{"id":6006,"date":"2022-10-13T10:38:14","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T10:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2022\/10\/column-hr373-thats-dart-life\/"},"modified":"2024-02-14T22:18:10","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T22:18:10","slug":"column-hr373-thats-dart-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2022\/10\/column-hr373-thats-dart-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Column #HR373 That\u2019s (Dart) Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday, October 13, 2022
\n<\/strong>Column HR373<\/strong>
\nThat’s (Dart) Life<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Old Dart Coach is sure the Chairman of the Board (the late Francis Albert Sinatra) won\u2019t go ballistic for the borrowing of\u00a0his song title,\u00a0with a slight modification.\u00a0 Just read the opening two stanzas: \u00a0
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

That’s life (that’s life), that’s what all the people say\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

You’re ridin’ high in April, shot down in May\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Few words could summarize PDC\u00a0darting life better.\u00a0\u00a0April?\u00a0 The first day of the tournament.\u00a0 May?\u00a0\u00a0Can arrive shocking with a suddenness.<\/p>\n

You go skipping along with unicorns and rainbows when suddenly your backside is like the wheels on a skateboard.\u00a0 The unicorns turn into a pack of unruly jackasses.\u00a0 Rainbows fade into a hellish rainstorm catching you with no umbrella or the treasured Burberry trench coat.<\/p>\n

Two players got their comeuppance at the Grand Prix (which the ODCs\u2019 father pronounced with a word that rhymes \u201click\u201d).\u00a0\u00a0Adrian Lewis and Madars Razma were going strong…
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lewis\u00a0showed\u00a0signs of his\u00a0old form\u00a0beating Jose\u2019 de Souza 2-sets to nil, averaging 94.7 in the double start.\u00a0 His comeuppance came against Chris Dobey 3-2.\u00a0 Tied a 2 sets and 2-legs Lewis had one dart at the bull for the match.\u00a0 Missed.\u00a0 \u201cSometimes the bull wins.\u201d\u00a0 The ODC took some stick from a Maple Leaf as he was touting Lewis’ return to form.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cBut he lost.\u201d\u00a0 One egg an omelet doesn\u2019t\u00a0make.<\/p>\n

Madars Razma (the first name either comes from a state in India or the sport coat the ODC loved in college).\u00a0 Razma\u2019s first round\u00a02-1 win over Ryan Searle was reported last week.\u00a0\u00a0He took\u00a0his next against\u00a0Daryl Gurney 3-1 (3-1, 3-0, 1-3, 3-2).\u00a0 Then came a Royal Fanny Whop from Gerwyn Price 3-0 (3-1, 3-0, 3-1).<\/p>\n

The ODC second favorite darts writer compared\u00a0a darts tournament to a circus – astonishing acts, excitement with many clowns to please all.\u00a0 One clown in full dress was Peter Wright…<\/p>\n

He made it to the semifinals after beating Dimitri\u00a0Van den Bergh 3-2.\u00a0\u00a0They were tied at 2 sets and 2 legs.\u00a0 After 12 darts, Wright needed 57 with VdB at 152.\u00a0 Wright butchered 57 leaving 20 after VdB got to 24.\u00a0 After Wright missed the 57-check he\u00a0retrieved his darts and put\u00a0them to bed.\u00a0 Shirley van den Berg wouldn\u2019t\u00a0miss with 3 at 24.\u00a0 Wrong Bucko!\u00a0\u00a0Wright took 3 for 20 moving him into a MvG semi.<\/p>\n

Nathan Aspinall would face Gerwyn Price in the other semi after a not that close 3-2 win over Martin Lukeman winning legs 13-8.<\/p>\n

Wright spoke, “My darts were rubbish.”\u00a0\u00a0Prior to his meeting with MvG he\u00a0said,\u00a0\u201cThey won\u2019t be rubbish today.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0He lied.<\/p>\n

MvG had said,\u00a0\u201cHe knows who\u2019s the best\u201d.<\/p>\n

John Part called MvG \u201ca showman.\u201d Good call.\u00a0 Set #1, leg #1 van Gerwen took out 167 (t19, t20, 50) with Wright at 276.<\/p>\n

The clown got a pie in the face.<\/p>\n

MvG would win 4-0 (3-0, 3-0, 3-1, 3-0).<\/p>\n

Wright\u2019s first double came in leg three of set 2.\u00a0 Even changing darts three times didn\u2019t help as Wright went 1 for 20 closing.\u00a0 The Christians in the Roman Circus had a better chance against the lions.<\/p>\n

