I'd rather be watching the Darts down at the Lakeside...

...and on Sunday, I was!

I'm a darts lover and have been since I was a child. For me, New Year since I was a child has always meant watching the World's Strongest Man competition, the New Year's Day Concert from Vienna on Radio 3 and BBC2 and the BDO World Darts Championshiop live on the BBC, from the Lakeside complex at Frimley Green. All of which I would do with my father.

A Childhood Love of Darts

My darting recollections begin from around 1992 when Phil Taylor beat Mike Gregory for his 2nd world title in a sudden death, final set/final leg shoot-out. I remember clearly Bobby George reaching the 1994 final where he was whitewashed by Canadaian John Part and then the likes of Welshman Richie Burnett, Steve 'The Bronze Adonis' Beaton, and the Dutch postie master himself, Raymond Van Barneveld. During these teenage years, I added to my interest by throwing many an arrow myself into the dartboard that we had placed in our kitchen. An odd place for a dartboard maybe but it kept me entertained for many an hour.

Having not had Sky Sports at home, despite the increasing significance of the PDC Championship after the great darts split of 1993/1994, it was always the BDO that kept me gripped to my seat. So it wasn't the wonder of watching Phil 'The Power' Taylor that kept me glued to my darting TV screen going into the new millennium, but more the sights of characters such as Ted 'The Count' Hankey, John 'Boy' Walton, Andy 'The Viking' Fordham and Martin 'Wolfie' Adams.

PDC Vs BDO
Nowadays, particularly since 'Barney' jumped ship some 5 years ago to join the PDC, even I, a die-hard BDO man has to admit that the future lies with the PDC. For better or for worse, Sky cash has generated big viewing figures and as a result, big money pots for their tournaments.

But the friction between the two camps remains and for as long as the BBC is willing to pay the BDO television rights for its main World Championship, I expect the divide to remain.

The Lakeside - The 'Home of Darts'
But until then, I keep a keen eye out on both. I will probably cave in later this year to buying in Sky so that I can watch more live sports and when that happens, my interest in the PDC will increase. But that will not deter me from keeping a loving eye on the old BDO.

Because it's with the BDO, it's heritage and it's long-standing BBC following that I grew up and for which I hold much admiration and respect.

2010

So, last year, having spoken about it for some time, I was delighted when a group of 6 of us bought tickets to go the Lakeside and watch the BDO World Darts Championship in the flesh. It was the opening Sunday of the championship last year and I was in absolute awe as I walked through the Lakeside doors for the first time. Seeing the stage, the candleabra's and the balcony that I had seen on TV so often through my childhood made me feel like a child again! My boy-ish enthusiasm knew no bound and although our table had restricted viewing, we still had an absolute ball! The fact that I could cheer on (with my magician's hat, Welsh rugby shirt and Welsh flag) a Welshman on our day was a bonus! Martin Phillips won his match and went on to a career best semi-final last year.

2011
Without hesitation, the group of us who attended last year, decided that we'd do the same this year. Though 2 of the 6 were unable to make it this time round, we easily filled their places - including with my old school friend and many time oche sparring partner Luke Rowland.

Being better prepared this time round, we bought our tickets earlier and therefore got a much better table. When we arrived, again on the opening Sunday the day before last, it was again like reuniting with an old friend. Our table was right in the centre of the room with a much better view of the proceedings. Good darts!

Whilst it's hard to argue against the fact that the real darts quality now lies in the PDC, the atmosphere in the Lakeside is still second-to-none. The tension from the game-play also reaches incredible heights. Last year, despite watching 6 first-round men's singles matches and 2 women's quarter-final matches, not one went to a final set. Well this year, we had 3 out of 8 going all the way! The highlight had to be the opening match between 4th seed Steve West and 2010 runner-up Dave 'Chizzy' Chisnall which went to the decider and saw 'Chizzy' come back from 0-2 down in that decider to win the final set and match 4-2! Talk about tension! The roof was raised many a time in that tense encounter and later on throughout the day as well!

It was a great day out and we even finished it with some legs of darts of our own in the next door bar within the Lakeside complex. I won 2 and lost 2 301 legs so I was pleased to have hit a couple of doubles myself at the 'Home of Darts'!

Will I be back for a hat-trick of appearances next year? Undoubtedly! In fairness, I'm also musing over the thought of checking the PDC out at the 'Ally Pally'.

But really, when it comes to darts, there's only one place I'd rather be...down at the Lakeside!

