Escape From McSwiggan's! Starring Koyaaniskalstein
CAPTAIN'S LOG: DART DATE: 3 - 31 - 08
Riding high off a 15-9 start to the season, the first place Dartbags' (Most Drinkin'est and Friendliest Dart Team in NYC TM) 2nd match was more like an escape than a full on battle for points.
Due a bizarre series of events (much like the ones that befell the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant's ringers in their battle against Shelbyville) only 2 of the "George Keeley 7" were armed and ready.
In fact, Colin "The Microwave" O'Donnell was temporarily replaced on the roster by another old friend, Koyaaniskalstein (eat your heart out, Seal, Bono & Madonna), just so that we wouldn't play with 2 guys to start the night.
The infamous Koyaaniskalstein is not an A League dart player. In fact, he's not a dart player. But the fact is, he doesn't suck. And he was willing to help out in a pinch. He would play a pivotal role in the night before it was over.
SINGLES: 3-9
Some call it being a sacrificial lamb. Rambo called it being "Expendable". Our shorthand is "diving on a grenade". It means helping the team by playing a far superior opponent in order to give another player a better chance of getting points. That's what Koyaaniskalstein did in going first against Dave Strome.
And it was a gustsy, if not pretty effort by Koyaaniskalstein. Dave wracked up 299 ASPs. Koyaaniskalstein hung in and even managed a sweet 108 round to score some all star points of his own. But in the end. The highly skilled veteran was too much. He swept, with Koyaaniskalstein getting as low as 74 in one game.
Gutty effort, pal. We owe you one. 0-3
Next, Frank took on Hal Von Brockdorff. Frank and Hal have played each other a number of times. It's always close. Hal, sporting a Beltran jersey for Mets opening day, roared out off the box like Jose Reyes after a liner in the gap -- Ton-40 and Ton on his first two rounds and an 85 after that. Frank made it close but dropped the first. In the 2nd game it was the Captain hung closer and pulled out a double 2 winner to steal it. The final game was a well played affair with Frank going out in 24 darts to take the rubber match.
Whew. 2-4.
In the third set, it was Vince against Patricia, who still is a nasty dart player. And we mean that in a good way. Vince dropped the first in a listless affair, but in true Hornet's Nest fashion, Vince came out firing with an angry Ton to start the second and cruised to a victory. The last set was one in which both had their chances, in the end it was Pat nailing it first. 3-6
With Gins at MSG watching the Rangers beat the Penguin, it was on to cricket.
CRICKET 1 -5
Vince and Frank decided the only logical thing to do was team up in cricket, putting Koyaaniskalstein in the unenviable spot not only of playing darts for the first time in league, not only debuting in A-2, but of playing cricket Canadian.
Frank and Vince dropped the first against Hal and Ed in a close game. In the second game, the 'Bags got out to a lead on the strength of some R-4s from Vince. But the 15s and 16s seemed to have a forcefield around them, and Frank committed 2 mental errors by trying to point on a closed number and failing to use a third dart to close a number. Not good. They dropped the 2nd game. Vince took out his frustration on the 18s by throwing 6 of them and adding a 15 to make an R-7. The 'Bags kicked into gear and rolled to a W in the final game.
It was Koyaaniskalstein's turn to play 1 on 2 against Dave and Pat in cricket. Everyone knew he wasn't going to win. And he didn't. But this match had another, greater importance for the 'Bags. We had agreed with Captain Ed that if Ginsberg made it to the bar before the end of cricket, that we would go back and play his singles matches. So we didn't need Koyaaniskalstein to win. We just needed him to play. Slowly.
Because the Rangers just went in to overtime.
Dave and Pat made short work of him, with Dave popping a pair of R-7s. But as Three Penny Opera hit their last 15 and their first cork, in through the door walked an out of breath but smiling Mike Ginsberg.
Gins: Chris Drury. (pause) Overtime. (pause) Mr. Clutch (pause)... I had to run the last 5 blocks.
And much like Aragorn, who led the Gondor Army to the gates of Baradur in order to give Frodo time to destory the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom... Koyaaniskalstein had done his heroic duty.
