I have been to darts events before, but only events hosted by the PDC, the breakaway Darts organisation headed by Barry Hearn and dominated over the years competitively by Phil 'The Power' Taylor. The PDC is all about showbusiness and spectacle. Boozed up fans wave handwritten signs and scream and jeer whenever their favourite or most hated players approach the oche. Glamour girls accompany the players to the stage where cheerleaders perform to the players entry music. Players can earn vast sums of money and get weekly exposure on Sky TV leading to stratospheric popularity. Having lived in the Midlands for a number of years now I can attest to the popularity of 'The Power' and can fully appreciate his recent 2nd place finish in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year poll.
Having spent a day at the BDO World Championship, the original Darts organisation, it is easy to see that it is a world away from its garish cousin the PDC. While the PDC regularly sells out arena sized venues around the country and it's World Championships take place in the historic surroundings of Alexandra Palace, the BDO remains at the Lakeside Centre in Frimley Green. The Lakeside reminds me of Holiday Camp cabaret venues of my youth, and this is essentially what it is. Black and White photographs of Lakeside's previous performers adorn the walls, one of the few places in the UK where the likes of Kenny Lynch, Gary Wilmott, Hale & Pace and Brian Conley receive any publicity. The decor is just as one would imagine and it feels like a relic of the late 70's and early 80's.
I had to keep reminding myself that I was attending the World Championship of a major televised sport. There can be very few other World Championship events where you can park yards from the front door of the venue, or indeed that take place in Surrey!
The 700 or so darts fans inside Lakeside are as rowdy as you may expect, but something amazing happens when the announcer asks for the customary 'Best of Order', the crowd provide him with just that and the players are allowed to throw in what is a relative hush.
Even the TV coverage is comfortably familiar and old fashioned. None of the wailing histrionics of Sky's Sid Waddell to be seen here. The BBC's coverage is dominated by Bobby George, the BDO darts legend and not, as I once tried to
convince my gullible friend Kay, Boy George's brother. Bobby does bring his own entertainment though as this video of him leading the crowd in dancing to 'Rocking All Over The World' will show.
The darts itself is in all honesty, not a patch on the PDC. while it is still far out of reach of mere mortals like myself, most players in the BDO average over 90 with 3 darts where average of 110 are common in the PDC. A telling statistic is that there has not been a 9 dart finish at the Lakeside since 1990, at the PDC they are somewhat commonplace, new world champion Adrian Lewis even managed to throw one in Monday's final.
The BDO players are no less loved for it though and players like current world champion Martin 'Wolfie' Adams and former champion Ted 'The Count' Hankey are greeted like the sporting gladiators that they are.
Despite the surreal venue it was a great experience. The Bullet put on a fantastic display to get through to the second round (and ensured that our table was on the TV a huge number of times!). Despite my preference for the superior quality of the PDC, today showed me that the BDO has it's place and provides a very entertaining alternative for the probably more discerning darts fan.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Birmingham,United Kingdom
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