Friday, September 16, 2011
\nColumn HR55
\nBuddy, Buddy, Buddy – your silence speaks loudly.<\/b><\/p>\n
Toss the name Sextus Aurelius Propertius around at a dart tournament and you\u2019ll likely collect a bag full of \u201cbrook trout looks.\u201d Brook trout looks? That\u2019s when you look into someone\u2019s eyes and, in the words of Gertie Stein, \u201cthere is no one there.\u201d She was talking about Oakland, California, the hometown of the Old Dart Coach, but his look is more akin to a brook trout on steroids. Old Gertie also said \u201cA rose is a rose.\u201d Funny but the ODC thought it was a rutabaga.<\/p>\n
Old Sextus was a \u201cLatin elegiac poet of the Augustan age.\u201d But you probably knew that. He was born \u201caround 50-45 BC\u201d and \u201cdied shortly after 15 BC.\u201d No, he did not die before he was born as, like dart players, old timers often start with something and work their way to nothing although, unlike darters, they aren\u2019t happy when they got there.<\/p>\n
Why mention Propertius? He wrote, \u201cAlways toward absent lovers love\u2019s tide stronger grows.\u201d That was modified in 1832 by Miss Strickland to \u201cTis absence, however, that makes the heart grow fonder.\u201d That explains why many former dart players love the sport so much. Never a gentle lover, the sport can and usually is a cruel lover. She giveth and then taketh away. She\u2019s a demanding master, giving no quarter while asking for a complete commitment many have no intention of giving.<\/p>\n
A recent poll by the TITBS Group found that 95% of all Americans walk around daily with their \u201cheads where the sun doesn\u2019t shine.\u201d Since dart players are probably somewhat less than representative of the broader US population we can put 98% of their heads in the \u201cdark place.\u201d The largest percentage of dart players play once a week in a local league, maybe a nearby tournament or two, putting their darts away once league is over. They couldn\u2019t give a whit (which makes a RPH look like a 19 foot 6 inch caber) about the ADO and even less about the WDF. The latter is interchangeable by darters with the twitter WTF.<\/p>\n
There are then 2% that do care with only half of those, perhaps, actually trying to do something.<\/p>\n
The late Rae Chesney was one of those that cared about darts and those that competed. He was sincere, hard working and honest in his convictions. He and the ODC were friends, maybe even pals. They shared a love of the game with widely different methods of making it better and more responsive to the players. Chesney\u2019s approach was favored by those in power while the ODC, playing old Don Quixote to the hilt, was not a favorite of the ruling elite or even the not ruling class. \u201cStuff Happens.\u201d Rae may have had it right but history will never know as he was taken away by cancer. He was rewarded in passing with a tournament named in his honor. The ODC put his money where his big mouth was. He still has his big mouth. They agreed on at least one basic principle: that dart players should have more say in the governing of the sport. That was true then and even more so now.<\/p>\n
In the ensuing years the old leaders of the ADO moved on, either up or down depending on your view of the \u201cold leaders.\u201d They have been replaced, unfortunately \u2013 if recent actions are any indication, by those influenced by the same nefarious pressures. The players, be they tournament or league, have nothing to say with the running of the sport or the direction it travels. The sport is governed by an elite group that has forgotten they are supposed to represent the thousands of American players and not their over inflated egos or supposed economic interests.<\/p>\n
In the Motha Country, where the sport began, a similar situation existed for years. The British Darts Organization, under Oily Croft, ran the sport with an iron hand and head. When the power was questioned the questioner was probably sent to the Tower of London. Croft\u2019s trump card was always \u201cYou can play for your country.\u201d When all else fails play the nationalism card.<\/p>\n
Finally a group of players had the guts to say \u201cEnough\u201d or \u201cNo Mas\u201d if you\u2019re from the Sa Habla land. The players broke away and struggled sometimes doing exhibitions in businesses that sold used cars called \u201cexperience vehicles\u201d in England. Today those players are alive and kicking as the Professional Darts Corporation. In the meantime the \u201cproletariat\u201d of the BDO that remained finally had enough, ousting Croft and Cronies last month. As the ODC\u2019s Grandma Reed would say \u201cGood riddance to bad rubbish.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the PDC\u2019s most recent Players event in Derby, Holland\u2019s Raymond van Barneveld and Scotland\u2019s Gary Anderson each walked away with \u00a36,000 for their respective wins. Canada\u2019s John Part collected \u00a35,000 for being a runner up and then finishing deep in the second draw. Part continues his climb back towards the top.<\/p>\n
How did this group of dart players get from there to here? First they took control of their own business. They got sponsors while running their own tournaments. One little mentioned aspect of their growth was that they replaced the \u201churly-burly\u201d atmosphere of the BDO with a business like approach. They acted like professionals.<\/p>\n
