All the afternoon sessions at Lakeside this week have been at only 50% capacity which means only 600 people in attendance. This is a shoocking figure for a once great tournament.
Link please?
The stars of darts forum dude. I had to check myself, could not believe it. Also there is a wonderful Tony Green parody account on Twitter under Ton Nee Green, well worth a look.
BDO-bashing has become a popular pastime on social media, but much of the criticism is undue according to Jaymes Monte. This is why he thinks we need to cut the organisation some slackâŚ
1. Amateur v Professional
Because the BDO World Championships immediately follows the PDC World Championships onlookers inevitably begin comparing the two. This needs to stop, as it is simply unrealistic to do so. The British Darts Organisation (BDO) is an organisation for amateur players who, in most cases, combine playing darts with a full-time job, while the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), as the name suggests, is for players who dedicate their working life to solely playing the game of darts - or at least the top players do so.
Would you watch, for example, Forest Green take on Eastleigh in the Conference and then compare the quality on show there to a game between Chelsea and Manchester City in the Premier League? Absolutely not. So we shouldnât do it in darts either.
2. Itâs all in the name
The BDO could certainly help themselves a little help here by renaming the BDO World Championships to something like the âLakeside Championshipsâ or the âBDO Championshipsâ. Having two âworld championsâ in any sport doesnât make sense and although the BDO World Championships is the original âworld championshipsâ maybe itâs time to swallow some pride for the good of the game.
That said; itâs only a name. Weâve all come to terms with the fact that footballâs Champions League doesnât consist only of âchampionsâ, and therefore we should also realise that the BDO World Championships is not about crowning a âworld championâ, but is instead about celebrating the amateur game.
3. Itâs really not that bad
Comparing averages in the Preliminary Round of the BDO World Championships with those in the quarter-finals of the PDC World Championship - as one article in a national newspaper did - is a ridiculously pointless exercise; see point 1 above.
Yes, the BDO doesnât have the strength in depth of its PDC counterpart, but those involved in the latter stages at Lakeside often produce darts comparable with those at Ally Pally.
Stephen Buntingâs success in his debut year in the PDC is testament to the quality that the BDO can produce, while Scott Waites won the Grand Slam of Dartsbeating Adrian Lewis, Raymond van Barneveld and James Wade, among others, as recently as 2010.
4. Stars must be born
Although the PDC has now set up a very fruitful and prosperous Youth Tour that will eventually go on to produce future stars of the game, for the last 20 years, and a good few more to come, the BDO has supplied the PDC with almost all of its big names.
Every one of the 2015 PDC World Championship quarter-finalists - Phil Taylor, Gary Anderson, Raymond van Barneveld, Michael van Gerwen, Robert Thornton, Peter Wright, Vincent van der Voort and Stephen Bunting - began their careers in the BDO. As did every PDC World Championship finalist in its 22-year existence.
5. Think you can do better?
BDO-bashing on social media typically comes with an affix along the lines of âIâve seen better down my localâ or âI could do better myselfâ. The short response is; no you havenât, or, no you canât.
But if youâre not happy with that, the beauty of the BDO and its amateur status is that it is not an exclusive club and doesnât require you to make a big life decision to dedicate your life, or at least a significant portion of it, to the sport. So if you think youâre good enough to play on the Lakeside stage go and play in the BDO Regional Ranking events, accumulate points, climb up the BDO rankings and get yourself on that Lakeside stage. And if youâre not willing to do that, at least respect those that do put in the hard miles.
[QUOTE=âthedancingbaby, post: 1068399, member: 48â]BDO-bashing has become a popular pastime on social media, but much of the criticism is undue according to Jaymes Monte. This is why he thinks we need to cut the organisation some slackâŚ
1. Amateur v Professional
Because the BDO World Championships immediately follows the PDC World Championships onlookers inevitably begin comparing the two. This needs to stop, as it is simply unrealistic to do so. The British Darts Organisation (BDO) is an organisation for amateur players who, in most cases, combine playing darts with a full-time job, while the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), as the name suggests, is for players who dedicate their working life to solely playing the game of darts - or at least the top players do so.
Would you watch, for example, Forest Green take on Eastleigh in the Conference and then compare the quality on show there to a game between Chelsea and Manchester City in the Premier League? Absolutely not. So we shouldnât do it in darts either.
2. Itâs all in the name
The BDO could certainly help themselves a little help here by renaming the BDO World Championships to something like the âLakeside Championshipsâ or the âBDO Championshipsâ. Having two âworld championsâ in any sport doesnât make sense and although the BDO World Championships is the original âworld championshipsâ maybe itâs time to swallow some pride for the good of the game.
That said; itâs only a name. Weâve all come to terms with the fact that footballâs Champions League doesnât consist only of âchampionsâ, and therefore we should also realise that the BDO World Championships is not about crowning a âworld championâ, but is instead about celebrating the amateur game.
3. Itâs really not that bad
Comparing averages in the Preliminary Round of the BDO World Championships with those in the quarter-finals of the PDC World Championship - as one article in a national newspaper did - is a ridiculously pointless exercise; see point 1 above.
Yes, the BDO doesnât have the strength in depth of its PDC counterpart, but those involved in the latter stages at Lakeside often produce darts comparable with those at Ally Pally.
Stephen Buntingâs success in his debut year in the PDC is testament to the quality that the BDO can produce, while Scott Waites won the Grand Slam of Dartsbeating Adrian Lewis, Raymond van Barneveld and James Wade, among others, as recently as 2010.
4. Stars must be born
Although the PDC has now set up a very fruitful and prosperous Youth Tour that will eventually go on to produce future stars of the game, for the last 20 years, and a good few more to come, the BDO has supplied the PDC with almost all of its big names.
Every one of the 2015 PDC World Championship quarter-finalists - Phil Taylor, Gary Anderson, Raymond van Barneveld, Michael van Gerwen, Robert Thornton, Peter Wright, Vincent van der Voort and Stephen Bunting - began their careers in the BDO. As did every PDC World Championship finalist in its 22-year existence.
5. Think you can do better?
BDO-bashing on social media typically comes with an affix along the lines of âIâve seen better down my localâ or âI could do better myselfâ. The short response is; no you havenât, or, no you canât.
But if youâre not happy with that, the beauty of the BDO and its amateur status is that it is not an exclusive club and doesnât require you to make a big life decision to dedicate your life, or at least a significant portion of it, to the sport. So if you think youâre good enough to play on the Lakeside stage go and play in the BDO Regional Ranking events, accumulate points, climb up the BDO rankings and get yourself on that Lakeside stage. And if youâre not willing to do that, at least respect those that do put in the hard miles.[/QUOTE]
Adrian Lewis never played at Lakeside, never did him any harm.
Is that half full or half empty Jimmy?
Itâs hardly surprising Jimmy. Some lad playing the other day looked like he was chucking a bag of nails. The best leg he had in the entire match was a 15 leg and he still won the game. The standard of the BDO is hilariously bad these days, the tournament has become a laughing stock.
Gary Anderson never got beyond the quarter-finals and the last year he played was beaten by Darryl Fitton. Given that Fitton has upped his game since 2009 I imagine his margin of victory over Anderson now would be increased.