2008 Long Island Fall Classic Report

I'm just back from the Long Island Fall Classic and I had a fun time this weekend. My dart weekend started Saturday morning, when I arrived at the tournament just in time for the men's pairs cricket. I immediately ran into a lot of my old Corner Bar teammates, including Tom Waterman, Dave and Michele Hascup, and John Daddio. Within fifteen minutes I was set up with partners for the men's pairs cricket, mixed triples and the Sunday mixed doubles event with some Long Island dart players. I didn't realize I was that popular!

As the event started I was going to score for my friend Tom Waterman and his doubles partner Tom Sawyer from Massachutses. If you've read the blog through the Corner Bar days, you know that the Corner Bar team mates like to kid around alot. Unfortunately for them I saw Michele Hascup and Nicole scanning the crowd for a scorekeeper for a ladies match. I turned to both Toms and said, "Sorry but they look a lot better than you two."

"So that's how its going to be!" said Sawyer, with both of the men shaking their heads as I walked away to score the ladies match. Not to worry though. I saw that the men had won their match and needed a scorekeeper for the next round.

"Now that I've had a beer you look a little better," I told them as I took the chalk.

Unfortunately I was cold in my men's pairs cricket. My poor partner was Joe from Long Island, who was a good shot but who also struggled. If memory serves we were out in two rounds. The trend continued in the first singles event, where I did not start improving until it was a bit too late in the deciding leg.

Gail Payne and Tom Waterman were my partners in the next event (mixed triples 601). I started off solid, improving on my scores as we defeated two teams. However a hitch developed where I was unconsciously standing up a bit with my forward leg as I threw the dart. It was wreaking havoc with my scoring until Gail pointed it out and I was able to correct it in time to hit a clutch double in the second round. Thanks for diagnosing the problem Dr. Gail! We were knocked out in the third round by a team including my new friend Dennis from New York, who like myself loves both darts and fishing. We struggled a bit with the trips and they played a bit more solidly than we that round.

The gradual improvement continued into the blind draw, where I hit some nice shots to get us through two rounds before eventually dropping out when the triples deserted us. To sum up the first day, my overall performance was below par but I felt good that I was able to improve steadily after a poor first event, and successfully correct a technical problem in mid-event. The confidence is still there, even though the competition skills are rusty.

The early event the second day was mixed doubles 501 and my partner was Debbie from Long Island. I was up early practicing to make sure that I was not standing up with that front leg when I threw. The result was more steady improvement that was good enough to get us through to the third round before eventually bowing out when we had a few unlucky shots. Good shooting Debbie!

Laurett Meddis got me another good Long Island player for my last event, which was men's pairs 501. Bob was ready when we started our first round and we scored well enough to get us to the double first in each leg. What I really liked was that we hit the double on the first dart each time. We were hotter in the second round match, hitting some tons and I also contributed a 140 on the way to another victory.

The real challenge came in the quarterfinal match, where we faced Tim O'Gorman and Jim Widmayer. Tim and Jim are leaving for England on Tuesday to represent the U.S. in the Winmau World Masters, and their form reflected it with steady 100 or 100+ scores and quick outs. Bob and I were feeling tired by that point and the triples that were coming so easily the previous round were no longer there for us, resulting in a sweep. We were a bit consoled that a top 8 finish entitled us to a little money back on the event. Good luck to Tim and Jim at the World Masters. If they continue in the form that I saw they should do well.

I spent a lot of time visiting with both old friends and new. I was able to catch up a bit with Skip from South Jersey, Fred Krueger, Laurett, Buddy, my old Corner Bar team mates, and some friends from the Elizabeth league. Darin Young competed in the tournament, and he was in good form following his return from England with victories over Terry Jenkins and Colin Lloyd. I look forward to seeing them all again in Philly in January.

I also learned a lot about my game. While there are some darters that can not compete for a good while and then jump right back in and do well, that's not me! It took several matches before I started feeling comfortable on the oche. I also tired after a few hours and my game suffered for it. No doubt, I will need to do some regular competing to improve. For me it seems kind of like training for running. If you don't get out, train, and compete you cannot expect to do well. With two big tournaments coming up in January I will be able to work on that. Until next time, good darts!