January means one thing to me. The World Professional Darts Championship.
I love darts. Ever since I was about 12 and studying for exams. looking for any excuse to have a break from the books, I have become fascinated by people standing throwing arrows at the board for points and ultimately cash. I don't play - I just watch. Most people cannot really understand the allure - "it's not a sport", "it's a bunch of fat blokes drinking and smoking and chucking stuff at a board" being usual responses. But this is to take an overly simplistic view and ignores the skill and technique involved.
In days of yore, there was one World Championship, with the finals being played at the Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green. One championship, one champion, normally Eric Bristow in the days. when I first started watching. In the early 1990s, the darts world split into two, forming two separate codes, the British Darts Organization (BDO) and (eventually) the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Many high-profile names were involved in the formation of the PDC, including every former world champion who hadn't already retired. There are numerous places to go and find out more if you are interested. You'll find a lot of discussion about the various merits of both codes and a lot written about how the PDC has more strength and depth. I'm not particularly interested in that - I will say however that no player has won the PDC version of the W0rld Championship without having first won the BDO.
The Lakeside tournament is the one I am interested in. It's what I grew up with and as I don't have Sky, it's the one I can watch on TV. The tournament started last Saturday and has already thrown up more than its fair share of thrills and upset.
Why do I love darts? As I said, it isn't as if I play, so there must be something that attracted me all those years ago and that keeps me interested. Without a doubt I enjoy the sheer spectacle of it all. The way the crowd get pumped up, the way the players play up to the crowd, the daft nicknames. For all the macho posturing, it is actually quite camp. The walk ons have to be seen to be believed (current favourite has to be Martin "Wolfie" Adams who comes on to Hungry Like The Wolf by Duran Duran. Wonder if Simon Le Bon is proud? Someone is clearly missing a trick tho' - why has no-one chosen Darts of Pleasure by Franz Ferdinand) But it has to be more than that, otherwise I would be into WWF. For all its beer-swilling image (interestingly, at the BDO Championships, I don't think the players are allowed to drink alcohol on stage any more), it is a game of skill and accuracy and most players are pretty adept at quick mental arithmetic. I can appreciate this. A game can easily turn on a millimetre and there is something about the delicate thud as dart enters dartboard that is aurally pleasing. I would love to go to the Lakeside - a very good friend of mine used to go every year (before I knew her) and has great tales and memories of the place. There's always next year. For now, I'll just have to make do with the TV.
