{"id":5530,"date":"2014-03-24T14:58:14","date_gmt":"2014-03-24T14:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2014\/03\/column-hr110-taylors-baaack-taylors-baaack\/"},"modified":"2024-02-14T22:24:16","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T22:24:16","slug":"column-hr110-taylors-baaack-taylors-baaack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2014\/03\/column-hr110-taylors-baaack-taylors-baaack\/","title":{"rendered":"Column #HR110 Taylor’s baaack! Taylor’s baaack?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, March 24, 2014
\nColumn HR110
\nTaylor’s baaack!\u00a0 Taylor’s baaack?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Newspapers, bloggers and\u00a0 Facebook posters are sometimes wrong. Shocking\u00a0 yes, but true. \u00a0The Old Dart Coach humbly suggests that this is the case in regard to reports of the darting\u00a0 death of one Philip Douglas Taylor.<\/p>\n

In 1896, a London newspaper reported that Samuel Langhorne Clemens lay on his death bed. Clemens, aka Mark Twain,\u00a0 answered with \u201cThe report of my death has been greatly exaggerated.”\u00a0 So, too, the obits for the greatest dart player of the last 20 years – some would argue ever.\u00a0 Twain in fact lived more than 14 years after his \u201creported\u201d demise and one suspects so will Taylor’s darting life continue.<\/p>\n

For those that eat, sleep, drink, and live darts it\u2019s difficult to explain to outsiders that the game of darts is quite simply a metaphor for life itself. You start with something – birth – then when you have nothing – death – you win. Naturally it\u2019s an English invention. England started with an Empire, ended up with nothing. Heck America even sent Piers Morgan back.<\/p>\n

For those that attended\u00a0 American public schools a \u201cmetaphor\u201d is not the point between \u201cmedathree\u201d and \u201cmedafive\u201d.<\/p>\n

Robb Smyth of the Guardian<\/i> tosses a nine-darter. He wrote, \u201cWhen a sportsman reaches a certain age, he forfeits the right to be out of form. Every poor performance is analyzed not in the context of form, but whether he is finished.\u00a0 Phil Taylor’s career obituary has been tentatively written a number of times in the past decade, and every time he has thrillingly reasserted his status as one of sport’s great champions. But it has never been as serious as this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twain said, \u201cGet your facts first then you can distort them as much as you please.\u201d In Mr. Smyth\u2019s case his facts were accurate at the time. Taylor had lost four of his first five Premier League games and was knocked out of the UK Open by the number 137th ranked player in the world, Aden Kirk.\u00a0 Taylor\u2019s loss to Kirk should be put in proper prospective. Kirk would defeat\u00a0 the hottest player on the Tungsten Trail, Peter Wright, 9-5 to reach the round of 32. Kirk\u2019s run ended in a 9-7 loss to Brendan Dolan. Smyth adds to the \u201cdead on arrival\u201d scenario by pointing out that Taylor was \u201coverwhelmed\u201d by\u00a0 van Gerwen in the Players Championship and struggled against a semi-pro from New Zealand in the first round of the World Championships before losing in the second round to Michael Smith.<\/p>\n

Smith writes that \u201cTaylor fell asleep in his chair after Christmas dinner.\u201d\u00a0 To quote Twain, “Honesty is the best policy… when there\u2019s money in it.\u201d As the ODC shares in the huge payments received for these efforts he has to come clean. He once fell asleep after Christmas dinner. In was in a London borough at 33 Gresham Close after a sumptuous Christmas meal prepared by Ms. Linda Batten now a big time Dr. Lady. Unlike Taylor, the ODC didn\u2019t question his health, his energy levels or his sluggishness. He knew the culprit. To quote Pogo, \u201cHe met the enemy and it was him.\u201d\u00a0 It would be the many pints of lager at the village pub that followed a night filled with large pints of lager at the village pub.<\/p>\n

Taylor, according to Smyth, took a different view. He disappeared to a mountain retreat in Portugal for three weeks living almost entirely on juices. His one treat, according to Smyth, was a salad on Sunday afternoon. Kind of sounds like Osama in Tora Bora before he moved and got lit up by Seal Team 6. Living as he was with five wives his last words might have been, \u201cPraise be to Allah.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor said he was walking 10 to 12 miles per day because he claimed, \u201cI wasn’t very well to be honest.\u201d Upon his return, Taylor was \u201cthrashed\u201d 7-0 by van Gerwen in his first Premier League outing – and he was criticized for his \u201cdramatic weight loss.\u201d\u00a0 Undaunted, Taylor vowed, “I will put it right. And when I do put it right, I think that’s the time to finish.”<\/p>\n

Almost in passing, Smyth mentions that Taylor switched from longtime dart company Unicorn to Target. The entire civilized world and England knows that despite Taylor\u2019s \u201cbushwa\u201d the move was for\u00a0 money.\u00a0 There\u2019s a time in every star\u2019s life where he, she, or declines to state gets \u201cfound money.\u201d They sometimes forget why. Phil Taylor got $5 million from Target because he\u2019s won more than 200\u00a0 professional titles, 80 Majors and 16 World Championships. He hits triples and doubles and that sells darts. Mother Teresa he ain\u2019t. Of course, Mother Teresa probably couldn\u2019t sell darts.<\/p>\n

Moms tell their daughters preparing for their first date dance, \u201cStay with the guy\/gal that brung ya.\u201d\u00a0 Taylor made a business decision that might have affected his play. Since Mr. Smyth\u2019s article Taylor has turned things around.<\/p>\n

For now.<\/p>\n

He got off the Premier League \u201csynder\u201d with a win over Wes Newton with an average of 106.91. Then at a Players event at Crawley, Taylor would lose in the final to Gary Anderson 6-5 as Anderson took out 104 – as he sat on 102. Taylor defeated \u201carch rival\u201d Michael van Gerwen in the semi despite a 9-darter by the guy from Holland.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Taylor went through the field like a dose of salts. For the day Taylor would average 106.59 with only one average under 100 – and with an astounding 118.42 against Vincent van der Voort. He took out Ian White 6-0 in the final. Oh yes, Taylor missed a 9-darter when a double 18 went astray.<\/p>\n

Those that have predicted the demise of Phil Taylor are now taking a deep breath. As Twain said, \u201cFacts are stubborn things but statistics are more pliable.\u201d The fact is that even with the great numbers from his recent Premier League and Crawley – these could be a \u201cone off\u201d performances. Twain tells us that, \u201cA lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on shoes.\u201d On the other hand, those that cover darts will continue to guess about the future while dissecting the past for their own purposes or agendas.<\/p>\n

To quote Twain one last time, \u201cLet us be thankful for fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stay thirsty my friends.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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