Day 301 - Friday, October 28th, 2011

Firstly, Happy Birthday (sister) Olivia!

The day snailed by but along came the evening and time to visit The Ally Pally for the second night in a row, this time for TNDC 104, where no less than 11 athletes turned up to vie for the title and for precious TNDC World Championship and World Trophy points. In mid-December the Top 12 seeds will make it through to the final stages of the World Championships, with Seeds 13-16 entering the first round of the World Trophy. Trophies and prizes to the value of €300 will be competed for, thanks to generous sponsorship and the players paying a whopping supplement of €1 per week attended.

On the night, John "The Equaliser" Delaney garnered another title, whilst "English" Niall English (who isn't English) catapulted himself into the World Championship ranking positions. Action continued until after 1am, at which point a mouth-watering curried chips and quarter-pounder with cheese was summonsed from the Roma II chippy, before swiftly hailing a taxi.



Contentment : 16 / 25
Excitement :    3.5 / 10
Memorability : 4 / 15

Overall Score : 47% (71st out of 301)

  

Day 300 - Thursday, October 27th, 2011

300 days a-blogging! It feels like every one of those days, if truth be told - this blog is a slog!

This evening saw the staging of the 2011 Maples Pool Championship, and after a pre-event reception in Harry's On The Green, we ventured to The Ally Pally on Camden Street, which had been anointed as venue for this magnificent event. 8 athletes participated and after everyone played everyone else, it turned out that I had squeezed into the semi-final, where I disposed of young Ronan, before agonisingly losing out to Dr. Nick Watson in the Grand Final. I had won many frames by cheekily looking at my opponent whilst potting the black, and this was performed unsuccessfully in the final!

After introducing the athletes to the skilled art of darts, a few of us headed upstairs, complementarily, to the wonders of The Palace nightclub, where Jagerbombs, Supersplits and other delightful concoctions were enjoyed until the wee hours!

Contentment : 16 / 25
Excitement :    3.5 / 10
Memorability : 5 / 15

Overall Score : 49% (53rd out of 300)

Day 289 - Sunday, October 16th, 2011

Off it was to the INEC again after another splendiferous breakfast for The Big Event - the £35,000 PDC Players Championship. The board that I was marking had a vast range of players in terms of ability, from the nervous duo who produced a leg that was won in 47 darts (with 95 darts thrown in the leg, counting both players), to the sublime Gary Anderson who raced through his matches with high-scoring ease. Gary very kindly offered to buy me a drink (the ultimate honour from a Scotsman!) on more than one occasion but as I had driving duties later, I politely declined.

Once again, I was kindly invited to take to the stage to mark the semi-finals and final, where Justin Pipe pipped Gary to win the title and the £6,000 first prize, and it was a fantastic thrill as ever.

Matters concluded, it was time to make the 3 and a half hour journey back to The Lighthouse, reaching there on the stroke of midnight.

Contentment : 16 / 25
Excitement :    4 / 10
Memorability : 5.5 / 15

Overall Score : 51% (33rd out of 289)

Day 282 - Sunday, October 9th, 2011

A lazy day which got slightly more active when I drove out to the Citywest Convention Centre for the final of the World Darts Grand Prix, betwixt Phil "The Power" Taylor and Brendan "No Nickname" Dolan, the latter of whom was the first Irishman to have achieved a place in the final. Although he didn't triumph, losing by 6 sets to 3, he did pick up a cheque for £45,000 - not a bad week's work! The atmosphere was good at the start, even though the crowd size was disappointing, numbering about 500.

Contentment : 14 / 25
Excitement :    3 / 10
Memorability : 4.5 / 15

Overall Score : 43% (104th out of 282)

Day 278 - Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

Time for the first trip of the week to the World Grand Prix at Citywest, where delightfully I was on the guestlist thanks to my travelling officialdom over the past couple of years. Accompanying me this evening were brother Austin amd Mark "The Spark" Delaney, who joined me on the Luas at St. James' and Belgard tram stops respectively. With time to spare upon arrival, we moseyed up to the Players Lounge where the sole remaining Irish representative in the competition Brendan Dolan was in the process of getting his game face on, through the gentle gradual sipping of bottles of finest American rice-juice. (that would be Budweiser)

We then headed down to the auditorium itself, where the audience numbered about 400 and enjoyed a quartet of matches, the highlight of which was Brendan's 3-1 win over former World Champion John Part, putting him into the quarter-finals and guaranteeing him £10,000. Nice work!

