LETS WATCH DARTS!!!!

count me and meg in definately

here is the PDC ticket info:
http://www.planetdarts.co.uk/article.asp?id=154883&Nv=2

how does one get to purfleet then?

So Dave if we hire a car are you driving us?

Dave Board was into Darts too. He was into them. Or they were into him. Sometimes his darts were into other people. But that wasn't the darts' fault. It wasn't the Darts' fault either. It was Dave's fault. Dave wiped a warm tear from his cheek. He knew it was his fault. But he just couldn't stop hurting people. The thing was - he just didn't want to. He just didn't want to.

We have to book tickets by the 6th Sept, what day are we going?

What IS it with darts crowds and their attire? Are they drunk all the time?

dems da rulez. breathtest before you enter the lakeside:

"i'm sorry sir, but you're under the limit..."

Is Ted Hankey in The Sopranos?

tony would never comb over.

TS:
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00415/SNF08ANDY_180_415535a.jpg vs. http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00415/SNF08ANDY1_180_415536a.jpg

Neither. Left is unhealthy, but right is just looking sick. Somewhere in the middle, I guess.

i thought this was the thread i wrote this on, but -- two nights ago, ted hankey hit the bull to win a.. (leg?) and opened the next set with a 180

and i cried!

What about this Thornton-Adams match, eh? Phoar!

I wish they'd stop showing Adams' wife every 2 seconds though.

Oh, and that's it, he's through, but only just.

So then, Anastasia Dobromyslova, eh?

eastern bloc chin :(

She takes the stage to "Bring Me To Life". This is about as close as darts and emo will ever get.

Tony Green's analysis of Webster vs. Fitton:

"We've just seen some games. We've seen some games of darts through the years... but that was some game."

Don't tell me no-one's watching this?

It's looking bloody good thus far, and a very close call. Missed the first three sets - all Webster - Whitlock's been excellent the past couple sets, though, and I do believe the interval's after this set.

Whitlock is 1-0 up in the third. Seven legs on the spin. Game on.

They both look so young and skinny!

Studenty type vs. Norwegian black metal: fite!

Webster 4-2 up - I fancy him for this. Whitlock throws well, but Webster's a more consistent player. Came back from two legs down, made finishes when he really needed them.

The standard is much higher than last year's final, btw. Both players probably still averaging in the 90s, which is better than any final for a fair old while...

Anastasia Dobromyslova seen wearing black hoodie, cannot confirm if Bullet For My Valentine logo was on the front.

What in the name of hell is this montage? Bobby George is not wearing the kind of shirt that should be worn by a man who is sitting down.

Co Stompe's favourite checkout is, er, his own.

This montage is actually worse, though. I have a horrible feeling someone has commissioned some people who aren't Chas and Dave to do a theme song.

This is really, really appalling. I am not sure what the Black & White Minstrel show sounded like, but I imagine it may have been something like that.

And ANOTHER Bobby George special - is he the only legend who's still alive/on speaking terms with the BBC?

I'm going to grow my hair like Whitlock.

From the Beeb's board:

These are my 2 favourite Tony Green quotes of this year's Lakeside:

'He's a shedmaker...he makes sheds.'

'Simon Whitlock's favourite drink is apple juice.'

4-3 now. Not amazing darts from the two that set, both kind of edgy after the interval, but Whitlock's finishing got him over the line. Webster blowing three darts at double ten may have helped.

Chelsea pensioners there. Tony Green: "Well done lads, we're all proud of yer. They're well aware of the darts."

"There he is, the man that started it all, Ollie Croft OBE - still awake!"

Bobby just let out a "Yessss..." that has left me feeling like I'm covered in a thin layer of silt.

4-0 it was, though Norris really picked it up towards the end - Waites might not be a bad bet for the overall title, actually, but this draw is still rather open. Also, for the first time possibly ever, Gary Anderson is actually playing like a man in form - it's meant to have been his year for the title for about five or six years now, he might even do it this time.

I'm sorry I missed that. Most excruciating bit of co-commentary I ever saw was Craig Brown one Sunday on Football Italia. He happened to be in the middle of some boring anecdote when Lazio (or whoever) scored quite unexpectedly. Brown just went for it: 'WHAT! A! GOAL! *slurp* IT'S A WUNNN-DER-FUL GOAL BY ROBERRR- TO MANCINI!'. Peter Brackley never got a look in. It had been excised entirely by the highlights reel at the end

I fell asleep straight after the Whitlock v Fitton match (no reflection on the darts, more on my inability to sleep at nights catching up with me). Swygart OTM about the commentators though, the Sky guys offer insight and analysis along with the humour, the BBC guys go for weak Waddellisms and stating-the-fucking-obvious.

I am considering going to a Premier League darts match this year for beer and giggles, if I can raise some interested peeps to come with me.

waddell is v.annoying and I can't listen to him for more than one sentence

the bbc guys are pretty inane but they sometimes come out with inadvertantly funny stuff + lots of funny cliches/malapropisms

but this is much of a muchness I just love the bdo 4eva : P

That Anderson-O'Shea match was total rubbish. Hoping for better here - Fitton was excellent the other night.

