie-reed\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"English teachers implore students to \u201cnever end a sentence with a preposition.\u201d As the rule doesn\u2019t apply to those who don\u2019t know what a preposition is it\u2019s a mystery why this rule is so important. One of the two people who regularly read this effort supplied the answer. \u201cIf you end a sentence with a…","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\/5390","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\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5390"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}