| Would
you believe it? This is my last column of 2007 already!
How time flies when you are enjoying yourself!!
I
know I probably said the same thing last year, but
before you know it, it will be Xmas again…..and
it is!
Not
that it makes much difference at George Hall, because
every day of the year is Xmas! Eat, drink and be merry!
Mind
you, December is a memorable – and expensive
month – for the George family. First up, young
Robert (not so young any more) will be 20 years-young
on the 12th, I am an ever youthful 62 on the 16th
and Richie is 18 on the 18th!
That
means we will be partying from the 12th to the 25th
and beyond!!
THAT’S
THE WAY TO CELEBRATE IT!
On
the subject of celebrations, I went and did the Club
Mirror Awards in Manchester with Jim Bowen and Tony
Green recently.
It
was what Jim would describe as a Smashing, Super,Luvverly,
Jubberly night as we entertained everyone with a very
special version of Bullseye. As you will see from
the photo, Jim was as happy as ever, and Tony is in
real need of a good ironing!
Me?
I’m a tribute to botox and superglue (mind you,
I was only 61 at the time!).
Anyway,
I went all the way to Manchester, had a lovely meal
and threw 9 darts. The best 9-darter I’ve ever
scored!
Alan
Dedicoat, who you will all know as ‘The Voice
of the Balls’ (hope that doesn’t sound
too rude!) on the National Lottery Show on TV, actually
did the voice-overs for the show , and what a nice
bloke he is!
Without
being rude, he’s one of those geezers whose
voice is better than he looks. You know what I mean?
He’s like all those radio presenters who look
good on the radio! Think of Steve Wright and you’ll
know what I mean.
Alan
could be Ken Dodd’s brother and, to use a painful
pun, he is certainly Dedicoated to his job! Ouch!!
I
asked for a bit of advice on doing my lottery numbers.
‘Don’t do birthdays and anniversaries’,
he told me. ‘Don’t put all your numbers
across the ticket, or down the ticket. Don’t
make them too high or too low’.
In
other words, don’t bother having a go at all,
I said to him. ‘You’ve got it, Bobby’
said the voice of the balls, with a big wink!
THAT’S
THE WAY NOT TO LOTTERY IT!
Anyway,
back to the Bullseye part of the show. The climax
was for me to ask the lady who managed to get to the
‘Mystery Star Prize’ bit of the evening,
to answer a simple question and then score 101 between
us with just 6 darts.
First
of all the question: ‘Can you tell me how many
people were on The Titanic when it sank, and give
me their names and addresses?’ Her face was
an absolute picture and I swear that Jim Bowen broke
into a smile (but it was probably a bit of wind!).
Anyway,
after I told her that I was pulling her leg, I invited
here to throw first. ‘Ladies first, Doll’
I said. ’Just throw at the middle of the board
and do your best’.
Well,
she stood on the oche and hit two single 19’s
followed by treble 19! All I had to do was go up and
throw one dart. What a doddle of a night it was for
me!
The
Star Prize? In keeping with Bullseye we couldn’t
quite manage a speedboat, so she had to settle with
a mini-cruise from Southend to Canvey Island!!
THAT’S
THE WAY TO BULLSEYE IT!
It’s
been another busy month and although I didn’t
go on that mini-cruise I did fly to Holland for the
Zeeland Open (see photo).
It
was a real fun weekend, and my first ‘opponent’
was a lovely little baby named Rody (see photo). Although
I was invited as a guest, I ended up playing in the
tournament and found myself in the final against local
hero Braulio Roncero (a Spaniard who has live in Holland
for over 20 years).
It
was a ‘revenge’ match for him, because
the last time we met was on January 5th, 1998, when
I beat him 3-1 in the First Round of the Embassy at
Lakeside.
We
all had loads of fun this time round and though I
don’t think the Zeeland Open will ever be ranked,
I had a marvellous time and the proceeds went to the
Red Cross.
THAT’S THE WAY TO DO IT!
Cyprus
was really great and Marie and I met some wonderful
people – not least of all a Welshman by the
name of Jason Tucker, who worked as a horse trainer,
and who I nicknamed Jason Little Tucker (not sure
if I’ve spelt that right!).
Jason
is one of those people who gets everywhere and does
everything. He won the darts tournament every day
(I didn’t play); he entered the dancing competition,
the singing competition and even the drag competition
(I didn’t enter!).
No
matter where we went in the hotel, Little Tucker was
there!
