http://www.kansas.com/entertainment/story/440246.html
Somewhere around June 27, 2008, this story will disappear into the archives. Friday morning, June 20, Bubba's was front page content on the Eagle's website. After 24 hours there, it dropped off into the Lead Story in the Entertainment section.
I think the Eagle's food critic was a bit skeptical. "You don't need sauce" is a challenge to a food critic who really doesn't want to be told what they need or don't need when they go out to eat. Bubba pulled it off.
From the first paragraph in the featured article: "...a boastful but tasty new barbecue restaurant...". About Bubba's claim it's so good you don't need sauce: "...we didn't feel like we needed sauce, we wanted sauce. And, fortunately, Bubba's sauce is good, too".
About the turkey: "The meat was the thick, smoky, melt-in-your-mouth variety that you always wish you had at Thanksgiving (but somehow never do)".
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Thursday Night Smackdown
Check out Thursday night Red Division. Here's the win numbers for the leaders:
There's a tie at the top of the Black division, but that's the Black division. Red Division is where real darters play. Ron swears he didn't rig the divisions to put all the good teams in Red, but sometimes I wonder. I can hang with a team named after a reptile, but a team named after an amphibian? What kind of weak stuff is that?
Here's a quick recap of Dairy Air vs. Outlaws last Thursday.
It was a dark and stormy night as the Outlaws jumped out to a huge lead. 4-2 favoring the Outlaws going into Cricket. Sylvan and I played the first Cricket game and needed lots of Bulls. Back-to-back Hat Tricks. Unfortunately we kept knocking them out and only 3 of the 6 counted. Dairy Air down 5-2.
Then we rallied. We asked ourselves - "What are we really made of?". Flatulence! You can only hold flatulence so long and then it's going to come out and make itself known. Final result: Dairy Air-8, Outlaws-6.
Next week it's Mz Thang up against the Dairy Air as the Thursday Night Smackdown continues.
Dairy Air 31
Mz Thangs Gang 31
Outlaws 30
Lizzards 29
It's All Good 27
There's a tie at the top of the Black division, but that's the Black division. Red Division is where real darters play. Ron swears he didn't rig the divisions to put all the good teams in Red, but sometimes I wonder. I can hang with a team named after a reptile, but a team named after an amphibian? What kind of weak stuff is that?
Here's a quick recap of Dairy Air vs. Outlaws last Thursday.
It was a dark and stormy night as the Outlaws jumped out to a huge lead. 4-2 favoring the Outlaws going into Cricket. Sylvan and I played the first Cricket game and needed lots of Bulls. Back-to-back Hat Tricks. Unfortunately we kept knocking them out and only 3 of the 6 counted. Dairy Air down 5-2.
Then we rallied. We asked ourselves - "What are we really made of?". Flatulence! You can only hold flatulence so long and then it's going to come out and make itself known. Final result: Dairy Air-8, Outlaws-6.
Next week it's Mz Thang up against the Dairy Air as the Thursday Night Smackdown continues.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Dismal turnout for Coop Warmup/Regional
For those of you old enough to remember Johnny Carson:
The turnout for the blind draws was so bad (pause)
How bad was it, Johnny?
It was so bad that Merlin got into the top 4 in the blind draw Friday night.
If you're thinking that the only way I could get into the top 4 was if only 8 people showed up - you'd be right.
There were 18 people Saturday night. 26 people over 2 nights wasn't quite what anyone was expecting. Very few of the entrants in the Regional played in the Blind Draws. Maybe it's time to think about not having events in association with the Regional or come up with something that will actually get some people to attend.
The turnout for the blind draws was so bad (pause)
How bad was it, Johnny?
It was so bad that Merlin got into the top 4 in the blind draw Friday night.
If you're thinking that the only way I could get into the top 4 was if only 8 people showed up - you'd be right.
There were 18 people Saturday night. 26 people over 2 nights wasn't quite what anyone was expecting. Very few of the entrants in the Regional played in the Blind Draws. Maybe it's time to think about not having events in association with the Regional or come up with something that will actually get some people to attend.
Post 4 and No Smoking Law
I am confident the Legion will opt for the $250 annual license and smoking at the Legion will continue. I'm going to recommend a $1 surcharge for smokers as a voluntary donation to pay for the license. That seems a fair way to pay for the licenses without Post 4 having to come up with the $$ out of normal business.
This will likely affect both sides, but after the city forced Post 4 to have separate addresses for the 2 sides, they may want $250 per address. Some day I will post how much Post 4 pays the city each year. It is an incredible amount.
Businesses can have both smoke-free events with under-18's attending and still have 18+ events with smoking as long as there's at least 12 hours separating the events. This has a complication at the Legion. Both sides have to be considered. Post 4's doors between the bar and the hall couldn't possibly pass the "separate environment" test for a single location having both smoking and non-smoking areas.
Here are the darters options and some non-options. General Membership meetings will either be smoke-free or no one under 18 will be allowed to attend. That rule will apply to any event in the building. On dart nights, if there are no team members under 18 in the building, smoke 'em if you got 'em. If there are teams with players under 18, it's smoke outside night.
The 12-hour rule means that if there are players under 18, no one can smoke in the Legion the day of the matches. It remains to be seen how that will fly with Post members.
Youth League is done unless some place goes smoke free where we can maintain some boards. Side Pockets might go smoke free. I have no information about Side Pockets, but generally newer and more upscale places are more likely to opt for "smoke outside".
If Side Pockets chooses to go "smoking", I am confident Post 4 would consider hosting the Youth Leagues. Cutting off smoking at midnight Saturday wouldn't be a problem. Post 4 gripes about utility bills for events in the Hall, but not when it comes to doing something for kids.
