Well Sherilyn, you asked for it,the story of T.I.P.F., i.e. THE INFAMOUS PHIL FRIED. Personally, I think I'd rather be INFAMOUS, then famous. So we will keep it that way if you don't mind.

Nicknames? I don't know if there is enuff room on this page for all the nicknames I've had throughout my years. But as far as darts, the one I have just given you is one of my favorites, THE INFAMOUS PHIL FRIED... (a)MAD HATTER - for obvious reasons, LOL. (b)SLAUGHTERHOUSE - It simply was the name of my dart team for 5 solid years(10 seasons). I held the team together as long as I could but now it's over! Another long story but I am not gonna get into it now. Another team name was (this here "B" team!) and the "B" stood for good

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As for darts, steel only... Soft-tip is fake...LMAO! No way should a bounce out count in any game ever in history. If a pitcher pitches a ball and it's a ball, but bounces out of the catchers glove and hits the plate... that doesn't make it a strike. IT SHOULD NOT COUNT NO MATTER WHAT!!!

I have been playing darts for 10 years now, but only started traveling to tournaments the last 5 or so. Unfortunately I started when I was 27, hope it's not too late! LOL!!!

Currently, I am on 2 teams: Slaughterhouse (my team) and Monday nights in Manhattan (this here "B" team!) and the "B" STANDS for good). I am the Team Captain of Slaughterhouse, but this is our(my) final season as Captain. I need a break! I am also an individual member of the A.D.O.(which I would urge anyone to do) in case your league is not affiliated and you want to play in any A.D.O. events (you must be a member and $25 a year is not gonna break anyone). Being Team Captain is very frustrating, but lucky for me I didn't realize it until about 3 or 4 seasons ago, when darts was just not fun for me anymore... Always wondering whether I would have a full team, and being in the top division it was much worse... Playing against the best players in the league without a full team every week is not fun. Also, unfortunately not many highs. Our first season as a team we won steel division (lowest at the time) went on to win conference III championship and made it to semi-finals of the league with a new team. After that it all went downhill. We had a few more good seasons, but because our team was so good we got moved up through the league a bit faster then most.

We should have been moved up to Copper or Zinc (which was Conference II at the time and should have been there at least 3 or 4 more seasons till we hit Platinum. So you can see how devastating it was for us...to be moved up 4 divisions and 2 conferences all in one shot (totally not fair) but we did not shrink from the challenge. We got killed all season long and after that members started quitting one after the other until I was the only original member left on the team!

I began by literally walking around the corner from where I live. The name of the bar was O'HALLORANS (affectionately know as O'S) to any darter in Brooklyn. The way I found this bar was an even better story. My brother, who is 6 years younger then me, hung out there as a kid, and told me all his friends hang out there still today. So La-Di-Da, I walk into a bar-full of metal-heads with long hair, tattoo's, t-shirts and jeans cut all over. I mentioned the name MIKE FRIED and the next thing ya know I am like royalty in there! But I wasn't a metal-head at the time, and this was also a big dart bar.

Anyway, my first set of darts was from the Meullers catalog (25gr DRAGONFIRE darts). From there I honed my skills on the 17 (my favorite number to hit in 501 at the time) and slowly moved up in weight to 38gr DRAGONFIRE darts. I used those darts successfully for about 5 years then I realized as my game got better that heavy darts did not fly as well. And especially when you're going through a long day at a tournament! Went to Vegas in '98 and found a set of 26 gram darts.

The name of the first team I was ever on (in darts) was LET'S ROCK. Great name, good team, not so sure about results as I was only a member (not Captain). There was a guy on the team named Orhan and I am Phil Fried... Thus, when we played together, we were fried eggs and ham. Cool nickname for a doubles team! I thought we had a few good seasons, then I moved on to another team, The Dabba-Doo's (that Captain was into the Flintstones I guess) LOL. Anyway, that was about when I realized that darts was fun but my skill was getting to the point where I needed to be on a better team. So me and another member of the Dabba-Doo's (Mike Vallone) decided to form our own team, thus SLAUGHTERHOUSE was born (website-teamslaughterhouse.tripod.com). Been on a few other teams - Thursday summer league (big fun) D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F.(Does It Look Like I Give A Fuck?!). Also played on House O'Wax.

