Darting Nicknames

Darters of all levels have nicknames; some are made up by others and some by themselves. Like in all walks of life, some people have nicknames “given” at school that stay with them forever and some people are never known by a nickname.

In the darting world nicknames are often brought in from younger days or named directly from their real names. Some players are known more by their nickname than their given name – John Thomas Wilson was always referred to as Jocky Wilson. His picture was also displayed by mistake during a performance of "Jackie Wilson Said" by Dexy's Midnight Runners.

Jocky Wilson

When I ran the Families Club at RAF Honington – The Jackdaws Nest – I played as Jackdaw Geoff. The name that stuck most also came from my military days where everybody gets a nickname. I was an instructor working in Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD pronounced Gee bad) working with the Rapier Missile system. I was given the nickname GBAD Geoff, Gee bad Geoff has that catchy ring required for a nickname to stick.

Also in the military, my son was challenged to a game of darts by one of his superiors, they were both serving on 1 Royal Tank Regiment (1RTR). It became a match between Armour Piercing Paddy and Hellfire Herschell. Hellfire was victorious.

Here are a few examples of players having nicknames referencing their name:

Norman Madhoo             Guyana                                Stormin’ Norman

Paul Hogan                      England                                Crocodile Dundee

Kevin Painter                   England                                The Artist

Kevin McDine                  England                                 SupaMc

Ray Carver                      USA                                     Razor

Andy Hamilton                 England                                The Hammer

Robert Thornton              Scotland                               The Thorn

Roland Scholten              Netherlands                          The Flying Dutchman

Gary Anderson                Scotland                               The Flying Scotsman

Scott Mitchell                   England                                Scotty Dog

Chris Mason                    England                                Mace the Ace

John Walton                     England                                John Boy

Keith Deller                      England                                The Fella

Leo Laurens                    Belgium                                The Lion of Bruges

Lionel Sams                     England                               The Lion

Andy Hamilton                England                                The Hammer

Mark Webster                  Wales                                  The Spider

Alan Norris                      England                                Chuck

Some examples of being named due to the Country the player represents or the place they were born in:

Paul Lim                          Singapore and USA              Singapore Slinger

Nandor Bezzeg                Hungary                               Mighty Magyar

Peter Evison                     England                               The Fen Tiger

John Henderson               Scotland                               Highlander

Ritchie Burnett                 Wales                                   Prince of Wales

Eric Bristow                     England                                The Crafty Cockney

Jason Clark                      Scotland                               The Cockney Jock

Alex Roy                          England                                The Ace of Hert’s

Tony David                      Australia                               The Deadly Boomerang

Players are often named after their looks, demeanour or Playing style:

Andy Smith                      England                                  The Pieman

Bill Lennard                      England                                  Mr Consistency

Cliff Lazarenko                 England                                  Big Cliff

John Lowe                       England                                   Old Stoneface

James Wade                     England                                  The Machine

Andre Brantjes                 Netherlands                            The Quiet Man

Bob Anderson                  England                                   The Limestone Cowboy

Andy Fordham                 England                                   The Viking

Peter Manley                    England                                   One Dart

Martin Adams                   England                                   Wolfie

Ted Hankey                      England                                   The Count

Alan Warriner                   England                                   The Iceman 

We also get themes – such as Magic:

Simon Whitlock                 Australia                                The Wizard of Oz, or the Wizard

Scott MacKenzie              Hong Kong                             The Alchemist

Steve Coote                       England                                  Magic

Steve Maish                       England                                  Mr Magic

Colin Osborne                   England                                  The Wizard 

Nicknames also apply to the fairer sex:

Karin Krappen                   Netherlands                           Dolphin

Anne Kirk                          Scotland                                Captain Kirk

Tricia Wright                       England                                 The Wright Stuff

Trina Gulliver                      England                                 The Golden Girl

Sue Edwards                      England                                 Super Sue

Zoe Jones                           England                                 The Pink Panther

Father and Sons:

Bobby George                   England                                   Bobby Dazzler

Richie George                   England                                   Richie Rich

Colin Monk                        England                                   Mad Monk

Aaron Monk                       England                                   Monkey

