Double Topping out at the Lakeside...

So it's that time of year again, the post Christmas buy up of food and also something else which happens in January which I like as well. Its darts time! For man of seemingly good taste, that I love  
men and ladies chucking arrows at a board.  But it all stems from my childhood, from an earlier age seeing these people throwing darts both in tournaments and on Bullseye as well. 


From that love came something brilliant, my era has to be Bristow, Lowe, Wilson and Deller era plus 'Big Cliff' Lazerenko as well, they captured the spirit of sportsmen. Not the booze and cigarettes, which everyone focusses on especially in the Not The Nine O'Clock News sketch. To some which may have been taking the rise, but if Sid Waddell thought it was good for darts, then its good enough for me. 

"Triple Vodka... Double Pint..."

With Rowan Atkinson's Geordie tones, impersonating Sid Waddell. It captures the spirit of the age, but anything to capture the imagination was good. Need a darts player? Then get Bobby George to appear with Emu or Eric Bristow to advertise his darts game for Woolworths at Christmas, but the one to capture my mind was John Thomas Wilson. Better known as Jocky, his throwing style was like no other, he made the snatch one of his own but even with a throw like that could do some good things. World Champion in 1982 and 1990, he looked liked what I look like now. That maybe a good or bad thing, his roguish charm made for good television as well compared to Eric Bristow winning all the time. 

Sound? Might be not good, but captures the age of the arrows...

I can't claim to be a good player even now, but having various boards over the years it gives anyone the chance to play and a man in 1983 came along to shock the world having not been known to the public. Two words... Keith Deller... Keith came into the 1983 World Championship as a qualifier and on the way to the final he'd beaten John Lowe and then came Bristow, champion in 1980 and 1981 his opponent. Such was Bristow's performances, everyone thought it would be Eric's title again.. But...

Throwing the game away...

Deller beat Bristow, thus forging his place in the darts hall of fame... To my mind it was something brilliant, the underdog winning. Even to this day, Deller gets asked about his 138 finish to win the tournament. The boyish charm made him the housewives favourite, to every young boy at that time seeing someone young winning the championship, made everyone get dart boards. Wherever they could hang the board, they would..

But to conclude, it can be dangerous as well... To my cost as well, for reasons I cannot remember... I got a dart in the leg whilst playing, I think whilst throwing it must have bounced out and into my leg, so with some TCP and being patched up, it was alright in the end... It didn't put me off at all and to this day, it makes me wince, but never take a man away from his darts...


Finally, the best theme for sport anywhere and for darts fans the one theme...