Despite the action not finising until 11.40pm, there were still LUASes running back into town, so we hopped on one and disembarked at various points, me going to the complete other end of the line, bar one station. Handy out!

Contentment : 16 / 25
Excitement :    3.5 / 10
Memorability : 4.5 / 15

Overall Score : 48% (48th out of 278)

Day 275 - Sunday, October 2nd, 2011

Another record was broken today, travelling from Lighthouse pillar to PDC tournament post in a record time of 21 minutes thanks to Al The Almera, the Dublin Port Tunnel and the M50. The stars of today's board were Wes Newton, strolling to comfortable wins over Michael van Gerwen (6-1), Roland Scholten (6-3) and Andy Simth (6-2) with phenomenal scoring, and Roland, who edged out Andy Hamilton (6-5) and comfortably accounted for Stephanie Luck (6-0) before losing to Wes. In the first game of the day, MVG beat Kirk Shepherd 6-4 in a game that was even closer than the score suggests.

There was delight for Chizzy Rascal, who was well rewarded for his travels by marking Barney's 9-darter against Phil Taylor - he'll get the signed dart-board for that. Today's winner was Justin "Speedy" Pipe, whose advancement through the ranks continues in leaps and bounds. People focus on his pace, but it is his scoring and finishing which is doing all the talking. The Top 16 beckons for him next year, without doubt.

Afterwards, I brought Scott (Gibling) and Andrew (Davis) into town for a guided pub tour. After callously dumping off Al The Almera, the first port-of-call was the ship-turned-pub the Cill Airne (Irish for Killarney, fact-fans). After a brace of finest ales there, we perambulated leisurely along the Liffey down to the Oktoberfest, which bizarrely was shutting down already, at 8pm. Far from crushed with disappointment, we hopped on a LUAS and took an ale at TP Smith's before corssing the river into Temple Bar and Fitzsimons' pub, which was very busy for a Sunday night. Next liquid port of call was The Foggy Dew, where a rather good SKA band were playing, before a final brew at Pravda before calling in to Supermac's for a Smokey Bacon Burger and curried chipped potatoes.

Contentment : 17 / 25
Excitement :    3 / 10
Memorability : 4.5 / 15

Overall Score : 49% (41st out of 275)

Day 274 - Saturday, October 1st, 2011

An early start to the day and at 9.30 I walked for 7 minutes to Spencer Dock LUAS stop and boarded the tram to Saggart, and an hour later had reached a Darts Players Championship venue in the quickest time ever on public transport - huzzah! Along the wa I was joined by my good friends Johnny Delaney (an avid darts fan and up-and-coming player) and Mike "Chizzy" Chisnall, who became only the 2nd person to "do a Damo" and travel across the pond to mark a PC event - fair play to ya Chizzy!

It was good to be inside in the Citywest, particularly as the weather outside was apocalyptic, with the nearby golf greens and bunkers resembling duck ponds. Myself, Chizzy and 10 other volunteer markers headed to the boards at 12 noon upon Baron Thomas Cox's beckoning, and the action was underway. In my first round matches, Darren Johnson fought off a spirited challenge from Reece Robinson to win 6-4. A top bloke is Darren, taking the time to compliment my marking and offer a pint. Reece was once again graceful in defeat, and I hope his record of Won 1 Lost 3 on my boards soon improves. Next up was a full-of-chat Peter Manley against Ali Powell, who joined the world-famous No-Mr.-Shakey-Hands Club after his 6-3 defeat, although most local players don't seem to know to observe the practice.

Next up, Mark Webster was in high-scoring form in his 6-1 win over Darren, whilst the years were rolled back with the clash between Terry Jenkins and Peter Manley, and a very tight contest it was, resulting in Terry winning in the deciding leg. Before the contest began, Terry chortled : "We've got Paul Nicholson marking for us!" He wouldn't be the first to say this, but it's AOK, as The Asset is a good-looking bloke!

In the Board Final, Mark beat Terry 6-3 and had many missed double chances in his 6-4 defeat to Michael van Gerwen. Match of the day for me was MVG's 6-5 win over Gary Anderson, which had it all - phenomenal scoring, finishing and excitement. My marking duties now done, it was time to sit back, relax and enjoy many pints of Heineken (even if they were €4.95, which had Kirk Shepherd absolutely fuming). Phil was back in imperious form as he claimed the title with a 6-3 win over MVG.

