Friday 13 April 2012

Lets..Play..DAAAARTS!




It feels as though somebody has scooped my brain out of my head with a rusty spoon, replaced it with a big iron bell then then started hammering on it while dressed in a suit of armour and bouncing around inside my skull.  Yes, I have a hangover.
The reason for this delicate condition is that I went to Sheffield yesterday with a bunch of lads from work to watch Premier League Darts at the Motorpoint Arena.

I've always had a soft spot for darts, a sport which involves overweight men standing still and used to involve a lot of drinking and smoking while they were playing.  It's cleaned its image up a bit since the old days and there is a lot more money involved however it is still struggling to be recognised as a genuine sport rather than just a pub game.
If archery and target shooting can be Olympic sports then there is no reason darts can't be recognised as one as well other than it's disreputable, working class image.

Anyway enough class warfare, we had a brilliant day.  We went around a few bars in Sheffield city centre during the afternoon then caught a tram to the arena. The matches were being televised live on Sky Sports and I'd never been to one of their events before and I have to say it was noisy and over the top with booming music and lasers everywhere.

The crowd were in good form, singing, shouting and wearing daft costumes.  We were wearing the loudest shirts we could get our hands on and were sitting near Spiderman, The Mask and a group of lads dressed as U.S sailors.. Every time an ad break came on everybody jumped up and pumped their arms in the air and sang along with the theme music until our throats were hoarse.

The biggest game of the night was Phil 'The Power' Taylor vs Raymond Van Barneveld, both darting giants. The huge screens showed the intro for Taylor with dazzling fast cuts and close ups of his eyes and booming music, it was like a trailer for a big budget action movie. Then a stunning blonde model with more leg length than was feasible led him onto the stage.

Now Taylor is a dumpy little middle-aged bloke who looks as though he has just come to read the gas meter but his formidable reputation and the big build up had the crowd jumping.
And he didn't disappoint. Van Barneveld is the second best darts player in the world but was bulldozed by Taylor, eventually losing eight legs to three.

He is awesome to watch, there is no doubt in his eyes when he stands at the oche and he has remained consistently brilliant for years, winning the world Championship fourteen times. Achievement on this scale should be recognised more in the sporting world but never mind, we loved it.

Afterwards we met up with a few other people from work that had come down for the event and went back into Sheffield city centre for more drinking and dancing before ending up in a fast food shop on West Street at 01:30 am eating greasy pizza then crashing out at the hotel.

Great night but I'm paying for it now.  My eyeballs are throbbing and even my hair hurts.

23 comments:

Outcast said...

I'm glad to hear you had so much fun buddy. Darts is a really great sport and Sky do an amazing job with the coverage, I can't believe Barnevald was bulldozed by Taylor like he was though, I'm a huge fan of Raymond.

MRanthrope said...

I suck royal ass at darts but it's still fun to play. You're damn right about it joining the Olympics! I'd watch that event....but the athletes would have to be wasted.

Sub Radar (Mike) said...

It's been awhile since I've played darts... it's all too clear, too, as I remember being absolute rubbish at them. Then again, that might have something to do with the fact that you are free to drink as much as you want while you're playing.

The Angry Lurker said...

I like Darts and how it's evolved from the days of Jockey Wilson and Keith Deller, sounded like a good time!

Workingdan said...

I love darts. However, I just can't play it sober for some odd reason. What's even more odd is that the more drunk I am, the better I play! How do you explain that?

Amy said...

It sounds like quite an event over there. Here, darts usually entails some rinky-dink bar with bad country music (all country music is bad) and hicks with too much butt cleavage showing sitting on the bar stools, beer guts abound! Sorry the headache caught up with you, perhaps if you were wearing your bifocals the world might look a nicer shade.

Janie Junebug said...

Take Tylenol and drink lots of water.

Love,
Janie

Pat Hatt said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful time, been a while since I played darts too. Always have had pretty good aim, except when I'm drunk then people should get far away..haha...hate hangovers.

Amy said...

I was listening to the Bouncing Souls after reading your blog and this song reminded me of your night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcXouGX5tzc
Also, LOVE the popcorn shirt!

Jax said...

Um, darts? No...unless you want little holes in your wall!! hahaha

Try taking a nice epson salt bath and bathing out. Make you feel better after dart over load. lol

SkippyMom said...

Sounds like the most awesome night [sans the drinking part, sorry you are suffering. :(] I love darts and we have the most beautiful regulation horse hair board that has been in our family forever.

I am so happy the kids are older now tho' because there aren't so many holes "down low" on the walls.

Thanks for the recap of the competition. I bet that was a hoot to watch.

Feel better soon and if nothing is helping I guess you could try "hair of the dog"?

Good luck my friend.

Baiba said...

sounds fun! I've only played darts once in my life - totally sucked at it! ;D so I stopped.

Beau Thompson said...

Read rusty spoon, thought Salad Fingers, and you lost me for the rest of the post.

dirtycowgirl said...

In all my life I have only ever won one sport trophy.
And that was for playing darts.

So I agree, it deserves more recognition as a sport rather then a game.

Al Penwasser said...

You forgot to mention synchronized swimming and that dumbass "sport" with the dancing and the ribbons. If THEY can be Olympic sports, why not darts?
And I love how they're rocking those "Eye Chart" shirts.

Bart said...

hahah! that a boy, get em in ya.

Young at Heart said...

ooh sounds painfull.....but a small price for a top night out though!!

Nicki Elson said...

Aww, hope that hangover has worn off by now. I haven't had a hangover since 2009. Sounds like yours was worth it though.

Anonymous said...

Well, you've all got devil eyes, but that first graf is the best description of a hangover I've ever read. But of course, now you've got to suck it up and walk it off

Powdered Toast Man said...

They should make a movie about darts, they made one about dodgeball.

Heaven. said...

Sounds fun :)

Anonymous said...

I recently wanted to play darts but Phil says that due to my poor eye sight I would impale someone so I had to leave it to the big dogs. Sigh. I just can't have any fun anymore! haha

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