—A place for its history in the future?
The new generation of darts superstars has arrived sporting sensible haircuts, muscular torsos and dynamic aliases. Those who watched relative newcomer Paul Nicholson being crowned the new totesport.com Players Champion in January will have noticed that darts is no longer the sport for the unsporting.
Darts has been given a vast makeover in the mould of wrestling or boxing and is now far more than just snooker’s deformed, ugly cousin. No more is darts that sport you would reluctantly turn to during those long hard summers between premiership seasons. It is now an entertaining and dare I say glamorous sport.
The sport is still dominated by same overweight and heavily tattooed men that you could imagine dwelling in the smoky corner of your local boozer. In that respect nothing has changed. However, the sport is unquestionably different. You can expect to see players escorted to the arena to the tune of ‘Eye of the Tiger’ with an entourage of security guards and scantily clad women. What is more, the days where a darts player would gladly see-off keg after keg of lager are over. Now they are more likely to sip a luxurious Kopparberg with ice.
The question is; does the new generation of fit darts players have the talent to compete with the all-conquering old-guard of the darts elite? Does Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor toss and turn in his king-size bed with nightmares of a vegan fledging stripping him of his numerous titles?
Well, despite Nicholson’s unexpected triumph there has been little to support this claim. James ‘The Machine’ Wade has shown vast potential and has risen rapidly to number 3 in the world rankings. However, he has found it difficult breaking into the monopoly of titles shared by Raymond Van Barneveld and Phil Taylor and despite victory in last years Premier League Darts he appears to have choked in key finals. Other youngsters such as Adrian Lewis and Colin ‘The Wizard’ Osborne have failed to show the consistency needed to compete on a regular basis.
All in all, for darts to fulfil its promise of becoming a glamorous sport and continue to grab increased media coverage it needs a charismatic champion. It needs the Hulk Hogan or Mohammed Ali of darts. However, you have to feel sorry for the original darts fans that can see their sport turning into a farce. Darts must be wary that by constantly pursuing the fickle fans that are attracted to showbiz like a mosquito is to a light, they may be losing touch with the next generation of Phil Taylors. The true unsporting heroes.
Jamie Metcalfe
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