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!

Time For Fun at the Long Island Classic

I reached my goal of writing 50,000 words in the month of November for National Novel Writing month, so I am going to the Long Island Fall Classic this weekend. This is the last big one of the year for New Jersey area dart players and I do not want to miss it.

The tournament is open to all, but for ADO members there is a Cricket Regional competition this Friday in the same location. I won't be able to make that one because I cannot get away until Saturday, but good luck to all of the competitors.

I will give the usual report on all of the dart-related activities upon returning. Everyone have a nice Thanksgiving!

Darts Good for your Brain?

I suppose when you start getting over 40 years old it's time to start paying extra attention to all that stuff about living healthy, so that's how I found myself coming across an article on how to keep your memory sharp. Apparently ginkgo biloba is not the answer. One of the recommendations is to do math in your head instead of doing it on a calculator, and what is steel tip darts but doing math without a calculator?

I wonder if this article will cause a backlash against electronic darts scoring machines? Imagine what the other guys will now claim. OUR dartboard with the chalkboard promotes healthy brains, while THEIRS with that fancy automatic scorer will turn them to MUSH! Perhaps a FDA-style warning should be put on electronic dart machines...something like "playing darts without manually calculating scores had been shown to cause memory loss in some dart players."

The problem is that a lot of dart players are taking one step forward while taking another back. You calcluate your score, and brain cells pop up and flex their muscles. Then you take a sip of alcohol and they die a horrible death. You calculate another score and....well you get the picture.

I can't wait to hear the excuses people will use to go play darts all the time..."But honey, I have to go practice my math or I'll start forgetting things, like taking out the trash, your birthday, our anniversary..." Somehow, I don't think that will fly.

Good darts until next time. I am working hard to finish 50,000 words on my novel before next Friday so I can go to the Long Island Fall Classic. If I remember that is...I suppose I better unplug my Dartmaster III!

Grand Slam of Darts

I've been following the Grand Slam of Darts on the PDC website and have noted some good performances by Pennsylvania star Darin Young. The format appears to be group round-robins with the top two from each of eight groups advancing to the top 16. Darin battled out of his group with wins over Colin Lloyd and Terry Jenkins. In his 5-4 win over Jenkins, Darin averaged a respectable 92.43 per round. In the top-16 Darin went down 10-4 to Raymond Van Barneveld, who was shooting well. Still, not a bad run for Darin.

A lot of the usual suspects are left in the top 8, including Taylor, Barneveld, and Terry Jenkins, Gary Anderson, Mervyn King, Mark Webster, and Darryl Fitton, along with Australian Simon Whitlock. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top.

Bullseye News

I subscribe to Bullseye News and enjoy reading some of the articles. In the September/October 2008 issue I saw a few things that caught my interest. First, Paul Seigel a/k/a Dartoid reviewed a book by author Keith Lee Morris called "The Dart League King." It looks like it might make a perfect holiday season gift for a dart player who likes to read (hint to Margaret).

Speaking of gifts for dart players, Bullseye News announced that it will have an official holiday gift guide for dart players. My readers know that this is a subject I enjoy, and I have done two dart gift guides on this blog. I'm always interested in new ideas and look forward to seeing what they come up with.

Finally, British ex-pat Steve Brown wrote a lengthy article on 501 outshots that is a good read. I have met and played Steve several times and we have had some good conversations about another common interest (fishing). I found myself nodding my head in agreement many times through the article. It's a great read for anyone who plays a lot of '01.

Back to writing on my own novel. I am over 20,000 words now, shooting for 50,000 by the end of the month.

Kevin's You Tube Dart Video Review

Every once in awhile I like to check out dart videos and it has been awhile since I last looked. Weird is definitely the theme for what I found on You Tube. I found one that had a funny sequence in the middle where one dart player is distracting another at the oche:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6shkR42E610

Although I don't really get the dog staking out his territory thing.

Next, rating high up in the history of bad ideas that won't work, we have water darts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksQ86XNwIA8

Next is one I don't quite get, kind of like James Bond plays darts or something:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSMEl9E6Cls

Not much of a video here, but hey, its a song about darts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e50EcdWJqL8

Now here is some dart players who know how to have fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjymW5spdqY

Let me know what you think, and pass on any more good ones!