We stayed on to watch some of the youth games, the highlight of which was MVG's narrow 3-2 win over Paddy Meaney, where Paddy had a couple of darts to win the match and stake a serious claim for a spot in the World Youth Championships next month.

Time to hit the town, so Coynedexter, Chizzy, JD and I summonsed an 8-20-20-20 taxi which arrived in no time, and whisked us to the city centre for a mere €22 in total, including their fantastic 20% discount. We headed to the magnificent Bliss restaurant, who were still offering their 2-course-meal with tea or coffee for just €9.99. For me, their divine soup and brown-bread followed by Chicken Piri-Piri, washed down with half-a-bottle of Tempranillo. Chizzy, a hungry lad, went for 2 starters and 2 main courses and polished them off with ease, although shamefully he left a grain of rice behind on his Malaysian chicken dish, as the photographic evidence below clearly shows.

Off to what we in Ireland call The Ally Pally - The Palace in Camden Street, which is one of the rare establishments in the city centre that houses a dartboard. Coynedexter and Chizzy were introduced to the staple game delights of Thursday Night Darts Club (TNDC), such as Lives, Reverse Lives, Highest Score Out, Lowest Score Out, and such-and-such, all over several delicious pints of the finest Guinness, retailing at €4 a pint. Dave emerged as champion but JD was a respectable 2nd, Chizzy a distant 3rd and me 4th. :-)

The time is 12.30am now, so time to show the tourists (shamefully it was Dave's first night out in Dublin as well as Chizzy) some more of the Fair City's nightlife. Across the road then, to Flannery's, both of whose floors were heaving with the loveliest of ladies, including some Canadians who caught our attentive eyes for much banter, none of which I remember. This may possibly be due to the copious amounts of pints, Super-Splits (Captai Morgan and Fanta) and Cointreau consumed.

3.15am now, and we make it up the street to Dublin's finest kebab shop, Zaytoon, where the queues are long but the end-produce is sublime.

Shameful wastage as Chizzy leaves at least 3 grains of rice behind

Merriment Personified

A jam-packed Flannery's

Contentment : 18 / 25

Excitement :    5 / 10

Memorability : 8 / 15

Overall Score : 62% (3rd out of 274)

     

Day 253 - Saturday, September 10th, 2011

An early start to this particular Saturday morning, with Al The Almera summonsed to go and collect the Three Swashbuckling Golfing Musketeers Danny Son-of-Hoon, Conch-Shell and English to make the hour-long journey to County Monaghan. A slight fly in the ointment presented itself in that the quays were cordoned off due to a fire, so the Musketeers had to make an arduous half-mile journey with their golf bags - utterly heroic!

The weather predictions had been quite horrific but thankfully didn't quite materialise, with cloudy but largely dry conditions at the Nuremore Hotel Golf Course, a very fine challenging affair. I played the most horrific golfing round of my match, which was no mean feat given recent form, and alas Conquer's decent form was not enough to prevent another victory by Team Ski.

Much more pleasing was a foray to the jacuzzi and sauna, which cleansed the body and also the palate for an assault on the hotel bar with its very delicious Guinness and very fine chicken pasta. After a number of convivial games of dominoes, we summonsed Patrick the Taximan to whisk us into Carrickmacross Town for the paltry sum of €2 each, where we sought out a pub with a dartboard for many splendid games, before adjoining to a late bar for banging choons and more refreshments.

The evening/morning was concluded back at the Nuremore Hotel with nightcaps in the residents bar that lasted until the wee hours.


Daniels, English and Damo size up their respective putts


Fine scenery surrounding the 17th fairway

Contentment : 15 / 25
Excitement :    4 / 10
Memorability : 5.5 / 15

Overall Score : 49% (41st out of 253)

Day 250 - Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

Another blogging milestone - 250 days - and after flagging somewhat in the past couple of months I sense that I may be getting a 2nd (or 3rd/4th/5th) wind to bring me to the finish line that is a mere 115 days away! I have already decided that next year's blog will be a leaner, more direct affair - no harm, sez you.

Lunch was taken at the Clarendon for the first time in a while, and its soup and pepper chicken offering for a tenner (including tip) went down a treat.

