|
The ADA Presidential Tours are purposely conducted on a whirlwind schedule. But when I landed at the Orlando International Airport on May 29, 2007, as the second early season tropical storm sped northward, I began to wonder what might happen if my whirlwind tour met a hurricane head-on.
A good thing about being on a whirlwind tour is that there is very little time to reflect on such matters. As the ADA president, my itinerary motto is akin to that of the old U.S. Postal Service, “Neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night…” – and not even hurricanes will knock me off my schedule. And the schedule for these Florida tours are tight.
This year, in addition to my duties as the ADA president, I am touring as an ADA Certified Professional Darter. The Florida tour was the third of such tours I have undertaken this year. In each venue I visit, I partner with a local dart promoter or manager to take on all challengers at 501, both soft-tip and steel-tip. As early as next year other ADA Certified Professional Darters will tour as I am doing in this inaugural year of the ADA Pro Darter Tours. Put simply, I am trail blazing for those future tours. I am fine tuning what has proven to be a winning concept – The first ever, pro darter circuit in America.
But, as the ADA president, I also have business purposes to look to in each area on the tour. I meet with sponsors and potential sponsors – I always schedule time for the Anheuser-Busch (AB) wholesalers in these markets. AB is a long time and valued sponsor of the ADA. I check out venues and negotiate the details for ADA events – in Orlando I met with the management staff of the Wyndham Resort to review the final details of the upcoming ADA National Championship at the Wyndham in July. I sometimes meet with local media to further the process of educating the public about our sport, and that’s just the beginning of the ADA business agenda for the Presidential Tours of 2007.
Having stated that, I have to say that I know readers of this article will probably be more interested in my adventures as an ADA Professional Darter than my business agenda. So here’s what it was like to be on the ADA presidential tour in Florida in the spring of 2007.
The Tour begins Wednesday night, at Backstage Billiards a large facility obviously catering to pool but also a great location for darts. My partner was Steve Kader, our ADA local League Manager. Steve started with the ADA in Virginia & contacted us when he moved to Florida. Thanks to his skills over two dozen Express League teams now play just north of Orlando. It was nice to see former Delaware members Darren & Emily Frantz in attendance. Incidentally our record for the night…7 wins, 5 losses. These five teams played off for the grand prizes provided by Budweiser.
It was a great night for me, both as an ADA Certified Professional Darter and as ADA President. I was pleased when Kelly Burden, the manager of Backstage Billiards told me she had signed up as an ADA venue based solely on what she had seen on the ADA website.
Thursday night was a huge event, what a night! The Anheuser-Busch wholesaler selected McGinnty’s Irish Pub, the only steel tip location of the tour. Owner Kerry McGinnty was a great host. It was a “who’s who” of Florida darts. My partner for the evening was Ken Miller, the president of the Central Florida Dart Association. Greg Cason, president of the Orlando Pub Dart League stopped by to say, “hello”. Kenny Mahoney owner of C&M Darts, the largest soft-tip league in Orlando was also present. Kenny is also the current President of the National Dart Association (NDA). Steve Kader attended this time as a participant. A great photo opportunity – Florida darts meets the ADA president.
It was a great night of steel tip darts. Ken is a good shot and with the evening winding down, I started to relax. At the end of the evening, Ken told me that members of the CFDA wanted to see a 501 showdown between their president and the ADA president. So, although I had mentally “shut down” for the day, I had no choice but to accept the challenge.
Well, I won the match, just barely (tops). But what happened next made me feel both proud and humbled at the same time. Ken told me earlier he brought a new dartboard with him to ensure a “proper” board for the night’s competition. That may have been the case however after our game he dedicated it to me and gotten all of our challengers present to sign the back of it. It will be among my most prized possessions.
Every night was special; it would be hard to choose a climatic moment of the Tour. Friday I drove west to the Tampa suburb of Valrico. The venue was “Dingo’s” pub. It was here that Tropical Storm Barry met my whirlwind tour.
Having lived in Florida many years ago I’ve experienced the rain but I can’t recall the rain I witnessed in Valrico that night. It was as if a celestial faucet had been opened directly overhead, a tsunami ripping down from the sky!
Fortunately, when the rain came, I was already indoors, along with a huge throng of bar patrons, TGIF parties, dart players and tourists – Dingo’s was a jumping place, even in the midst of a storm of biblical proportions.
My partner for the evening’s competition was Scott Halveson. Scott & his wife, Sherry had also beat the rain and were ready to play. Scott is the Tampa-area ADA League Manager and a very good player. He and I were to find that there were some other very good dart shooters nestled in the crowd at Dingo’s that night. We would play 16 matches, but would win only 8.
Nevertheless, it was an evening tailor-made for the ADA Professional Darter program. You see what the ADA does, is bring the kind of professional organization and management to our sport that not only enables darts play but also educates and enrolls those who are not familiar with darts into the ADA event (and thus into our sport). What I always hope for is a venue bursting at the seams with non-dart playing patrons representing potential new ADA members.
At each venue, I begin the evening by explaining what the event is all about and what will take place. I make introductions of key or interesting people who are present. This makes participating in the evening’s event more comfortable and fun for every one. You might think that we would stop with the enrollment of those who came to play darts, but we don’t. And we have a very good reason.
Anyone in the venue, who purchases a product of our sponsor, in this case Budweiser, receives a raffle ticket. That raffle ticket means that they get a chance to win one of the prizes furnished by our sponsors even if they are not playing darts. The prizes are listed with the randomly drawn ticket number on a poster board. This guarantees traffic over to the darts arena. Sherry was in charge of the promotion answering any & all questions. It was a great time – a few drinks with friends, a competition to watch and a chance to win a great Budweiser souvenir prize.
This was an extra special night for me because two old friends from the Western Massachusetts Darting Association (WMDA), a league I founded 30 years ago were there at Dingo’s.
Of course, I included Dave Perry and Doug Bliss in my introductions to the crowd that night. Both of them have a special place in my memories of the WMDA. Dave was my partner in countless tournaments. Doug was also a great shot in his prime and known, in particular, not for a memorable darts win, instead for a memorable loss.
Way back on Sunday, March 29, 1981 at the 3rd annual L&A Open in Hadley, MA Doug drew Dave Kelly a player relatively new to darts from the Boston area who was quickly gaining respect and popularity. The match was 301 double in & double out, best of three. There is no public record of the first game played only that it went to Dave. However it is the second game that is recorded in the history books as Dave tossed the first perfect game in an American Darts Organization (ADO) sanctioned tournament! Doug’s game was never the same!
The next day I was off to Daytona. My partner was ADA Franchise owner, Pete Musslewhite. The venue was the local American Legion hall and what a great place to play darts. The Legion set out a buffet spread that most cruise lines could not equal, that may be why I had to lean on Pete for a little help in getting ahead of our competition. But he came through, as have all my partners on the tours, like a champ. Pete said that he felt nervous before the event, but that as the matches began, he suddenly became calm and focused. He even tossed a Ton-80 when we needed one! We played 13 matches and won all but one – no need for a playoff that night!
This was an unforgettable tour. I think what I saw that most impressed me as was the caliber of competition that came out to play - everyone was superb. Thanks mostly to my partners’ skills; we won 64% of games played.
What I take away from the tour as ADA president is that those who are truly serious about our sport are seeking the kind of professional management and organization that the ADA offers to darters. They know that it is essential that an American organization supports and promotes our sport in America.
I’ll sign off on this report with the notice that now I know what happens when a whirlwind tour meets a tropical storm – great things!
|