Tuesday, October 02, 2007

WRITE UP FOR WEEK #3: GETTING BACK TO OUR 'ROOTS

'Bags Roll 16-8
CAPTAIN'S LOG: DART DATE: 08 - 01 - 07


St. Mark's Place, Greenwich Village. More tattoos, piercings and Valtrex customers per square foot than any patch of land on the Eastern seaboard. Grassroots Tavern stands out like an oasis. A lone representative of a time when St. Mark's Place was not a carnival of exhibitionism and bad taste, but a gritty working class block in New York City. Two dollar beers. Saw dust on the floor. Dart boards. Old School.

The Dartbags were on hand to play Flight Risk. It was a good turn out for the George Keeley crew. Tim, Gins, Pike, Cup, Vince as well as a surprise appearance by our own Farticus and our friend, Gemma. We took our places at the rustic tables in the back room to enjoy the darts, $13 pitchers of Brooklyn (Phillies?) Pennant Ale, and one another's company.

On to darts.

But first, a comic prelude with a misunderstanding worthy of Three's Company (if Three's Company were rated R). Frank used the restroom and went to wash up afterward. But the soap wouldn't come out. It was one of those dispensers that looks like almost like a cow utter. The liquid is contained in a plastic bulb. There is a nozzle that hangs down at the bottom of it. You press upward on that nozzle with your palm and the soap is supposed to release onto your hand.

So I'm pressing up, but the pressure of my hand that moves the nozzle is also blocking the outflow. (An inherent design flaw. I've always thought the guy who designed this product was either an idiot or practical joker.) Still no soap. So the Captain gets the bright idea to squeeze the plastic container in hopes of creating some pressure. He squeezes the dispenser with his right hand and presses up on the nozzle with his left and ---

SPLAT!!!!

Too much pressure! The next thing Frank knows he's hit with a gush of milky white soap. It's on his hands. It's all over his arm. Some is on his chest. And he even caught some splatter on his trademark glasses. Now Frank is no Senator. And he's no pop star either. But this doesn't look good. He's standing in a rather run down bathroom... in the Village... on St. Mark's Place... with a handful of liquid white soap that's spattered all over him.

One second later, the door opens and this Marilyn Manson lookalike walks in. Frank turns around and they just look at each other. Marilyn looks at his face. Then down at his hands. Then back to the face. Frank opens his mouth to say something.

Frank: Uh...

And with that, Marilyn looks straight down and continues past him to the urinals. Frank wipes the soap off himself the best he can -- which smelled deliciously like marzipan by the way! -- laughs in spite of himself, and goes out to take on Damien Bishop in singles...

SINGLES: 7 - 5

Frank vs. Damien. Pike wasn't there, so the Captain led off. He took the first when Bish couldn't get it going. In the second game the Captain cruised out to a nice lead with a Ton, T-25 back to back. But then busted on 76. And then he missed his 40 out next round. And then he missed his 20 out. And Damien, who had quietly been closing in, took it out in the 10th round. Larceny. But the Captain rallied in the final frame to hit the 9 rounds. So be it. 2-1 'Bags.

It was Vince vs. John Yale in the second set. Both men started out slowly. Breakfast, 41, Blackjack. Six rounds in and still in the 300s.

Frank (to Glenn): "Let's see who wants to win this one."

And as if on cue, Vince popped a Ton-32. He followed that with 85 more. And two rounds later he was gone. Nice darts. But John kicked it into gear in the 2nd leg. He hit a Ton, and soon followed that with a fat Ton-80 (to which he got a round of applause from both teams). Top notch. And the pair were tied. Both players shot well in the 3rd game, but it was John taking it in 8 rounds.

Gotta tip your cap. 3 -3

Cuppa Joe vs. Scott DePalma. Cuppa had been chomping at the bit every since last week. And he tore into it like a dog let off a leash. Joey Pep lived up to his (74th) nickname by peppering the 19s. He popped a 97 and 95 en route to a crisp W in game one taking out a D-7, first dart. In game 2, he peppered two more 95s, including his first turn. He turned a D-10 into a D-5. D-5s are the bane of many dart players, because it's such a short trip from D-5 to XX. But Cup is different than most players.

Glenn: "First dart, guy. Cup loves D-5."

True to form. First dart, spot on.

It was Scott, pulling out the final point in a comeback squeaker. Sharp darts from Cuppa. 382 ASPs and he hit his doubles first dart each time. 5-4 'Bags

Glenn vs. Jim Stratton. Piker isn't used to batting clean up. We usually like to lead him off. He responded with an unremarkable win in game 1. (10 rounds, I think). In game 2, Jim channeled his best darts. He popped a Ton and followed that with a Ton-34 to put himself on 20. Two darts later, he was gone. Just goes to show, no lead is safe in 501. But Glenn collected himself and came out gunning in round 3. He popped a number of 70/80-Somethings and T-33 en route to a 9 rounder. Two more for the 'Bags 7-5 headed to Cricket

CRICKET: 4-2

FrankenVince took on John and Tom Ryan in cricket. Both stumbled out of the gate. Frank remaned dreadful for most of the match. But Vince picked up the slack. It was the Hornet's nest closing out, popping 4 and 5 at a time and carrying the squad to a first game win. The Bags had a lead in game two. In game two, John started with 4 and Grassroots kept up the pressure, with John popping two R-6s. Frank was inconsistent and Vince's good darts were'nt enough this time. The 'Bags took it on the chin. The 'Bags went down early in the final frame but made a stand on 18s when Frank hit 5. Grassroots popped 20s to go back up in points. Vince also hit 2 18s to put the 'Bags up, and the Point War was on. We needed one 20 to close and we needed 3 19s. They were up in points but had only 1 mark on the 18s. Tom hit a 20. Then missed. He ask John what to do next. Point on 20s, would be the expected answers... but no.

