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Oh dear! I never thought the
day would come when I would be saying thank-you to
Pro Life, but how can I possibly ignore the praise
he heaped upon me in his ‘comparison’
of the two World Championships in the March issue?
For those who didn’t
see it, this is what he wrote:
“I take my hat off to
Mr.George. He really did impress when giving his opinions
of Glenn Moody, Ted Hankey and bad games…He
was truthful and blunt…Gets my vote as the most
improved studio man at either event….”
This is not an April Fool’s
gag. Honest! This is from the pen of someone who has
never to my knowledge said a good word about me. Now
he’s said several!
Thank you, Mr.Pro Life whoever
you are. I have always been man enough to take criticism,
so I am also man enough to take a compliment when
it comes my way.
I suspect it is only a blip,
but despite his claims, he was very biased about practically
everything else he wrote in that article, which sadly
was very misleading and Mickey Mouse in content.
When darts was the most watched
sport outside of football in January, why does someone
within our own sport choose to spoil it?
Yes, I am truthful and blunt.
Always have been and always will be. It comes from
my old man. But I prefer to describe myself as being
honest and telling it the way it is.
The
unbiased truth is that both Championships had good
games and bad games. Good averages and bad averages.
But, at the end of the day they provided hours of
televised darts on terrestrial and satellite TV and
were good for our players, our officials, our sponsors
and our sport.
Why not celebrate that rather
than criticise it? I don’t need to be marked
out of 10 and neither does anything else. We are not
talking about realty shows here, but proper sport
– OUR SPORT!
THAT’S
NOT THE WAY TO CRITICISE IT!
Here’s something else
everyone will think is an April Fool’s gag –
I recently went to Sainsbury’s in Norwich and
raced round the store like Linford Christie (only
with a better lunchbox and no help from drugs)!
No, I wasn’t doing the
monthly ‘shop’ with Marie (I never have!),
but doing a trolley dash in aid of Sports Relief.
Sainsbury’s challenged
everyone to do something different for Sports Relief,
so I took up the challenge and, in the space of a
couple of minutes crammed £2,000 worth of groceries
into my trolley!
And what a mess I made doing
it (see photo’s)!
I had to laugh when right in
the middle of shoving everything from baked beans
to biscuits into my overflowing trolley, a little
old lady who must have been 80, managed to get past
Sainsbury’s staff and everyone watching with
her pull along shopping bag.
She looked at me as I took
a short ‘breather’ and said: ‘My
goodness, you are a very messy shopper!”
Laugh? I nearly dropped my
wallet in shock!!!
It was great fun, and I would
like to thank Sainsbury’s and all their staff
in Norwich for letting me loose in their store.
I think the manager has been
traumatised ever since. Apparently most people who
are given the trolley-dash challenge end up with around
£500 of groceries when they go through the checkout.
I managed to wreck the store
and a trolley filled with two grand of groceries was
a bit of a shock!
Still, even though I was cream-crackered
at the end of it all, Sports Relief are very happy
with the donation.
THAT’S THE WAY TO SPORTS
RELIEF IT!
Hope you all did your bit for
Sports Relief last month? As well as my Sainsbury’s
trolley dash, I also took part in the Ipswich Mile
alongside another darts ‘legend’ Keith
Deller.
It
was great fun starting off with so many enthusiastic
runners from Portman Road, home of Ipswich FC, but
it was far more tiring than the sprint around Sainsbury’s
– even though I was in great shape.
Mind you, it was all in a good
cause and everyone had a great time.
THAT’S THE WAY TO RUN
IT!
Staying with good causes, I
was delighted to support the recent Pali Poker charity
evening at London’s Café Royal (I’ve
been there so many times that the staff all know me
and probably think I work there!).
Anyway, the night was devoted
to raising money for the Richard House Hospice, which
is dedicated to looking after children and young people
with cancer, and I am delighted to say that the record
breaking donation of £16,000 from the poker
evening will pay the wages of a specialist nurse for
a year.
The wonderful people who run
Richard House and the many other hospices throughout
the country, should be funded by Government, the Lottery
or some other national body, but sadly they are aren’t
and so they have to depend on supporters like Pali
Poker.
I am delighted to say that
the raffle and darts alone contributed £2,155
to the overall pot, and I was more than happy to donate
£500.
My congratulations to Patrick
Egan, Chief Operating Officer at Pali International
Ltd for devoting the evening to Richard House, and
also to Hywel Probert and all the dedicated staff
at Richard House for everything they do for the children
and young people in their care.
THAT’S THE WAY TO DO
IT!
It’s a busy month for
the England Darts Organisation with the BDO British
Internationals in Scotland over the weekend of April
5th and 6th, and the first ever England Open under
the EDO banner from April 11th to 13th.
England go to the Normandy
Cosmopolitan Hotel in Renfrew still smarting from
their defeat in the Six Nations Cup by Wales, but
they do have a strong record in the Internationals
because the men are unbeaten since 2001 and the ladies
since 1999.
They will both make big scalps
for host nation Scotland or the in-form Welsh team.
Although I am slightly biased in favour of England,
the Internationals always produce great darts and
excitement, so may the best team win!
THAT’S
THE WAY TO INTERNATIONAL IT!
I will be hosting the EDO’s
England Open, which is being sponsored by Bunn Leisure
and played at their park in Selsey, West Sussex.
Little Richard Ashdown is the
MC/referee for the weekend and the two England captains,
Martin Adams and Trina Gulliver will be doing darts
exhibitions.
To help swell the EDO coffers,
I will be playing two Legs With Bobby featuring a
man and woman picked from the audience, so start practising
now!
With over £15,000 in
prize money, the winners of the Men’s and Women’s
Singles will pick up a very handy two grand each!
The Men’s Pairs, Women’s
Pairs and Mixed Pairs all have top prozes of £500
each, and the youngsters will have a share of £200
in holiday vouchers.
It’s a lovely mix of
serious and ‘fun’ darts for all the family
and I look forward to seeing you all there.
THAT’S THE WAY TO ENGLAND
IT!
Must tell you a story that
is ideal as an April Fools gag….In 2002 on a
trip to Ireland I came across a Leprechaun at the
end of a rainbow. He told me that I could have a pot
of gold, but when I told him I had enough bling, he
offered to grant me any wish I wanted.
Well, I told him that I wanted
a four foor Dick with a good head, and I ended up
with Little Richard Ashdown!
THAT’S
THE WAY TO APRIL FOOL IT!
There was lots of fun to be had at the Seacroft Holiday
Village at Hemsby a few weeks ago. I was invited there,
along with Trina Gulliver, by Isle-of-Wight Tours
and the whole weekend was for the NPTSA (the National
Passenger Transport Sports Association) and it turned
out to be a great weekend of darts, fun and meeting
lots of lovely people (see photo).
Special thanks to Shirley Winn,
Managing Director of Isle of Wight tours, not only
for looking after us so well and supporting darts,
but also for being a lovely lady.
THAT’S THE WAY TO ISLE-OF-WIGHT
TOURS IT!
Which brings me to the end
of yet another busy and varied column. Be lucky and
May The Darts Be With You.
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