Monday, April 4, 2011
\nColumn HR40
\nIf it ain\u2019t broke don\u2019t fix it!<\/b><\/p>\n
Much was made in this space about the disgusting behavior of the drunken hooligans during Premier League in Glasgow. Echoing those sentiments the PDC issued the following: \u201cWe are investigating the events of Thursday (March 17), when a minority of the crowd in Glasgow behaved in a manner we do not want to see at our events. A number of the players received abuse beyond which could be considered as normal banter and both ourselves and the SECC are looking in to the matter. The people who threw drinks and coins either at the stage or the crowd are not darts fans and not the sort of people we want to see at our events. If any of them can be identified we will push for the strongest action possible to be taken against them but from the comments we have received from real fans after the event we are sure this will be an unfortunate one-off.
\nHowever, the PDC will strive to prosecute any spectator found guilty of throwing any item or behaving in a dangerous manner within the venue.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLight on,\u201d as the ODC\u2019s pal Paul Lim says.<\/p>\n
HE\u2019S BACK!<\/b><\/p>\n
The old Alexander Graham Bell was ringing off the hook the other day with a phone call from the ODC\u2019s pal Davis L. No last name to protect the guilty. Davis L. has been a dart partner, a teammate and someone who shared aiming, group tightener and stupid fluid with the ODC for a number of years. He asked, \u201cIs there anyone out there who can beat Phil Taylor?\u201d The answer in a word is\u2026 \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few weeks ago Taylor was said to be on the down side of the hill. \u201cHe\u2019s past his prime,\u201d said Gary Mawson just before he got drubbed three sets to nil. How\u2019s that working out for ya?<\/p>\n
Taylor was in a slump but maybe it was of his own doing (or choosing). No he didn\u2019t mean to be in a slump but he violated the rule of former basketball great Bill Russell. The rule? \u201cIf it ain\u2019t broke don\u2019t fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s sport teams change jerseys it seems every day. Why? To sell merchandise. Taylor, maybe to please a sponsor, changed his darts, shafts and flights. Regardless of how Sid Waddell tried to sell the \u201cnew improved barrels, flights and shafts\u201d it didn\u2019t work for Squat or any member of the Squat family. Jack of course being the most well known.<\/p>\n
No one would flock to dart stores to buy the \u201cnew improved Phil Taylor line\u201d because they didn\u2019t work for Phil. Oh sure these new \u201csupplies\u201d went into the board prettier but they didn\u2019t win. Taylor wasn\u2019t winning. Plain and simple. Taylor\u2019s old darts went into the board \u201cugly\u201d but effectively. In stepped the ODC reminding Taylor of the Bill Russell rule, adding, \u201cDance with the guy who brung ya.\u201d For real dart players \u201cdance and guy\u201d are metaphors for \u201cplay and darts.\u201d True fact. Taylor switched back to the darts that he tossed a pair of 9-darters with last year. Look ugly work good. He\u2019s back!<\/p>\n
Too bad that Tiger Woods doesn\u2019t read this column because he could use the ODC\u2019s sage advice. Tiger re-worked his golf swing when it wasn\u2019t the golf swing that got him in deep \u201cdo-do.\u201d (One could argue that his ex-wife\u2019s golf swing might get an assist.)<\/p>\n
After an opening round Premier League 8-2 loss to Adrian Lewis, Taylor has gone through the opposition like a dose of salts: Mark Webster (8-2), Terry Jenkins (8-2), Raymond van Barneveld (8-3), Gary Anderson (8-5), Simon Whitlock (8-5) and an 8-1 thumping of James Wade in Brighton. That Thursday PL result followed up what can only be described as a \u201cPhil Taylor-like win\u201d in the RTL7 International Masters in Holland. That win, worth a cool \u20ac20,000, came with a 113.6 average on the way to an 8-3 win over Raymond van Barneveld. What is an \u201c\u20ac\u201d? That would be your basic Euro dollar sign which is equal to $1.40 real money. That makes Taylor\u2019s win worth $28,000 which at the Food 4 Less equals almost 40,000 Miller Genuine in bottles (limes extra).<\/p>\n
