Our Father, Who Dart In Heaven

It's been a while since I last blogged on here, so firstly, I apologise for the lateness. I'd like to say it's because I've been saving up my efforts for one tremendous blog to end all blogs, but in actual fact, it's because I haven't been able to tear myself away from the World Darts Championships on Sky Sports.

'Darts? It's fat old men chucking arrows at a board, isn't it? Not for me!'

How wrong this view is, but sadly, most of the people who I've tried to convice otherwise have been too narrow-minded to see the bigger picture. The great thing about darts is possibly how very few people truly appreciate its entertainment. Whereas football, cricket and rugby are like blockbuster movies, darts is like art-house- excellent, but very few people actually see it. Fans of the 'sport' realise that darts is nowhere near as good for you as running or playing rugby, but does it really matter? The vast majority of people who adore the previously mentioned sports rarely even play their sport, so to dismiss darts as 'a fat man's game' smacks of hypocrisy. The great thing about darts is not that it leaves you breathless and feeling like you've just run a marathon. It's not that your 'favourite player' has just gone one step closer to the final. It's the atmosphere, the fans, the sheer fun-factor.

I often hear people saying that one of the things that is wrong with football is that the fans are too detached from the player. I agree. How can anybody identify with someone who 'nearly crashed their car when they were offered £55k a week instead of £60k'? Ashley Cole, hang your head in shame. In darts, there is absolutely none of that. The players appreciate that the time they spend at the oche in front of thousands is their five minutes of fame, before they go back to their job as a baker or an antiques dealer (see Steve 'the Muffin Man' Hine or Terry 'the Bull' Jenkins). While on the subject of Hine, can you see Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard handing out muffins to their adoring fans on the way out of the tunnel? Of course not. The Premier League stars of today take themselves far too seriously, an accusation that cannot be levelled at darts players.

Last year, I was bought tickets to the Grand Slam of Darts at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall. I was tremendously excited, but I thought that there was no way it could be as fun as it looked on TV. How wrong I was. Thousands of beer-fuelled men (and, it has to be said, plenty of women) were packed inside, having the time of their lives. It was a brilliantly put-on event, with big screens everywhere and no shortage of atmosphere. By the end of the night, you might expect that with so much alcohol inside so many men, the atmosphere might turn sour and one or two might get a bit rowdy. I was very pleasantly surprised. In contrast to some of the days I've spent at the Test Match watching England, the fans were pleasant throughout, and not one person was ejected from the arena. This is where the true virtue of the sport shines through. No one actually cared who won! There was no animosity whatsoever, and to this day, it remains one of the most enjoyable evenings I've had watching sport.

For all that the players are like you or I, and keep their feet on the ground, one man continues to astonish the world of darts. Phil 'the Power' Taylor is quite possibly the most under-rated sportsman in the world, along with jockey AP McCoy. The World Darts Championship has admittedly become, in recent years, a competition to see who comes second to 'the Power', but this does not take away any of the enjoyment. Crowds fill the arena just to see Taylor, and the organisers predictably put the 15x World Champion last on the bill to build up the anticipation. And yet, Taylor keeps a sense of extreme humility! His boxing style walk-on music says it all really: Fanfare for the Common Man.

Darts will continue to win over its doubters. Anyone who watches the sport and fails to smile is probably dead, or extremely stubborn. Darts is now the second most watched sport on Sky Sports (behind football). There will be those who look down their noses and claim that the sport is simply 'fat blokes chucking things'. Let them think that. You and I can sit there with a smug smile of satisfaction, safe in the knowledge that thousands will be watching Andy 'the Pie Man' Smith play Roland 'the Tripod' Scholten, and having the time of their lives. And with names like that, how can you not just dare to have a look?