WRITE UP # 7: RETURN OF THE A-2 TEAM
CAPTAIN'S LOG: DART DATE: 5 - 1 - 06
(Note: For full effect all Links should be Right Clicked and Opened in New Window. Otherwise you lose continuity.)
"Three years ago, a crack Dartbag unit was sentenced to C Division by an NYDO court for a crime they DID commit -- sucking at darts. These men promptly escaped from that division. Today, still wanted by the authorities, they survive as soldiers of fortune, drinking beer and throwing darts on a weekly basis in the New York darting underground. If you have a (drinking) problem, and no one else can help -- and if you can find them (hint) -- maybe you can play The A-2 Team."
Yes, the Dartbags (Most Drinkin'est and Friendliest dart team in NYC TM) have come along way, from the mean streets of C to the jungles of B to to the battlefields of A, from Tuesday to Monday. And they've had a lot of adventures and good laughs along the way. Monday night at the Collins Bar they encountered an entirely new foe. A gang of local toughs from Hell's Kitchen who called themselves "The Taint". They'd established quite a protection racket, pushing the locals around for far too long... enter, the A-2 Team.
It was a bit of a different feel at Collins. For much of the night there were only 4 players -- a light showing by 'Bag standards. Tim was on a mission elsewhere and Colin was AWOL. Farty made the scene but couldn't get there until late. (Why do they call him Farty? click . Damn straight.) Hope had a rare miss, but the late arrivals of Nell and Gemma ensured there were Dartbaguettes present. Even Chris "Dishpan" Giudice a "season 5" addition to the A-2 Team's crew made the trip down from Keeley's to hang with his old friends.
We were playing a team we had never seen before and were badly in need of points. We decided to put on our best Face and lead off with Glenn. Pike shot well but a math error led to a bad leave in game 1. He could not recover in time against James O who (much like the obsessed Col. Decker) would prove a relentless thorn in an our side. Pike's darts were good, James's better. 0-3 start.
The Captain faced off against Mark in an attempt to get the mission back on course. El Cap came out gunning with 2 Tons to start. He held on for a W and we were on the board. He lost his way in game two and dropped a close one before sinking a double 2 in the rubber match to walk away with a second win. 2-4
Up next was Vince against Jeremy. Jeremy came out firing T, T-40, T. Three rounds into the game and the guy was already on an out. But vince showed grace under pressure. Combat experience and years on the run had sharpened his survival instincts. He kept his cool and counted down steadly helped by a Ton of his own. When Jeremy faltered, Vince pounced, stealing game 1. In game two, 'Cenzo struck like lightning. Sitting on 176 he popped a T-40. His next dart stuck in double 18 winner, leading Cup to comment. Game 3 was a nailbiter, but Vince was clutch. Score it a sweep and a lead in the process 5-4, Good Guys. Asked about his performance afterward, Vince was fired up.
Cuppa Joe went up against Rob in the final frame. Rob was sharp. Cup's aim was a little off. He dropped the first two and was poised to drop the 3rd frame. But Cuppa kept it together, sitting on X with opponent on 16, the bad guy looked confident. But Cup would have none of it. And with that, he stuck his second dart in the Double-1 and salvaged the last point. Afterwards he was still fuming at himself. He received some words of encouragement from the Capt. but was in no mood to hear it. (I hear ya, we've all been there). Tied at 6-6 heading into cricket.
A dejected Cuppa Joe sat in a booth with his legs up and a grim expression on his face. A friendly female patron of the bar noticed his high quality footwear, leading to The Line of the Night (TM).
Friendly Girl: Nice Shoes!
Cup: I wish my game was as good as my shoes.
Friendly Girl looks confused and slightly hurt. Walks away.
Glenn and Frank proceed to roll. Pike was vintage. Frank was solid. The first two games were walkaway wins, thanks largely to consistent triples from Glenn. The final game got close by the end, but a double bull on dart #3 sealed the deal for the 'Bags. The strategy worked to perfection leading the Captain to comment. 9-6
Vince and Cup dropped the first vs. James and Mark in rapid fashion. But this only seemed to fire up the 'Bags. Cup's determination was stronger than ever, and he vowed revenge. No more jibber-jabber! Cup returned to form and Vince was nasty as ever. In the second game, the bad guys needed just 2 bulls to close the cork. We needed a bull for points and two 17s. Cup wasn't sure how to play it, and Vince told him to"zip up" the 17s before throwing at cork. Cup was defiant and was insisted on following his own instincts. Cup threw first dart - double cork, second dart 17, second dart 17. Huge finish that left the bad guys stunned! They secured the final point to put us up 11-7. And for the first time in a long time, we the Dartbags A-2 team was rolling.
