Monday, February 10, 2014
\nColumn HR107
\nPhil Taylor: What the heck is going on?<\/b><\/p>\n
Darts and the bartender from Pine Meadows Golf Course in Martinez, California have come a long way since 2:00 a.m. on January 1, 1977.\u00a0 That morning, after a long night, the bartender\u00a0 accepted clean-up help from a couple of dart players who ran the local league.\u00a0 In exchange he agreed to play his first a game of darts.<\/p>\n
\u201cDarts? \u00a0Stupid idea!\u201d he yelled.\u00a0 But 2:00 a.m. clean-up help on New Year\u2019s Day with a 6:00 \u00a0a.m. opening is impossible to turn down.<\/p>\n
Little did Phil and Erlene Hakola know or even imagine what they were about to unleash on the world of darts. \u00a0It was either a deal with the darting\u00a0 God or devil depending on your view of what has become \u201cThe Old Dart Coach.\u201d<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t one of those stupid trips down Memory Lane where some old coot from the past reminisces about \u201cthe good old days.\u201d\u00a0 Okay, the ODC’s memory\u2019s gone so the good old days are yesterday but that\u2019s beside the point.<\/p>\n
The darting world, thanks to the Brits, has become a \u201creal\u201d sport.\u00a0 There\u2019s \u201creal\u201d money to be made.\u00a0 Finally, here in the USA there\u2019s some real sponsorships.\u00a0 Soft tip – or \u201ctoy darts\u201d – as Davis L. calls them – has\u00a0 played a major role.\u00a0 What has also changed is the atomic-like explosion of social media – more precisely Facebook.\u00a0\u00a0 If anyone doubts that the dumbing down of the world has arrived spend some time on Facebook.<\/p>\n
In American darting circles on Facebook opponents are now referred to as \u201cGee buddy (pal or amigo also works), great playing you in the finals.\u201d\u00a0 Translation: \u201cYou lucky SOB, I\u2019ll kick your sorry butt the next time we meet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Or if it\u2019s a lady darter posting, \u201cHow much I love this tournament (insert name). \u00a0Thanks to my sponsor\u2019s \u201cQ\u201d flights, Oak Barrels and Dunce Points. \u00a0To my doubles and triples partners – it was great to play with you. \u00a0Thank you so much.\u201d \u00a0That even though they did Jack Squat. \u00a0They never hit a triple, missed every double on the board and never bought a drink. \u00a0Okay, we get it. \u00a0Enough already.<\/p>\n
Just to prove he\u2019s relevant the ODC could post, \u201cTo the organizers of the\u00a0 Houston Open, circa 1980s) – thanks for running such a great event. \u00a0My partner Carl Parsley and I reached the finals of the cricket doubles. \u00a0In the semis we were tied at one game each. \u00a0Our opponents, one of whom was a good guy,\u00a0 needed two bulls for the match. \u00a0They got one. \u00a0With two bulls remaining for the win and with the ODC to throw, from behind the oche the ODC\u00a0 heard the jerk say to his partner, the good guy, \u2018You\u2019ll get a shot. \u00a0He can\u2019t hit a bull.\u2019\u00a0 The ODC took aim, the crowd tensed and he threw. \u00a0With the dart still in the air he turned and asked…<\/p>\n
‘Want to see it again?’ as his dart hit the dead bull.”<\/p>\n
In the finals they faced Jerry Umberger and Rick Ney.\u00a0 The ODC ran out of aiming fluid which forced Parsley to play pretty much solo.\u00a0 Hell second place is keen.<\/p>\n
Concurrent with today’s Facebook often \u201ckinder-gentler\u201d approach – that would send a diabetic running for the insulin – comes a frequent desire for some to tear down great players who for some reasons are having troubles.<\/p>\n
This was evident after the Super Bowl when Payton Manning went from the \u201cgreatest ever\u201d to bum.\u00a0 In golf the hounds with the long knifes just couldn\u2019t wait for Tiger Woods, Rory McElroy and Sergio Garcia to endure blips on their way to greatness.<\/p>\n
It just happened that the three gentleman changed equipment – for mega bucks – before the decline, which was a handy excuse. \u00a0The ODC has another view as two of the three, Garcia and McElroy, were doing the \u201chorizontal mambo\u201d with a pair of\u00a0 # 1 female tennis players. \u00a0When McElroy and Garcia put the release hold on the two lovelies their game came back.<\/p>\n
Woods? \u00a0He was doing fine on the comeback after having trouble with the short iron. \u00a0The short iron in question was wielded by his now ex-wife on his noggin. \u00a0Then he started doing the \u201cbedroom giant slalom” with the worlds #1 skier. \u00a0Whoops.\u00a0 Under the ODC’s theory it wasn\u2019t \u201cthe equipment\u201d at all, in a manner of speaking.<\/p>\n
That brings us to one\u00a0 Philip Douglas Taylor, unquestionably the greatest dart player of his time.\u00a0 He crashed out of this year\u2019s World Championships to Michael \u201cWho\u201d Smith with all the grace of a giraffe on ice skates. \u00a0Then he took a January break to Portugal, maybe sipped a little port wine\u00a0 and changed his darts.\u00a0 The Premier League would be his redemption.\u00a0 Taylor said the right things, “I’ve had a good few weeks and I feel better now than I have for a long time. \u00a0I’m making my health better. \u00a0Improve my darts.\u00a0 Hopefully everything will come together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taylor then met World Champion Michael van Gerwen in a match that took only 13 minutes.\u00a0 Tayor got dusted 7-0, had only 4 darts at a double (and two of those were in one leg). \u00a0van Gerwen averaged 109.59.\u00a0 Not too Chablis.<\/p>\n
Taylor\u2019s critics couldn\u2019t wait to come charging out of the shadows.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s done, bum, wanker.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neither is true but his performance did beg the question, \u201cWhat the heck is going on?\u201d<\/p>\n
Had Father Time finally caught up with the Power? \u00a0Had his equipment change got him off his boil (Taylor has changed dart styles before sometimes with negative effects)? \u00a0Could it be that while in Portugal he hooked up with either the women\u2019s #1 tennis player or skier?\u00a0 Or could it be just one of those darting deals?<\/p>\n
Some might choose \u201cone of those darting deals\u201d in light of Taylor\u2019s outstanding performance in the most recent UK qualifier.\u00a0 Try this on for size.\u00a0 Quarter finals: 6-1 over Gary Anderson.\u00a0 Semis: Peter Wright goes down 6-3.\u00a0 Then a 6-2 win over Adrian Lewis in the final.<\/p>\n
Up 6-1 against Lewis, Taylor tossed back-to-back 177s, then triple 20, triple 17 and double 18 to erase 247 for his second<\/i> 9-darter of the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome home Phil.\u00a0 We love you. \u00a0All is forgiven.\u201d\u00a0 That’s what will be posted in the coming weeks by the Fence Jumpers. \u00a0Dolts.<\/p>\n
Stay thirsty my friends.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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and the bartender from Pine Meadows Golf Course in Martinez, California have come a long way since 2:00 a.m. on January 1, 1977...","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\/5523","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=5523"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6416,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5523\/revisions\/6416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5523"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}