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Upon landing at Newark International Airport I drove from the urban sprawl and industrial regions of northern New Jersey headed for the Pennsylvania Pocono’s with great anticipation. In less than four hours I will be competing in the “Presidential Tour”. It will be the first of three Tour locations but more importantly they will serve as models for the proposed 2008 ADA Pro Doubles Tour.
But as I drove from “Jersey” into the seemingly uninhabited wilderness of the Pocono’s, I began to wonder if perhaps I had not chosen a far too isolated spot for the first stop of my tour. The name of the location that day, Wednesday, April 18 – Bateman’s Log Cabin Tavern – only reinforced the feeling that I was going to find a sparse population of darters when I got there. But as any frontier trailblazer would, I pressed on, undaunted.
This business trip has been planned for quite some time. During the day my time is invested with sponsors. As President of the ADA it is my responsibility to develop new sponsors & to strengthen relationships with existing ones. In this case for the next three days I meet with the local Anheuser-Busch wholesalers in each area I am scheduled to compete.
During these meetings we discuss how we can expand the American Dart League into their key tavern accounts with darts or locations suitable for darts. We break in the afternoon only to reunite that evening for the Tour event. Once there while I compete they provide the Budweiser prizes and mingle with the attending darters & spectators.
Needless to say in the evening I serve not only as ADA President but also as an ADA Certified Pro in charge of the night’s activities. So I was a little concerned when I realized how far up in the mountains for my first night’s event was. I would soon discover that I had nothing to worry about.
The way the Pro Darter events work is this. The ADA Pro “partners up” with a local promoter, in this case I was the ADA Pro and my partner is the ADA American Dart League Manager (through our COP program) in the Pocono PA region, Scott Feldman. The format is one game of 501 straight start, double finish. All three venues of the Tour host English steel tip darts.
Back at the Log Cabin, Scott assured me that the Pocono’s were filled with darters, and that they would soon show themselves. He was right, by 8 o’clock we had a large group of darters and sponsor representatives in the tavern and more crowded in as we got under way.
There is no entry fee, nor is there any cash prizes, There are plenty of sponsor prizes that are randomly awarded by drawings throughout the evening. As usual, we paired participants for the evenings competition by tearing a playing card in half – one half to the player and one half in a draw box - and then drawing and matching the card halves to determine the doubles partners for the evening.
Before the competition started, I introduced the owner of Bateman’s Log Cabin, Bobby Bateman. The owners are an important component as they operate and maintain the “playing field” for us. Across our vast country there are thousands of playing fields and potential playing fields for ADA darters around the country. One of the purposes of the “Presidential Tour” was to demonstrate how the ADA works with venue owners to maximize the value of our sport to all those involved.
Next, I introduced my partner, an ADA member and manager who is also a respected dart player. It’s the dedication and commitment of ADA personnel like Scott that helps to create the “hometown” feel of an ADA Pro Darter event. Then I introduced our Tour sponsors, Anheuser-Busch, Sportcraft- Unicorn, Dinn Brothers Trophy’s & Bull’s-Eye News. Tour competition was played on the Unicorn World Pro dartboard and awards by Dinn Brothers Trophy’s. We randomly awarded one-year subscriptions of Bull’s-Eye News & provided current magazine issues for attendees to scan over while waiting to compete. We displayed their goods & services at the “sponsors table” located near the dart board.
As has been the case with all of the ADA Certified Pro events, the evening went by quickly and the play did not stop with the official end of the event. My three-day tour experience put me very much in mind of the days when I first discovered darts, more than three decades ago. There was an excitement that surrounded the sport then that did not stop at the end of league play or special events. The sport of darts is exciting and exhilarating when played with passion. I saw and felt that excitement in each of my stops on the Presidential Tour.
And wonderful human-interest stories arose from the events. At the Log Cabin Brian & Liam Brennan, father and son, drew each other as partners and won the Budweiser grand prizes at the night’s competition!
The next stop on the Tour is Begley’s Pub in Easton, PA…literally a stone’s throw from New Jersey (across the Delaware River). This is a great neighborhood darts bar. Upon arriving owner Jeannie Begley immediately made me feel as if I was one of the “locals”. My partner, Nick Schlegenhalf did a great job promoting the event as tons of locals participated. Harrisburg members John Coats & Duane Rider took the 1.5 hour drive to attend (John tossing a 180 in a winning effort!). We extended the Tour finishing at 11:30 only to have the participants organize a draw doubles starting at midnight (& this was a Thursday night!).
At the final stop on the tour, the Orange Lantern in Paramus, NJ, I was sitting at the bar watching a televised Yankees vs. Red Sox game, while waiting for my partner of the evening, Jeff Williams, to arrive. I was little weary from the busy schedule of the tour and wasn’t paying a lot of attention to the game. I think the score was 2-0 in favor of the Yankees, which was fine with the crowd in the bar. Paramus is just a short jaunt across the George Washington Bridge from Yankee Stadium so we were practically sitting in George Steinbrenner’s living room. Then Red Sox catcher, Jason Varitek, hit a two-run homer to tie the game. There were cheers from two Sox fans sitting at the other end of the bar. Brave souls, I thought as the rest of the room stared glumly at them.
As the event started, I was surprised to see the Sox fans (Brian & Harold) lining up to get their playing card halves. I went over asking them how they happened to be Sox fans deep in Yankee territory. They were from Boston and in the area renovating a building for their employer. Their connection to darts…they are long time members of Boston’s Minute Man Dart League (MMDL). They had found out about the ADA event and decided to attend.
I then told them we had something in common as a native New Englander, I too, played in the MMDL. As luck would have it, Harold & his partner John were one of the three teams that beat us & they went on to win the Budweiser grand prizes. Talk about walk-ons!
I want to be sure to thank everyone for helping to make the “Presidential Tour” truly memorable. Bateman’s Log Cabin in Bushkills, Pennsylvania; Begley’s Pub in Easton, Pennsylvania and Brenda, Patrick & the staff at the Orange Lantern in Paramus, New Jersey.
Thanks to my partners, ADA League Manager, Scott Feldman; Nick Schlegenhalf, & Jeff Williams, a former ADA member, who moved to New Jersey a while ago, it was good to see you again, Jeff. In the 8.5 hours of Tour competition we played 80 games of 501; winning 69, losing 11 (86%). Nice job, guys!
A big thanks to Sportcraft-Unicorn, Dinn Brothers Trophy’s, Bull’s-Eye News and to the Anheuser-Busch wholesalers and their marketing teams. Needless to say sponsors made this Tour possible.
I brought so many great stories and memories back to St. Louis. Of equal importance I’ve gained the support of our sponsors to continue this event next year. The only change; it will be Certified Pros playing across the entire country as part of the 2008 ADA Pro Tour! My role? I’ll settle back into retirement and look forward to serving as their “agent” setting up the venues, their travel & lodging.
I can’t wait to hear their stories!
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