Glenn and Frank teamed up again in double 01. Glenn was on his game once again. Good thing too, because Frank was bad to the point of being subversive. Example? Pike puts Frank on 170. (beautiful). Frank respond with a whopping turn of ... 3. Leaving 167.
Frank: At least I left you an out.
Glenn was unimpressed. But despite Frank's best efforts, Glenn stubbornly insisted on winning. With the other team poised to go out on 32, he took out a 10 with a 5, 1, Double -2 game winner. Clutch stuff. The good guys dropped the next one. In the final game it was Frank's turn to provide a pick me up. A couple of Tons and a D-12 game winner pulled out the W. And the score was now 13-8.
Cup and Vince squared off against Mark and James (who is quickly becoming a nemesis). Doubling in troubles proved a handicap and the bad guys stormed to victory in the first. In the second, Cup got the good guys on the board with a big T0n-35 on and the 'Bags were in business. But big darts from the Collins guys overcame the difference. In the last match, it was Vince's turn to represent, and he went on with a 96. But it ended in a loss as well. Big finishes > big starts. Oh well. Final score 13-11.
Bad start and a bad finish. The middle part was excllent (13-5) so that's something to build on. (Is that a reach? Possibly. It reminds me of Mitch Hedberg's comment about his high school rock band, "People either loved us or they hated us. Or they thought we were okay.") Regardless, the fact is they shot some great darts and we took 13 points off 'em. It's been a while since we've returned to the "win" column. So what the hell. We'll take it.
Tune in next week for the continuing adventures of the Dartbags -- the A-2 Team. The next episode is Monday night, same time, different place (The Tempest Bar on 8th Ave.) This time the role of the "Bad Guys" will be played by Tavern Revisited. We defeated them handily in the original meeting. You can expect a bigger challenge in the sequel. We'll see you then and in the immortal words of Col. John "Hannibal" Smith... CLICK
(Note: For full effect all Links should be Right Clicked and Opened in New Window. Otherwise you lose continuity.)
"Three years ago, a crack Dartbag unit was sentenced to C Division by an NYDO court for a crime they DID commit -- sucking at darts. These men promptly escaped from that division. Today, still wanted by the authorities, they survive as soldiers of fortune, drinking beer and throwing darts on a weekly basis in the New York darting underground. If you have a (drinking) problem, and no one else can help -- and if you can find them (hint) -- maybe you can play The A-2 Team."
Yes, the Dartbags (Most Drinkin'est and Friendliest dart team in NYC TM) have come along way, from the mean streets of C to the jungles of B to to the battlefields of A, from Tuesday to Monday. And they've had a lot of adventures and good laughs along the way. Monday night at the Collins Bar they encountered an entirely new foe. A gang of local toughs from Hell's Kitchen who called themselves "The Taint". They'd established quite a protection racket, pushing the locals around for far too long... enter, the A-2 Team.
It was a bit of a different feel at Collins. For much of the night there were only 4 players -- a light showing by 'Bag standards. Tim was on a mission elsewhere and Colin was AWOL. Farty made the scene but couldn't get there until late. (Why do they call him Farty? click . Damn straight.) Hope had a rare miss, but the late arrivals of Nell and Gemma ensured there were Dartbaguettes present. Even Chris "Dishpan" Giudice a "season 5" addition to the A-2 Team's crew made the trip down from Keeley's to hang with his old friends.
We were playing a team we had never seen before and were badly in need of points. We decided to put on our best Face and lead off with Glenn. Pike shot well but a math error led to a bad leave in game 1. He could not recover in time against James O who (much like the obsessed Col. Decker) would prove a relentless thorn in an our side. Pike's darts were good, James's better. 0-3 start.
The Captain faced off against Mark in an attempt to get the mission back on course. El Cap came out gunning with 2 Tons to start. He held on for a W and we were on the board. He lost his way in game two and dropped a close one before sinking a double 2 in the rubber match to walk away with a second win. 2-4
Up next was Vince against Jeremy. Jeremy came out firing T, T-40, T. Three rounds into the game and the guy was already on an out. But vince showed grace under pressure. Combat experience and years on the run had sharpened his survival instincts. He kept his cool and counted down steadly helped by a Ton of his own. When Jeremy faltered, Vince pounced, stealing game 1. In game two, 'Cenzo struck like lightning. Sitting on 176 he popped a T-40. His next dart stuck in double 18 winner, leading Cup to comment. Game 3 was a nailbiter, but Vince was clutch. Score it a sweep and a lead in the process 5-4, Good Guys. Asked about his performance afterward, Vince was fired up.
