{"id":5850,"date":"2019-06-28T10:21:25","date_gmt":"2019-06-28T10:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2019\/06\/column-hr265-the-british-are-coming-paul-revere-was-a-loudmouth\/"},"modified":"2024-02-14T22:21:50","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T22:21:50","slug":"column-hr265-the-british-are-coming-paul-revere-was-a-loudmouth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2019\/06\/column-hr265-the-british-are-coming-paul-revere-was-a-loudmouth\/","title":{"rendered":"Column #HR265 The British are coming! (Paul Revere was a loudmouth!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday,\u00a0June\u00a028, 2019
\n<\/strong> Column HR265<\/strong>
\nThe British are coming! (Paul Revere was a loudmouth!)<\/strong><\/p>\n

In just days, the PDC invasion of Las Vegas will be in full swing. The Old Dart Coach\u2019s pals and palettes will be there in all their once remembered glory. On the 4th<\/sup> of July (which may be America\u2019s 243rd<\/sup> birthday depending on the ODC\u2019s math, which is questionable) old timers will be wearing either old darts shirts or just grand old red, white and blue.<\/p>\n

DK (Dave Kelly) and the ODC have their outfits picked out.<\/p>\n

The fact is that while independence was declared on July 2, 1776, it wasn\u2019t until July 4th<\/sup> that Congress approved the final text – and it wasn\u2019t signed (by 56 delegates, not all of whom were present on the day) until August 2nd<\/sup>. Why then, one might reasonably ask, do we celebrate on the 4th<\/sup> of July and not on July 2nd<\/sup> or even August 2nd<\/sup>?<\/p>\n

Indeed, in his writings, \u201cJohn Adams even noted that July 2nd<\/sup> would be remembered in the annals of American history and would be marked with fireworks and celebrations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The answer: the final document was dated July 4th<\/sup> – the date of the final text – and just never changed to the actual date of declaration.<\/p>\n

In the days leading up to the North American Championships and U.S. Darts Masters starting July 2 at Mandalay Bay, social media has been alive with opinions about \u201cwhat\u2019s wrong with the ADO.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0Darts in America was even a subject of an unattributed story in the UK\u2019s Guardian Weekly.<\/p>\n

The article stated that, \u201cthe ADO has 100,000 players and 700 dedicated (players) with total dart players in the USA at 17 million.\u201d The 17 million figure comes from the National Sporting Goods Association. The number is as phony as Elizabeth Warren being an Indian (feather, not dot).<\/p>\n

Then we\u2019re told that \u201cthe PDC itself is featured on ESPN.\u201d\u00a0 That of course is untrue.\u00a0 ESPN does show Cornhole (an ancient Greek sport) so maybe darts is next. The final \u201cpork pie lie\u201d is that US leagues also generally play cricket, which is true but not so much these days with steel darts.<\/p>\n

Back to social media, one person posted, \u201cIt\u2019s the old timers that wrecked steel darts.\u201d As a certified \u201cOT\u201d the ODC had to answer\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you really want to know when the ADO went south look back to the late 1980s. \u00a0At a dart tournament in Schaumburg, Illinois, three or four of the ADO executives took a short morning trip to meet with a soft-tip group (American Darters Association – ADA) in Wisconsin run by a former ADO VP, the late Glenn Remick. Remick had\u00a0brokered a sponsorship with Anheuser-Busch. He made his pitch that his ADA players join the ADO. The ADO executive answered with the equivalent of \u2018Go pound salt!\u2019\u201d They reasoned, \u2018Why do we need you?\u2019 The rest is history. What was the ADO executives\u2019\u00a0motive? \u00a0Prue conjecture, although many opinions are correct.\u201d<\/p>\n

With entries still open when this was written, the North American Championships have more than 150 entries for each of the four qualifiers. The total North American prize fund is $60,000. That\u2019s real money. \u00a0The entries are an increase over the previous year.\u00a0 This indicates the increased popularity of the event. Heck, it pays more than most ADO tournaments and there\u2019s no cricket. Each stage winner will pocket $2,000 and the runner-up $1,000. The 8 that make the stage are assured at least $1,250 with the winner taking home $10,000. If you make it to the top 128 in any qualifier you get $100, which is the entry fee for each event.<\/p>\n

It gets better for the top 8 Norte Americanos as playing in the U.S Masters\u00a0assures them\u00a0of\u00a0$1,250 even if they lose first round against the PDC professionals. The U.S. Masters winner gets\u00a0$20,000.\u00a0 Winner-winner chicken dinner.<\/p>\n

Included on the entry list is someone who qualifiers as an old timer – and who is one hell<\/em> of a dart player. Last July, Larry Butler suffered a heart attack shortly after competition in the PDC World Cup. Recovery has been difficult but that hasn\u2019t deterred Butler. \u00a0Facing adversity and overcoming is in his DNA. His competitive spirit has never been questioned. Joining him will be his best friend, fellow Dayton resident Timmy \u201cThe Stache\u201d Nicoll. One of America\u2019s top players for several years, in late June Nicoll was\u00a0diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Recently released from the hospital, he begins his toughest fight on July 17 when he begins chemotherapy.\u00a0 Expect to see a lot of \u201cstaches\u201d in the crowd at Mandalay Bay.<\/p>\n

With more than 150 entries there are more well-known names than this column has space for. \u00a0Notable though are former three-time world champion John Part joined by fellow \u201chockey puck fans\u201d father-and-son duo Dan Lauby and Danny Lauby. Toss in Chuck Puleo, last year\u2019s winner Jeff Smith, Dawson Murschell and America\u2019s aces Jim Widmayer, Roger Carter and Chris \u201cThe Great\u201d White.<\/p>\n

Yeah, the ODC knows that White is Canadian. The ODC traded the rights to White for not posting nasty comments on Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. That plus the fact that White lives in the Peoples Republic of California which is also known as \u201cM\u00e1s alto de California.\u201d<\/p>\n

The top 8 have a high hill to climb when they face last year\u2019s winner Gary Anderson, current world champ\u00a0Michael van Gerwen, Rob Cross, Daryl “The Chin\u201d Gurney, Peter “Snake Bite\u201d Wright, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith and upcoming star Nathan Aspinall. All but Anderson and Cross have taken a pass on the 2019 Czech Darts Open the penultimate week before the Las Vegas invasion.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s always one upset against the professionals. Well, sometimes. Most would point to Aspinall as the weak link in the PDC chain. The ODC\u2019s leans toward either Daryl Gurney, Peter Wright or Michael Smith. All have at times shown the \u201cICGAS\u201d attitude. Anderson and van Gerwen will approach Las Vegas as a well-paid exhibition while for Aspinall this is a big deal with him coming loaded for North American hides.<\/p>\n

A couple final notes\u2026<\/p>\n

The 4th<\/sup> of July means red, white and blue. That\u2019s an order, not an option – got that Seaman Deane?<\/p>\n

In one of her books mystery writer Tami Hoag has a woman saying, \u201cMen, you can\u2019t live with \u2019em and you can\u2019t open a pickle jar without them.\u201d\u00a0 The pickle reference is for pal Timmy Nicoll as he beats the hell out of cancer, just like he does the treble 20.<\/p>\n

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

In just days, the PDC invasion of Las Vegas will be in full 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just days, the PDC invasion of Las Vegas will be in full swing..","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\/5850","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=5850"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6260,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5850\/revisions\/6260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5850"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}