Gins played Ed and put up a good fight. In the final game, sitting on 32, he went around the horn going 16, 8, 4... just missing each time. But the veteran, Ed made his first. Another valiant effort. We were proud of him.
Gins: I would have liked to have gotten one of those points... At least the Rangers won.
DOUBLES '01
Trailing 14-4, the 'Bags were on the brink of disaster. With Frank and Vince managing to only take 4 of 9 so far, our chances of a respectable result were dwindling.
The 'Bags had played in conservatively so far and it was the right thing to do.
But the Dartbags have always subscribed to the of philosophy of Virgil; "Fortune favors the bold." Vince and Frank deliberated.
Vince: You and me again?
Frank: Let's split up. We need points.
Vince: It's risky. Losing 20-4 would crush us. Put us in last place.
Riding high off a 15-9 start to the season, the first place Dartbags' (Most Drinkin'est and Friendliest Dart Team in NYC TM) 2nd match was more like an escape than a full on battle for points.
Due a bizarre series of events (much like the ones that befell the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant's ringers in their battle against Shelbyville) only 2 of the "George Keeley 7" were armed and ready.
In fact, Colin "The Microwave" O'Donnell was temporarily replaced on the roster by another old friend, Koyaaniskalstein (eat your heart out, Seal, Bono & Madonna), just so that we wouldn't play with 2 guys to start the night.
The infamous Koyaaniskalstein is not an A League dart player. In fact, he's not a dart player. But the fact is, he doesn't suck. And he was willing to help out in a pinch. He would play a pivotal role in the night before it was over.
SINGLES: 3-9
Some call it being a sacrificial lamb. Rambo called it being "Expendable". Our shorthand is "diving on a grenade". It means helping the team by playing a far superior opponent in order to give another player a better chance of getting points. That's what Koyaaniskalstein did in going first against Dave Strome.
And it was a gustsy, if not pretty effort by Koyaaniskalstein. Dave wracked up 299 ASPs. Koyaaniskalstein hung in and even managed a sweet 108 round to score some all star points of his own. But in the end. The highly skilled veteran was too much. He swept, with Koyaaniskalstein getting as low as 74 in one game.
Gutty effort, pal. We owe you one. 0-3
Next, Frank took on Hal Von Brockdorff. Frank and Hal have played each other a number of times. It's always close. Hal, sporting a Beltran jersey for Mets opening day, roared out off the box like Jose Reyes after a liner in the gap -- Ton-40 and Ton on his first two rounds and an 85 after that. Frank made it close but dropped the first. In the 2nd game it was the Captain hung closer and pulled out a double 2 winner to steal it. The final game was a well played affair with Frank going out in 24 darts to take the rubber match.
Whew. 2-4.
In the third set, it was Vince against Patricia, who still is a nasty dart player. And we mean that in a good way. Vince dropped the first in a listless affair, but in true Hornet's Nest fashion, Vince came out firing with an angry Ton to start the second and cruised to a victory. The last set was one in which both had their chances, in the end it was Pat nailing it first. 3-6
With Gins at MSG watching the Rangers beat the Penguin, it was on to cricket.
CRICKET 1 -5
Vince and Frank decided the only logical thing to do was team up in cricket, putting Koyaaniskalstein in the unenviable spot not only of playing darts for the first time in league, not only debuting in A-2, but of playing cricket Canadian.
Frank and Vince dropped the first against Hal and Ed in a close game. In the second game, the 'Bags got out to a lead on the strength of some R-4s from Vince. But the 15s and 16s seemed to have a forcefield around them, and Frank committed 2 mental errors by trying to point on a closed number and failing to use a third dart to close a number. Not good. They dropped the 2nd game. Vince took out his frustration on the 18s by throwing 6 of them and adding a 15 to make an R-7. The 'Bags kicked into gear and rolled to a W in the final game.
It was Koyaaniskalstein's turn to play 1 on 2 against Dave and Pat in cricket. Everyone knew he wasn't going to win. And he didn't. But this match had another, greater importance for the 'Bags. We had agreed with Captain Ed that if Ginsberg made it to the bar before the end of cricket, that we would go back and play his singles matches. So we didn't need Koyaaniskalstein to win. We just needed him to play. Slowly.
