Wednesday, May 18, 2011
\nColumn HR43
\nMemories<\/b><\/p>\n
On May 17th at 5:00 p.m. the Sahara Hotel on the tail end of the famed Las Vegas strip closed its door for the first and last time. Local Las Vegans \u2013 that is anyone who\u2019s lived here more than ten years and may or may not eat meat \u2013 gathered for one last look and maybe a final cocktail. For dart players from the Golden Age of American darts the closing was the end to a bygone era.<\/p>\n
The Golden Era of American darts and the Sahara were linked in the same way that the name Kardashian is to trash. You can\u2019t have one without the other. From the World Cup of 1979, the first darting event held at the Sahara, \u2018till the final North American Open in 1995 the Sahara was the designated American stopping spot for darters from around the world. That World Cup in 1979 was won by England but Thailand\u2019s gift to American Darts (and ladies) Nicky Virachkul won the singles over Wales Kerri Morgan. The pairs was won by John Lowe and Eric Bristow, who between them would win more total North American\u2019s Open titles than anyone else and would for ever be linked with both the event and the Sahara.<\/p>\n
At that World Cup in \u201879 darters from the world over drank the Sahara out of beer. A hurried call was sent out for reinforcements. When the beer arrived it was stacked on luggage carts and pushed through the casino with the idea of taking it up the escalator to the venue. Even a dart player knows that a luggage cart can\u2019t go up an escalator. The Old Dart Coach (before he was the Old Dart Coach) and pal Ron Beach were sitting in the front row for the non-invited guests who filled the first thirty or so rows from the stage. When word of the beer problem reached the pair they immediately got a very nice \u201colder lady\u201d to watch their seats as they hurried to the down escalator for beer. Seems that other darters had the same idea but either weren\u2019t as thirsty or a little slow on the trigger. When the pair reached the casino floor there were three or four luggage carts stacked with \u201cThis Bud\u2019s for You.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many can we buy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c$1.00 per bottle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOK we\u2019ll take two cases.\u201d<\/p>\n
They did, carted the two cases up to their seats selling off enough beer at $4.00 a bottle to make a nice profit and keep the \u201cfeeling\u201d going. The Sahara was darts Wimbledon. If you weren\u2019t there you weren\u2019t squat.
\nThe North American moved to the Sahara in 1980 from its early home on the Queen Mary docked in the harbor at Long Beach. One year a group of Northern Californians attended the Queen Mary event with special t-shirt reading \u201cAssault on the Queen.\u201d Cheeky that. The group leader also figured out that if one blew a trumpet into the ship\u2019s air con vents it would travel into every room. Being a former United States Marine trumpet player he took to blowing revelry at 6 a.m. each morning driving the staff of the Queen Mary crazy. The staff never figured out that the guy with the 5:45 a.m. wake up \u2013 he had a couple of man chores first \u2013 might just be blowing revelry at 6:00 a.m. The same person booked two rooms each year using the bath tub in one just to store beer.<\/p>\n
In the sixteen years that the North American called the Sahara home more than $789,000 in prize money was paid out with much of it going to England thanks to Misters Lowe, George, Bristow and assorted various gendered POM\u2019s. The Brits would moan and whine each year that \u201cplaying 301 double on isn\u2019t real darts. If they don\u2019t change it we\u2019ll stop coming.\u201d Of course the money was good so they kept coming and whining and moaning and winning. Persistent bastards. For darters of the era it\u2019s not what happened in the venue on the boards that remains in the memory bank but what happened elsewhere. The Old Dart Coach attended every North American at the Sahara although some remain hazy and the dates blurred together.<\/p>\n
There was the \u201cA\u201d bar located at the bottom of the down escalator where Richie presided as the primary mixologist. If you weren\u2019t a member of the \u201cA\u201d group you could forget about getting a beverage. The leaders of the \u201cA\u201d group were John Lowe and Big Cliff Lazarenko. If they didn\u2019t give their okay you didn\u2019t drink. Simple as that. \u201cCliff you know this guy?\u201d \u201cNo.\u201d \u201cSorry sir, this is a private party.\u201d The \u201cA\u201d bar was in a perfect location at the bottom of the escalator and within twenty steps of the nearest men\u2019s room. On one trip the ODC was at the end stall of twenty-five urinals. From the front came the yell, \u201cBoy this water\u2019s cold.\u201d \u201cYea, and it\u2019s deep,\u201d replied the ODC adding \u201cThe first lair doesn\u2019t stand a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cA\u201d bar was mostly a male dominated domain. Women applied by invitation. A drinking contest evolved one night between John Lowe, Jocky Wilson and Cliff Lazarenko. Bartender Richie kept the bar open until early in the morning hour. Finally he had to make \u201clast call.\u201d \u201cOK we\u2019ll have eighteen white Russians,\u201d order Lazarenko. Richie put six white Russians before each contestant. \u201cNo that\u2019s 18 each,\u201d announced Big Cliff. The contest winner? Make a guess.<\/p>\n
The ODC always seemed to be attending weddings during the North American. One year he, Jerry Umberger and Jerry\u2019s wife Gloria were to attend a wedding just a couple of blocks from the Sahara. Might have been for Mike and Michelle Enright. When they stepped outside the 110-plus temperature hit them \u201clike the blast furnace from a Pennsylvania steel mill.\u201d (Thought we\u2019d toss in a City Confidential \u201ctalk\u201d from the Bio Network here.) \u201cWhat the heck,\u201d they exclaimed or words to that effect. \u201cNo problem,\u201d uttered the ODC. They hailed a cab and got in. \u201cWhere you headed?\u201d \u201cNot sure. Maybe downtown.\u201d The cab went a couple of blocks. \u201cStop. This will do.\u201d Cabby was not happy. Horse on him.<\/p>\n
