Busted Ruinate *

Busted on 180. (I actually went for the 180.) I've been here before. I just didn't realised how many times before:

• Sep 7th 2022
• Feb 12th 2024
• Sep 20th 2024
• Nov 12th 2024
• Mar 12th 2025
• Apr 22nd 2025

The strange thing is that when I entered the score of 180 into the Russ Bray Dart App to acknowledge the busted throw, it recorded it as a 180 outshot. Did someone come up with a new rule change whilst I wasn't looking? 

So, either the app is busted ruinated fucked, or it is just another reminder that I originally opted the cheap arse bargain basement dart app all those years ago. Probably a combination of both.

94/50

*I realised I kept falling back on 'busted' as a post title for such 180s, so I broke out the online Merriam-Webster dictionary and plumped for 'ruinate' instead . . . it's just not the same. (In a Matt Berry voice.)

Fake it till you make it

15 darts thrown (2 bounced out). There's a (fake) 180 in there somewhere.

Dicking around 'cos my darts' performance at the moment are absolutely shocking. It's my worst slump in at least a year. No cast iron explanation but a lot of bullshit theories. The least bullshit - and, therefore, the most plausible - is that I'm just winding down on the darts. A combination of age, health, indifference and just feeling fucking blah.

All melancholy aside, throwing multiple darts at the board in a random fashion actually serves some purpose. It's good for the dartitis . . .  if nothing else.  I even threw the darts without using the 'fake' throw. I haven't thrown darts like that for a while.

Half a man

A couple of days ago I got one of those Facebook Memories thingies in my timeline, where I was informed that this time last year I'd just hit my 150th 180 in 2025. Sadly, I can't link to that 180 on the blog 'cos I've yet to post it. (My continuing bad.)

Why the drop off? No idea. I can't really blame the dartitis 'cos I'm sure the dartitis was up and running last year. Have I played less? I can't be certain but, if I was to guess, I'd say that in fact I've played more this year. That leaves me with the conclusion that last year just happened to be an exceptional year, and I've just levelled out again . . . reverting back to where I'm truly at. A bit of a come down but why lie to yourself?

Anyway, I still have plans to adopt a proper practice routine to see if I can improve my game . . . and I just hit my 83rd 180 of 2026. One of those 180s where I didn't necessarily realise that I was aiming for the 180 with my third dart.

 

83/50

P.S.

I'm back on the Dark Thunders.

"It's like talking to a wall with a moustache."

My first 180 for a couple of weeks. My longest drought since mid-January. It doesn't help that I've been throwing the Harrow Graflite darts, which are a chunkier dart and makes it all the harder for the third dart to find a spot in the T20 bed.

Why throw the Harrows, then? In truth I'm having a flat period with the darts at the moment. Maybe because it's the post-season blues, maybe 'cos the NYC hot summers have kicked in. That partially explains why I'm not being as serious with my darts, and why I'm using a dart which I know is not ideal in the long term. 

I promised myself that once the season was over that I'd commit myself to proper training routine to improve my game. Practising doubles . . . practising checkouts . . . the whole shebang. Sadly, I'm not there yet.

81/50

Don't leave old darts lying around . . .

Turns out I hit a 180 with Shot Zen Ki's back in 2022. 

Did I ever hit another one before today? I don't have a scooby.

79/50

'Can you give me a five star rating?'

I won't lie. This brilliant joke that I found on Facebook hits a bit too close to the bone.

You just can't help yourself.

Previously seen in a small hut in Düsseldorf, West Germany, circa 1983

Seven years ago today.

Yes, that was my board and those were my darts. 

The board was from Aldi. I think the Darts were from a Christmas Cracker . . . they might as well have been.

Facebook likes to trigger me.

Instant Karma's going to get you . . .

I think I b*rnt down an orphanage in a previous life.

The Anderson tape

Nice to get my 56th 180 of 2026. April's been a good month for me. Maybe if I continue in the same vein, I can hit some targets for the rest of the year.

I've actually thrown for - maybe - six 180s today but this is the only one that has stuck. Funnily enough, about five minutes after this 180 I nearly replicated this Gary Anderson incident from 2015.  A crumb of comfort is that one T20 stayed in the board. The other two dropped to the floor.

56/50

#GettingOldGoingDownhill

The good news is that I just hit my 50th 180 of 2026.

The bad news is that this time last year I'd hit 117.

I think I only hit this one 'cos I didn't realise I was throwing for one. There's something to be said for darkened rooms on a weekday morning.

50/50

'Beautiful man, beautiful . . . '

Excuse the hippy speak, but there was something especially pleasing about this 180. Of course, all 180s are to be enjoyed but there was something about how I threw that third dart and the extra oomph just propelled it into the T20 which marked it out as something different. Some 180s just give that greater satisfaction because of effort employed with the third dart. It comes across as less random . . . less by chance . . . even if it's your brain kidding you on.