The first tournament I went to was in Manhattan, I believe. It was just called the New York Open back then and where better to have it then New York (NEW YORKER HOTEL)? Seriously folks, that was name of hotel. Unfortunately the smoking laws have gotten very tough and are wreaking havoc on venues. Therefore, it is now the NY/NJ Open (very sad but true) and held in New Jersey (almost as bad as the Giants and the Jets both moving to New Jersey with New York names. I think they should both change their names to Jersey). Anyway.... I have literally been all over the world to play darts. Just this year I was in Blackpool (England) for the Stan James match play and they have a "Family Day Open Tournament" on the Sunday before it starts. I shot well, but only made it through 2 rounds and didn't have to play any of the "REAL PRO'S". For all those who are into darts, watching the tournament live, for me, was like a football fanatic watching the Superbowl. It was one of the most awesome experiences I have had in darts to date!

In Blackpool, I also had V.I.P. passes for one of the days that I was there, which entitles you to HANG WITH THE PRO'S PRETTY MUCH! I got to meet a lot of them... There is a room away from the stage where they (the pros) practice, drink, and family members hang out. It was great fun for me and my friend who was there with me. If I can remember correctly I met Peter Evison, Mick Manning (who gave me the passes), Roland Scholten, Steve Beaton, Mark Walsh (Qualifier), Denis Ovens, Cliff Lazarenko and a few others. Also had pictures taken with most of them (only time you will ever see me in pants, shirt and tie)! LMAO!

Nice one Sherilyn, you happen to put a question regarding luck as question #13 on the profile questionnaire!! (Editor's Note: You're the first one who has noticed that Phil. You get extra points! Back to Phil...) Anyway, I do not have any of those superstitions. I love to wear dart shirts, with my name over the pocket so that wherever I go everyone knows who I am (not that anyone could forget me anyway), but that is how I feel about it. Uuummmmm, I am pretty anal about one thing though, I like to have all my equipment the same. I have been using the same FLIGHTS, SHAFTS, AND DARTS for 4 years now. And I'll never change. My flights are standard hard poly (SILLY GRIN) and TOTALLY ME. Shafts are extra short nylon white (unfortunately they DO NOT make green in X-short or I would have them as green is my favorite color).

As for the PDC (England's Professional Darts Corporation), to be honest I have only in the last year or so started paying more attention to the professional side of darts. So I have not yet formed an opinion on that yet. SORRY SHERILYN!!!

As for great moments in darts, I have never won any events, YET. But I am working on that, LOL. Last year at the Long Island Fall Classic (November, '2001), my partner and I came in 2nd in the Saturday night blind draw. That is what made me hungry for winning and made me believe that I could win at tourneys. I had to beat Johnny K. and Tim Grossman respectively, with their partners, to get to finals... That was the honest to God best night of my life, as far as winning at tournaments goes.

I went to the Vegas tourney in 1998 (North American Open). It was the first time ever in Vegas for me and I didn't even know there was a final anything there. It happened to be the site for the National Youth Finals every year (till the tourney disbanded). Anyway, I was only too happy to help chalk for the youths. I got a shirt for my troubles which was cool. Anyway...I met a kid from Aberdeen, South Dakota (Chris Kusler) who also happened to be one hell of a shooter. He finished 3rd or 4th I think, in the youth finals, which is pretty good, for the entire country, I think. Anyway...after the matches were over I started talking to the kids more and Chris said to me "You oughta come to our tourney. It's small, fun, and always a good time!". So me, being the outgoing person that I am said "What the hell,I'll go!". So, February of 1999 came and I flew out to Aberdeen, South Dakota. Took a cab to the White House Inn Hotel, only 3 blocks from the Eagles Lodge, where the tourney was held.

Anyway, I got to the hotel, had myself a shower and a nap before I got ready for darts. Here's where it gets good! I got dressed in shorts, dart shirt (not fully buttoned as usual) and no hat (I wasn't doing hats at that time) and no jacket. It was 10 degrees below zero and cold as hell. I walked over to the lodge, saw the sign, and said to myself "This must be it". So I walked into the hall and then into the dart room where there were about 30 boards set up. Very nice setup for such a small place. Anyway, when I walked into the dart room, everyone literally stopped, looked at me, and said "YOU GOTTA BE PHIL FRIED!" and I was like "WHOA!!! How do these people know who I am?". Well, it turns out that Chris went home from Vegas and told the whole damn town I was coming. He was like "You gotta see this guy with huge earrings and tattoos!". Like none of them had ever seen someone like me before and I guess they hadn't. (Try and picture it...A big city boy like me all dressed up the way I do... earrings, tattoos, shorts, and no jacket in early February, walking into the Eagle's Lodge!)

