Tuesday, March 27, 2007

WRITE UP FOR WEEK #1: MULLIGAN? & FOR WEEK # 2: NOW THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!

CAPTAIN'S LOG: DART DATE: 03 - 19 - 07

In golf, when you crank one at a 90 degree angle into the woods on your first tee shot, you usually "take a mulligan" -- i.e., get a do-over.

The Dartbags -- Most Drinkin'est and Friendliest Dart Team in NYC TM -- have petitioned the league to take a mulligan on the '07 Spring season. (We're waiting to hear back.) Not even the motivational pre-game tactics of Cuppa Joe, who texted the whole team an inspirational poem by Longfellow could do any good.

On hand for the proceedings were Marty and Nell, along with Vince, Glenn, Tim and Frank. Here's what happened.

I get to Foley's Bar -- very cool place by the way -- at 7:00 and I'm ready to warm up. But the Irish waitress informs me that I can't because patrons are eating back there. (Huh?) Sure enough, there are people eating dinner right next to the board. League rules say it supposed to be available at 7 PM, but whatever. I decided to charm her.

Frank: Well, I'm a pretty good shot. I'm sure I won't hit anyone. (big smile).

Irish Waitress: (stares in silence, totally unamused)


I always like to get comfortable in a new environment, so now I'm thinking two things: How am I going to properly warm up? And what is this world coming to when you can't charm an Irish waitress?

So I hung out at the bar and talked to the other team. They're nice guys. We finally were allowed to use the board at 8 o'clock.

I almost wish we hadn't.

Captain Frank went first against Captain Steve. First dart T-20. Second dart T-20. Third dart -- on the wire. Coulda sworn it wsa a patch on the first turn of the season, but it goes in the book as 140. And from that point on, it got worse quickly. Going back to the golf metaphor, The Furious One had an awful short game and couldn't putt to save his life. He blew big leads in craptacular fashion and turned what should have been walk away wins into losses. Credit Steve, the guy nailed his outs first time. Sweep for the bad guys. Unbelievable. 0-3.

Luckily we have Vince. And when the Dartbags take a punch, nobody hits back harder than Vince. He responded with a flurry of ASPs (628) and took the first two off Jim before dropping a close one. Awesome stuff. 2-4.

Next was Pike. Or was it? After the thumb demon (Thumonculus) reared its ugly head, Glenn switched to southpaw. This sinister switch resulted in a win in game 2 over Carlos with a D-4 out, but it wasn't very Pike-like. That was it. 3-6. Ugh.

Then Big Friendly Tim played Brendan. Brendan is their best player. And it showed. Another sweep 3-9. Three... freaking... nine.

Cricket time. Vince and Tim played Brendan and Sean. Brendan and Sean raced out to a huge lead... but they didn't point very much. (I suspect, it was because they were in B last year and didn't have to. It's a mistake they won't make next time we play them.) Meanwhile, the 'Bags couldn't hit a thing. With the board wide open they decided to go for Cork. And thus began the The Battle of Bull Run.

C-4 from Vince. 2 more for Tim. 2 more from Vince. It was relentless. Meanwhile the Foley's had closed everything on the board and had hit a bull. They were just a dart away. But time after time the 'Bags would hit a bull to get up in points. Enough to keep our head above water. Enough to stay alive. The Foley's hit the third bull. On their next turn all they needed was a single mark to win the game and we need three 18s and a 16. Here's what BFT did. First dart single 18. Second dart TRIPLE 18. Third dart... 16. HOE. LEE. CRAP. Tim reaches deep into the jaws of defeat to pull out the victory! One of the clutchest turns you'll ever see. If we could have carried him on our shoulders we would have. (But there was no way. Because he's huge. And I have a bad back. Plus... there's more cricket to play). We lost the 2nd and won the third. Nice. 5-10

Frank and Lefty Pike played. It was pretty awful. They took 1 game off Steve and Carlos. 6-12

At this point, Frank gave Glenn some grief about throwing southpaw. Vince agreed with him. So Pike switched back. And the change was noticeable. AlphaBag GP started smacking triples. On the strength of his play, the 'Bags took the first two off Jim and Carlos. We dropped the 3rd. 7-11
Then Vince and Tim went up against Brendan & Steve. Not good. They dropped the first two. But just when it looked like we were going to be swept away to end the night, BFT showed he still had some magic left. With the Foley's on 32 and the 'Bags on 95, Tim went first dart... 3. At this point, Pike spoke up.