The easy rebuttal is for American\u2019s darters to point out, correctly, that it\u2019s \u201clike comparing apples and oranges.\u201d There are though many similarities\u2026<\/p>\n
The American Darts Organization collects membership fees, sanctions tournaments, collects a surcharge from each tournament entrant in singles events and runs national events.<\/p>\n
Is there any real advantage to being an ADO dart league? Not really. When the ADO sanctions a tournament do they guarantee the prize money or provide any financial assistance? No. Does the sanction bring in players? Yes. Of course, for the local guys and gals that may supply the majority of the prize money may not be a plus. Like the former BDO elite, those that run the ADO have no chance of not being re-elected as the members that pay the bills can\u2019t vote. Still, it\u2019s better to be an ADO League than not\u2026 maybe.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s with the World Dart Federation that the American darter of all stripes should have gotten the \u201cRA.\u201d The WDF President Mr. Roy Price, apparently added and abetted by ADO President & WDF VP Buddy Bartoletta, is a complete moronic weasel who never lets facts get in the way of the \u201celite\u2019s\u201d agenda. In case you missed it Ms. Stacy Bromberg, probably the best lady darter in the world, was removed from the ADO World Cup Team by ADO President Buddy Bartoletta. Mr. Bartoletta never answered an email from Toeing the Oche asking for information. Grandma Reed also said \u201cSilence is golden\u201d and \u201cSilence sometimes speaks loudly.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Mr. Bartoletta\u2019s case both apply.<\/p>\n
Bromberg was \u201cremoved from the ADO team\u201d under an interpretation of a rule that needs no interpretation. Under 2.01 of the WDF By-Laws a playing member is defined as \u201ca person who is affiliated with a WDF member Darts Body.\u201d Okay, that\u2019s Ms. Bromberg as there is no argument that she is a member in good standing of the ADO.<\/p>\n
Further in the By-laws under the same section is \u201cThey (the player) must also actively play a majority of their competitive darts within the system created and approved by the WDF Member Dart Bodies.\u201d WDF President Roy Price playing Pinocchio to Dave Alderman\u2019s Geppetto decreed, \u201cAs you can see, WDF Member Darts Bodies is a plural. This is because it is intended to refer to events within the WDF Ranking System.\u201d That of course has no basis in fact. It\u2019s a \u201cfigment of a very vivid imagination\u201d and \u201ctotal BS\u201d not to be confused with \u201cregular BS.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the preceding statement is fact then NO Player on the American or Canadian World Cup Team is eligible to play<\/span>. Why? It would be impossible for them to have played the \u201cmajority of their events within WDF Ranking System.\u201d So if you want to represent your country don\u2019t play in any ADO or NDFC events unless you play in more WDF Ranking Tournaments. That ought to make those that run tournaments in North America happy.<\/p>\n The WDF though doesn\u2019t use the same rules for the BDO\u2019s Jake Jones a member of the England Youth team. He played in 7 PDC Events THIS year. The term \u201cthis year\u201d is important because according to WDF President Price \u201cevents in both WDF and PDC from 1st January this year until the World Cup will be included in our analysis of player\u2019s eligibility.\u201d Another made up \u201cinterpretation\u201d as the \u201cofficial\u201d WDF Year, according to their own By-laws runs from August to August.<\/p>\n When questioned about Jones\u2019 eligibility Price wrote, \u201cJake Jones has played in the following NINE WDF Events.\u201d Well actually, no, he didn\u2019t. Two of the events listed were Youth Events which do not appear on the WDF Calendar nor do they carry WDF Ranking Points. One event, the England Classic Singles, is not on the \u201cofficial\u201d WDF Calendar. Regardless, Jones played in either 7 or 6 WDF Tournaments and 7 PDC Events which makes him ineligible for the World Cup under the Price Rule.<\/p>\n EMAILS<\/b><\/p>\n One of the goals of Toeing the Oche is to draw comments from readers. Mr. B from a land far away opines, \u201cGreat read. Don Quixote… reckon Christmas Cards from some of these guys will not be arriving this year in North Las Vegas! The phrase “Couldn’t organize a booze up in a Brewery” comes readily to mind! Stay well\u2026 keep tilting at windmills\u2026 and keep socking it to ’em!<\/p>\n The Hawk from the Blue Lagoon is a man of few words. \u201cMust assume that Roy Price is *****\u2026 he sounds so much like Obama! LOL\u2026 Promise them everything and give them the shaft!\u201d<\/p>\n Also a man of few words is the Lord of Pattaya also known as Mr. Stefan Lord. Some also know him as The Fat Swede which plays in the titles of the book the ODC is working on. The full title of the book? \u201cOne Night I Was Out Drinking With The Fat Swede.\u201d How\u2019s the book coming? To this point two people have given up trying to read it so the future looks dim. Mr. Lord emails, \u201cWell put, Mr. Blomqvist!