Thursday Night Darts Club took place a day early this week, in its regular Doolan's haunt, but its taking place looked in danger until 7.15pm when the necessary 4th athlete arrived. Everyone is obviously saving themselves for the double-ranking event next Thursday, but all present tonight profited well, with Lara "Tryples" Della Volpe making a triumphant return to soar up the World Rankings from 15th to the crucial 12th position, which offers the final berth for the World Championships in December. After a slow start, Conch-Shell "The Conqueror" O'Keeffe ironically slowed his throw to reap his highest points dividend since April, whilst I pipped John "The Equaliser" Delaney by 2 points to lift my first title since May - great success!

Contentment : 16 / 25
Excitement :    3 / 10
Memorability : 3.5 / 15

Overall Score : 45% (74th out of 250)

Day 247 - Sunday, September 4th, 2011

Again Debbie kindly provided the reveille, Cheerios, tea and lift to the Moorways, where marker numbers had miraculously plummetted from 30 yesterday to 17 today. (Chris was initially left on the sidelines, but was introduced as a rolling substitute before long, so everyone was suitably employed.)

Board 14 was to be my officious realm for the day, and the following matches :

Round 1

Reece Robinson 6 Stephen Hardy 2 : I hadn't marked Reece before yesterday, so naturally a similar pleasure would befall me 2 days in a row. On both days, Reece was quiet, calm and courteous, and this comfortable win shows that he is "one to look out for."

Co Stompe 6 Peter Hudson 4 : Co was in quirky form as ever, and his chair-breaking banter with Peter was taken in the good spirit that it was intended. Frustration at poor scoring nearly caused intervention though when he stood onto the oche when throwing his 3rd dart - thankfully it just failed to register on the board, as it wouldn't have counted. Peter missed his next 3 darts at a double and Co finished the 60 that he had remaining.

Dave Smith 6 Joe Cullen 4 : Joe seemed to be in somewhat lacklustre form and Dave capitalised with a narrow but well-merited victory.

Round 2

Justin Pipe 6 Reece Robinson 5 : Reece was 5-0 up in this match - up to this point Justin had been throwing really poor darts (mostly 40-something scores), but the threat of suffering a whitewash brought out barrages of 140s and despite being 5-0 up, Reece didn't have any darts to win the match. Evidence of a new calmness from Reece as he took defeat on the chin and exited gracefully after shaking the hands of opponent and marker.

Co Stompe 6 Dave Smith 2 : An easy win here for Co.

Round 3

Justin Pipe 6 Co Stompe 5 : Marking two 6-5 Justin wins in a row requires supreme concentration, but in truth it was easy to do, as this match was exciting and high scoring, with Justin edging it in the deciding leg.

Quarter Final

John Part 6 Nigel Heydon 4 : John has been in superb form of late and he needed to maintain it to see off the challenge of Nigel, who is rising rapidly through the ranks. Both are gentlemen of the game, so it was great to see both do well today.

John went on to lose in the semi-final to eventual winner Gary Anderson, and with that, another PDC weekend was at an end. Before being left to the airport, I had dinner at the local with Debbie Liam and Scott, and got unlucky with a mixed grill of leathered-beefsteak, gammon fat, pork sausage and cremated chips, although the tomato was delicious. The meal failed to leave a sour taste in the mouth though of a weekend that was fantastic fun, and I can't thank Scott enough for his hospitality, which I look forward to reciprocating in Dublin in October.

I met up with those Krazy Kilkenny Katz Dave and Paddy in the queue at the gate for a flight that landed 30 minutes ahead of its scheduled hour-long length, and the Ryanair crew forgot to press the Punctuality Bugle button - double-huzzah! All of this meant that I was home for 10pm and in bed for 11pm to get the first regulation-length sleep since Wednesday!


Gary Anderson - to today's victor the £6,000 spoils

Contentment : 15.5 / 25
Excitement :    3.5 / 10
Memorability : 4 / 15

Overall Score : 46% (66th out of 247)

Day 244 - Thursday, September 1st, 2011

September 1st, and two-thirds of the year have elapsed already - amazing stuff. The event was celebrated with a Deal Lunch with Gillian Hugh and Ruaraidh from work, in nearby Bia Bar, where a starter, a burger and chips and a glass of vino set each of us back a mere tenner.

At Thursday Night Darts Club 97, six athletes went to post, where John "The Equaliser" Delaney won his 2nd title in succession, with a relatively comfortable win. Jimmy "The Dark Destroyer" Leach took 2nd and 30+ precious TNDC World Chanmpionship ranking points.

                                                  The Night's Silver and Gold Medallists

Contentment : 12 / 25
Excitement :    2 / 10
Memorability : 2.5 / 15

Overall Score : 33% (140th out of 244)