Tuesday, April 17, 2007

WRITE UP FOR WEEK #5: SIGNS OF LIFE?

CAPTAIN'S LOG: DART DATE: 04 - 16 - 07

Note/Apology: I can't find the damn score sheet so details may be more sketchy than usual.

The Dartbags traveled down town to Fitzgerald's bar, a rustic looking old pub and a sentimental favorite of Frank's since it bears his family's name and crest. On hand were all 5 active Bags, save Colin and Sunset Joe. Also there were steadfast Dartbaguettes, Hopi and Nell. It was a solid night all in all, if not the easiest set up. You can't see the scoreboard and a window of sorts blocks your view of the board. But with good friends, cold beer and the NHL playoffs on... we'd find a way to make do. Here's what happened:

rank faced off against Joe Taras in the first set of singles. The last time these two tangled it was in the B league playoffs, 2 years ago. In that one the Captain swept. This would be the revenge of Joe T. In the first game Frank blew a big lead and Joe came roaring back with a T-21 and followed that round by taking out a 92 on two darts. Ouch. Nice shooting. The Cap was mediocre in game two. Mediocre doesn't get it done against a good shooter. The final game Frank had all the chances in the world to hit XX and couldn't do it. Frustrating. 0-3

Thank goodness for Glenn. Piker took on Captain Cliff of the other team. Glenn actually wasn't that sharp, but then again, he doesn't need to be. He won the first taking out a double 4. In the second game Cliff racked up ASPs and went out in 8 turns. But Glenn cruised out to a nice lead in the final leg and nailed a D-8 to bring home win # 2 in a solid 10 round affair. 2-4.

Vince followed against James Eugenia. Like the rest of us, Vince didn't have his best darts. But he turned in a 10 rounder himself, knocking out a D-20 to take the first point. (Nice) 3-4. In the second game James began to really heat up including a T-80. Not much you could do in that game except tip your cap. James remained hot in the final game and won a nailbiter. 3-6

Last in singles was BFT vs. Liam. Tim came out firing his patented triple pump fastball darts. That's how you know he's on. It was a close contest with Liam down on an out and Tim sitting on 133. First dart, T-20. Second dart, T-17, Third dart... single 16. Juuuuust missed a brilliant out. He would take out the D-8 next round. It was Liam getting hot in leg two to take it. The final round was another close affair. Tim was sitting on 100. First dart, 20. Second dart, D-20, Third dart... Just north of the D-20. Once again a near brilliant out. Unfortunately, Tim wouldn't get a chance to drive the final nail and the game went to Liam. (Captain's Note: The second D-20 was absolutely intentional... I checked). And the 'Bags found themselves down 4-8 and frustrated once again. The reaction of the other team was very interesting. Their Captain said to me, with all sincerity.

Cliff: You guys are the best team we've played so far.

I thanked him for the compliment and let him know that we know we'll have to play even better if we want to take games off of his team -- which was likewise a sincere compliment. But it struck me as a little strange. I mean, here we were getting beaten 8-4 and somehow he still thought to comment on what a good team we were.

The thought lingered. Why? I mean, we weren't even playing well. Can you imagine if we were?

And somewhere in the deep recesses of the Captain's mind, there was a tiny "click"... and a little light turned on.

Wow, he thought, the people in this sub-division simply have no idea what the Dartbags are capable of when we play up to our standards. Not these worthy adversaries... not the previous opponents... no one. They've never seen Pike throw "ridicudarts". They've never seen The Hornet's Nest when he's at his nasty best. Hell, they've never even seen Cuppa Joe play at all. Add Tim and Frank to the mix and Colin's Ol' Rusty moments... for some reason it changed Frank's mind set completely. He was now officially fired up.

On to cricket, where the Dartbags have been making some hay lately. Vince filled out the line ups and put Glenn and Frank first. They'd take on Joe and Cliff. Again, I say thank goodness for Glenn. It wasn't a very sharp affair with both teams out of the gate pretty slowly. The difference were Glenn's darts (an R-4 and an R-6) and his ability to hit the closing bullseyes. We took the first. In the second game it was Frank's turn to catch fire. He followed Glenn's 3 20s with a T-20 and a T-19. Score it R-6. Then in his next turn, he would trip the 18s and the 17s. Score it another R-6. Glenn would add an R-6 of his own. The 'Bags rolled. The third game was tougher. Joe T started with a 20 and an 18. Glenn hit two 20s in reply. Then the game was changed by Cliff's big T-20 and T-18 (R-6). But the 'Bags started on the comeback trail. R-4 for Frank. R-5 for Glenn. R-6 for Frank. And like that, we were winning again. We would zip it up to take the complete the sweep. Five R-6s scored and a number of R-5 rounds as well. Easily some of the best darts all year and we were back in it. 7-8.

It was Vince'nTim vs. James and Liam in the 2nd set. James and Liam were tough. James tossed an R-7 and Liam an R-6 along the way. Vince threw some bombs as well, and Tim had his moments, but it wasn't enough. The 'Bags won one and lost a pair of close ones. 8-10.

On to double '01. The 'Bags sent out Vince and Glenn against Joe and James. More strong play from the Fitzgeralds. The 'Bags dropped the first two, before the good guys rallied in game 3 and Pike sunk a big D-4 to salvage point. 9-12.

FrankenTim closed the evenings proceedings against Liam and Cliff. Both teams got out of the gate slowly.When they finally got on the board, the 'Bags used steady, unspectacular darts to grind out a win (D-2). In game 2, the 'Bags opened a big lead and held on by hitting a D-5 to win another one. In game 3, Liam, who is an intense competitor, went in on a Ton. But the 'Bags followed with a an in of 75 and we had ourselves a dartmatch. Somehow, Frank managed to turn a 32 out into a 5. But thankfully cleaned up his own mess with a 2, D-1 to end the night on a good note. Solid, unspectacular darts was the theme in this one. But the Captain, who has had his share of stinkers, was going in and out more than Wilt Chamberlain at a Miss USA afterparty. We'll take it.

It added up to a 12-12 tie against the first place team, the same team that crushed their opponents 22-2 last week. So be it.

Frank who earlier in the day battled a shakey stomach and dehydration, seemed to have a bit more color in face.

Gins: You look better.

Frank: Yeah, I didn't get to eat dinner so I had a couple Guinness. I feel better.

Gins: I think the moral of the story is, "Drinking is good".

Well said, Ginsberg.

Liam was quite candid and complimentary after the night.

Liam: You guys surprised us tonight. You were 22 back in the standings... We didn't expect you to come out the way you did.

Look, there's no arguing with the inescapable logic of Bill Parcells; "You are what record says you are." But what you CAN be is another matter entirely. This team is capable of a lot more.

A hell of a lot more.

You get the sense that the pistons are starting to fire. The machine is rumbling to life. The next two weeks should be interesting. We could backslide into what only the most generous of us would call mediocrity or we could begin to hit our stride and launch our "Viking Raids" on the dart bars of New York as we did in the past. Yes. You are what your record says you are. It should be very interesting.

But Monday night at Fitzerald's, a light was turned on.

It's getting brighter.

ASP Recap:

Pike: 719
Frank: 680
Vince: 412
Tim: 333

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home