I’ll finish off this page with my favourite nicknames. Starting with the ladies, the best has to be:

Anastasia Dobromyslova              Russia                   From Russia With Love

For the men, I have a top 5:

Willy van de Wiel                          Netherlands                 Free Willy

Jan van der Rassel                       Netherlands                 Rassel Dazzle

Mark Frost                                   England                       Frosty the Throwman

Antonio Alcinas                             Spain                          El Dartador

My favourite is not so much the nickname but why he was given it:

In 2005 Adrian Lewis was in Las Vegas for the Desert Classic. He won $75 000 (over £40 000) on a gaming machine but was not allowed to collect it as he was only 20 years old, the legal gambling age being 21.

My “Best Nickname” award goes to England’s, Adrian “Jackpot” Lewis.

 Here Adrian Jackpot Lewis hits what has become known as a "Blind 180" against Peter One Dart Manley.

Darts Walk on Music for County or the Big Stage

All dart players need to choose walk on music. It is a major part of TV coverage now, its puts some razzmatazz into the sport. Even the Sky TV darts theme is catchy, no lyrics but the crowd sing a long.

Players usually first require walk on music for county matches although some now use it as early as county youth games.

It is better to find your own rather than let somebody else choose it. I've seen people have terrible games after being embarrassed by their walk on. Imagine walking on to "Mr Blobby" when you're already conscious of your weight!

I chose this tune for my walk on. As well as liking it, I know the Inspiral Carpets lead singer - Stephen Holt. We were in the same class at school. They are a local band from my home town. The song is also catchy - which is important.

This is a live version, I had the recorded single for my walk on as the sound quality is always greater.

Here are some of the professionals entering the fray:

How to choose walk on music - Some choose to suit their name, a good example being Mervyn King who uses "Bow down to the King".

Others choose to suit their nickname - probably the most heard tune being "I've got the Power" used by Phil "The Power" Taylor.

Tony O'Shea uses, "Hey Baby" which doesn't have a direct reference to him until the crow change the lyrics to "Hey Tony".

Adrian Lewis uses tunes without lyrics, his starts with "Papa's got a Brand New Pigbag" which is catchy enough without words.

A more subtle approach is by John Part. He uses the Star Wars Theme to go with his nickname which refers to his Canadian Nationality and Star Wars - Darth Maple.

Why are the Two Darts Governing Bodies?

I have often been asked why there are 2 Darts World Championships and who do I think is the “real” World Champion. I can answer the questions to the best of my ability but this is my opinion, the opinion of a player who has been involved at different levels of the game for many years.

The split was caused by a dispute between the people governing the game and the top professional players. The dispute snowballed and both sides became stubborn. There were court cases, personal verbal assaults, exaggerations and general bitterness from both sides that ultimately has left the game in disarray.

I do not have a favourite side, I love playing and watching the game. I would like the 2 sides to join but I know it will never happen.

In 1994 the top players wanted “more” out of the game. More what? It depends who you talk to – more money, more TV exposure or more of a say in moving darts forward.

 

The British Darts Organisation (BDO) had been the games governing body since forming in 1973. Their biggest mistake was not to listen to the “rebels” or take them seriously, they expected them to return to the fold with their tails between their legs once defeated. At the time the game was in decline and some thought that the BDO were not acting quick enough to stop this decline. The BDO members recognised a similar decline and voted out the old committee and replaced them with an almost entirely new one recently, if this had happened in 1994 this split may have been avoided.

 

16 players split and formed their own governing body – The World Darts Council, later to be renamed the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). The first contract won was for 3 competitions screened by Sky TV. The 16 who split were:

Phil Taylor           DennisPriestley                 Rod Harrington                 John Lowe          Eric Bristow

Jocky Wilson      AlanWarriner                    Bob Anderson                   Peter Evison       Jamie Harvey    

Chris Johns         RitchieGardner                 Cliff Lazarenko                  Kevin Spiolek     Kieth Deller

Mike Gregory

This list includes all the past world champions except Leighton Rees who had stopped playing tournament darts.

Instead of talking and sorting out the differences to ensure the public got the best out of darts, the 2 groups argued until the gap widened into such a position as it is impossible to close. We now have 2 sides with their own world championships and neither side will relinquish theirs for the good of the game.

