Friday, July 22, 2005

WRITE UP FOR CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH #1: GUTTIN' IT OUT

CAPTAIN'S LOG: DART DATE; 7-21-05

There were good omens everywhere -- if you knew where to look.

Marty hit a C-5 in warm ups.

Joe captured video footage of Jerry Garcia on 2nd Avenue.

And, out of the blue, a voodoo priestess told Frank on the subway that he would win a dart match tonight.

Okay. I just made up that last one. But the first two are absolutely true.

The Dartbags would do battle with McCarthy's FFS (That's short for "For F*ck's Sake!") and walk away with a 9-9 tie.

It was a festive atmosphere down at McCarthy's. There were guest appearances by Dartside stalwarts Ross and Nick. Gins and Kal made the scene. And of course dart muses Nell & Jess were there to support their men - and the rest of us too.

Things started out on track, Pike was Pike and blew Hubert (pronounced Hu-boyt) out of the water for a 1-0 lead.

Frank came out gunning and did the same. 2-0

Cup played very well and nearly went out in 7 rounds, but Jason - truly a killer all night - took the W. 2-1

Cheese played an Angel. However, as we all know, Cheese can be a devil. He shot even more vicious darts than usual and evil triumphed over good. 3-1 Dartbags.

Colin faced off against Bob Hilbert. Bob is a wiley -- no, make that cagey-- veteran. He's been around the block a few times and this is not his first rodeo. He knows the tricks of the trade and has ice water in his veins. Colin put forth a good effort, but experience won out in the end. 3-2.

RJ played Colm. (And is there anyone who goes above and beyond the call of duty for his teammates more than RJ? I'll field that one; no.) Colm was #3 on the all star team. Normally, taking out all stars, is Lou's specialty. But since Lou had to stay late at work (his pimp has been "leaning on him" lately because he thinks Lou is holding out), the job was left to Richard James Morrow. RJ was solid as a rock and knocked out their big gun to put the 'Bags up 4-2 at the break.

As of now, I am officially declaring a moratorium on referring to cricket as "Our Game (TM revoked). It used to be our game. Now it must belong to somebody else because we've been playing cricket like -- how did Billy Bob Thornton put it in the trailer for the Bad News Bears -- like Helen Keller at a pinata party.

Pike and Cup had some big rounds (they each R-sixed the 19s) but never hit their stride and got swept. Tied 4-4

Then Frank and Tim played well, and had 7 darts to hit a single bull for the win. They couldn't get it done and dropped a heartbreaker. They would rally in the second game behind some nasty darts from the Big Friendly to win one of the most lopsided matches you'll ever see and snap a 3 game losing streak in the process. Tied 5-5

Tim was truly fired up during the match. Apparently he was after the match as well:

Tim: My adrenaline is still through the roof... I'm going to go get a slice.

Enjoy your tasty slice, Big Cat. You earned it.

Next Vince and RJ dropped a pair. That's right. We got swept twice in cricket.

WTF?

And with that, we were trailing 5-7.

Frank and Marty squared off first for the 'Bags. Marty doubled them in promptly (first turn, 3rd dart), but a game effort fell short and all of a sudden the 'Bags were on a 3 game losing skid again. The second match was even tighter. After nearly taking out a sweet 80 but dumping the 'Bags on crappy 5, Marty clutchly put Frank on an out. Both teams were now on X. The other team missed their chance and Frank fought off a foot cramp to hit the double 1 with dart # 3 and earn a split.

Note: In addition to being a double in specialist, Marty was Steve Nash-like in setting his teammate up in both games dishing out leaves of 80, 60, 48 and that final X (when he started on 5). That's a big part of doubles '01.

It's like DeNiro said in the Untouchables.

Capone: "When a man is playing singles '01 it is a time for.... IN-DUHVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT. But when he is playing doubles.... PAWT OF A TEAM."

Teamwork... team..

Pike and RJ stepped up to the mic for round 2. I was so fired up at this point I can't remember a damn thing. Perhaps someone will enlighten us as to the specifics. But in the end, it was Pike and RJ earning a split. And putting us in a position to tie for the night if Cuppa Cheese came up big.

I'll save you the suspense; they did.

Cheese, never one to follow convention, put himself on 34 and took out a double 17 to take the first game. Cup took game 2 with a big double 19 in a nailbiter to get us back to even.

Afterwards an emotional Cup gave Cheese a congratulatory backslap that left the UGLIEST red slap mark you've ever seen, a hand shaped welt that left a puffy-skinned outline of Cup's fingers. I'm sure it will still be there on Tuesday if anyone wants a look.

Every point matters, but those last 2 felt huge. You hate to begin the night in a hole. Now we get to head back to our turf dead even. Ten points gets us the championship.

Good job all around. Thanks to our friends who came out to support us. It was great to see you all. We are at George Keeley on Tuesday. See you all there.

And if anyone can remember some Lines of the Night (TM) or other omissions. By all means post them in the comments section.

2 Comments:

Blogger cuppa said...

i went up to bob (the natural), after the cricket round to get a stella, sitting at the bar, and our exchange was as follows:

pep: hey, bob....great darts, man.
bob: (cough)
bob: (cough...cough)
bob: (cough)
bob: (cough...cough...cough...cough)

bob the proceeds to get up and leave.

pep: (to himself) mmm...ok...

1:24 PM  
Blogger cuppa said...

big friendly, aka "the silver fox", in the midst of his cricket match with el capitan, slapped my hand (my dart hand) so hard my wrist is slightly swollen today.

2:27 PM  

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