Following the match MvG is quoted as saying,\u00a0\u201cI think his darts were absolute crap.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Possibly an understatement.<\/p>\n

Nathan Aspinall broke an even match, against Gerwyn Price, level at 2-sets, to move within one of the match.\u00a0 Price then forced a 7th<\/sup>\u00a0set when he took out 117 (t20, t17, d20) as Aspinall was at 16.\u00a0 Price had 4 darts to win the 5th<\/sup>\u00a0leg of the final set but\u00a0failed,\u00a0losing 3-2.\u00a0 No final\u00a0for favorite Price.<\/p>\n

The final between Michael van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall deserved center ring although it didn\u2019t\u00a0start out that way.\u00a0\u00a0Here\u2019s the box score courtesy of the PDC’s Dave Allen with useless comments from the ODC…<\/p>\n

Set #1 (3-0 MvG): Van Gerwen takes out 116, punishes two missed doubles from Aspinall.<\/p>\n

Set #2 (3-2 MvG): The pair trade 13-darters.\u00a0 Aspinall leads 2-1.\u00a0 The Dutchman levels with a 14-darter,\u00a0takes out tops for win.<\/p>\n

Set #3 (3-2 MvG): Aspinall misses d14 to break, van Gerwen takes T12.\u00a0 Aspinall levels on tops.\u00a0 van Gerwen\u2019s 13-darter to level.\u00a0 Aspinall d8 for 5th<\/sup>\u00a0leg.\u00a0 MvG d20 to win.<\/p>\n

Set #4 (3-1 MvG): Aspinall win\u2019s leg 1 with d20.\u00a0 Misses 5 doubles allowing MvG a 2-1 lead.\u00a0\u00a0van Gerwen used T74 and d10 for the win.<\/p>\n

Now, for those that have dosed off, MvG is leading 4-0 in the race to 5 sets.\u00a0 The not overflow crowd\u00a0starts cheering and singing for Aspinall.\u00a0 It is presumed that they have just filled up their pints wanting the match extended for more singing fluid.<\/p>\n

Set #5 (1-3): Aspinall comes from behind (0-1) to level, then a 13-darter and finally d20 for first set.<\/p>\n

Set #6 (3-1 Aspinall): Aspinall gets second set win with 89-out to lead 2-1.\u00a0 d8 gives him the set.<\/p>\n

Set #7 (3-1 Aspinall): Despite some great play,\u00a0including\u00a0a 12-darter, MvG had double trouble.\u00a0 Most notable when MVG missed 7 opening doubles.\u00a0 Aspinall takes set 3-1.<\/p>\n

Set #8 (3-2 Aspinall): Aspinall fell behind 1-nil after two misses at d20.\u00a0\u00a0van Gerwen didn\u2019t miss d10 in both.\u00a0\u00a0Aspinall found d20 to force\u00a0decider.\u00a0 Aspinall built a\u00a0235 to 461 lead.\u00a0 MvG\u2019s\u00a0T80 still had him behind 281-110.\u00a0 A T35 moved MvG closer at\u00a0146-110.\u00a0 Aspinall mangled from 110 leaving 65.\u00a0 MvG\u2019s T34 put him at 12.<\/p>\n

There’s an old bullfighting saying: \u201csometimes the bull wins.\u201d\u00a0 Aspinall had a plan.\u00a0 Single bull, double tops.\u00a0\u00a0One problem – he missed tops low and the d10.<\/p>\n

MvG nailed d6 for the Grand Prix title, his 6th, and \u00a3120,000.\u00a0 Nathan Aspinall’s #16 ranking is due to change – and he\u2019s back.\u00a0 Both players would average 91-plus in a double start tournament.\u00a0\u00a0Outstanding.<\/p>\n

Not to mention… the fans got their wish for more darts and beer.\u00a0 The Tungsten God works in mysterious ways.<\/p>\n

Russ Lopez recently lost his middle son to a heart attack.\u00a0 Services for James will be held October 14th at Currie-Jefferson Funeral Home Memorial Garden at 2701 John Hawkins Parkway, Hoover, Alabama.<\/p>\n

God Bless Russ and his family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Old Dart Coach is sure the Chairman of the Board (the late Francis Albert Sinatra) won\u2019t go 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Reed","author_link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/author\/howie-reed\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The Old Dart Coach is sure the Chairman of the Board (the late Francis Albert Sinatra) won\u2019t go ballistic...","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\/6006","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\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6006"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6153,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6006\/revisions\/6153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6006"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=6006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}