12/21/24
January 07, 2008
Flights of Fancy:: "In pursuit of a childhood dream, one man packed in his job to see if he could make it as a professional sportsman. Well, darts player, anyway. After a year at the oche, he tells his humbling story of growing obsession, drinking Guiness before 10am, and learning some hard lessons." What? No "darts" category? Gosh.
I remember the story a year ago of this bloke chucking it all in to become a darts pro. I never thought he stood an earthly, but that was an excellent read. Thanks!
posted by salmacis at 07:15 AM on January 07, 2008
Good story. Darts is a great game, and I have a regular board and an electronic one in my basement. One Sunday (the day of the Patriots blowout of the Bills on Sunday night football), me and my buddies played (and drank) for nine straight hours. Excellent day. The next day, our arms were lame and sore. The only bar-pub game that can come close to darts is table hockey.
posted by dyams at 09:02 AM on January 07, 2008
My efforts at playing darts closely resemble the match between Gene Wilder (Dr. Frankenstein) and Kenneth Mars (Inspector Kemp) in Young Frankenstein. With that, I truly enjoyed the story of how one man faced his obsession and came to terms with it. If Mr. Irwin's book sells well, he can never say he didn't make money from darts.
posted by Howard_T at 11:06 AM on January 07, 2008
There's a lot to like in the essay. My favorite bit: "If ever there was a situation where taking part mattered to me more than winning, this was it." I include myself in the very large number of people who apply that lesson to sport and life both. Almost the most impressive thing about his story is that it broke in the media and he weathered the storm. The fact that he came out of it unresentful and, apparently, pretty happy says a lot about him.
posted by Uncle Toby at 02:26 PM on January 08, 2008
That was a good read! Nice one Rumple.