For You, Dad - In Memory of Frank Murtha - by Cuppa Joe Gasparino

Tuesday was my father's birthday.

My dad passed away a few year's ago, losing a tough battle
with leukemia...one that pulled the rug out from under me,
leaving me and my family reeling from how suddenly
it all happened. I miss him.

Tuesday was also dartnight.

I woke up late, around 11 or so, and as I do every year,
was planning to call my mom and wish my dad a happy birthday
through her. I was also planning to text message or call
Frank, my captain, to tell him I was thinking about not
playing, partly due to my lack of enthusiasm from losing so
much lately, but also due to the overall malaise of missing
my father.

Then I read my email.

The one at the top of my inbox was from Frank, and it was
titled "some sad news". The sad news was that Frank's father,
Frank Murtha, had passed away the night before from a
heart attack. He was 67 years old.

How could this be?

I didn't know the man, but I know he was healthy,
and this was a complete and utter shock to everyone that
knew him, especially to Frank and his family.

How could this be? I live with that question every day,
and now, suddenly, my good friend has been thrust into
having to ask himself that same question.

I don't have an answer, but I know that there is something
greater and more powerful than we are, pulling the strings,
writing the script. I know Frank Sr. has moved on to a
better place, joining my dad...Vince's dad...Farty's dad,
who have also passed on, not too long ago.

Yesterday I celebrated life. The life of my dad,
but also the life of Frank Murtha, may he rest in peace,
and may God bless his soul and be with the Murtha family.

We, the Dartbags, celebrated the life of Frank Murtha...

...senior AND junior...

...in our own way...

...by KICKING THE SNOT OUT OF THE "KETTLE OF FISH",
IN CRICKET AND DOUBLES 501, IN WHAT CAN ONLY BE DESCRIBED
AS AN ALL-OUT "BUM-RUSH"!

13-11.

-----------------

Not really knowing what the plan was for darts after
reading the sad news, I stumbled into the office and saw Lou
practicing on the practice board we bought about a month ago.

Seeing me walk in, Lou said to me, "hey...I think I got my mojo back".

The mojo he's referring had been on the back of milk cartons
and on "America's Most Wanted", with the likes of Natalee Holloway
and Peter Braunstein.

It also allowed me to beat the pants off him, 14 out of the
last 15 cricket games we played, but I digress...

So I said, "you wanna test that swagger?", to which Lou laughed
and basically said "bring it on". Well, something else was inside
Lou, maybe it was his mojo, I'm not sure...but he returned the
favor, beating me 5 out of 6.

It's safe to say that something else was inside all of us
as we filed into George Keeley for what could be the last time
we do that as the original Dartbags.

The air was different inside, while the air outside was so
cold, when you spit, it was frozen before it hit the ground,
thank you Margo and Michael Timmins.

Lou and I got there first, and saw that a rather large group
of people had commandeered our usual table. But without
fussing over it, we simply set up shop in the corner section,
where the open mic used to take place. We didn't care.
We were loose. Obviously, the importance of things had
been put into perspective for us earlier in the day.

Lou ordered the infamous "dogfish head 90", throwing caution
to the wind. "I don't care if I miss the board tonight",
he said. In honor of RJ, I chose Guinness, after learning
that he wouldn't be making either, and that's his usual tonic.

Glenn Pike, aka IYH, aka the 'Dartbag alpha-male' joined
us shortly after, also digging the new setup. We sat, we drank,
we talked...we relaxed.

We learned that Glenn got a job. Something different really
was in the air...but again, I digress.

We didn't really practice, either. Ok, maybe a little, but not the
usual 'conga line' thing we do. It just didn't really matter. What
mattered was what we seemed to have lost a bit over most of this season.

It mattered that it was Tuesday night, and Tuesday nights, we get
together and enjoy eachother's company and unwind.

That's why we do this.

Well, everyone else showed up, BFT, Farticus, Vincenzo...rounding
out our 6 'bags for the night...as well as superfans Jessie, Nell,
Jen, Jemma, and Hope, the original superfan. We packed it in.

