Gratuitous Darts Thread

Phil 'The power' Taylor for BBC Sports personality of the year ! (he plays in the rival tournament).

 

Maybe Dr. Stamen or one of our other Home Country posters can verify this. A friend of mine was in England about 10-15 years back, and he swears he was watching a darts championship on TV (which I have done too, thanks to a combination of Fox Sports World and insomnia), and as the champion threw the winning dart, the commentator said, "Alexander the Great conquered all the known world at 32...(dramatic pause)... Phil the Power Taylor is 26!"

Okay, it might not have been Phil Taylor, but if it wasn't, did anyone else catch this masterpiece of commentator hyperbole, and if so, who was in fact the winner whose darts accomplishment put Alexander the Great's military and political achievements in perspective?

 

It probably is true, as darts commentators are like that. There is one bloke who is a Geordie, and sounds like he should be commentating on Rugby League who particularly excitable, and it was probably him who said that.

Phil Taylor has won the other version of the world championships (considered the harder to win) 10 times in a row. As far as I know Alexander the Great hasn't won anything at darts .

 

I almost typed, "yeah, but has Phil the Power Taylor ever sacked a country..." and then I thought, well, he has a few pretty insane followers...

Dart commentators are hilarious. Most Yanks on bigsoccer seem to prefer the understated commentary of British soccer announcers to the wired excitement of a Jack Edwards, but those Darts commentators make Edwards sound like a funeral director.

 

I don't like darts that much at all, but I give respect to Taylor as I'm hopeless at it. I want him to win BBC sports personality of the Year mainly due to the fact that he, as is the case with most darts players, is overweight and really unathletic. It would be so funny to see him win ahead of Paula Radcliffe (who'll win anyway), Dwain Chambers and all these really fit people.

He's definately the best darts player in the world anyway.

 

Whatever happened to Bobby George? I saw him in the Darts championship about 8 years ago, he was very funny

 

He may very well be, but I can't see the public voting for a convicted rapist (ok libel alert - It was something untoward with a female) above nodding dog Paula Radcliffe.

Plus he comes from Stoke - where I unfortunately had to live for a few years - quite possibly the one place I would wipe of the face of the earth if I had 1 H-bomb.

 

He's still pissing around.

I think he's still entering the World championships, has done relatively recently anyway. Usually gets knocked out towards the beginning - well what do you expect when you come out dressed like a combination of Mr T and Liberace?

 

The legendary commentator whose name seems to be eluding people is ....(fanfare).... SID WADDELL!

Fantastic commentator with a real passion for the sports of the common man.
Plus he was no slouch at school, getting a first from Cambridge.

Sample quotes:

"this is the greatest comeback since Lazarus"

"under that heart of stone pulse muscles of pure flint"

"John Lowe is striding out like Alexander the Great conquering the Persians" (here's the Alexander the Great reference though there are variations on this)

Apparently also quoted as saying;
"it couldn't get any more exciting in here if Elvis walked in with a bag of chips"

"There's only one word for that - magic darts!"

"Keith Deller's (80's player) not just an underdog, he's an underpuppy!"

"He's sweating like a donkey in a sauna"

"Taylor at the oche - eyes bulging ike a hungry chaffinch"

"He looks as happy as a penguin in a microwave"

and one for the more classically minded of you -
"he's a true tungsten terpsichorialist"

"If Mel Gibson could throw arrows like this, there's no way he'd be a thespian"

"This game of darts is twisting like a rattlesnake with a hernia"

"He's about as predictable as a wasp on speed"

And many more....

 

Phil Taylor



Can't find a picture of Sid Waddell.

 

Can't do the singe picture thing as that requires some mastery of this computer thingy but here's a link to some darts quotes involving the great and the good of minor Brit celebrity of years past - plus Sid's picture is half way down.

http://www.johnlowe.dartzshop.com/famous_quotes_from_famous_people.htm

 

No mention of Jim Bowen or Bullseye yet. Hmmmmmm.

 

Maczebus, Thanks!

Now, was it in fact Phil "The Power" Taylor that won the championship that my friend remembers watching?

And for Americans with Fox Sports World, next time they show darts (usually in the middle of the night) set your VCRs or TIVO.

Finally, American soccer fans, reread those quotes Maczebus posted, and try to imagine Jack Edwards saying them. Pretty easy, isn't it.

 

That seems to have been before he built up his abs. One pint at a time.

 

To be honest that's not a question I can answer.
I've only really been into darts for the last few years or so and certainly don't have 10-15 years experience under my belt.

The Alexander the Great quote, may or may not have been used in regard to Mr Taylor. Mainly because I've looked it up and it's also been attributed by various sources, to fellow players, John Lowe and Eric Bristow. I think the only way to get a definitive answer is to contact Sid himself - and if I could do that, I wouldn't be speaking to the likes of you lot

BTW, I can't play the game, at all. Infact I'm a liability. But I got caught on the sheer tension at the World Championships in Essex every year. Interaction of the fans is key. Absolutely magical.
Plus the sartorial elegance of the players and fans has to be seen to be believed.

 

There's two organisations, one of which is the World Darts Council (or something like that), which is on BBC in Britain, and the breakaway Professional Darts Council (or something like that), which is on Sky TV. Phil plays in the PDC, which I think is considered the tougher group.

The split came down to the top players falling out with the husband and wife team that started and ran the world championships, and other tournaments. There was a BBC programme on this a few years ago, which was an episode of the Blood on the carpet series.

 

I knew about the split from a few years ago, but not sure whether you're right about the PDC being of a higher quality than the other.
The thing is, I'm not saying you're wrong, mainly because I've never watched the PDC. Just through sheer logic I would have put the WDC as tougher due to the fact that it hasn't been dominated by the same player for the past decade.
But didn't know why the players split - so thanks for that.
I also think that this sort of thing could be happening to snooker in the near future, but recently Hendry and Davis have had their proposals turned down.

 

I'm no expert on darts at all, I can remember someone who is saying the PDC was tougher on radio or something. So I was just basically repesting his opinion. I think when the split was made, a lot of the top players at that time did join the rebels.

The programme on the whole issue was very interesting, as was the episode about Mathew Bannister, Radio 1 and Chris Evans.

 

You're right - I vaguely remember watching that programme. Didn't Bristow and Lowe et al. (ie akin to Liverpool, Man U and Arsenal taking their ball home) decide they'd had enough sometime in the early 90's?

edit - apparently this is what happened. Not the most unbiassed piece of writing but it does appear he had some grievance to bear.

http://cameltec.com/49/ice/split.htm