{"id":6016,"date":"2022-11-22T11:46:57","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T11:46:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2022\/11\/column-hr383-where-were-we\/"},"modified":"2024-02-14T22:18:07","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T22:18:07","slug":"column-hr383-where-were-we","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2022\/11\/column-hr383-where-were-we\/","title":{"rendered":"Column #HR383 Where were we?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday, November 22, 2022
\n<\/strong>Column HR383<\/strong>
\nWhere were we?<\/strong><\/p>\n

But first\u2026<\/p>\n

There are times in\u00a0sport when you\u2019re stunned into silence and or brought to tears of pure joy.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s like a romanticist having a loved one sent IL DIVO\u00a0singing \u201cI will always love you.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s what happened on the seventh day of the Cazoo Grand Slam.\u00a0 If you didn\u2019t yell \u201cI love this sport!\u201d you never toed the oche.<\/p>\n

Raymond van Barneveld turned the clock back to 2012 when he won the Grand Slam.\u00a0 Remember, he retired to play exhibitions.\u00a0 Then Covid hit.\u00a0\u00a0Last February, he went back to Q school as he fought back,\u00a0believing in himself.\u00a0\u00a0He was ridiculed.\u00a0 But he had himself and his Army.\u00a0\u00a0Maybe on that stage after a remarkable comeback with the crowd in a frenzy he thought “How do you like me now?\u201d<\/p>\n

The match was superb.\u00a0 Barney was down 8-3 after tossing away the first 2 legs with missed doubles against #1 Gerwyn Price.\u00a0 He leveled at 2 in 10 and 15 darts, but Price then built a lead with 12, 13, 14 and 2-15 dart legs.\u00a0 Barney saw only 2 doubles during that run.<\/p>\n

John Donne wrote:\u00a0For whom the bell tolls,\u00a0<\/em>it tolls for thee.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

It was impossible not to feel those words were for Barney.<\/p>\n

In a magnificent display, Barney won the next 7 legs (aided by Price who missed 8 doubles in 4 legs).\u00a0 Price got to 10-9 in 13 -which Barney answered in 14.\u00a0 Price edged back to 11-10 when RvB opened a can of \u201cWA\u201d (14-10).<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m probably in the top five players of all-time along with Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Eric Bristow and John Lowe, and everyone knows I can do this.\u00a0 It is all about belief.\u201d<\/p>\n

RvB\u00a0is right.<\/p>\n

But then, like for Cinderella, the clock stuck 12 and the shoe wouldn\u2019t fit –\u00a0meaning Barney wasn\u2019t going to the finals.\u00a0\u00a0He ran into Michael Smith who started with legs of\u00a010 and 12,\u00a0eventually leading 5-0.\u00a0 With the final score at 16-12 even new math would deduce that Michael Smith was on the way to a final.\u00a0 Barney was trying to climb Mt. Everest in wooden shoes.\u00a0 That same math will illustrate that after a slow start going 12-11 wasn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n

Following the 5-0 \u201cpause for the cause\u201d Barney took 3 on the trot.\u00a0 At 9-7 Smith, the match was magic.\u00a0\u00a0It would be tied three times over the remaining12 legs.\u00a0\u00a0In those legs\u00a0there was an 11-darter, three 12s, two of 13, two of 14 and three 15-darters.\u00a0 van Barneveld\u00a0tied the score at 11 when\u00a0Smith missed 8 doubles.\u00a0 In the past,\u00a0that would have been Smith\u2019s\u00a0\u201cpurple patch”.\u00a0 Not this time as he lost only one leg the rest of the way – and\u00a0that in 13.\u00a0 Smith\u2019s prodigious scoring of\u00a0104.1 over 28 legs speaks for itself.<\/p>\n

When\u00a0Nathan Aspinall and Luke Humphries met in the other semi their styles were diametrically opposed – Humphries throws with a nonchalance that seems almost effortless while for Aspinall it seems like throwing each dart takes the ultimate effort.<\/p>\n

Coming from behind, Humphries\u00a0leveled at 4 and then jumped ahead to lead 6-4 and 7-5 before losing the lead\u00a0at 8-7.\u00a0\u00a0They would then be on the same\u00a0page at 9, 10 and 11 when Aspinall took the lead with a nifty 21-darter that included only two scores of a ton.\u00a0 Aspinall used only 24 darts to\u00a0extend his lead to 14-11.\u00a0 At 15-12 the ASP ended it with a T21-check for a trip to the finals.<\/p>\n