The Kettle showed up with a couple of new faces, and it was game-on.

We were without our beloved captain, so we 'captained' by committee.

(singles 501)

Glenn started us off and took both from Andrew Doyle. He smacked
334 asp's in an effortless display.

Methodical.
Undeniable.
Ridiculous.

Next up was Vincenzo. In a mindboggling twist, the artist,
formerly known as cheese, hammered 438 asp's...but lost
BOTH GAMES to Nuala, who nailed a ton-71 along the way.

Remember, she beat the snot out of RJ last time in one of the
biggest beat downs we've ever seen. She's no joke. I'm not
laughing….yes I am….to keep from crying.

Next was Cuppa, aka 'Joey Pep', aka 'me, who's writing this
week's blog'. Getting down to 62 both games, attempting to hit
the trip-10, I ended up hitting the single10, then the 20...then
missing the double-16 by a hair. As we all know, there's
no margin for error, and I lost both to Susan Rafter, a new face.

Next was Pya Lou. Lou was a bit 'dogfish head-y', sans a ton-33,
but solid. He pulled off a split against a tough James Deane,
yes, James Deane, who smacked 400 asp's.

We needed that win, as we had lost 4 in a row.

'Bags down 3-5.

BFT was next. He ran into a buzz-saw named Jackie, who
displays a funky, backhanded type throw...and also
displays a nasty can of 'whoop-ass', cranking out 455 asp's
in those 2 games.

'Bags down 3-7.

Farticus squared off against the other Susan in the last
2 games of singles '01. These 2 games collectively took
about as much time as the entire rest of the match.
Farty lost the first one in a nail-biter...actually, it was
more like a 'nail-gnaw-er', but again, I digress...

Down 3-8, we were staring 3-9 in the face which would have
been downright debilitating. But Farty, who
remarkably missed the board 9 times during the match,
stepped up and pulled out a 'w', lofting a wobbly dart into a…

...actually I have no idea what it hit because I drank
so much during the 'million-years-war', I passed out.

I awoke, and the 'bags were 'back in it', down 4-8.
Thank you Fartman - that was massive.

But this is where it all changed.

Captaining by committee, we formed a huddle over the
table in our new corner digs, threw the lineup sheet down
and planned the next move: 'The Bum-Rush'.

We were loose, spirited…a few "do it for Frank"s could
be heard over all the chatter.

Our opening salvo was the next best thing to the
'River Road Connection', the principals of 'Scarsdale Inc.',
Pya Lou and Vincenzo. Our strategy was to hit them
hard and quick with one of our toughest…

...actually, we really just wanted to get Lou out there
as quickly as possible…

…the dogfish head's were winning.

The boys did their best 'Dennis Kozlowski' and stole the
first game. VP, Pya Lou manufactured an R6, but losing the
second game to the 2 Susans left our little corporate
connection looking for a $3000 shower curtain to hide behind.

A split, and it was 5-9 bad guys.

NEWS FLASH:

We would win 8 out of the last 10 points.

Commence the 'bum-rushing'.

Funny: during 'Scarsdale Inc.'s corporate cacophony,
Wendell, one of the nicer guys we've come across at
dartnight, and friend of Jackie, was yukking it up with
me, BFT and Glenn, complementing us for being good
guys, and how dartnight is a great thing…took a sip of his
Budweiser and coughed it up all over my back
and BFT's black sweater. Talk about 'yukking it up'.

But Wendell insisted on doing the right thing,
and bought the boys a couple of Brooklyns.

Thanks guy. For a free Brooklyn, you can cough up Bud
on me anytime.

Next was a twisted little game of 'hi-low'…throwing
Glenn and Farticus out to do battle. Glenn performed an
impressive showing of "I can beat you with one arm tied
behind my back", and against a really tough draw of
Nuala and Andrew Doyle.

IYH continued the trend and nailed an R6.
Farty won an oscar for 'best supporting dartbag',
and the boys swept both.

7-9.

Next up was a first time pairing of BFT, aka 'the silver fox'
and Cuppa. This won't be the last time, as the boys played
2 spirited games against a sick pair, James Deane…yes, that’s
James Deane…and the downright nasty, backhanded,
bitch-slapping stuff that is Jackie.