Which is the best? As a spectator the more thrilling spectacle is put on by Sky TV. Top quality darts shown with great pictures with knowledgeable commentary. The BDO competition is screened by the BBC and is dull to the uninitiated, only darts players watch it; it will not win new fans.

As a dart player I like the BDO version, I know a lot of the players and officials. I know there is a better chance of a grassroots player winning through to the TV stages and even winning the competition. There is also a women’s world championship with the BDO.

Who is the real champion? Most will say the PDC winner because overall the competition his of a better standard. The truth is that there are a lot of players in the BDO who could beat anybody on their day, Scott Waites proved that by winning the 2010 Grand Slam  – the only top competition open to players from both sides of the divide.

I would like the gap to close and bring the sport together, as would about 80% of darts people. Barry Hearn offered to buy out the BDO recently but was turned down by a vote of the BDO members – I was there. It was the correct decision as the grassroots player would not be looked after in that proposal. You can’t have a top class sport where only the best players and best counties are looked after.

The only way the 2 sides could start closing the gap would be for both sides to formerly recognise the role of the other. Follow the football route with the PDC becoming the Premier League and the BDO the FA.

Interview with Paul Hogan – Could an Outsider win the 2014 Lakeside Professional Darts Championship?

Paul agreed to meet me in Rileys Norwich where he was representing Berkshire in a BICC match against Norfolk. He won his game, the match was an 18-18 draw.

 

GH – Hi Paul thank-you for agreeing to do this interview with me– When did you start playing darts?

PH – I started playing when I was seventeen, I didn’t really enjoy it at first but it grew on me. I went from playing for fun to pub league, super league then county and finally I represented England.

GH – This isn’t the first time you’ve qualified for the finals of the World Championship is it?

PH – No, this is the 7^th time I’ve qualified. I have reached the quarter finals twice. In fact I got to the quarter final in my first year of qualifying, 1995, before losing to Richie Burnett who went on to become the champion. I was beaten in the 2^nd round by the defending champion in 2004 and the following year it was Jelle Klaasen who knocked me out in the quarters.

GH – How was the Hull play-offs this year?

PH – It was a well organised and well run tournament. In the past we’ve played in some inappropriate venues but this one was fine. We played in an ice rink one year and it was obviously freezing.

GH – How did you play in Hull?

PH – I played really well all the way through. I beat some good players – including Scotland’s Gary Stone who qualified in 2012 and 2013. After I won my last game I was getting ready to play another before I was told that was it, I’d qualified.

GH - I bet you wished you could just carry on into the finals instead of a 2 month break.

PH – yes and no. It would have been good while I was playing well but my form has stayed with me for some time now.

GH – Yes, as well as qualifying at Hull you’ve won the Buck’s Easter Open and the BDO Gold Cup in 2013.

GH – Have you changed your practice or playing routine since qualifying?

PH – No, I’ve been playing darts a long time now so I know what I need to do. My routine has got me this far so I’ll continue as I do. Hopefully my routine and experience will take me further.

GH – What are your thoughts on the finals?

PH – I’m going in there with experience – I’ve been 6 times before and reached the quarter finals twice. People won’t want to play me; they know what I’m capable of. No matter who I play I will keep going and going and going.

I’m really looking forward to it.

GH – What about the draw, are you happy with it?

PH – Yes, I listened to it streamed on my computer. I don’t know much about Karel Sedlacek the Czech who I play in the prelims. I looked him up on the internet. You know that whoever you are drawn against will be a good player.

GH – When you’re there do you plan to watch other games?

PH – Not really, I just want to get on with my practice and my games. I will have enough to focus on with concentrating on what I am doing.

GH – Is anybody going with you for support?

PH – Yes my wife attends lots of my tournaments. She will be more nervous than me.

GH – Is your hotel booked?

PH – I don’t know yet, the BDO do all that. I don’t know when I go, where I’m staying or when I’m playing yet.

Thanks Paul. I wish you all the best at Lakeside. If you play how you know you can and enjoy it, we know you can go a long way. You can beat anybody on your day.