{"id":5656,"date":"2016-06-14T17:31:29","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T17:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2016\/06\/column-hr171-muhammad-ali-and-darts\/"},"modified":"2024-02-14T22:23:15","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T22:23:15","slug":"column-hr171-muhammad-ali-and-darts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2016\/06\/column-hr171-muhammad-ali-and-darts\/","title":{"rendered":"Column #HR171 Muhammad Ali and Darts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tuesday, June 14,\u00a02016<\/span><\/span>
\nColumn HR171
\nMuhammad Ali and Darts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alfred\u00a0Lord Tennyson once wrote that in the spring \u201ca young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” (To be clear, “Al Lord” was not a distant relation to darting great Mr. Stefan Lord who most recently penned, \u201cLunch?\u201d as his contribution to the literary community.)<\/p>\n

Tennyson revised for dart players?\u00a0 \u201cIn spring a dart player’s fancy turn to what the opposite or same or declined to say sex has been thinking about all winter long.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every four years people’s thoughts turn to the Olympics. Hopes rise as national pride soars. While if you’re from a country that has hosted the Olympics there\u2019s a special attachment most everyone has memories of the Olympics.<\/p>\n

Mr. David Brook of Bun Kan, Thailand, remembers the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta Georgia…<\/p>\n

\u201cAlong with millions around the world I sat watching the televised Opening Ceremony of the Games in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 19, 1996. And what a sensational and emotional Ceremony.\u00a0 A truly dramatic Ceremony. Gladys Knight sang ‘Georgia on My Mind,’ Georgia’s official state song.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ODC had the same memories but would have sworn, \u201cDammit,\u201d as did others did, that it was Ray Charles who sang at the Olympics. \u00a0The ODC was wrong again but with good company. \u201cGeorgia on My Mind\u201d became the Georgia state song in 1979 when Ray Charles sang it before a joint session of Congress.<\/p>\n

Mr. Brooks continued, \u201cI was overwhelmed by the appearance of Muhammad Ali to light the Olympic cauldron for the Centennial Games, one of the most incredible images of the great man, who received the Olympic flame from swimmer Janet Evans and, whilst slowed by Parkinson\u2019s and shaking, bent down to light a small rocket that eventually carried the flame to the\u00a0cauldron. A most moving occasion that brought a lump to the throat… and a tear to the eye. I was no exception…\u201d<\/p>\n

There are many that have special memories of Muhammad Ali.<\/p>\n

As strange as it may seem, Ali ran into some dart people along the way and they remember him with fondness. Even more strange is that the stories all start at the now long-gone North American Open Darts Tournament.<\/p>\n

In 1975, the North American was just getting its sea legs. The ladies singles was won by a 17 year old out Dayton, Ohio, named Julie Nicoll, who beat Lois Miller in the finals and dart legend Helen Sheerbaum in Top 8. The ODC once played with Sheerbaum and even he couldn\u2019t bring her down to his level. They went two rounds.<\/p>\n

Julie\u2019s late father, \u00a0the late Bill Nicoll, had a company called Eagle Darts which made darts equipment.\u00a0 The ODC has the company’s first-dart cabinet. \u00a0In February of 1976, Julie was working her dad\u2019s booth at the\u00a0 National Sporting Goods Association in Chicago.<\/p>\n

During a break she wandered by a booth selling protective gear for boxing where Muhammad Ali was signing autographs…<\/p>\n

She cued up, got to the front of the line and placed a bank paper in front of Ali for him to sign. “He looked up, ” she relates, “and asked me why I was at the show. I explained that I was a throwing darts in my dad booth. He asked if I had a photo and a list of my accomplishments. I answered ‘Yes’ and went back to Dad\u2019s booth for a picture. I laid the picture in front of Muhammad Ali. As I turned to leave he said, ‘Young lady…’ as\u00a0two of his body guards turned me around. \u00a0Ali had\u00a0my picture in his hand and asked, ‘Will you give me your autograph?’ I\u00a0 was in shock.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the North America in 1996, were Brits John Lowe, Cliff Lazarenko and the aforementioned Mr. David Brook.\u00a0 As was their want they spent some time in the USA in the days after the tournament ended.\u00a0 Lowe had met the then Cassius Clay on the BBC when they both appeared on a London chat show. As part of the show they threw some darts. At the end of their USA tour they found themselves in\u00a0Wasatch, Utah, hitting a little white ball around with pal “Las Vegas” Bob Murdock – an excellent way to kill time ’till the cocktail hour.<\/p>\n

Their round of golf included a hotel employee named Val Montao.\u00a0\u00a0Lowe remembers, \u201cPlaying partner, Val, hit a stray shot into a garden. He was going to leave his ball and play another.\u201d Mr. Brook recalls, \u201cWe feared the worst… and felt a telling off and perhaps a damage repair bill. Instead we witnessed Val and a lady hugging and kissing like long lost friends… they were. They had been at school together and had not met for some 20 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJean – that was her name –\u00a0 informed us that she was the personal assistant to a celebrity staying at the hotel. The celebrity? None other than Muhammad Ali! But there was another shock to come as she uttered those immortal and never to be forgotten words…<\/p>\n

“Would you like to meet him?\u201d<\/p>\n

The group was invited to a BBQ where Ali would present awards for the American Boys Club. Lowe muses, \u201cAli came out of the house and approached me, looking straight at me with those bright blue eyes. He pulled back his arm and went through the motion of throwing a dart. He remembered me from\u00a0when we played darts on BBC!\u201d\"Ali2\"<\/p>\n

Mr. Brook remembers, \u201cUnable to speak, Ali still had no trouble communicating. Most striking to me was the gleam he had in his eye. He clearly was aware of everything that was happening. He was determined to be a part of it. The time passed so quickly but as I stood to leave\u00a0he shook my hand and we put our\u00a0fists together… truly an experience I will never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have met some famous people in my time,\u201d writes Lowe, \u201cfrom Royalty to Prime Ministers, super sports stars to famous entertainers, but none come anywhere near to being in the presence of Cassius Muhammad Ali Clay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Brook ends with, \u201cIf you are a golfer, a slice is not necessarily a bad thing – I met Muhammad Ali because of one!\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a darts player and asked if darts is an Olympic sport you have to answer \u201cNo\u201d \u00a0When the ODC represented\u00a0Thailand to the World Dart Federation he asked numerous times, \u201cWhat\u2019s the status of darts becoming an Olympic sport?\u201d \u00a0 When there was an answer it was accompanied with the\u00a0\u201cBrook Trout Look.\u201d Finally the powers that be got tired of\u00a0the ODC asking questions so he was \u201cvoted off the island.\u201d<\/p>\n

If darts does become an Olympic sport it will be a result of the work of the PDC and Barry Hearn. The bastards that run the WDF and the ADO will have nothing to do with it. Not only do they not know \u201cSweet Fanny Adams\u201d they don\u2019t even know they’re irrelevant.<\/p>\n

Clueless in darts.<\/p>\n

Stay thirsty my friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alfred Lord Tennyson once wrote that in the spring \u201ca young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” 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Lord Tennyson once wrote that in the spring \u201ca young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.\"","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\/5656","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=5656"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6353,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5656\/revisions\/6353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5656"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}