Glenn: He's gonna get it.

Second dart... T-20. Third dart... D-16. BANG! And he celebrated with a spontaneous, spin-double fist pump!

Tim: Yeah! (while spinning and doing a double fist pump)

What a finish. So we lost 9-15, but Vince was a terror, Pike found his game, and Tim provided some all-time heroics. Maybe we won't take that mulligan after all.

All Star Recap:

Vince: 853 (A Top Line effort)
Pike: 592
Frank: 437
Tim: 289
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CAPTAIN'S LOG: DART DATE: 03 - 26 - 07

Now THIS was more like it. We had a great crowd on hand. (9 all told --Vince, Tim, Glenn, Gins, Colin, Nell, Hope, Farty and Frank). We were at the best damn pub in New York City. We whooped the other team. Everyone got in on the act. And the beer and laughter flowed freely at the Table of Honor. This was the way Dart Night should be.

The Dartbags (Most Drinkin'est and Friendliest Dart Team in NYC TM) had a new foe tonight. The Best Team out of O'Hanlon's. They're called The Best Team because their Captain is Melanie Best. Clever. But when your team consists of a guy named Charlie and 3 chicks... how do you NOT go with "Charlie's Angels"? (You kind of have to, don't you?)

Frank led off against the aforementioned Charlie. What's Spanish for en fuego? Because that's what Charlie was. He nearly took out a 6 rounder before stumbling. Frank climbed back in, but it was too late. 0-1. In the second game Frank started to hit his stride. He let a big lead get close before hitting a D-8 to even the match. Mediocre darts in the third. But Charlie, who put together 513 all stars took out his 54, stranding Frank on 76. 1-2

Pike took on our old friend, Nikki in the second set. This was humdinger. Nikki was also on fire. she fired a T-05 and followed it with rounds of T-21 and T-35! But Glenn was hitting 80+ rounds as well and didn't let her get out of range. After two rounds on 40 Nikki was honing in on the D-20. Glenn managed to get down to 74. He aimed at a T-14, but caught an 11. Next dart a 13. Leaving him with 50. Third dart - BANG! - Double Cork for the win. Great stuff from Pike. But he was just getting warmed up. In the next set he started out 81, then hit back to back T-40s. Sitting on 140, it looked possible that he could take out a 12 darter! He didn't. But he took out a 21 darter which is pretty damn impressive in its own right. In the third game, both whittled their way down to 10 and later to 4. It was Nikki who hit the D-2 first to win the point. 3-3 after two sets.

Up next was Gins, making his Dartbag (and NYDO) debut. Would the self imposed pressure of fearing to let down his teammates overwhelm him? Or would the mercifully low expectations from those very same teammates provide him comfort? Bet the latter. (Gins would. And he knows a good bet when he sees one). Making full use of 20s, 19s and 18s, Mike G hung around. A big round of 85 left him on 38. With a decent lead, Frank wanted to make sure he was in a good place to double out.

Frank: Okay, I know you like doubling out on the left side of the board. Now if you want, you can hit a 6 to put you on 32 which is the best out. And if you miss the 6, you can still hit a 10 which leaves you with D-14 which isn't bad either.

Gins: (slightly confused)
Well, why don't I just go for the D-19?

Frank: Or you could do that.

And, with his first dart, he did.

I mean are you kidding me??? First time in league and he hits a tough double with on his first attempt at doubling out? Awesome. But the kid from the mean streets of Fox Meadow wasn't done yet.

