In their own words

By Kelli Wise

I am so excited that it is football season again. Every Sunday morning, I get to watch my favorite pre-game show on Fox with JB, Terry, Howie and Jimmy.
While watching, I got an idea to do my version of “Ten Yards with TB”. For now we will call it ‘In Their Own Words’. If you think of a better name, let me know.
For my first interview, I decided to go with one of my good friends and favorite people to play with in league or tournaments, Kenny Wright. Even though Kenny doesn’t remember why I didn’t like him when we first met, we both agree on when we became friends. It all started with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in Las Vegas, and the rest is history.
Kenny recently won 2nd All-Around Player at the Medalist World Tournament in Las Vegas after finishing all four nights in either first or second place. After several years of playing, he has also been re-rated which has made him pretty popular. I recently sat down with him in between matches to ask him his opinion on things.

Why do you play? I play because I really like darts. It is not for the money because my tab would take care of any winnings. Regardless of who my partner is, I come out to have a good time and shoot good darts.

Are you one of those guys that complain if they get a woman for a partner? No, I actually get nervous. Most times, this is the only night of the week that they are out and I want to make sure they have a good time. So I will try to play better to make sure we are not two and out.

How do you feel now that you have been drafted to the A’s? For a long time I thought it was funny that I could beat a lot of them for money but I would never get picked in the draft. Now that I was picked, I feel a lot of pressure to live up to all of my bitching.

I went to a couple of people and asked them, “What's the first thing that comes to mind about Kenny.” One person said that you have potential and that you are a true competitor. However; you come across cocky. What do you think of that? I don’t think I am cocky, just competitive. For instance, I play a lot of money games; not because I want to take someone’s money but because I want to get better. I ask the best shooters in the bar to play for money because I know that will force me to shoot my best darts to have a chance at winning.

If I told you someone said you were ‘a complainer’, would that surprise you? I really don’t know how to respond to that because - is it really complaining, or is it bitching about right vs. wrong? I don’t make a fuss about just anything but because someone is doing something that doesn’t make sense or is flat-out wrong.

Almost everyone relates you to money games. I know every time I come out, you are playing someone for money. Are you purposely playing against people that you know you can beat to take their money? Yes! Just kidding. If I play against a lower rated player and beat them, I won’t take their money. I like to play people that are better than me so I can improve. Even if I lose, I still learn something from the game that will make me shot better the next time.

This will probably come as a surprise, but even though you are a great shot, there are some people that don’t like you and haven’t picked you during drafts. Does that bother you? It has crossed my mind, but it’s okay if I am not drafted to a team because someone doesn’t like me. In the end, it wouldn’t be good for the team dynamics.

I will let you figure out who this last question is from. In a tournament, this young lady was your partner and you told her that if she took out the game with 126, you would get naked. According to her, she took the game out, but you didn’t hold up your end of the bargain. What’s up with that? I know who you are talking about; so, after she reads this article, if she shows up to Dave’s Place for the Sunday 6pm tournaments, I will go ‘streaking through the quad’!

Boxers or briefs? Boxer briefs.

Hope you enjoyed my conversation with Kenny. If there is someone that you would like to know more about, let me know next time you see me out.

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