\u201d<\/p>\n Then comes an email that very politely informs the ODC he is again wasting his time. The mailer asked that no name be used. \u201cWhat the ADO or WDF or PDC does or doesn\u2019t do, fair or unfair, the absolutely overwhelming majority of dart players simply don\u2019t care about. They don\u2019t care about anything but having a beer. Even 95% of those who show up at tournaments \u2013 supposedly the best and most aware and dedicated of all players \u2013 don\u2019t give a ****. They are clueless about it all \u2013 from what the \u201cgoverning\u201d bodies are doing, to how the tournament they are at got put together, to why the cost of a beer is what it is. But they complain about it all. A few have ideas about how to improve things \u2013 but do absolutely nothing to make anything new and better happen. I do feel damn bad for what was done to Stacy. I really wish there was something I could have done. At the end of the day I just hope she continues to take everyone\u2019s money for as long as she\u2019s enjoying traveling all over the place and being treated like crap.\u201d<\/p>\n One email that did not arrive, as mentioned earlier, was in answer to a request from Toeing the Oche\u2019 of August 27 to ADO President Buddy Bartoletta asking for his side of events. As the ODC\u2019s Pater would say \u201cRespondent sayeth nothing\u201d but his silence overwhelming.<\/p>\n AND FNALLY<\/b><\/p>\n It has been pointed that while some think that ODC means Old Dart Coach there are others who see it him as the Old Doddering Codger. The latter seems to manifest itself when he wanders off into a world of his own. This usually occurs after copious amounts of \u201caiming fluid\u201d made by Miller Genuine at his local called \u201cThe Sporting Chance.\u201d He has the perchance to consume pints of golden fluid while being bedazzled by the flashing Latin eyes of a lady much too old to become a serious squeeze. She\u2019s almost 30.<\/p>\n When the ODC comes to he spins tails of wondrous things seen and heard. His latest venture in the \u201cdoddering state of the aged\u201d took him back to a dart tournament somewhere between 69 BC and 30 BC. He knows the date because that\u2019s when Cleopatra VII reigned. She and her current squeeze, Mark Anthony, showed up at the Greek Backdoor Open with intentions of playing in the \u201cnot necessarily mixed doubles.\u201d<\/p>\n Cleopatra showed up with a rather large rattan purse. As they were sitting around drinking \u201chgt\u201d or \u201czyrghus,\u201d which is the Greek word for beer, Cleopatra screamed in anger as her purse fell to the floor.<\/p>\n She then yelled louder.<\/p>\n Then again with an over hand left to the jaw of Anthony while yelling\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cMark, I said grab my asp.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Toss the name Sextus Aurelius Propertius around at a dart tournament and you\u2019ll likely collect a bag full of \u201cbrook trout looks.\u201d Brook trout looks? That\u2019s when you look into someone\u2019s eyes and, in the words of Gertie Stein, \u201cthere is no one there.\u201d She was talking about Oakland, California, the hometown of the Old Dart Coach, but his look is more akin to a brook trout on steroids. Old Gertie also said \u201cA rose is a rose.\u201d Funny but the ODC thought it was a rutabaga.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"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 center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Column #HR55 Buddy, Buddy, Buddy - your silence speaks loudly.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[17],"class_list":["post-5424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-howie"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"views":2664,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/darts-image-feature-random-8.jpg?fit=520%2C347&ssl=1","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/darts-image-feature-random-8.jpg?fit=520%2C347&ssl=1",520,347,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/darts-image-feature-random-8.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/darts-image-feature-random-8.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/darts-image-feature-random-8.jpg?fit=520%2C347&ssl=1",520,347,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/darts-image-feature-random-8.jpg?fit=520%2C347&ssl=1",520,347,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/darts-image-feature-random-8.jpg?fit=520%2C347&ssl=1",520,347,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/darts-image-feature-random-8.jpg?fit=520%2C347&ssl=1",520,347,true],"rpwe-thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/darts-image-feature-random-8.jpg?resize=45%2C45&ssl=1",45,45,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Dartoid","author_link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/author\/dartoid\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Toss the name Sextus Aurelius Propertius around at a dart tournament and you\u2019ll likely collect a bag full of \u201cbrook trout looks.\u201d Brook trout looks? That\u2019s when you look into someone\u2019s eyes and, in the words of Gertie Stein, \u201cthere is no one there.\u201d She was talking about Oakland, California, the hometown of the Old…","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\/5424","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=5424"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6468,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5424\/revisions\/6468"}],"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=5424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5424"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}