Monday, June 22, 2026

Fantastic Four

Last time I hit 4 180s in one day was early May of last year.




86/50

Three's a charm

Maybe I should dial down the practice more. I haven't really been playing that much  in the past week - here and there - and I'm suddenly hitting some sort of form again. Funny how that works.




85/50

That Spongebog meme . . .

You know the one . . . 











Actually, can six minutes qualify as "A few moments later"? 

In a darting timeline, probably . . . why not  . . . leave me the fuck alone.




84/50


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.

Friday, June 19, 2026

Blue Moon: Down Among the Dead Men with Manchester City by Mark Hodkinson (Mainstream Publishing 1999)

 



Royle and Donachie are contrary personalities, but they share a cultural background from which much of British football is still forged. Donachie was brought up in the Gorbals district of Glasgow, one of five children living in a house without a bath where several families shared the same outside toilet. Royle lived in inner-city Liverpool, forced to sleep on a camp-bed in his parent’s bedroom because of a shortage of space. Football was their ticket to somewhere better.

Time has not lent enchantment to Donachie’s view of his home city of the ’50s and early ’60s. ‘The shipyards were closing down and it was a hard place to grow up in. There were gangs on the streets and it was a very aggressive environment. If you showed any interest in your school work you were seen as a swot,’ he says. His mother died when he was 12 and he did not get on particularly well with his lorry-driver father. ‘He was a hard Glasgow man who would never show his feelings or emotions. He didn’t really give me much encouragement, except to say I was crap! He gave me one good piece of advice though; he told me to try and find a club in England.

Monday, June 15, 2026

A Hard Day's Night (1964)

 


Hello Beautiful

File under using song titles as post titles. A brilliant comeback song from Dodgy.

If 'Hello Beautiful' isn't in my Spotify Top Ten at the end of the year, then Unwrapped is a crock of bogus shite.




82/50

"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