In the final Taylor fell behind one to nil when he missed one dart at tops wasting a T80. In the next leg Taylor wasted nothing including another T80 with an 11 dart win. Taylor extended his lead to 3-1 with another 11 dart effort finishing on 89. Down 3-2 Barney missed two at double 19 to level and allow Taylor to erase 68 in two. Up 4-2 Taylor was never headed.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile back at Brighton for week seven of Premier League play Simon Whitlock laid a \u201cwhoa Nelly old fashion whipping\u201d on Mark Webster 8-2. Webster missed three at the double top in leg one and really never recovered. Whitlock was clinical especially when he erased 140 and 120. In leg six from 130 Whitlock\u2019s left 5 (after 60-60-5). How do you take out 5? Well, how about double 1, single 1 and double 1. Got to love it. Yes, he smiled.<\/p>\n
Gary Anderson for the second week in a row jumped to an early lead only to falter and come up short. This time Anderson was up 2-0 only to watch as Raymond van Barneveld leveled first at three and then built a 6-3 advantage, holding on for an 8-5 win. Anderson\u2019s 6th leg, to level, was fun to watch as he tossed a T80 to leave 121 which he finished with a BULL. Good stuff that. In this one it wasn\u2019t big outs but great approaches by Barney that included 140 to leave40, 140 to leave 24, 144 to leave 36 and 134 to leave 41 \u2013 which he took out for the match with nine and double 16. But of course you knave.<\/p>\n
A very astute observer of sport has said \u201ca tie is like kissing your sister.\u201d Terry \u201cThe Bull\u201d Jenkins will accept that after coming from 6-3 down for a 7-all draw with Adrian Lewis. Lewis can\u2019t be pleased as he saw his lead disappear with only two doubles in the last six legs. By far the 11th leg was ugly with a capital \u201cU\u201d as the players needed nine darts to score a double. Jenkins got it. “A draw was probably a fair result in the end but if I’d hit the doubles in the 11th leg to go 7-4 up I think I’d have ended up winning.\u201d Ya think? Setting aside the atrocious finishing, there were some good darts launched with the final four legs all top notch. Jenkins took three of them with 97 to leave 70 which he took, 137 to leave 86 which he took and a final leg of 180-95-145\u201360 and then 2 x 5 for the draw. Lewis won the 13th keg with 85-T-T35-T70 to leave 11 which went away with a 3 and 2 x 4.<\/p>\n
HELLO PAUL NICHOLSON<\/b><\/p>\n
Is there anyone out there who remembers Saturday afternoon bowling on ABC TV? Chris Schenkel, from the early 1960s until 1997, was the voice opening each show with, \u201cWe\u2019re coming to you from the AMF Southshore Lanes in Alameda, California for the Midas Muffler Open.\u201d Just before the championship match the TV screen would roll through the list of bowlers who cashed. \u201cThere\u2019s Joe Fizzlewigle who had a good week finishing 24th.\u201d You would say to yourself, \u201cSelf\u2026 that\u2019s just peachy finishing 24th.\u201d Actually it was good because bowlers were getting something so they could move on to the next stop. That\u2019s where the PDC and its Players Championship is today. Finish in the top 32 and you\u2019re assured of enough cash to get down the road to the next stop.<\/p>\n
At the K2 Centre in Crawley two who cashed but didn\u2019t win were Ronnie Baxter and John Part. Baxter finished top 4 and top 16 so took home \u00a32,600. COSMO-sponsored player John Part had a good weekend as he only lost to Ronnie Baxter twice. Still, with a pair of top 32s he banked \u00a3800 which is enough to get down the road.<\/p>\n
The weekend though belonged to Paul Nicholson who had himself a hell of a two day stretch. He won on Saturday taking out World Champion Adrian Lewis 6-4. On Sunday he started 3- nil only to run out of steam, losing to Wes Newton 6-4 in the final. They were level at three and four with Nicholson never having a double from that point on. It was a comeback weekend for Nicholson. He picked up \u00a39,000. An astute dart analyst would inform the public that Nicholson was not wearing his signature little skinny 1960\u2019s tie on Sunday. Equipment change! Bad idea!<\/p>\n
PREMIER LEAGUE WEEK 8<\/b><\/p>\n
Not everyone believes in truth. The American government claims that there is no CIA presence in Libya despite facts to the contrary. Toeing the Oche can announce that there is a CIA presence in the Premier League \u2013 as week 8 games were played in the CIA in Cardiff, Wales.<\/p>\n