I had a fantastic time in Aberdeeen, won some money, and donated some more to their penny board (took a while to fill up, 2 years) but I ended up winning most of it back the next year. Also made a lot of new friends out there including their local A.D.O. Area Rep (Steve Ramsdell...nice man). This year ('2003) would've been my 5th year going out there, but they have decided to lower the payouts coz of poor attendance and low sponsorship. And I'm also having trouble finding good airfares to little town America. Sorry South Dakota...

Practice?!!! What's that??? Sad to say that I get bored very easily and do not practice as much as I should (bad Phil), but I'm trying to get off my ass more lately as I want to improve and start a winning tradition for the Brooklyn darters!

I am now using 26gr Dimplex Power Points. My favorite game is Cricket, and my favorite shot in all of darts is at the bull (in my opinion the toughest thing to hit on the board). Which is why I have spent countless hours practicing bulls and nothing else... I have not perfected them yet, but I can hit them( bulls) a lot easier then any other number on the board. Funny enuff as it is, but very true... I am a bull maniac!!!

As for my cricket strategy? PLAY TO WIN!!!!!!!!!!!! All the rest is bullshit, Sherilyn. Points, no points, don't matter to me. I always play to win. Do you have any idea how many people I have pissed off by starting off a cricket game with 5 16s coz I was aiming for a bull, happened to hit a 16 and stayed on it? It doesn't matter to me who hits what. I play my game the way that I play it and if you've got a problem with that, tooooo bad. I am playing to win no matter what. AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE...COZ PHIL FRIED SAID SO!

My first 180 was at the Courside Pub in Jersey. It was not in a game during the blind draw, but it meant a helluva lot to me, being my first and all. I was not even playing a game, just throwing my darts and Whammo!!! T80! Anyway, I had the bartender come over to make sure it was real and you would have thunk that I hit the lottery the way I was screaming. Anyway, the bartender was the other INFAMOUS ONE (BUCKY BACALEC). He gave me a lollipop and wrote on it Phil's first T80, and I put the date on it and still have it to this day... As far as keeping track I would say yes, coz I have not enuff not to keep track of any more. My count is up to somewhere around 10 or so... Also have 3 round of nines (one in league). Others didn't count, and 2 dead-eyes(6 bulls), one of which that I have is MY MOST PRIZED POSSESSIONS IN DARTS (got a certificate at the Cricket regional last November 4th, 2001). I framed it and it is now hanging on my wall with all my other various league plaques and T80 certificates from Regionals.

Handicaps? If darts were meant to be handicapped, the game would have started a long time ago (in my opinion, someone got tired of regular darts and is a total digit-head and can keep stats like that). I SAY NO THANKS TO HANDICAP.

Unfortunately, most of the bars in Brooklyn are not kept up very well for darts. They set them up just good enuff for league nights and that's about it. So it doesn't really matter where I am, I make the best of it... And believe me, coming from a Brooklyn native, I have played in some pretty raggedy bars (sloping floors, horrible lights, etc..). So again, I make the best of wherever I happen to be on any particular night.

Coin operated steel-tip machines? I don't know what to think as I have only tried them once or twice at tourneys. I honestly think they may save our sport from ruin (steel-tip that is). But only time will tell what's gonna happen in the future.

Which darters do I admire? Hhhhhmmm... that's a toughy...ME (hehehe)! Being infamous ain't easy. Only joking! One of my favorite players is Darren young from PA. Whenever I have seen him shoot, he totally exemplifies professionalism in darts to the max. He's always cordial at the line, win or lose, polite enuff to chalk if ya need it (but I don't think he really likes to chalk, LOL), and of course right now I believe he is ranked in the top 5 in the U.S.A. He has a great dart career ahead of him if he stays with it. Also, I am just starting to get to know the English pros so I don't really have a favorite there yet.

As far as locals go there is no one who I really specifically look forward to playing. I am always up for a challenge once the gauntlet is thrown down. There is no turning back, and win or lose I will always have A SIGNATURE SMILE and a handshake at the ready!