But WAIT!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Historians know that it was an ASP that bit Cleopatra on the bosom, ending her life.\u00a0 Some believe that it wasn\u2019t an ASP but an Egyptian cobra.\u00a0 Regardless Cleo bit the dust.<\/p>\n

Nathan Aspinall\u2019s bite had been lethal at the Cazoo Grand Slam this year.\u00a0 For Smith this would his 9th try at the TV finals.\u00a0\u00a0The first eight didn\u2019t go well.<\/p>\n

The smooth stroking Smith survived the bite of the ASP building a 7-3\u00a0on his way to a 16 -5 win.\u00a0 Smith used 16 and d20\u00a0to\u00a0get the monkey of choking in finals\u00a0off his back and collapsed in pure joy.\u00a0 After receiving the \u00a3150,000 check Smith commented, \u201cI\u2019m used to giving the runner-up speech.\u201d<\/p>\n

OK, now…<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the hit television show\u00a0Yellowstone,\u00a0<\/em>Kelly Reilly, playing Beth Dutton, said to her dad,\u00a0\u201c<\/em>You can love memories, but they won\u2019t love you back.\u201d\u00a0The Old Dart Coach usually abides when a redhead speaks but not this time.<\/p>\n

He loves his memories of the Choo Choo Classic – the one where a lady friend (name withheld, but her first name is found in every song and her last name’s a stable of an Asian diet) in which they left the blind draw on the way to a after party…<\/p>\n

On the way they ended up in a ditch and the “projects” and eventually parked on her parent’s lawn with a cup of beer on the roof of the car.\u00a0 Two seemly adults, the ODC and the lady, were then chauffeured to and from\u00a0the Cho0 Choo by the lady’s mom.<\/p>\n

On two occasions the ODC played pairs with Randy Goodpasture.\u00a0 They shared a love of college football and the ability never to advance past the first round…<\/p>\n

Eliminated early, they headed to a college pub in Chattooga called the Keg to watch Alabama-Auburn.\u00a0 Randy was an Auburn alum.\u00a0 The next year, again after a fast exit, they headed to the Keg to watch USC-Notre Dame.\u00a0\u00a0We walked into an empty bar and were greeted by the bartender with,\u00a0\u201c<\/strong>Are you two guys back again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chattooga \u201cChainsaw\u201d Joe Chaney will remember last week\u2019s Choo Choo for some time.\u00a0 With chainsaw revved, he went through\u00a0the entrants like Paul Bunion did the Sahara Forrest.<\/p>\n

No Sahara Forrest?\u00a0 There was until Paul got there.\u00a0 Chaney won the mixed doubles cricket, men\u2019s singles 501 and\u00a0both men\u2019s doubles.<\/p>\n

Oh yes, we were<\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n

…on the\u00a0way to say Happy Thanksgiving but first…<\/p>\n

Fallon Sherrock\u00a0and the\u00a0ladies of Europe have something to be thankful for.\u00a0 As the ODC predicted,\u00a0Sherrock will fill the empty spot in the World Championships.\u00a0 Like the Tungsten God the PDC works in mysterious ways.<\/p>\n

Sherrock gets in the draw as the PDC gives the Women\u2019s Matchplay winner a spot.\u00a0 In addition, the PDC prize fund will increase to \u00a3240,000\u00a0for\u00a024 events across six weekends.<\/p>\n

HAPPY THANKSIVING and stay thirsty my friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are times in\u00a0sport when you\u2019re stunned into silence and or brought to tears of pure joy…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[17],"class_list":["post-6016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-howie"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"views":758,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/darts-image-feature-random-28.jpg?fit=520%2C450&ssl=1","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/darts-image-feature-random-28.jpg?fit=520%2C450&ssl=1",520,450,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/darts-image-feature-random-28.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/darts-image-feature-random-28.jpg?fit=300%2C260&ssl=1",300,260,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/darts-image-feature-random-28.jpg?fit=520%2C450&ssl=1",520,450,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/darts-image-feature-random-28.jpg?fit=520%2C450&ssl=1",520,450,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/darts-image-feature-random-28.jpg?fit=520%2C450&ssl=1",520,450,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/darts-image-feature-random-28.jpg?fit=520%2C450&ssl=1",520,450,true],"rpwe-thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/darts-image-feature-random-28.jpg?resize=45%2C45&ssl=1",45,45,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Howie Reed","author_link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/author\/howie-reed\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"There are times in\u00a0sport when you\u2019re stunned into silence and or brought to tears of pure joy...","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\/6016","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=6016"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6145,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6016\/revisions\/6145"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6016"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=6016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}