Cuppa Joe went up against Rob in the final frame. Rob was sharp. Cup's aim was a little off. He dropped the first two and was poised to drop the 3rd frame. But Cuppa kept it together, sitting on X with opponent on 16, the bad guy looked confident. But Cup would have none of it. And with that, he stuck his second dart in the Double-1 and salvaged the last point. Afterwards he was still fuming at himself. He received some words of encouragement from the Capt. but was in no mood to hear it. (I hear ya, we've all been there). Tied at 6-6 heading into cricket.
A dejected Cuppa Joe sat in a booth with his legs up and a grim expression on his face. A friendly female patron of the bar noticed his high quality footwear, leading to The Line of the Night (TM).
Friendly Girl: Nice Shoes!
Cup: I wish my game was as good as my shoes.
Friendly Girl looks confused and slightly hurt. Walks away.
Vince and Pike expressed concern over their intense teammate. But we knew Cup be back.
On to cricket. Cricket has been our bane this year. Our lowest percentage game and where we generally lose our matches. The team discussed strategy. Frank asked Glenn if we wanted to go first and play with him in an effort to shuffle the line up a bit. Always a thoughtful player, Glenn paused before consenting.Glenn and Frank proceed to roll. Pike was vintage. Frank was solid. The first two games were walkaway wins, thanks largely to consistent triples from Glenn. The final game got close by the end, but a double bull on dart #3 sealed the deal for the 'Bags. The strategy worked to perfection leading the Captain to comment. 9-6
Vince and Cup dropped the first vs. James and Mark in rapid fashion. But this only seemed to fire up the 'Bags. Cup's determination was stronger than ever, and he vowed revenge. No more jibber-jabber! Cup returned to form and Vince was nasty as ever. In the second game, the bad guys needed just 2 bulls to close the cork. We needed a bull for points and two 17s. Cup wasn't sure how to play it, and Vince told him to"zip up" the 17s before throwing at cork. Cup was defiant and was insisted on following his own instincts. Cup threw first dart - double cork, second dart 17, second dart 17. Huge finish that left the bad guys stunned! They secured the final point to put us up 11-7. And for the first time in a long time, we the Dartbags A-2 team was rolling.
Glenn and Frank teamed up again in double 01. Glenn was on his game once again. Good thing too, because Frank was bad to the point of being subversive. Example? Pike puts Frank on 170. (beautiful). Frank respond with a whopping turn of ... 3. Leaving 167.
Frank: At least I left you an out.
Glenn was unimpressed. But despite Frank's best efforts, Glenn stubbornly insisted on winning. With the other team poised to go out on 32, he took out a 10 with a 5, 1, Double -2 game winner. Clutch stuff. The good guys dropped the next one. In the final game it was Frank's turn to provide a pick me up. A couple of Tons and a D-12 game winner pulled out the W. And the score was now 13-8.
Cup and Vince squared off against Mark and James (who is quickly becoming a nemesis). Doubling in troubles proved a handicap and the bad guys stormed to victory in the first. In the second, Cup got the good guys on the board with a big T0n-35 on and the 'Bags were in business. But big darts from the Collins guys overcame the difference. In the last match, it was Vince's turn to represent, and he went on with a 96. But it ended in a loss as well. Big finishes > big starts. Oh well. Final score 13-11.
Bad start and a bad finish. The middle part was excllent (13-5) so that's something to build on. (Is that a reach? Possibly. It reminds me of Mitch Hedberg's comment about his high school rock band, "People either loved us or they hated us. Or they thought we were okay.") Regardless, the fact is they shot some great darts and we took 13 points off 'em. It's been a while since we've returned to the "win" column. So what the hell. We'll take it.
Tune in next week for the continuing adventures of the Dartbags -- the A-2 Team. The next episode is Monday night, same time, different place (The Tempest Bar on 8th Ave.) This time the role of the "Bad Guys" will be played by Tavern Revisited. We defeated them handily in the original meeting. You can expect a bigger challenge in the sequel. We'll see you then and in the immortal words of Col. John "Hannibal" Smith... CLICK
posted by Captain Furious at 9:15 AM
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