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)
Showing posts with label saggart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label saggart. Show all posts
Monday, October 31, 2011
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)
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)
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
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.
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)
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