John: "Just give me one 18."

Huh? "Gimme one." Why just one? Why not get the points while you can? It was of course a completely innocuous comment. (Or was it?) Regardless, it woke up Captain Furious who interpreted it as an unintended slight of his 18-hitting abilities. He channeled his bottomless well of rage and popped 4 18s and closed 20s. Vince promptly tripped the 19s. Frank followed with an R-7. And a couple rounds later they were gone. Frank. And Vince. At their best when they're p*ssed off. 9-6.

Glenn and Cup vs. Scott and Bish in Cricket. The 'Bags roared out of the gate. With Glenn and Cup each hitting 4 marks at a time on 20s and 19s. It was the 'Bags coasting to victory 4 marks a time with IYH Pike hitting a pair of single corks to seal it. Game two was more of the same. The 'Bags had everything closed and were up 60+ points with no bulls hit yet.

Glenn: "Guy...you can hit another 17 puts us up another bull....."

Cup: "Guy, I'm just gonna go right after it -"

Glenn: "- yeah guy."

First dart, double-bull. Second dart, double-bull. Overkill...but the message was clear. Game over, in inspired fashion. Game 3 would be remarkable.

The 'roots came out smoking in game 3, on the back of an R-5 from Scott and an R-7 from Damien; 7 x 18s. The Grassroots gang had closed out 20, 19, 18 and had a mark on 17, and were also up 40 points. Cuppaglenn on the other hand had nothing closed at all. Nada. They were in a hole as big as The Grand Canyon, having hit only a 19 and a 20.

But they didn't quit. In fact, they dug in deeper, and fought harder. Cup was fired up, looked at IYH and said "you can't count us out, guy...long game" (remember the 'bull-run'). Cool-hand-Pike simply stepped up and responded with 5 17s to put the 'Bags up in points. The trench was dug.

Cup followed with 5 16s of his own. Flight Risk responded by battering the 20s. The tide was beginning to turn, however. Cup closed 19s. The other team tried to point, but didn't hit as hard as they wanted to, and were only up a few. Cup got us up again, just enough to set up 'cool-hand'. The Guy nails a trip-20 first dart. Then he pumped two in the 18s for the close. It came down to bulls or pointing. Learning from game 2, Pike told Cup to ignore the 16s and just go for the win. (Just call him "Glenn Close"). Cup went single bull, single bull.. double bull (though he only needed one) to slam the door and take what had to be one of the best cricket comebacks in Dartbags history.

A-1 quality stuff. They needed it in that last game. BIG sweep.

12-6 'bags.

DOUBLE '01: 4-2

Team Anger, Vince and Frank, took on Jim and Tom in doubles. It was Vince with a quick on and solid darts all the way down. 8 Rounds later we had a W. Frank got them in in game 2, and the 'Bags again raced out to a big lead. They cruised to a second 2nd win. Game 3 was more of the same. This time both teams got in quickly and Flight Risk pulled out to a lead. But Frank popped back to back Tons, and the 'Bags regained the upper hand. Sitting on 40. Frank missed high, missed high and then - Bang! He turned and politely shook hand with the other team. It was only after he got to the board that John said to him...

John: It was high.

Sh*t. Caught the damn wire. Coulda sworn it was in, but yet it was a case of Premature Articulation. Embarrassing. The game would turn out to be nailbiter with both teams sitting on 20. Then Frank turned his 20 out, into a 14 out. (Ugh.) But when G'Roots missed their shot, Vince came up with the clutch D-7 on his 3rd dart to pull the fat out of the fire. Whew! A sweep fo the 'Bags. 15-6

Cup and Glenn played John and Scott for the final set of the evening. Cup announced his presence with authority in game one , by sticking a 107-On. Piker took it out and were up 16-6. But John (who shot great all night long) and Scott who played his best darts of the night were tough. Both sides got in quickly in game 2. It was Flight Risk pulling out a close one. In game 3, the play wasn't quite as crisp. The old ODC again, I think. John and Scott got out in 9 turns to take the final point and end a very good day on a (slightly) sour note.

FINAL SCORE: DARTBAGS - 16: FLIGHT RISK - 8

This was a nice win for the 'Bags. The last time we faced this crew it was in A-2 at our place. They crushed us. (John was kind enough to remind us of this fact as we said goodbye for the evening, "Oh, I remember your bar... in fact we beat you there last time.") Yes. Yes, you did. We remember too. It was quite embarrassing. Of course, they had Omer at the time. Which helps. But we will look forward to seeing them on the Upper West later on and returning the hospitality that Jim (owner of Grassroots) was gracious enough to provide for us.

In the meantime, we'll see if this win is enough to boost the 'Bags to first place.

The streak is at 13 matches now. All the guys went at least 6/9. Kudos.

All Star Recap:

Frank - 785 (remains en fuego)
Cup - 587 (add a double-fisted-wall-punch...ouch)
Pike -377 (cool-hand-pike, surgical in cricket)
Vince -132 (inspired darts from the hornet's nest)

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