If I could shoot with anyone in the world, who would it be? No doubt, in my mind, I would love to shoot partners with John Part (that's both of us in the picture at right). He's a class act all the way and a great shooter (world's #2 darter at the moment).

I have seen a few exhibitions in my travels in the dart world and a few of them right here in Brooklyn. We've had PETER MANLEY, MICK MANNING, and DENNIS PRIESTLY that I can remember, over here. When I was in England I was at an ERIC BRISTOW exhibition with the guy I was staying with (while over in England). In exhibition I would love to see JOHN PART, JOHNNIE FERREL (nickname "THE JOKER"), and BOBBY GEORGE (BDO PLAYER).

Sportsmanship??? WHAT'S THAT? ...LOL. Losing is not fun, but no matter what you've got to hold your tongue till you're in private, LOL. That is the cornerstone to our sport. Without it there would be some serious wars in bars. Who needs that? HAVE FUN, DO YOUR BEST, AND WIN OR LOSE LEARN TO TAKE IT LIKE A HUMAN BEING (MALE OR FEMALE) and I honestly feel if you cannot turn around and shake hands, win or lose, then you do not deserve to be playing the game. I have lost some gut wrenching matches in my time (still need to work on my doubles), but I always have a smile and a handshake for my opponent, and for the chalker as well.

Yes, I agree that darts is partly a mental game, as well, and a stamina game. In order to make it to finals sometimes you have to get through hours of sitting, and throwing and chalking. You also have to be ready mentally. Let's say, for example, I have to play Paul Lim. If I walk up to the board thinking "Oh my god Paul Lim, how the hell am I gonna beat him?"... Then I've got no chance. If I walk up to the line saying I am gonna win this no matter who I am playing, I have an edge because a positive attitude can help anyone win, or at least play to their utmost potential as a darter.

How do I mentally prepare for a tough match or a tournament? I really have never done that, i.e. prepare myself mentally for a match. At times I have psyched myself up to a point of oblivion, let me explain (I get so excited that I have no where to go but down), so therefore I have learned to calm my nerves and just concentrate on the task at hand, taking it one match at a time.

Words of wisdom - DON'T PLAY DARTS, ROTFLMFAO. Only joking. Seriously though, before you can become a serious player, you have to get the basics down. First, find yourself a set of darts that are yours and yours alone, and comfy for you. Then once ya got the darts you need to get to darting basics, i.e. comfortable stance, throw and release. In my opinion, once you step to the line to begin to learn the game, you should start from the middle, and work your way further out (only if you are not comfortable in the middle of the line).

Getting out of slump? TIME AND PATIENCE!!! Anyone who has these 2 things can work out the kinks eventually.

My favorite dart website is... my team site. Next is Philly darts, then www.passionatedarter. I just love to read anything about darts, here or around the world. It's a great sport!

Dart Terms? DEAD-EYE, without a doubt, is my favorite dart terms of all time. Story - I have been going to tourneys for 5 years now and every time I ask a darter if they know what a dead-eye is and they don't know, it just cracks me up (I'm like, Do you people play darts or what?). That should be common knowledge. If not let me refresh everyone's memory right now... DEAD-EYE(6 BULLS), in my opinion, is the hardest shot to hit on the dartboard, other then the final dart (double in 501, or cork in Cricket) to win first place at a tourney.

A.D.O. RULES... Anyone who goes to a tourney should take the time to read and know these, coz you may just need them someday(as I have had on a few occasions). Knowing the rules of your game is very important.

Here's a story about rules! I was at the tourney in Charlotte, North Carolina, in '2000 (I think) and we were playin mixed trips (first event on Saturday morning). Pretty rough when you've been out drinking till 5AM or so to get up and play darts the next morning at 10AM. Anyway, we started the match and pretty much all the matches got called right away, hence we had no chalker. Unfortunately for me, I got into the bad habit of pulling my darts before writing my score down. This is where the A.D.O. RULE comes in. Rule #35 states - It is the responsibility of the player to verify his score before removing his darts from the board. The score remains as written if one or more darts has been removed from the board. Errors in arithmetic must stand as written, unless corrected prior to "that player's" next throw. In doubles, such errors must be rectified prior to the next turn of any partner.

