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Darts

Started by buntyman, November 12, 2011, 10:28:47 PM

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buntyman

This year I've been getting into watching darts on Sky and am currently watching the first day of the Grand Slam of Darts. I don't know a great deal about it yet but have seen enough to get to know the major players reasonably well and appreciate the difficulty of certain situations.
I've probably picked a bad time to get into watching it as Sid Waddell is unfortunately absent from the commentary box due to undergoing cancer treatment but there's still a lot to enjoy from the coverage. I can imagine there would be a lot of people that would dismiss it as 'not a proper sport' and be put off by the drunken crowd, dance music and WWF style walk ons but if you give it a chance, you might discover, as I have, a sport with some of the tensest moments as well as hilarious moments that any sport has to offer. It seems that Phil Taylor is not quite the dominant force he used to be and it's great seeing him lose - he's a really bad loser and the last time I saw him lose (to cocky Paul Nicholson) it led to a massive feud that went on for weeks.
Annoyingly, it's very hard to keep track of as I don't know of any websites that report on it regularly so it means I really have to watch it all otherwise I'm unlikely to be able to find out what has gone on.
Anyone else into it?

biggytitbo

You're lucky Sid Waddell is absent since he's fucking awful and pretty much makes any darts he's commentating on unwatchable.

MrT

I'm a great darts fan but have intermittent access to Sky. The Grand Slam of Darts (GSOD) used to be on ITV4 until this year, they swapped it with two other tournaments.

The GSOD is the only UK televised tournament where the two codes, BDO and WDC (or whatever they call themselves now), compete as far as I know.

http://www.thedartsforum.co.uk/ is a good place to start, the offical BDO website it rubbish.

I wouldn't say Phil Taylor is a bad loser, Paul Nicholson was a wind up merchant on the oche although I think he's quite a bit better now. Best needle match was Chris Mason v Phil Taylor, loads of banter on stage, am sure it must be on YouTube somewhere.

Sid Waddell gets on my tits, he's done a lot for the sport but can't stand his voice any longer.

Jamie Oliver is fat

Quote from: biggytitbo on November 12, 2011, 10:55:10 PM
You're lucky Sid Waddell is absent since he's fucking awful and pretty much makes any darts he's commentating on unwatchable.

Agree, it was becoming a nightmare listening to him.

I've enjoyed Wayne Mardle taking a turn in the comm box, but would prefer him on the stage.

Few scalps last night with the shorter format. I can't help but like Ted Hankey, and the ever-tubbying James Wade.

buntyman

Good match this one, Ted Hankey doing lots of angry roaring at the crowd.

Jamie Oliver is fat

Did he beat Barney?

It's surprisingly tough to find darts results on the web, and I needed an early night last night.

The trouble with Hankey is, he's obviously a decent chap off the board, and likes to create this persona for himself on-stage, and indeed at times seems to need the anger of the crowd to spur him on and seeks to wind them up as much as possible.

And yet at the same time, he seems to allow that same stick he gets to derail him too often. He should speak to Peter Manley about how to strike a balance. Maybe that's one of the reasons he doesn't make the switch to the PDC? I'm sure the PDC must've approached him.

Mervyn King is another one who frequently gets it wrong with the crowd.

Though in fairness, the crowd in the Premier League and the big TV events are frequently way out of line in their abuse during throwing, but that's what Sky wanted and if you're prepared to take the Sky money, then you need to play your part, whether that's as a crowd favourite like Barney, Stompe or Vincent VDV, or a villain like King.

buntyman

Yeah he won 5-2 so Barney's out. It's weird how even the Sky Sports website is slack at reporting what's going on.
Paul Nicholson is easily the most entertaining player to watch, looking forward to his match tonight.

weirdbeard

Farcical scenes in the PDC semi at the moment between Lewis and Wade, wind has stopped play - both players are complaining of a draught and have walked off stage twice.

biggytitbo

It's embarrassing isn't it? Leeis just seems to have lost the plot a bit.

weirdbeard

He's probably expecting a call from the rozzers about his girlfriend, who looks barely legal.

weirdbeard

It never fails to amaze me how often these guys nail the treble 19, when they switch.  The strike rate is unbelievable.

George Oscar Bluth II

This match is amazing. Wade was 5-1 up, Lewis has pulled it back to 5-5 ready for a deciding set, at twenty to one in the morning. Awesome.

weirdbeard

If Lewis wins this, it'll be remarkable.  With the lengthy delay, he effectively started a semi final with a two set handicap playing for first to 6.

weirdbeard

Fuck me.  That 161 was stunning.

buntyman

Really exciting stuff there. Felt sorry for wade at the end, a complete collapse from him to let Lewis back in. I would imagine Lewis will go on to storm the final now. I hope not though, would be a shame for such an unpredictable tournament to end with an anticlimax.

Jamie Oliver is fat

Damn, seems like I should've stayed up for that Wade Lewis match. It had classic written all over it, just like the Part Wade match.

But I barely managed to stay up for the Whitlock Hamilton match.

Fair play to Hamilton, I really like Whitlock and thought it was his year, but Hamilton just never gives up.