Keep on hoping, this is looking like quite the stinker...

should probably have kept watching that one, by the sounds of it

what was anderson up to? hopeless

beaten by a mediocre o'shea ow ow ow

probably one of the worst perfs by a top ranked player I've ever seen; certainly the most infuriating

why did the commentators keep saying anderson was still in w/a chance? were they only watching the stats and not the darts?

Possibly cos O'Shea wasn't really playing that brilliantly either - Anderson did come back from 4-1 to 4-3. However, his first three darts after that went haywire, and his confidence went with them. He really does seem to have a massive block when it comes to playing in front of the cameras.

he didn't really play any darts at all until the last two legs to take it to 4-3 and even then it was only something like a 61 and an 80 checkout which is a testament to the low quality of his game

heard he threw his darts into the lake afterwards loooooooooool

or maybe he just... tried to

amirite

Yeah, Anderson seems to feel the need to acknowledge the cameras all the time, shaking his head and looking sad after every wayward dart. Just concentrate on throwing the damn things, man! Late on, he was trying to check out 80 with two darts, went for double top with the first, no-scored - but then went for the double again with the last dart anyway. I think he actually won that leg, but he should've been disqualified for that alone in my view

If double top is his favourite double and he has 80 left with one dart in his hand then going for the double again is the only way he gets on his favourite double. Sure going for two double tops in the first place is a bit showy but isn't that what people want?

Flashy's good, but in this context it was bloody hopeless - he was basically throwing in the towel, shaking his head and just getting rid of the dart. O'Shea needed 16 or something like that and Anderson wasn't even going through the motions of putting pressure on. That O'Shea then missed the 16 and Anderson won the leg anyway summed up what kind of match it was

Managed to not watch any of today's action, but: Yay Francisca Hoenselaar!

Met my parents for a coffee this afternoon, with O'Shea-Fitton showing over my mum's shoulder. Not sure she was impressed with my lack of attentiveness. Hankey-Adams was pretty good too this evening

Ted Chokey

Ah well. He did his best to not win. I think he missed something like 8 darts to win it before he crawled over the line. He manage to fit two 180s into a leg and still lose it at one point.

ah, that was great

Fat man cries tears of joy!

If you put Ted Hankey in a linen suit, he'd look just like Roger Mellie.

Or Nicholas Soames.

Phil Taylor = still awesome.

I love darts.

WTF was I on earlier in this thread, supporting The World's Biggest Twat James Wade?

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jan/12/melbourne-has-second-thoughts-on-darts-championships-after-mini-riot

"The incident reportedly began when some in the crowd started trying to build a pyramid of plastic furniture. Witnesses said people were then body-slammed into tables and groups of attendees brawled with each other."

Know I'm late etc etc but Van Gerwen has been sublime...been watching him for the last couple of months and the checkouts are a thing of wonder.

The guy can't lose. The WC will be fascinating.

Let's smell darts.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/nov/17/stink-hits-darts-grand-slam-as-match-features-flatulent-end?CMP=twt_gu&__twitter_impression=true&__twitter_impression=true

This Littler lad, never seen anything like it. Racking my brain to think of a similar sporting breakthrough and coming up short.

Yeah he's quite something.

You usually see it in women's tennis where the odd teen wins a slam. Hingis comes to mind.

Closer to darts Ronnie had his breakthrough in the UK championship at 17/18, but did take a few more years to win that world title.

But it's all I can think of.

xp Boris Becker in 1985 is closest I can think of.

I guess...Emma Raducanu? Sweeping through the US Open in 2021, including qualifying, never dropped a set. Ranked 338 two months earlier, doing her A-levels. She'd been a good junior, but not world-beating. Don't know much about Littler - he's been playing on the "Development Tour", which I guess would be something like ITF third-tier tennis, or juniors? But not necessarily someone expected to be able to compete at this level yet (mid-90s avgs, and now he's throwing 106?)

I said Emma Raducanu earlier when we were discussing it, but I'm not even sure that comes close. It's just outstanding to keep this up and keep his nerve at this level against multiple former world champions.

Simone Biles? She won gold in All Around (and FE) at age 16 in her very first Worlds debut a few months after almost quitting the sport due to confidence issues. Caveat is that gymnastics (esp. womens) skews towards younger athletes. That said, she was dominant for another decade after and arguably the greatest gymnast ever.

This is a list where lots of individual athletes are mention. I wouldn't count Pele, as great as he was. Dynamics in team sport and all that.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/jan/03/how-does-luke-littler-rank-among-other-teen-sporting-sensations

It's slightly strange to see this debate. Don't think Raducanu had us all wondering about teen prodigies. It was incredible that she was a qualifier but she beat Leylah Fernandez, who was on her first slam appearance.

Maybe it's because Littler is so much younger. The average winner for a darts world title is late 30s.

Also where can I watch this illegally?

Can't watch it but 2-2. Looks like it's already Littler's toughest test.

It's a bit like dancing on the radio but it's on TalkSport.

LETS LISTEN TO DARTS!!!!

Pretty insane

humphries really got on a roll after littler missed that double 2 to go up 5-2

Lost in the end, but what a player. Littler will surely go on.

He'll be up against Humphries, who is only 28, for a long time to come though. That guy is great.

coming back from 4-2 down to win 4-7, bloody hell like.

Saw an item where his birth cert was released to prove he isn't 30