The only thing I did wrong, and as I said it was a bad habit and at the time I did not know it was a rule, was to pull my darts out of the board before writing my score down!!! Since then, when I don't have a chalker, I have now gotten into the habit of leaving darts in the board till the score is written down, which is exactly what the rule states!

RULE #22 - One line in this rule is my all time favorite rule and I have had to use it on more then one occasion, and I want everyone who reads this to make a special note of this rule!. THE DECISION OF THE SCORER IS FINAL.!!!! Anyway, one time I was chalking a match for Johnny K. and he didn't like the fact that I said his dart was further away from the bull then his opponent's dart (and this was before I knew him). He blew up at me, but rule #22 saved my behind. He had to bite his tongue and live with my decision. Consequently, he won the match in 2 straight games.

TON - A ton is 2,000 pounds so how can it possibly mean the same as 100 scored in a dart match????? Hope someone can answer that question as it is one of my pet peeves (things I hate the most) in darts. (Editor's Note: A ton is a score of 100 points presumably taken from the fact that there are 20 hundred-weights in one ton of weight, i.e. 2000 pounds.)

THE REST - The thing that frustrates me the most is when someone gives up before the match even begins. Nothing really rattles me when I am on the oche. It has taken me many beers, and many years to get there, but I am finally calm and cool at the line, except of course for when I miss a dart here or there, LOL. I get all of my dart stuff (shafts and flights) from Meullers Catalog, unless I have a special order then I call one of my friends: Jim, Becki, and Mischelle, who all own dart stores in their respective states, and are good friends of mine now that I have also met them at dart tournaments!

I'm not sure if there is anything that anyone doesn't know about me, but one thing I want everyone to know is that I don't care if I am ever #1 in the country or the world, I JUST WANT TO BE KNOWN AS THE GUY THAT WHENEVER I WALKED INTO A ROOM (DART HALL, BAR, VENUE) I PUT A SMILE ON AS MANY FACES AS I COULD POSSIBLY GET TO. Always love to meet and greet people, old and new friends alike, and basically want to just be remembered. Shouldn't have to be famous to be remembered! Which I am also sorry to say that I do meet a lot of people and I am horrible with names, so please, if I have met you before and I can't remember your name, cut me some slack! I can't please everyone all of the time, but I can please most of the dart people most of the time!!! LOLOL.

The setup at home is pretty regular. I have a Budweiser board (red and white). Loads of people have a problem with it saying it is too bright. Doesn't matter to me! A board could never be too bright for me! Only problem right now is I live in a basement apartment and the ceiling is low, but not low enuff to mess up my game. But it is one of the things that probably keeps me from practicing as much as I should. No one else in my family throws darts, but... I was nice enuff, in '1999, to bring my mom with me to the Vegas tourney (North American Open) so she could meet some of my dart friends and see what I do now (as I had lost touch with my mom for a while). She was very pleased with the surroundings and how nice dart people were to her, in general. Tim Grossman, one of the top shooters in the country actually sat with my mom for half an hour and discussed the game with her.

There are a few darters that she met there that still keep in touch with her today. As her health has declined as of late, it's nice to know that people she had only met once in her life care enough to call...Marilyn Popp (Conneticut), Howie Dircks (Jersey) and her personal favorite Heather Farrel (Jersey).

I still can't believe to this day that TOM VIGNA and the people who were involved in the mixed-trip finals in Philly, '2002 actually let me chalk the final match with my UNCLE SAM outfit on. Another one of my shining moments in darts!!!

Well, my goals are as follows - I honestly don't aspire to be #1 in the country or anything like that. I would like to get good enuff where, when I go to tourneys I can say "HEY GUESS WHAT? I BEAT A PRO TODAY! I was really on my game today."). Not all the time, even I would be happy with once in a while. And in the meanwhile, I will still be meeting new people and greeting everyone with that INFAMOUS PHIL FRIED INFECTIOUS SMILE.

I can honestly say... I'VE GOT THE BUG. Darts are in my heart and soul! I love it and want to be involved in it for the rest of my life, and as often as possible.

3 Words to describe myself? Again Sherilyn, I would need a lot more then 3 words to describe myself, but if I had to choose one word it could only be this: INFAMOUS!!!

Thanks Phil for your outgoing take on the dart world! If YOU know of any passionate darter(s) who should be profiled, drop me a note at ton80darts@comcast.net. As always, good luck and I'll see you at the line.