My Sports Personality of the Year - Phil 'The Power' Taylor

It's the annual 'pat on the back' night for those in sporting circles this evening as the nation chooses it's sports personality of the year.

Now let's not get hung up on the 'personality' bit. The name of the competition was changed from 'Sports Review of the Year' in 1999 but it's the same competition folks. We know it's all about sporting excellence so let's leave it at that.

The Crop of 2010

So who's in the running this year? Well, with no significant footballing or rugby triumphs to look back on over the past 12 months, it's actually a pleasantly open field in 2010.

Indeed, the 9 sports represented on the shortlist this year are Athletics (Jessica Ennis), Boxing (David Hyde), Cricket (Graeme Swann), Cycling (Mark Cavendish), Diving (Tom Daley), Darts (Phil Taylor), Golf (Graeme McDowell & Lee Westwood), Horse Racing (Tony McCoy), and Skeleton Bob (Amy Williams).

Some History
But this shouldn't come as a surprise because, looking back over the first 56 winners, 46 have come from individual sports. On only 10 occasions, has the winner been a part of a wider 'team'. It may be surprising to know that only 5 footballers have ever won the award (including Ryan Giggs in 2009), in addition to 4 cricketers and 1 rugby player.

Athletics has dominated with 17 winners coming from the track and field. An additional 2 have been swimmers with 1 rower on top.

Motor cycling/racing have taken the top prize on 7 occasions whilst boxing has done so 5 times.

There have been 3 horse jumping/equestrian winners, 3 tennis winners, 3 ice skating winners, 2 from the world of golf, 2 from cycling, and 1 from snooker (yes, Steve Davis has got a personality thank you very much).




The Contenders...
So the majority of the shortlisted few this year in fact, continue in a long tradition. Graeme Swann is the ugly duckling (see what I did there?!) in this case and I feel that whilst he's had a good season, he isn't deserving of the top prize.

Oddly, it is through his exploits in the 'team' element of golf this year, the Ryder Cup, that Graeme McDowell finds himself nominated. Personally, whilst I think he did a smashing job, I think the wider team should take the team prize this year in regonition of all of their efforts. Lee Westwood? Well, World Number One is nothing to be sniffed at but until he finally bags himself a major, I won't be voting for him for the top prize.

Tom Daley has already won the Young Sports Personality of the Year award but I think his time in the big league has not yet arrived though if he continues his impressive rise in the world of diving then it will probably only be a matter of time (how about a sensational Gold Medal performace in the 2012 London Olympics?)

David Haye, Jessica Ennis and Mark Cavendish have each had an excellent year and could be dark horses this evening but they don't make my top 3.

In 3rd Place...

Amy Williams deserves high praise indeed, having come from nowhere to win Winter Olympic gold, hurtling down a mountain at about 200mph on a toboggan (head first!) - which looks pretty damned scary to me! Hers was only the 9th British Gold in Winter Olympic history and the first individual Gold in 30 years. Big Respect.

In 2nd Place...
The favourite with many bookies to walk away with the award tonight, I would place Tony McCoy as runner-up.

Until this year, he had done virtually everything there is to do in his sport. He's ridden 3,000 winners, has been the British Champion Jockey every year since 1995/6 and has won the prestigious Cheltenham Gold Cup, the Champion Hurdle, the Queen Mother Champion Hurdle and the King George VI Chase.

But this year he crowned a magnificent career, by winning the Grand National at Aintree on Don't Push It.

In his career, he has ridden in over 13,000 races - that's the equivalent of 31,000 miles or 1.25 times around the Earth! I've had the great fortune of having witnessed him race a few times myself recently at the new Ffoslas Racecourse in west Wales.

If he wins, I'll take my hat off to him because it would be deserved.

But having said that, he isn't my number one...

And the Winner is...
Well, it leaves only one left. Phil Taylor for me, pips Tony McCoy by a head at the winning post.

A controversial choice? Absolutely. To begin with, many don't even recognise darts as a sport. But forget about the old 1970s and '80s stereotype of men swigging at lagers as they prepare to tackle the Ochey. This is a sport that has moved forward by leaps and bounds over the past decade in particular and there is one man who has stood head and shoulders above the rest.

Phil 'The Power' Taylor has won the world championship a stunning 15 times. His first in 1990, as the protegee to Eric Bristow was on the BBC in the then unified BDO Championship. His second in 1992 which I remember like it was yesterday, was his sudden-death final leg win over Mike Gregory who if memory seves, had at least 6 darts for the title but missed every one.

