WRITE UP FOR WEEK #4: RESTAURANT ROLL

CAPTAIN'S LOG: DART DATE: 04 - 09 - 07

The Dartbags, Most Drinkin'est and Friendliest Dart Team in NYC TM, headed to O'Flaherty's Bar on 46th to take on a new opponent this week -- Average Jack. The bar is a beautiful spot on Restaurant Row that is like a poor man's version of the legendary Pat O'Brien's down in New Orleans. Fresh off an embarrassing defeat last week, the 'Bags were hoping to acquit themselves a lot better this around.

"There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which taken at the flood,
leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is
bound in shallows and in miseries " - William Shakespeare

Cuppa sent us the above inspirational pre-game text. It didn't do much good, unfortunately. We started slow. And I don't mean the just the darts. I mean mentally slow. As Vince was about to dig in to his delicious shepherd's pie, he attempted to add some Worcestershire Sauce for flavor. He tried to shake some on, but it wouldn't come out. So he tried again. Still nothing. So in an effort to extract the stubborn steak sauce he began shaking the bottle even more vigorously. Finally, Chris on the other team volunteered some advice...

Chris: Uh... the cap's still on.

Yeah. It started like that.

Here's what happened:

While Vince was shaking up the Worcestershire, Frank decided to shake up the starting line up. He sent out Colin out first to do what a Microwave does best -- heat things up in a hurry. Unfortunately the microwave was set at "Thaw". It was, to be fair, an unfamiliar position for C.O.D. Perhaps that is why he could be heard speaking to himself on the line before his first throws...

Colin: All right... Okay... Here we go...

Well, Colin gave Capt. Mark of the other team a good run in all three games, but the Jack was first to hit the doubles. 0-3 to start.

We followed Colin with Pike. Unfortunately, Pike was a little cold himself. He dropped the first two to Rick. (Maybe it was the removal of his Samson like locks.) In the final frame, Glenn battled like a pitcher without his best stuff and secured the first point of the evening by hitting an XX. 1-5

Then Frank stumbled out of the gate against Damon, hitting more 40 somethings than James Denton and like that, the 'Bags were trailing 1-6. Personally, I blame the jukebox, or at least the people who made use of it. Annie's Song by John Denver? Islands in the Stream by Parton and Rogers? Freaking WHAM??? I mean, really. How can anybody be expected to focus all their energy when their senses are fighting off an onslaught of sissyfication?

Well, if the music was wimpy, Frank's clothes were anything but. He was sporting the new baseball t-shirt with the heavy metal inspired design created by Dartbag, Lou Henry. It along with other fine Dartbag products are available HERE. (Good work, Louis. Thanks).

But in the second game, like Glenn before him, Frank managed to gut out a XX for another point, (thanks in large part by Joe Cocker's When the Night Comes which I think we can all agree is a much more darts worthy song.)In game three the Captain heated up with 3 all star rounds and nearly squandered a big lead before once again hitting XX for the point. 3-6

Three points, three XX outs. There's got to be an easier way to play this game.

Fortunately Vince found that way. In the final set of singles Vince took on Chris and kept the roll going. He swept all 3, and not a single XX in the bunch. The highlight was a razor sharp 22 darter, on which he stuck a D-3, to seal the sweep. The progression went 0 wins, to 1, to 2, to a 3 point sweep. And just like that we were tied @ 6 points a piece. Gotta like that trend. It would continue.

Vince and Frank started off against Rick and Brian. The Dartbags had officially heated up. Vince and Frank shot their best darts of the year. Example, the start of game 3: Vince - R-5, Frank - R-3, Vince - R-5, Frank R-5, Vince R-4... you get the picture. Three more points for the Good Guys of George Keeley, and a nice 8 game winning streak.

Mark and Brendan faced off against Pike 'n Tim in the 2nd round of cricket and the Jacks would have their revenge. Mark and Brendan are a formidable pair who Vince and Frank remember from the NYDO's Doubles tournament. Pike and Tim had some big rounds, but it wasn't enough. Tied after singles. Tied after cricket 9-9.

At this point, Frank was reminded of the infamous O'Flaherty's Hangover. Now we love O'Flaherty's. It's one of our favorite spots in the city. But Frank's brother Loring had given him a heads up earlier in the week about the draught beer. Be careful not to have too many, he warned... it gives you a headache. Indeed, Frank was painfully aware of this fact from previous experiences and had sent out an email to the team. How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? Three (if you believe the impatient owl in the commercial). How many beers does it take to induce a draught beer headache at O'Flaherty's? Three or four. Frank's was in full effect.

Frank: My head hurts. The hangover kicked in. How about you guys?

Pike: Yeah, mine is too. Gins?

Gins: Pounding.

Ironically, it appeared to help them play better. (And it wasn't there in the morning).

It was Frank and Glenn to start off Doubles. Frank remained hot (first dart in every game) and Glenn was looking like his filthy self (albeit a less hairy version). Glenn hit a D-16 to get the ball rolling in game 1. Game 2 provided some comic relief. Brendan, the scorer wrote a T on the board when the 'Bags were on 40. His teammates interpreted it as an error and pointed it out to him. The indignant Brendan reprimanded his teammates in his Irish brogue:

Brendan: Don't you know how to properly mark a board!? Don't you know what a T stands for?? Hey (pointing to us) what does a T stand for?

Pike: Uh... Is it Gaelic for 40?

Brendan: Tops! T is for Tops! They're on 40!

You learn something new everyday. Good stuff. The final game included a streak of 97, T, T with Glenn nearly taking out 95 to end it, but he hit a D-8 instead of the D-16. It would have been a 6 rounder. Two darts later, Frank would hit the D-8 again and it added up to 7 rounder (20 darts). 12-9 'Bags.

It was Vince and Big Friendly Tim to round out the evening. Vince was still hot as a pistol. The 'Bags took the first in crisp fashion. They would drop the second. But in the final leg of the match, the D'Bags would buckle down. It was a well-played affair and when the other team took the lead down the stretch with a big Ton, Vince responded with a T-21 of his own before they could even complete the high fives. Nasty. And with the other team sitting on 32, BFT hit a D-4 to take the point, complete a 24 darter and end the evening 14-10.

This was a fun night. The other team were terrific hosts. Good guys, very cordial and fun to be around. And we had a happy contingent of 'Bags (which included Hope and Nell in addition to all 6 players) who enjoyed the darts and stuck around to enjoy the after party. Plus, O'Flaherty's even has an arcade game that has 15 of your favorite classic games. Tim took on Ginsberg in a Donkey Kong Jr. battle. It was not merely excellence in darts this night for the 'Bags. It was Tim with posting the high score for the machine and Mike with the 2nd highest score. If you go to O'Flaherty's you'll likely still see their scores on the leader board. Tim's tagline: B F T. Mike's: J. E. W.

Great time. See you all next week.

That is all.

-Captain Furious

------------AS Recap------------

Cap: 516

Pike: 404

Vince: 320

BFT: 133