Saturday Afternoon League - Starting Soon and Players Needed
Let me get this straight right off the bat. I love darts and I love my husband but there is nothing worse than playing darts on my husband's Saturday afternoon team when he is Team Captain. I've been there, done this and swore I would never do this again, but here I am and on my husband's team roster. ARGHHHH. He's a decent captain but like most captains, he plays himself very little if at all on some afternoons. And not wanting to show favoritism, he plays me, his wife, even less. For someone who loves darts and simply wants to play it is difficult to be there on my husband's team, week in and week out, supporting the team with only one desire and that is to play darts and compete! Like a 13 year old boy sitting on the bench and anxiously waiting for his coach to put him in the game and play baseball, I too sit on the bench (I mean barstool) and hope with each new match that my name is going to be called and I'll have my chance to bound up to the line and play! Sometimes I actually cross my fingers and hope that I might even get to play one match all afternoon. For a passionate darter such as myself, this is a pretty sad thing to live through week in and week out! This is almost like watching bowling on television, boring - except that I get to drink beer while cheering the rest of the team on. And if I don't blink sometimes I even get to see some amazing darts being thrown. Still, watching darts and playing are two different things and as much as I want to support my husband and his team, I want to play, I simply want to play!
I've seen those dart widows supporting their husbands. They are the ones who don't throw darts but faithfully show up on league night to cheer their spouse on. I am NOT a dart widow. I want to play, I simply want to play!
So my husband's roster was short and he needed players. I probably wasn't his first choice but when you've got only a couple of darters and want to make a team out of them, I guess you'll take any players that you can get. Even your wife.
His team has previously won the city championship for his Saturday division but some of the guys have decided not to return. Some didn't want to travel and some wanted to play only the home games. Another fellow works rotating shifts and it's hit or miss as to whether he is able to be there for Saturday afternoon darts or not. Take another darter or two who want a season off and there you have it, my husband's motley crew of a team consists of only a few die-hard players, not enough for a decent team. And league starts right around the corner with rosters due yesterday. Thus began the discussions (i.e. arguments) about how my husband needs me on his team for Saturday afternoon darts. He begged and pleaded with me "But I NEED you and you're my wife, you should be supporting me!" I guess his idea of supporting him is being there to watch every single afternoon of darts... I'm convinced that what he really needs is a few warm bodies who are able to throw darts and I must fit the bill. So here I am getting ready for Saturday darts with my husband and I am already regretting the decision.
Sure I want to support my husband and cheer the team on, but I also want to play. If and when the team wins, I want to be a part of it all. What good are the trophies and plaques and team jackets if you didn't help get the team to playoffs? I mean, the plaques are nice as are the team jackets - even nicer if you're stuck in Siberia without a warm jacket - but I want to play dammit! Win or lose, I want to be a part of it all, I want to throw those winning shots that help get the team to playoffs and I want to be a part of it all, not just sitting at the sidelines supporting the team and wishing I was at the line playing. Even though I hate to lose, truth be told I would rather be on a struggling (even losing) team where I get to play rather then on this winning team of my husband's, where I rarely get to play. Is that wrong? Does that make me any less of a passionate darter?
As my husband reminded me, I have been struggling with my darts though my heart is in the game and I try my hardest. Truthfully, the darters who are actually on my husband's roster are excellent shots and even on a good day, I can't keep up with the best of them. But how does one get better? By competing! And practising of course. Unfortunately, I know my outs better than I am able to hit them but there is always hope of getting into the zone and throwing those awesome darts. It truly is a thing of beauty and something all passionate darters long for. All I want is the chance to compete, even if it means playing doubles with a more established partner. I am a decent player with moments of greatness and I just want the chance to prove myself. That won't happen though, if I don't play. Yes, I want to be a team player and yes, I want to support my husband's team but I also want to play. Is that wrong?
To top if off we're married and sometimes darts and marriage don't go hand in hand, at least not in league when your husband is Team Captain. I can picture it already as I have lived it first-hand. After leaving darts, there is the dart-by-dart recap all the way home from the city, where my husband excitedly replays every game dart by dart. He tends to talk so fast that I can barely keep up with him about how we were oh-so-close to winning and next time will be a different story, and so on and so on. Between you and me, sometimes I just tune him out. There comes a time in married life when the subject of darts ought to be off-limits, unless of course he's talking about MY awesome darts and how great I played, setting my partner up for the out or hitting that out myself for the win. But usually that's not the case because my husband/Team Captain doesn't play me enough to have those moments of greatness that contribute to the team. Sometimes he just needs to be quiet in his own thoughts and I mean that in the nicest way. The trouble is that after darts I want nothing more than to be alone in my thoughts and reflect, yet my husband wants to talk, talk, and talk some more about every single dart, and every single decision he made as Team Captain. Enough already! ARGHHHH! Sometimes that ride home from the city seems like an eternity and my only recourse is to bring plenty of excellent CDs, and crank the radio leaving my husband alone to contemplate his thoughts and decisions. Oh, I can take a few minutes of the dart-by-dart recap but then I am done. But my husband is just getting started and clearly he needs an outlet to talk about the day of league, and I fall a bit short. Truth be told, I make no apologies. I am what I am and what I am is a team player who wants to play...and not someone who wants to ruminate over and over and over again about the afternoon of darts and what could have, would have and should have happened. That's why I'm not the Team Captain!
Team JAMSCAB from Family Bar, Chicago, IL USA - 2003
Chris Ratcliffe, Debbie Trimble, Dan Look,
Andy Herkey & The Jubilee Darter
So I am begging and pleading to all those Chicago darters out there who want to play on Saturday afternoons - boy have I got the team for you. The captain is good, the cozy little home dart bar (Sponge Reef in Schaumburg, Illinois) is the best and the other darters are not only good but as nice as can be. So save me, PUH-LEASE and contact me to join my husband's dart team. This would get me off the hook and I would be most appreciative. REALLY. I promise you a season of good darts, good people, good pub grub, cheap beer, new boards, and everything that a passionate darter is looking for in a team. So save me, please. Oh, I'll be there to cheer the team when I am able to, and my husband will captain the team to victory, but I'd like to step back off the roster and give up my place to only the most deserving darters who want to be there with all their hearts. I am looking for other passionate darters to join my husband's team. One would think that my husband would write this story, but he has his warm bodies in place and he sleeps well at night knowing he has a team together for the roster. It's up to me if I want off this team to find him some new teammates. Easier said than done, believe me. My plan is to find him some darters and then I can do my own thing and join another team where I might actually have the opportunity to play!
Drop me an E-mail regarding: Come Join Saturday Afternoon Darts. I have realized that I need to find some players for my husband's team so I can go my own way. PUH-LEASE, help me out! And if you have a Jeannie in a bottle, send it my way because I could sure use about three wishes right about now - for three dart players that is.
Till next time, shoot well and see you at the line.
