A Trip Down Memory Lane by Ed "Bam Bam" DeBehnke

Hi again Sherilyn, I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in!

In the late 80's and early 90's there was such an array of tournaments in the area that it still boggles my mind when I think about it! Besides the Windy City Open and the Cup, we had the Northern Illinois Open held in Mundelein, a $20,000 shootout, Maxfields' Mid-America Open $10,000 tourney and their St. Pats day shoot. Thumper's/ Dakota's ran 2 $5,000 tourneys a year and Parkside ran their Windy City Warmups at $2,000 apiece. Salty's had the Harpoon shoot for $2,500 and Landmark Inn's St. Valentine's Day Massacre was always well attended.

Di's Den always found a way to squeeze a couple of shoots in there as well. P.J. Flahardy's, on the southside, had a $5,000 tournament in the autumn and Double Play in Blue Island would run a spring fling and another shoot in the fall. Luigi's in Aurora ran a fine $5,000 tournament, too.

Those, my dear, were really the darting days. Almost all of them had ADO points involved as well. That's where I learned how to play this game and it helped make me the player I am today. I didn't have to travel more than an hour for any of them and didn't need a hotel room. Anything other than food, drink and entry fees was pure profit. I really miss those days and the competition that these tournaments provided.

Now, besides the Windy City Open and Cup we have maybe 2 tournaments at Di's a year and that's all. Oh yes, and the Southside Cup for anyone who has ever played in that league. That's all! We went from 17- 20 tournaments a year to maybe 5. Someday, I'm hoping it will pick up again. In the meantime I'll have to go to out-of-towners to find the competition I crave.

I have to roll now so take care and I'll see you at the line -ED