Since the great 'split' of 1993/'94, the PDC Championship on Sky has slowly become the one in which to be seen. So much so that the BBC sponsored BDO is now seen as a 'feeder' for the former. Phil Taylor has staggeringly won 13 of the first 17 PDC World Championships - making the final on 3 additional occasions. His only failures came in 1994, 2003, 2007 & 2008.

This year, 'The Power' is currently holder of the World Championship, World Matchplay, Premier League and UK Open titles. He is the World Number One and in his career has amassed a stunning nine '9 Dart Finishes'. This can't be underestimated. Whilst I can not factually prove it, such constant precision I'm sure is equal if not better than scoring a hole in one in golf or a 147 in snooker.

May the Best Man Win

Whoever wins, there will be a new name on the trophy this year. Indeed, in its 57 year history, it has only been won on two occasions by three individuals - Henry Cooper, Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill.

In those 57 years, like with horse racing above, darts has never supplied a winner of the British Sports Personality of the Year, so I'll be content if McCoy wins.

But darts is very much a 'working-class' sport and I think it has been derided for far too long. It desereves Olympic status and its main actors respected in the same way as those of other sports.

Which better way to do so than by seeing Britain choose Phil Taylor as its Sports Personality of the Year for 2010? He's got my vote.

ARE....YOU....READY? LET'S....PLAY...Snooker?!

As an avid sofa supporter of pretty much every kind of sport going (although I admittedly have little time for flat season racing and boxing), I've been greatly intrigued by the recent thinking about 'modernising' snooker by 'jazzing it up' a little, to make it a more eye-catching sport for us mere mortals to watch.

I think it's the great Ronnie O'Sullivan who has started the recent round of fevered debate on this issue by explaining his opinion that if snooker is not going to fade away and die as a spectacle, it needs to take a leaf out of the Darts handbook to survival.

As a likewise fan of darts, I find it an intriguing idea, but one at the end of the day, which might just be slightly flawed.

For me, snooker is all about those hushed tones in an auditorium. The whispered commentary of Ted Lowe and now more recently of Clive Everton (whose commentary I randomly, but jubilantly bumped into whilst surfing the myriad TV channels in Phuket in Thailand last February!), John Virgo et al along with the real sense of fair play that is rarely seen in sport nowadays (apart possibly, from the golfing arena) makes it a rather unique sporting experience. I say this as one who has as yet, been unfortunate to have not yet witnessed a live professional game of snooker in the flesh. But I'm sure when that day comes as it inevitably will (it really would have to be in the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield really), it'll only enhance my sentiments. I don't really like to think of myself as having the same thinking as Stephen Hendry but on this, we have worryingly similar views.

Having said that, a problem with snooker which Ronnie O'Sullivan alludes too, and quite rightly so, is the fact that the 'modern game' has not got those great characters that were ever present during snooker's greatest decade - the 1980s. The era of Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins, Kirk Stevens, 'Big' Bill Werbeniuk, Ray 'Dracula' Reardon and Dennis Taylor has long gone. These were real characters.

But where are the characters in today's game? The current generation are yonuger, more professional and it must be said, much more adept in larger numbers than their older contemporaries. But apart from Ronnie, there's no obvious 'big names' who can catch the public's imagination. It's not necessarily the players fault, but it is an edge that has been lost in recent years. Losing the charms which make snooker, snooker, will only be to its detriment in the long run I feel. But if we could energise the young whipper-snappers playing now into being perhaps, slightly more entertaining around the table, it would do no harm!

To see a true genius in action, here's a clip of Ronnie O'Sullivan's unbelievable record-breaking 147. In just 5 minutes and 20 seconds!


But for Snooker at it's very, very best, here's a clip from the climax of that incredible, legendary final of finals from '85 when our Dennis humbled the great Steve Davis on the final black in the final frame, to win his 1st and only ever World Championship.



Ted Lowe's commentary alone makes it compulsive viewing! This, at the end of day is what makes snooker the incredible spectacle that it is. The players play their part of course, but it's the sheer tension and drama in an arena where you could hear a pin drop that makes it a wonderful, absorbing experience!

Bringing in the darts style introductions, whilst great for darts, just wouldn't cut the mustard here. This is snooker after all! Let the action speak louder than anything else!

Still loving those glasses Dennis! Even after all these years!