In game two he had a knack for hitting a T-20 every couple of rounds and this time, in a closer contest, he once again found himself on a tough out, 34. So what did he do? First dart - 17. Second dart - 1. Third dart - D-8. And, once again the Dartbags celebrated! Some jumped in the air, others high-fived, while others hugged (in the manliest of fashions). Colin was exuberant.

Colin: Gods be praised! Once again, victory is ours! Bartender, bring us pints of ale and the finest meats and cheeses from across the land!

At least... I think that's what he said.

Great stuff from the rookie. Looked like he'd done it a 1000 times. He'd drop the third one. 5-4

Vince took on Jackie (who'd given us fits in the past) to round out the final set of singles. Frankly, I was so busy celebrating Gins's win that I missed some of Vince's. He took the first game, dropped the 2nd before taking the final leg to put the 'Bags up 7-5. And, after taking 2/3 in the last 3 frames, the Dartbags were building some momentum. Would it carry over into cricket?

Vince made out the line up and slotted Glenn with Colin "The Microwave" O'Donnell, who was seeing his first action of the year. They took on Charlie and Nikki, a formidable pair. When Charlie only hit a single to start, it would provide the window Glenn needed to put his stamp on the game. First round, 4 20s. In the second round, Glenn responded with 4 19s. With the other team seeking to point on 18s, Glenn shut it down first dart before peppering the 17s. It was clutch dart after clutch dart. Colin was chipping in on every round and The 'Bags held off a comeback to take the first game. In the second game, the 'Bags went down big early. But they hung in there. A huge R-7 from Glenn closed the gap, but it wasn't yet enough. They'd have to rally on bulls. Glenn hit a pair. Colin followed with 2 bulls of his own. It came down to the wire with Glenn hitting a the last bull to go up in points and take the W. They dropped the final, but outstanding work by Glenn and Colin to take a pair off the best team on Best Team.

FrankenVince took on Jackie and Melanie in cricket. The first one was a tight contest. But a big T-15 by Vince created some separation. He'd add two bulleyes and the 'Bags took the first one. Jackie hit 5 20s to start the second game, but The Captain followed with 4 19s. Frank found his gear in this game tripping the 18s, 16s and 15s along the way to a second victory. The final leg was a hot knife through butter scenario. They were the butter. (Or the I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Butter if you prefer a non-dairy equivalent.) Our first sweep of the season. Hooray! 12-6

FrankenBerg would start Doubles 01 against Jackie and Charlie. The Captain took out a non-traditional 40 (D-10, 2, D-14) to win the first. In the second contest, it was Gins who got the 'Bags on the board, but they couldn't make up the gap. In the 3rd game Gins smacked a T-21 to register his first ever all star points (nice going, guy), and Frank stuck a D-10 to seal the victory. 14-7.

Then Vince and Pike, went up against Nikki and Melanie in the final set. Some of those celebratory ales were having their effect. The good guys weren't as sharp as they had been earlier. But they were sharp enough. Vince got 'em on. And Glenn got 'em off. Um... That didn't come out right. I mean Glenn hit the outs; first winning an X-war and then a sinking D-8. (In between Nikki dropped a DS-100 to earn a Best Team victory.) Score it 16-8 for the Dartbags.

This was a nice rebound win, made more fun by contributions from all 5 players. After Frank's stumble out of the gate, we went 15-6 and took at least 2/3 in every set. It felt good to get back in the win column. Plus we had a good crowd and a lot of laughs. We even had a small fire when the the pink score sheet got too close to the candle. (Fires seem to happen at least twice a season. It's actually become something of a tradition. Fortunately this time it was a sheet of paper that caught fire, and not Frank).

Next Monday we host Three Penny Opera at George Keeley. We'll see you there.

-Captain Furious

All Star Recap:

Pike: 720
Vince: 300
Frank: 238
Gins: 121

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