At another wedding between two Brits, one in a walker, the ODC took a date. They both played dress up as after the nuptials they retired to the newly wedded couple\u2019s room for champagne. The next stop was at a dance going on in the dart hall. While in the middle of the dance the ODC noticed that his date was gone. \u201cWhere\u2019s your date?\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t know. She was on the end of my hand.\u201d After ten minutes of standing on the dance floor while those around him were walking to music the ODC came to the conclusion that his date may have fled the scene. He of course adjourned to the \u201cA\u201d bar to drown his sorrows. Southern California\u2019s Jim Lovell inquired of the ODC, \u201cWhere\u2019s your date?\u201d \u201cShe got lost.\u201d Lovell volunteered to have a look around. He never found her. The next day the ODC confronted his \u201cdate\u201d of the previous evening. \u201cWhere the hell did you go?\u201d \u201cI told you I\u2019d be back.\u201d \u201cYea but you didn\u2019t say it would be twenty-four hour\u2019s later.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ODC would gain a measure of revenge a couple of years later during the playing of a tournament at the now also long gone Hacienda. He made a date to take said lady to see Siegfried & Roy at the Mirage. \u201cWe\u2019ll play dress up.\u201d The ODC was in sartorial splendor \u2013 a purple velvet double-breasted smoking jacket, black silk slacks, blue shirt topped with a large black velvet bow tie. The lady was stunning in a black sheath dress topped with a simple string of pearls. As they were making their way from the bar to the show room they passed the glass window looking in on the white tiger\u2019s cage. A lady passing by stopped them with the query, \u201cCould I take a picture?\u201d The ODC and his date stood in front of the window with arms around waist in the usual \u201cdaters pose.\u201d \u201cLady could you move out of the picture. We just want the coat and the tigers.\u201d Horse on ye dear.<\/p>\n
The buffet at the Sahara was something special in the early years. It was not usual to see large groups of darters chowing down like food was going to be outlawed. There was an English lady dart player of some note who had an affinity for men, particularity those born with life-lasting sun tans. She also had some health problems which cropped one night at the buffet. In short she passed out. The paramedics were called to remove the unconscious lady darter from the buffet. As it happened, all the paramedics fit the description of the lady\u2019s personal choice in men. The ODC followed them out and down toward the lobby. As if by magic, upon reaching the hallway the lady regained consciousness. She blinked her eyes looking at each of the four paramedics. \u201cHow do you feel?\u201d asked the ODC. \u201cI think I\u2019ve died and gone to heaven.\u201d As a postscript to the story the same lady some years later would marry a fellow Brit in Las Vegas. After four children she told him, \u201cWe\u2019re no longer married.\u201d \u201cWhy?\u201d \u201cBecause a marriage in Las Vegas only counts in Las Vegas.\u201d Might have been the first time that \u201cWhat happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas\u201d was used.<\/p>\n
Memories. Many more. There was the time that the ODC had the ceiling of the bathroom fall on his head. Fortunately it landed on the one part of his body where little damage could be done. When he complained to the front desk he was told \u201cIf you don\u2019t like it go somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Or the time he slipped off his shoes after a long day while sitting at the Sports Book bar with Jr. doing the \u201chonors\u201d with beverages. A security guard came by to ask, \u201cSir, where are your shoes?\u201d \u201cRight here\u2026 woops some stole my shoes.\u201d \u201cThen Sir you will have to leave.\u201d As the ODC started to walk to his room he was told, \u201cYou can\u2019t walk through the casino.\u201d \u201cHow the hell can I get to my room if I can\u2019t walk through the casino?\u201d The security person relented while escorting the ODC to his room for a re-shoeing. The shoe thief(s)? Two Canadians.<\/p>\n
One year the ODC and pairs partner Mike Enright advanced through the preliminary rounds like a hot knife through butter. They were smoking. At the round of sixteen the fun stopped when they drew the Eric Bristow and Leighton Reese. In the race to two it was deadlocked at one. The ODC had three darts at a double to win. He laid three on the flipping wire. What a wanker.<\/p>\n
Charles Dickens wrote in the Tale of Two Cities, \u201cIt was the best of times; it was the worst of times.\u201d Chuck was half right.<\/p>\n
For Americans, the Golden Age of Darts and the Sahara were \u201cthe best of times.\u201d<\/p>\n
With both now gone it\u2019s \u201cthe worst of times.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On May 17th at 5:00 p.m. the Sahara Hotel on the tail end of the famed Las Vegas strip closed its door for the first and last time. Local Las Vegans \u2013 that is anyone who\u2019s lived here more than ten years and may or may not eat meat \u2013 gathered for one last look and maybe a final cocktail. For dart players from the Golden Age of American darts the closing was the end to a bygone era.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4130,"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":"On May 17th at 5:00 p.m. the Sahara Hotel on the tail end of the famed Las Vegas strip closed its door for the first and last time. Local Las Vegans \u2013 that is anyone who\u2019s lived here more than ten years and may or may not eat meat \u2013 gathered for one last look…","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\/5400","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=5400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5400"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}