One
night, just to escape, I even agreed to go to bingo
with Marie and, guess what, he was there calling out
the numbers! I wouldn’t mind, but we didn’t
win!
Don’t
get me wrong, Little Tucker is a lovely bloke, but
he’s a bit like Little Richard Ashdown –
game for anything and talented with it!
THAT’S
THE WAY TO TUCKER IT!
Marie
did warn me that Cyprus is hotter than Colchester,
but I didn’t realise how hot until my first
day on the beach.
I
slapped on the suntan cream, put on a t-shirt, and
even kept my trousers on. But I made a huge mistake
by wearing a pair of ‘Crocs’ (the lightweight
plastic shoes with holes in them) without socks!
I
was in the shade but my feet must have been in the
sun, because when I took the Crocs off, each foot
was covered in bright red patches!
It
looked as though someone had stubbed out dozens of
cigarettes on my feet! Marie thought it was funny
to see me hobbling around, but the pain was no joke
I can tell you.
There
can’t be a worse place to get sunburned. Well,
there probably is another, but that only ever comes
out in the dark nowadays!!
THAT’STHE
WAY TO SUNBURN IT!
I
must admit that I am not really a holiday person.
I get bored too easily. For example, when I sat on
the beach all I could think of when I looked at all
that sand was ‘when is the cement coming’.
I put it down to having spent too many years in the
building trade.
I
did try reading, but when someone lent me a copy of
John Lowe’s book I was snoring my head off after
three pages! Apparently, that was a hotel record.
No one had ever got further than page 2 before!
THAT’S
THE WAY TO READ IT!
This
reminds me of a visit by Jehovah’s Witnesses
to George Hall recently. Marie knows how I feel about
people ‘selling’ religion or anything
else at the front door, but when she saw them she
asked me to be nice to them.
Before
I go any further, can I make it clear that I have
nothing against any religion – especially at
this time of the year – so when I went to the
door I invited them in for a cup of tea and a chat.
There
were about half a dozen and they followed me into
the kitchen and sat down with puzzled looks on their
faces. As Marie handed the cups of tea around I said:
‘Right, what shall we do now?’ And they
looked at me and replied: ‘We don’t know.
We’ve never got this far before!’
THAT’S
THE WAY TO WITNESS IT!
I
went to open a very unusual bar recently in Ipswich.
It was at the home of darts fanatic Russell Leeburn
and his wife Jane. They named it ‘The Dunfermline
Bar’ and invited me along to celebrate the 25th
birthday of their son, Robin (they also have two other
children, Alice and globetrotter Jeremy.
Russell
is an orthodontist by profession and certainly likes
to get his teeth into darts – much preferring
BBC TV coverage to anything else, which is why he
wanted me to do the ‘honours’.
Cheers,
Russell and family. Here’s to many happy nights
in the Dunfermline Bar watching darts on BBC.
THAT’S
THE WAY TO WATCH IT!
What
a day out I had with the Mayor of Clacton recently.
It was for a Rotary Club event showcasing all the
many and varied clubs and interests in Clacton –
everything from darts clubs to sewing clubs.
I
was fascinated to see ladies who spend their spare
time making the most beautiful flowers out of nothing
more than sugar – even adding dewdrops to make
them look like the real thing.
There
were knitting clubs, wool-spinning clubs, sailing
clubs, art clubs and even a club devoted to the growing
of Cacti (which for the uninitiated is the plural
of Cactus).
There
was actually a 280 year-old cactus (that’s even
older than Sam Hawkins) and I couldn’t resist
turning to the Mayor and saying: ‘I’ve
seen more pricks on this stall than I’ve met
all year!’
THAT’S
THE WAY TO DO IT!
Two
major events in December to which I am invited: The
Sportsman’s Dinner at London’s Hilton
Hotel and the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year at
Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre.
Both
are wonderful occasions and I won’t get an award
at either – but I will enjoy them both tremendously.
I’m
also looking forward to playing in the ‘Darts
Legends’ night at the Circus Tavern, Purfleet
on December 14th. As well as me, it features Eric
Bristow,Cliff Lazarenko, Keith Deller, Wayne Mardle
and Phil Taylor.
I
will also be playing Phil Taylor at Reading FC’s
ground in February, but more about that in another
column.
Finally,
my very best wishes to for a Very Happy Xmas and New
Year all my readers and friends in darts (whoever
you are).
Don’t
forget, the 2008 Lakeside World Pro is just a few
weeks away now. Can there be a better way to start
the New Year?
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