The first game was the game of the night, and ended with
an earth-shaking, viking yelp from BFT…the Kettle cracked.

The game went to the wire. After an R7 from Cuppa, the boys
were in good position. Needing to close 15's, get a jump on the
bulls….and needing a few points to get on top, Cuppa closed
the 15's…and with his last 2 darts went bullseye-bullseye.

Redemption from last week's cricket embarrassment.

With one bull needed to close, and one more to win, BFT
blasted the first one…crushed the second one. With dart
in hand, the big guy screamed, James Deane jumped out of
his shoes, and the boys locked arms in a manly embrace
only rivaled by Cuppa's pummelling of Vincenzo's back
last season.

However, the second game slipped away, as Jackie,
Miss Jackie if you're nasty…yes you are…cut an R7 that
was too much to recover from.

Still, the 'bags felt juiced and it was getting closer…8-10.

(doubles 501)

We decided to keep the 'hi-low' game going and fired
Glenn and Farticus out first. The game was on, and they
swept both games agains Andrew Doyle and Susan. More
asp's for IYH…a ton-36 and a 95…and more missed board's
by Farticus, but he was game enough to help deadlock the
match…..10-10.

BFT and Pya Lou, who admittedly does not remember
playing at this point, were next. At this point, Pya was
LOUD, obnoxious…and funny. However, he drew the fire
from the Kettle, specifically James Deane and Susan, at the
repeated use of "whore!" for bad darts, and "yeah bitch!"
for good darts.

Funny: thinking BFT had smashed a double-in on his
first turn, Pya screamed loudly "yeah bitch!"…only to have
BFT turn around after pulling his darts from the board,
"guy…I missed".

Pya: "Mmmm-kay…"

Lou was feeling good and loose, BFT was steady, and the
good-guys completed a sweep, taking the lead.

Speaking of 'good and loose', time for the 'line of the night':

Pya Lou, to Chris, bartender, co-owner of Keeley's.

Pya: "I want to makeout with you."

12-10 'bags.

The final tandem was CuppaCenz, formerly known as…

...well, let's not go there. I like CuppaCenz much better,
but, again, I digress…

The traditionally deadly team CuppaCenz started off
gangbusters, continuing the 'bum-rush', winning the
first game, making it 8 out of the last 9 points.

Cup, attempting to throw a single 14 to leave Cenz
on 32 hit a triple-14, leaving him on 4. The angry one
nailed the double-2 on his first dart, leaving CuppaCenz
to remark in unison:

"We meant that."

Nice work.

Despite a ton-on by Cup, which came too late, the
dream-team let the second one slip away, but it didn't matter.

The party was on…'bags win 13-11.

This one was special, and we all felt it,
as most of us stayed together 'til the
wee-hours of the morning.

I'm not sure exactly where we stand at this point, but
I think this match saved, of did a lot to help save, our
season goal of 'not getting demoted'.

But more importantly, this match did a lot to restore old
values between friends, which is why we started doing this
dart thing in the first place.

We missed you RJ…bigtime. But we'll see you next
Tuesday, hopefully, if not, we're all looking forward to your
'goodbye to polite society' soiree, aka 'new year's bash'
coming up.

Colin, you were missed as well, along with your
garlic sandwich and ole'rusty.

Frank: what can I say. You're irreplaceable, and it's not
the same without you. I'm not sure when you'll come back,
but take all the time you need. You're the leader of this team,
but more importantly, you are your father's son.

I understand what you're going through, and I'm here for
you, anytime you need. We'll get through it together.

I know I speak for the whole team when I say our deepest
sympathies are with you and your family, and you have
8 guys here that love and care for you.

If you need us, we'll be around.

And speaking for myself, it was an honor to merely
substitute for Frank this week, and write the recap.

-Cup


All-Star Points:

685 Glenn
438 Vincenzo
255 Cup
253 Lou
0 BFT (1 cracked kettle)

-180 Farticus (note: missed boards are negative 20 points each)