My Opinion

By Johnie Nall

I have run across quite a few people who to my utter surprise asked me why I no longer submit articles to the Medallion, and as usual there are always the rumor mongers that have nothing better to do than stir the pot when something changes. So here I am, up from the doldrums of the fast lane in Spokane to tame the hordes of loyal fans that demand that I submit an article once in a while (this is for you Lu).

I really think that part of the problem my loyal readers have is they tend to forget that I no longer write the column, so they waste their time turning to the page where it used to wuz and get irate when they find much better reading that what I ever submitted, but not the stuff they are used to. So lets get on with it!

Ty, the Medallion’s Editor, did not fire me. He could not fire me because he never hired me. I begged him to allow me to submit my ramblings to the Medallion since I always read it and thought it would be a cool place for me to say what I felt was important and get away with it. Truth is, when I “retired” I was just about breaking even with the Medallion, since they were charging me a fee to run my junk. Ty is a businessman and since he didn’t realize how big a hit I would become, he felt safer charging me something to print my submissions to offset the lawsuits he expected. After a couple of years of not being sued, he lowered my fee which allowed me to continue writing since I had a retirement pension and felt the world needed a courageous journalist that was not afraid to step up to the plate.

He couldn’t locate someone that fit that. I ran into some old friends at the NW League Finals in Shelton and was amazed how some of them remembered things I have long forgotten. The first one I saw asked me where my trademark MAFS hat was. I didn’t know I had a trademark MAFS hat, but I replied that I had retired it when I laid down my pen. Needless to say, when I returned home the first thing I did was find the hat and unretire it. But the odd thing was, when I put it on my head I had the urge to write something. So, here I am with my hat, still drooling, but in front of my HP banging out this article. In short, he decided to stick it out with me. So to set the record straight, I wasn’t fired, booted, thrown out, or dropkicked out the door of the Medallion. I just decided to do what retired people do, sit in the yard drooling and passing gas, while I watched the world go by.

So now that I have you breathing hard and grasping at my every word, I want to say some things that have permeated my brain while I was “off”.

I think I have finally realized one of the key elements that have affected the growth of darts for the last few years, and probably helped to accelerate the demise of the game I love and will die playing.

We were the teachers, the promoters, the icons of the dart world. Some of us were never going to be great players, but all of us loved the game and preached the virtues of it to anyone that would listen. I can’t recall walking into a location that had boards and didn’t have someone shooting on them, or a bartender or owner talking about it to everyone that sat down. Now, we are old and don’t inhabit these places as much as we used to. Why? We need more sleep, we have aches and pains that keep us from throwing like we used to, and my favorite complaint, I can’t hear myself think over the loud and obnoxious music that is blasting out of every nook and cranny that will house a speaker.

The owners we played for are gone, and the new owners don’t have the will to put in the effort it takes to keep the boards busy. I can remember when a new location sprung up, the first thing they would do is hire a dart coordinator that would bring dart players. They knew, what it meant to have dart teams and loyal players, so they went to the hilt to get them, and keep them.

Nowadays it’s “What is Medalist going to do for me?” and “How many teams will you promise me?”, “Why do I have to put up entry money?”

There was once a very wise man that said, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Change country to Medalist, and there you have it. But back to what I was saying.

The people that followed us don’t have the time or energy it takes to build a good dart player. They don’t focus on teaching as much as they focus on beating the newbie and sending them packing. Why is it so important for some of the players today to prove how big of an ass they can be. Why is laughing at the newbie more important than teaching them how to improve their game? Does it take a lot of effort to lend a hand?

In short, people, darts will grow back to the top of the list only if someone steps up to replace us, the old guys and gals that helped make it what is was when it was.

I can honestly say that living in Spokane has helped me remember what playing darts was all about. I have played in many blind draw tournaments here and have NEVER heard anyone complain about the person they drew as a partner. We have some pretty big guns over here folks, and when you draw Dane Schur, Jerry Wahl, Paul Bolen, Terry Hetrick, Paul Hopkins or a few others I could name, you have a relatively good chance of being there at the finals. But more importantly, you are going to benefit from the experience by learning about strategy, why you should shoot at this number, etc. And if you lose, you will not be berated, laughed at or shamed into thinking it was your fault. You will leave the tourney with a smile and a gratitude of learning from the best.

If the tourney crowd at the Draft Choice a couple of week ends ago is any indication of who is going to lead the players of tomorrow, I see little hope of survival. I competed against Casey Joyce, Carl Hayes, Jerry Roll, Larry, Norm, Joe and Rod, and truly enjoyed it. They are from the old school and are great competitors. Then we played a couple of 9s, that thought they were the dart kings. I could mention their names here, but if you have played at the Draft, I am certain you have crossed paths with them. If you don’t know they are rated 9s, they will tell you, and tell you, and tell you. I guess that is a good thing in a way since you couldn’t tell from watching them or playing against them that they were rated at 9.

My partner was a 4 and I am now a 4 due to the counting of every dart, so it was a cool thing to win the tournament and listen to the 9’s spout excuses. But once again, what happened to losing and winning gracefully? If you lose, don’t draw attention to yourself by whining and blaming. Just shake hands, walk away and say nothing if you can’t say something nice.

I enjoyed shooting my mouth off in the Medallion once again. I want to restate one fact for everyone. Ty and I have always been good friends, and I cannot imagine something as miniscule as this article causing that to change. The Medallion will always be the number one voice of choice for dart players, Medalist darts will always be the number one organization for dart players, and you, the dart players, will always be the best of the best.

Hopefully we will use the time we have remaining to find new players, teach them correctly and make their progressive paths as smooth as possible. I have a 16 year old granddaughter and an 11 year old grandson that play darts pretty damned well, and I hope there will be a place for them in the future of darts. Shoot well, be safe, and be a good sport.