Why is this Toeing the Oche \u201chonesty\u201d?<\/p>\n
Irene Maude Reed tried to drum into the head of her son the ODC that \u201cHonesty is the best policy.\u201d That was usually followed by the ODC being honest and getting his butt spanked. So much for honesty. Following the Premier League on Justin TV on Thursday last was not easy as other distractions abounded. It was opening day of the baseball season and even more distracting it was the season premier on the History Channel of Swamp People. As if all this wasn\u2019t enough distraction the matches had all the excitement of the ODC\u2019s first marriage. In short: \u201cover before it started\u201d with the exception of Gary Anderson\u2019s 8-6 win over James Wade.<\/p>\n
Anderson-Wade was the only match which had any drama \u2013 after the break as they were tied at three. Wade, called \u201cThe Machine,\u201d purred to a 6-3 lead then sputtered. Anderson took advantage of three Wade misses to get back to 6-5 down. Anderson powered by three T80s swept to an 8-6 win snatching \u201cvictory from the jaws of defeat.\u201d Simon Whitlock\u2019s 40-20-40 out from 100 was fun watching in his match with Terry Jenkins. Whitlock mercifully use 54-18-Dead Bull to erase 122 and put Terry \u201cThe Bull\u201d Jenkins out of his misery 8-3. That\u2019s also the score by which Phil Taylor saw off Raymond van Barneveld.<\/p>\n
Welshman Mark Webster Mark Webster was playing before his home fans. The negative was that he was playing lousy. He never posed a threat going out to Adrian Lewis 8-1. Webster is now on the wrong side of 3-16 for two weeks.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to say that there weren\u2019t some great moments. The \u201cthe dart bloggers,\u201d not to be confused with one of the Swamp People which one could understand, were in fine form. One asked, \u201cWhy can\u2019t Pakistan play in the next soccer World Cup?\u201d The answer? \u201cBecause every time they get a corner they build a shop on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the danger\u2019s of watching the PL on the computer is that sometimes the transmission gets interrupted. That occurred so one blog person contemplated, \u201cMy picture keeps stuttering.\u201d The answer to the question that wasn\u2019t really asked came shortly. \u201cMust be your connection mate\u2026 restart ur router.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe gets mad\u2026 oh my router<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n
Darts is fun stuff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Much was made in this space about the disgusting behavior of the drunken hooligans during Premier League in Glasgow. Echoing those sentiments the PDC issued the following: \u201cWe are investigating the events of Thursday (March 17), when a minority of the crowd in Glasgow behaved in a manner we do not want to see at our events. A number of the players received abuse beyond which could be considered as normal banter and both ourselves and the SECC are looking in to the matter. The people who threw drinks and coins either at the stage or the crowd are not darts fans and not the sort of people we want to see at our events. If any of them can be identified we will push for the strongest action possible to be taken against them but from the comments we have received from real fans after the event we are sure this will be an unfortunate one-off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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Reed","author_link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/author\/howie-reed\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Much was made in this space about the disgusting behavior of the drunken hooligans during Premier League in Glasgow. Echoing those sentiments the PDC issued the following: \u201cWe are investigating the events of Thursday (March 17), when a minority of the crowd in Glasgow behaved in a manner we do not want to see at…","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\/5394","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=5394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5394"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}