I'm finding it difficult to watch this year though, the crowd are fucking abysmal. The booing of some of the players has been really bad, and there has been this really boorish undertone of a football crowd the whole tournament. Singing between themselves like they are opposing fans; "tables.....give us a song" "you're not singing anymore" etc

Really fucking tedious stuff that must infuriate actual darts fans who've gone to watch it. As usual, the BDO is the more attractive viewing in terms of crowd behaviour, but with players continually switching like Chisnall this year, the quality is surely going to be fucking pants outside of Hankey, Waites and Wolfie?

Glebe

I wish thet'd bring back the old days with heavily overweight men downing pints between throws. It's all y'new age cack these days, cuh.

thugler

Quote from: Jamie Oliver is fat on January 02, 2012, 09:35:45 AM
Damn, seems like I should've stayed up for that Wade Lewis match. It had classic written all over it, just like the Part Wade match.

But I barely managed to stay up for the Whitlock Hamilton match.

Fair play to Hamilton, I really like Whitlock and thought it was his year, but Hamilton just never gives up.

I'm finding it difficult to watch this year though, the crowd are fucking abysmal. The booing of some of the players has been really bad, and there has been this really boorish undertone of a football crowd the whole tournament. Singing between themselves like they are opposing fans; "tables.....give us a song" "you're not singing anymore" etc

Really fucking tedious stuff that must infuriate actual darts fans who've gone to watch it. As usual, the BDO is the more attractive viewing in terms of crowd behaviour, but with players continually switching like Chisnall this year, the quality is surely going to be fucking pants outside of Hankey, Waites and Wolfie?

I much prefer Darts with the football style atmosphere and singing etc. BDO is like watching a dimly lit grubby working mens club. If the players don't like it just wear ear plugs, it makes it almost theatrical and is great fun to attend. Don't see how it distracts from being able to watch the action at all.

My favourite moments are when the crowd massively take to a player for the slightest reason and start singing for them.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Lots of the BDO players have done pretty well over there so the argument about quality is slightly misrepresented. I watched a first round match between two dutch lads where they both averaged above 100 which I heard was pretty good.

I don't really give a fuck whether the other one exists. It's on Sky and I'd never watch a satellite channel to watch Darts in a million years. As far as I'm concerned the BBC one does the job for me in terms of slightly weird, tacky, oddly gripping fun.

rjd2

All the PDC players would give up their fortunes for the chance to captain their country.

rjd2

The incessant BDO bashing bores me, but bloody hell this does not help them.

Quote


Anastasia fells giant of darts Gulliver to reach final

Nine times world champion Trina Gulliver crashed out of the championship, whitewashed 2-0 by Russian Anastasia Dobromyslova in just 31 minutes.

In a repeat of the 2008 world final, the Somerset third seed failed for the first time to reach the final as the unseeded East European played mind games to topple the Golden Girl.

Arrogance and self confidence exuded from the Russian but Gulliver let her darts do the talking, as took the opening leg against the throw after Dobromyslova missed 10 doubles.

A maximum steered the Golden Girl to the next, the snarling black-shirted Russian taking the third on double 12 and in the fourth she set the pace, levelling the match on double 12 and turning to salute the crowd, the Somerset player bemused by her opponent's behaviour.

Dobromyslova, clearly slowing the game and playing the crowd, missed double 18 for a set-winning double 18 and a further three for the same double but it was catching - Gulliver missing bull for 81 to steal the set. The Russian made no mistake on her return to the oche, nailing double 18.

The unseeded player – who beat Gulliver in the 2008 world championship seemed to grow in confidence with her mind games over the tense nine times world champ, who fluffed darts for doubles in the opening leg of the second as the Russian exited on 56.

Gulliver was first to the double in the next leg but missed double five for 95, Dobromyslova missing bull for 121. The Golden Girl missed a further two chances as the underdog clinched her favourite double 12 to move within a leg of victory.

Again in the third, the player from Cheddar requiring 105 saw her form desert her as she hit 92, opening the door for Dobromyslova to move into her second final with a match-winning 50.

Both players failed to hit the 24 per dart average, illustrating the tension which had affected both competitors.


http://www.bdodarts.com/newsitem.aspx?summary=true&cid=1000&nid=1625


Ana tried her luck in the PDC and didn't do well, despite some initial success and came back to the BDO. Obviously not a popular decision.


Jamie Oliver is fat

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on January 10, 2012, 11:36:03 PM
I don't really give a fuck whether the other one exists. It's on Sky and I'd never watch a satellite channel to watch Darts in a million years. As far as I'm concerned the BBC........

....and ESPN

mikeyg27


biggytitbo

The quality in the PDC is head and shoulders above than BDO, just look at the averages. Despite existing for less time, there have been 58 plus 100 averages in a match against just 20 in the BDO.


Thr crowds are better in the BDO though, far less boorish arseholes.

Jamie Oliver is fat

Colin Murray makes the BDO unwatchable

I like his enthusiasm. He actually loves darts.

BlodwynPig

I liked the start of the show - very Retro

"Let's Play Darts"

followed by transmission failure and a very awkward apology and even a failure in the default BBC 2 logo with apologetic message. Like being back in 80s. I turned off once the darts came on.

Morrison Lard

Anyone else been following the Grand Slam this year?

Highlight so far has been Ted Hankey suffering from an eye infection[nb]pissed, and stumbling around the oche[/nb].

Put a bet on Van Gerwen in the group stages, to win the lot, so hopefully he'll batter Barneh.

Jamie Oliver is fat


thugler

Great to see Barney finally win something again, looked like it meant a lot to him. Hopefully this means he will be in good form for the worlds.