March 7, 2006
\nColumn 230
\nDavid DePriest<\/b><\/p>\n
If I win the million dollars I\u2019ll pay a bunch of taxes and cry! Honestly, if I win the money it really won\u2019t change my life. I\u2019ll probably buy a new car and stick the rest in trust for my children\u2019s education.<\/p>\n
— David DePriest
\n__________________________________________________________________________
\nNickname: I don\u2019t have a nickname (although my wife does call me #$%#@ a lot!).
\nDate of Birth: September 29, 1973 (I\u2019ve been 29 for a few years now.)
\nPlace of Birth: Honolulu, Hawaii
\nHometown: Grand Rapids, Michigan
\nHobbies: I just like to spend a lot of time with my boys.
\nMovie: Goodfellas and the Color of Money
\nTelevision Show: Seinfeld and the Sopranos
\nBook: They still make books?
\nFavorite Night on the Town: I\u2019m pitiful \u2013 I\u2019d rather spend a nice relaxing evening at home.
\nMeal: I like a good steak, and I love a great steak. Pepsi.
\nSports Team: Detroit Pistons
\nMusic: Eagles
\nPet Peeve: Nothing specifically. Basically everything annoys me.
\nWorst Habit: Smoking has to be number one (although I have many other faults that are all tied for a close second).
\nWhat Most People Don\u2019t Know About Me: If I tell you everyone will know!
\nWeapon of Choice: 23-gram Barry Twomlow Goldens
\n__________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n
Why do I throw darts rather than participate in some other sport? That\u2019s easy \u2013 because fat old white guys that can\u2019t jump just don\u2019t have a chance in the NBA.<\/p>\n
Seriously, I started playing at the ripe old age of nine. I was a late bloomer! My mother got me started \u2013 there was always a dartboard in the house. We traveled and played a lot of tournaments. It was a great family activity.<\/p>\n
I went to college on the five-year plan. I once worked cleaning bathrooms at a movie theater. Now I work for myself doing marketing \u2013 primarily website and video work. I hate my boss because he is constantly making me do all of his work. But it\u2019s better than cleaning bathrooms.<\/p>\n
I have the most wonderful wife in the world, Jamie. We have been together almost eleven years now and have two boys, ages nine and five. Alexander is the eldest and he has just started playing darts in youth league. Greyson is the youngest and he enjoys being a kid and bothering his older brother. Greyson actually started playing darts when he was three \u2013 his first dart ever thrown was a center bull! We have a cat named Alley who does not play darts.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve never really had any career ambitions in darts. The World Series of Darts (WSOD) has kind of changed that and inspired me to pick \u2018em up and practice. It\u2019s really created a lot of excitement around the sport. If financially I saw it was possible to support my family playing darts I\u2019d consider giving it a shot (pun intended).<\/p>\n
I\u2019m interested to see how this WSOD production is edited for television. I think darts needs to shown for exactly what it is, an accuracy game. Physically just about anyone can throw a dart. But the level of accuracy can be astonishing. Ultimately though, the American public is going to tune in for the personalities. So I\u2019d encourage everyone to put it out there for the world to see. No one likes boring\u2026<\/p>\n
Right now, I\u2019m in the middle of an eight weekend tournament stretch. Of course, the WSOD will be huge for me. It just sucks I won\u2019t have a partner to take out the finishes! I\u2019ve been throwing a bit this year with Steve Hertzfeld, Bruce Cottrell, and Wade Wilcox. Basically I like to play with anyone that can hit tons all day and close the doubles!<\/p>\n
I know there are others that you have interviewed who claim to have no nemesis in the game but I\u2019m not going to lie to you. My five-year-old seems to beat me regularly. I don\u2019t what rules we are playing by most of the time but I\u2019m yet to win one against him. He just shoots and tells me I lose.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t say that there is anyone specific that I look up to in the sport. There have been so many over the years. Because I started playing so young I got a lot of help from many of the top players. It would be really unfair to just name one, and much too long of a list to name them all. Outside of darts my mother is my hero. She was a single parent raising a son all on her own. She\u2019s simply the best person I\u2019ve ever met in my life. Honestly, considering how I was introduced to the game, if I had to identify just one person to whom I most credit where I stand today \u2013 in the game and in life \u2013 that would have to be my mom.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m most proud of my children and what they do. In fact, if I were stranded on a remote island and could pick just one person to be stranded with, it would be my son Greyson. He just cracks me up everyday and makes life just a joy. Doing what I love is what matters and what I love most is my family. If I can be a great father then that beats winning any competition hands down.<\/p>\n
Like I said, until recently, I didn\u2019t really have much ambition when it came to darts. But right now I\u2019m practicing more diligently than ever. I play every day against the likes of Phil Taylor \u2013 on DVDs of the various world championships. It\u2019s kind of nice and I think very valuable in terms of being ready for the WSOD to be able to get a game against the world\u2019s best anytime you feel like it.<\/p>\n
Not surprisingly, I don\u2019t have a darts sponsor (although AA did call the other day \u2013 does that count?). Marty Huver who owns Westwood at the Crossing, one of the largest dart bars in the country (over thirty permanent boards) helps me out from time to time and I deeply appreciate his support. I\u2019m not sure what the future will hold. Let me just say that if Unicorn calls I won\u2019t hang up on them!<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, I believe that the man who thinks he can and the man who thinks he can\u2019t are both correct. I\u2019m a man who thinks he can.<\/p>\n
I think I can win this thing in Connecticut. But whether I do or whether I don\u2019t my goal is to be remembered as a good father and a true friend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If I win the million dollars I\u2019ll pay a bunch of taxes and cry! Honestly, if I win the money it really won\u2019t change my life. I\u2019ll probably buy a new car and stick the rest in trust for my children\u2019s education.<\/p>\n
— David DePriest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6486,"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 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I win the million dollars I\u2019ll pay a bunch of taxes and cry! Honestly, if I win the money it really won\u2019t change my life. I\u2019ll probably buy a new car and stick the rest in trust for my children\u2019s education. -- David DePriest","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":15,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"dartoid","display_name":"Dartoid","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2024-02-13-12_01_31-Dartoids-World-_-The-most-widely-read-column-about-darts-in-the-world.png","url2x":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2024-02-13-12_01_31-Dartoids-World-_-The-most-widely-read-column-about-darts-in-the-world.png"},"first_name":"Paul","last_name":"Seigel","user_url":"http:\/\/www.dartoidsworld.com","job_title":"","description":"\"Dartoid\" is the pseudonym of Paul Seigel, a prominent chronicler of darts for over 35 years. His columns are celebrated for their wit and insight, often detailing his quest for a game in exotic locales worldwide. His writing offers vibrant commentary on the competitive darts landscape, including players, organizations, tournaments and the sport's unique culture. Dartoid's articles are highly regarded among darts enthusiasts, solidifying his role as a pivotal figure in promoting and documenting darts as both a recreational pastime and professional sport."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7047","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=7047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7047"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=7047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}