Because the Rangers just went in to overtime.
Dave and Pat made short work of him, with Dave popping a pair of R-7s. But as Three Penny Opera hit their last 15 and their first cork, in through the door walked an out of breath but smiling Mike Ginsberg.
Gins: Chris Drury. (pause) Overtime. (pause) Mr. Clutch (pause)... I had to run the last 5 blocks.
And much like Aragorn, who led the Gondor Army to the gates of Baradur in order to give Frodo time to destory the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom... Koyaaniskalstein had done his heroic duty.
Gins played Ed and put up a good fight. In the final game, sitting on 32, he went around the horn going 16, 8, 4... just missing each time. But the veteran, Ed made his first. Another valiant effort. We were proud of him.
Gins: I would have liked to have gotten one of those points... At least the Rangers won.
DOUBLES '01
Trailing 14-4, the 'Bags were on the brink of disaster. With Frank and Vince managing to only take 4 of 9 so far, our chances of a respectable result were dwindling.
The 'Bags had played in conservatively so far and it was the right thing to do.
But the Dartbags have always subscribed to the of philosophy of Virgil; "Fortune favors the bold." Vince and Frank deliberated.
Vince: You and me again?
Frank: Let's split up. We need points.
Vince: It's risky. Losing 20-4 would crush us. Put us in last place.
Frank: Yeah, but we could get 6. C'mon, guy... we could be heroes.
Vince got it.
Vince: Just for one night? ... Okay, you talked me into it.It was Koyaanisfrankenstein vs. Dave and Pat in the first set.
Koyaaniskalstein: I just want to taste victory once in my dart career.
Franken'Stein (Man, I've been waiting for YEARS to write that one!) would face off against David and Patricia. Let it be said that Koyaaniskalstein did more than "dive on a grenade" for the team and act as a human rain delay this night, he also showed an uncanny ability to double in 'O1.
Frank missed his first shot but Koyaaniskalstein nailed a D-6 on his second dart, and then, aiming for bull, nailed a cork. (Nice.) The 'Bags extended the lead and Frank took out an 18 (9, 1, D-4) to win a nailbiter.
Koyaaniskalstein AGAIN doubled in on D-6 to get the 'Bags on the board. Trailing most of the match, the Captain caught lightning in a bottle and popped a Ton-80 to leave the 'Bags on 28. Koyaaniskalstein wired the hell out of the D-14 and D-7, and Frank punched it in to steal the second leg.
The last leg ended with the 'Bags racing out to a big lead and red-hot Furious One taking out a 108 (20, -T-16, D-20) to score the final point and complete the sweep. Three huge points against some very tough players.
The last leg ended with the 'Bags racing out to a big lead and red-hot Furious One taking out a 108 (20, -T-16, D-20) to score the final point and complete the sweep. Three huge points against some very tough players.
Wow.
That's more than a taste of victory for Koyaaniskalstein. That's a Super Sized Happy Meal. 6-14.
The old Scarsdale Track teammates, Vince and Gins took on Hal and Ed in the final set of the night. The 'Bags got on a little late in the first game and a good comeback attempt fell short. But Vince led the charge in game two with a Ton and Gins (who chipped in with a couple of 70+ rounds in the set) sunk a double 8 to nail down the second game. Hal and Ed rebounded to take the rubber match.
Vince and I agreed that the goal was to each win a point. We did that and then some, taking 4 and turning what could have been a fiasco into a 8-16 loss. The result being a respectable 23 points after two weeks, with the squad yet to field its best team.
Fortune favors the bold.
It wasn't a big night for points. But we never quit and we rallied around each other. And we welcomed a new Dartbag into the fold. In short... it was a good night after all.
We'll take it.
FINAL SCORE: DARTBAGS - 8 - THREE PENNY OPERA -16
Kudos to Three Penny Opera who were gracious hosts and good company all night long.
ASP Recap:
Frank: 783
Vince: 340
Koyaaniskalstein: 108
Gins: ... GO, RANGERS!!!!
Labels: dartbags nydo captain furious, George Keeley, Ginsberg, Hornet's Nest, kevin kalstein, Ton 80
posted by Captain Furious at 12:27 AM
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