My 2 Cents on the PDC Tournament...

As a darter, you need to know exactly why ALL darters need to support the belief that "the PDC tournament is good for the whole great big dart world, especially here in the states".

Here's some background if you've somehow been oblivious to the banter in the dart community from those who are for the tournament, and those who are doing nothing but complaining about it. The Las Vegas Desert Classic is sponsored, hosted and ranked by the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation in England). This steel-tip tournament takes place at the MGM Grand here in the states, and will be televised (yes, here in the states) by Sky Sports & Fox Sport Broadcasting on Wednesday, 07/03/02 through Sunday, 07/07/02. The tournament consists entirely of singles' events, and has one entry fee for all events, of $150.00 for men and $100.00 for the ladies. The PDC brings with them a $100,000 purse. Events are quadruple-elimination and pay-outs go to the Top-64 (or Top-32 for the women or Top-8 depending upon the event).

Now I'll share the low-down on what the nay-sayers have to say as well as my thoughts:

1. It's not like the American tournament style so we don't like it. Make the British play our format...
You're right. Let 'um stay home and keep their $100,000 purse so they can play their way. They can keep their television cameras somewhere else also. C'mon people, get with the program. The Brits are coming and they're bringing their money to infuse in our economy and in the US dart community. Think about it because this really is a good thing. I know what I'm going to say next might be a foreign concept, but maybe, just maybe, this might convince a US sponsor or two to step up to the plate. Wow! Now there's an idea...

And as for the format? This is a world ranked tournament with a format that has been successful for world ranked darts. Give it a try Mikey, you just might like it. And just maybe we'll end up with more competitive world ranked US darters who will someday, and regularly, travel back over the pond to play and place in these world events. This is darts. If you don't want the Professional Darts Corporation from England coming over here to play, then put down your darts and go read a history book about the Boston tea party.

Not only are they coming to this tournament in the states but the cream of the crop are coming to play! Let's face it, the average Sherilyn-darter is probably never going to see 10 times World Champion Phil Taylor in action, up close and personal. This is our chance to see the best of the best, right here in our own backyard. I'm excited.

2. There is a dress code and I might actually have to polish my shoes. What's up with that?

Hello? This is going to be televised. Let's show 'um that we clean up pretty nice AND we can throw darts as well.

3. The tournament is on a Wednesday through Sunday. Most people work Monday through Friday. Why should we take a couple of valuable vacation days for a dart tournament?

Here in the states we're used to the weekend tournament format of Friday night through Sunday, where depending on your travel plans and how far you have to go, you might not have to take off work. All I can say is this is a big event, with world ranked players being run by the PDC. The PDC has been running world classic tournaments for close to 10 years and they've been pretty successful at it. We need to be open and consider that maybe every world ranked tournament just can't be squeezed into a weekend. Granted, I'm the passionate darter, but I don't think a couple of vacation days would be wasted for something of this magnitude.

4. The entry fee is pretty steep at $150.00 ($100.00 for the ladies). Who is going to pay that kinda fee?

If you're playing in a weekend tournament in the states, you might play in 6, 7, 8 or 9 events at $10.00 - $15.00+ per event. The fees aren't that out of line...Maybe you won't play in as many events as you're used to but it's quadruple-elimination so you might even play more matches. I've never played in a quadruple elimination tournament myself but this means that you (yes, you!) have at minimum 4 chances to make it to the stage. My guess is most darters will throw more darts with this format, and that's what we're here for, right? To throw darts? Look everyone, this is a world ranked tournament with sponsors and oh yes, it's being televised. Maybe with a little more cooperation from US darters and lots of participation, not to mention television viewership, maybe the fees won't be so hefty next year.

5. The big guns from the other side of the pond, so to speak, are being seeded and don't have to play the initial rounds. If they're here on our soil, they should have to play all matches.

Here's the response that's been echoing through the dart community...Why should a world ranked champion travel thousands of miles to play his next door neighbor in round one? We're not doing these guys (and gals I hope) a favor by seeding them just because they've paid the price for an International flight. These are proven and world-ranked players!

The truth of the matter is that 80% (that's 8 out of 10) of the current Top-10 world-ranked male darters hail from England (Alan Warriner, Ronnie Baxter, Phil Taylor, Denis Ovens, Collin Lloyd, Richie Burnett, Peter Manley and Dennis Smith). I suspect that the complainers of the concept of seeding with regard to the PDC Desert Classic tournament are NOT top world-ranked darters and have to start at square one if they want to place, and win their way up to the stage.

Consider the flip side when the US darters are a large presence in the International world-ranked darting community...and have traveled all the way to Europe to play. What comes around goes around and world ranked US darters will be treated the same way back on the "other side of the pond".

6. The PDC had problems with the North American tourney in '2000. They're probably gonna screw up again...

This has been hashed out for 2 years and there's nothing that I can say that hasn't already been said, so I'll be brief here. I don't think the problems were caused on purpose to "foil" the dart community and it's been done to death. That said, put it to bed, stop your whining and let's move forward with promoting the game of darts in a positive manner. If you're not part of the solution then YOU are part of the problem. Instead of bad-mouthing the whole thing, get involved to make this work for the darting community here in the states. Let's face it folks...steel-tip darts have been on the decline here in the states. Tournaments are sometimes canceled, sponsors are lacking (causing lower purses) or in some cases the sponsor just plain pulls-out (no purse...). And the game of darts is unfortunately not listed in your TV guide. Unless we do something differently, the dart community might be headed in the wrong direction. Can't you see that this is a great opportunity to help promote darts in North America?

One more point...in what other sport can the average Sherilyn-darter not only see the pros but possibly compete and rub shoulders (so to speak) with the pros? Let me know because I wouldn't mind hanging out with Andre Agassi or Tiger after my dart matches...

The bottom line is that the PDC tournament in Vegas is a good thing for the darting community here in the states. We're going to get positive exposure, have the best of the best in our own backyard so to speak, and we might even generate some interest from the sponsor-wannabes and others who might even watch and decide they'd like to get into the game.

Can't afford the price of an airline ticket to Vegas? Watch the finals on television. Invite your dart friends over to watch as well. If you tell two darters, and they tell two darters, and they tell two darters...well, you get the idea. Good luck and I'll see you at the line.