And, of course, it was a bit of a bonus after missing those back to back 180s an hour before then.

44/50

Darts challenged

So, I just missed two 180s in a row.

. . . it's going to be one of those days.

Missed a trick . . . should have been lion flights and a unicorn board

As I write, professional Northerners are assaulting my ears.

Glad to get the 180. Trying to hit at least one a day. I mean, I'm always trying to hit 180s, but it's in my head now to up my frequency. This time last year I was on 108 180s. I'm not sure what's happened this year. Of course, there has been the recurrence of the dartitis  but I genuinely don't think I've fallen off that drastically in the first four months of the year. Maybe I was playing more darts last year? I find that hard to believe. I'll just monitor things to see what happens.

I had to quit practicing within minutes of the 180. I was totally gassed out. Anyone who tells you you can play decent darts even when you're tired is talking out of their arse. Mental and physical strength are both necessary to play decent darts.

43/50

It got a shit review from Roger Ebert

Posted Monday morning, April 13th.

I'd paused this movie. Not because I wasn't enjoying it. I just needed a cup of tea and a late night snack. 

And, as is my habit, I decided to throw some darts whilst waiting for the kettle to boil. The anorak in me means that I can't just throw random darts at the board. They have to mean something. So I fire up the First to 100 game against the Level 9 Bot, which is getting too used to turning into Peak Phil 'Fucking' Taylor when shooting at doubles, and I snag my highest ever outshot/checkout/two fucking fingers to the digital Phil 'Fucking' Taylor wannabe. A 167 for the Darts blockers amongst you: T20, T19, Bullseye. ('Double Cork' if you're reading this in French Lick, Indiana.)

It's the second highest checkout in darts. Only the *cough* Big Fish tops it.

Now, this is where it gets confusing. I was  . . . I am . . . convinced that my previous best was a 158 checkout (T20, T20, D19) but, at this moment in time, I can't find any record/picture of that particular outshot (mix and match, peeps). Did I just imagine it? Is it just like that (probably imaginary) 180 from 1982? Am I imagining things related to darts? Is that a silhouette of Sid Waddell at the window beckoning me to walk towards the light?

Until I find my version of the Zapruder film, we'll never know. 

"I made this !"

It happened and it sucked. Making this meme didn't soften the blow.

I need to sharpen my darts before Monday night . . .

That second T20 was only staying in the board 'cos it was resting on the first T20. I had no choice but to go for the T19. Don't quote me on this but I think that's my first 177. Ordinarily, I would normally always go for the third T20 whatever the odds, but 20 minutes before my third dart had knocked out my first two darts when they were in and around the T20, so I went down a different darting road  . . . for once.

I might make a habit of it. Once I get past that itch of always wanting to hit 180s.

I need a drone for Christmas

There's a 180 in there somewhere.

My 180th 180 of 2025.

180/50

Use your imagination . . .

And breathe.

16 days . . . 16 bastard days . . .  it was 16 days since my last 180. It was lockdown all over again.

The daft thing is that I'm not actually playing that badly at the moment. I've probably thrown for a 180 about 7 or 8 times in the past week, but no banana. Funny how it works. Will I be able to hit 200 before the end of the year? Not if I only hit a 180 every 16 days. Fingers, thumbs and hot buns crossed.

175/50

Midnight special

First ever 180 with the Designa Elite 95 V2 darts. I've had them for years, tried - and failed - to sell them years ago, and they've been lying around ever since. Picked them up - and others - 'cos I thought I could feel the Dartitis recurring again, and I thought if I just threw different darts it might help counteract that. I was wondering if they could work as my match darts but they might be a bit too thin, and susceptible to variations in flight when throwing them in a bar setting.

171/50

Misfire(scars)

Posted November 3rd, 9.45 AM.

Back in mid-August I took to digging out old darts lying around the apartment to throw at the board. I'm not really sure why. The Fall season was a few weeks away, and I was keeping my hand in with practice here and there. Was I getting a twitch of Dartitis? It's always a twitch away, tbh, and I think one of the contributory factors is that I get too comfortable, too lazy with my set up, my darts, etc, etc. Maybe picking up these old darts was one way of dealing with it? 

If I was picking them up in the hope that old darts could become new darts, I was seriously mistaken. I scored a couple of 180s with these Firescars but it was another false dawn. I thought these might work for me, took them along to a Luck of the Draw at a local bar, and I discovered that the humidity of the bar really messed with my ability to properly hold my darts. My grip went to pot, and I made the mistake of not having a spare set to hand. Lesson learned.

168/50