This will likely affect both sides, but after the city forced Post 4 to have separate addresses for the 2 sides, they may want $250 per address. Some day I will post how much Post 4 pays the city each year. It is an incredible amount.
Businesses can have both smoke-free events with under-18's attending and still have 18+ events with smoking as long as there's at least 12 hours separating the events. This has a complication at the Legion. Both sides have to be considered. Post 4's doors between the bar and the hall couldn't possibly pass the "separate environment" test for a single location having both smoking and non-smoking areas.
Here are the darters options and some non-options. General Membership meetings will either be smoke-free or no one under 18 will be allowed to attend. That rule will apply to any event in the building. On dart nights, if there are no team members under 18 in the building, smoke 'em if you got 'em. If there are teams with players under 18, it's smoke outside night.
The 12-hour rule means that if there are players under 18, no one can smoke in the Legion the day of the matches. It remains to be seen how that will fly with Post members.
Youth League is done unless some place goes smoke free where we can maintain some boards. Side Pockets might go smoke free. I have no information about Side Pockets, but generally newer and more upscale places are more likely to opt for "smoke outside".
If Side Pockets chooses to go "smoking", I am confident Post 4 would consider hosting the Youth Leagues. Cutting off smoking at midnight Saturday wouldn't be a problem. Post 4 gripes about utility bills for events in the Hall, but not when it comes to doing something for kids.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Anatomy of the Air Cap
This is going to be filled with statistics, numbers, analysis and facts. If these things upset you, this is your warning to stop reading now. I'm going to be using 30 minutes per round. That's a reasonable time unless it takes 15 minutes for people to show up for a match or matches become marathons.
One of the biggest challenges in the Air Cap is to get people disqualified from earlier events so they can be called in the next event. Let's start with Saturday morning.
Youth-Adult: The functional maximum entries is 32. More entries leaves the Youth-Adult with 8 Adults still playing when Mixed Trips starts. More boards doesn't help.
Mixed Trips: Functional maximum is 32 entries. More entries leaves 8 Mixed Trips teams playing when Open Doubles starts.
Open Doubles: If there are still 8 teams in Mixed Trips, then it's at least an hour and a half until the Mixed Trips winners are available for their first board calls in Open Doubles. There's enough time before Men's Singles (2-1/2 hours) to go through 5 rounds, but there's only enough time for the Mixed Trips finalists to go through 2 rounds in Doubles before Singles is called. To get to 8 teams still playing (which leaves 32 matches that can't be called in Open Singles) there shouldn't be more than 32 entries in Open Doubles.
This is about the first time that the number of boards becomes a factor. It's also when an "efficient" tournament has anyone not playing automatically in the prelims and those playing are kept out of prelims - which I consider a dishonest tournament.
Women's Doubles starts 1 hour after Open Doubles. Boards aren't available, plus there are still women in Mixed Trips, plus there are women in Open Doubles.
At this point it should be obvious that our format is being stretched to the maximum with the number of entries we are getting. It's possible to have a woman simultaneously entered in 3 events.
More boards won't solve the problems of late board calls in events for some entrants.
It is my opinion that if the Air Cap is to offer more money with the hope of drawing more entrants, then the format needs to be evaluated or excessive delays for some players to be called in events they've entered will damage the reputation of the Air Cap.
One of the biggest challenges in the Air Cap is to get people disqualified from earlier events so they can be called in the next event. Let's start with Saturday morning.
Youth-Adult: The functional maximum entries is 32. More entries leaves the Youth-Adult with 8 Adults still playing when Mixed Trips starts. More boards doesn't help.
Mixed Trips: Functional maximum is 32 entries. More entries leaves 8 Mixed Trips teams playing when Open Doubles starts.
Open Doubles: If there are still 8 teams in Mixed Trips, then it's at least an hour and a half until the Mixed Trips winners are available for their first board calls in Open Doubles. There's enough time before Men's Singles (2-1/2 hours) to go through 5 rounds, but there's only enough time for the Mixed Trips finalists to go through 2 rounds in Doubles before Singles is called. To get to 8 teams still playing (which leaves 32 matches that can't be called in Open Singles) there shouldn't be more than 32 entries in Open Doubles.
This is about the first time that the number of boards becomes a factor. It's also when an "efficient" tournament has anyone not playing automatically in the prelims and those playing are kept out of prelims - which I consider a dishonest tournament.
Women's Doubles starts 1 hour after Open Doubles. Boards aren't available, plus there are still women in Mixed Trips, plus there are women in Open Doubles.
At this point it should be obvious that our format is being stretched to the maximum with the number of entries we are getting. It's possible to have a woman simultaneously entered in 3 events.
More boards won't solve the problems of late board calls in events for some entrants.
It is my opinion that if the Air Cap is to offer more money with the hope of drawing more entrants, then the format needs to be evaluated or excessive delays for some players to be called in events they've entered will damage the reputation of the Air Cap.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Air Cap Comments
Wow! WOW! What an amazing turnout. 110 for the first blind draw Friday and 66 for the second. I can't remember the numbers for the Youth-Adult shoot, but I remember 43 entries in Mixed trips. We figure 30 - 35 to be an outstanding turnout for Mixed Trips. We had 10 more teams than that. 10 Mixed Trips teams is 30 darters.
In Men's Singles there were 65 entries. That put the preliminary match in the 128 bracket. I don't think that's ever happened at an Air Cap in over 20 years. Maybe at the old $10K+ Air Caps in the early '80's when we played the Air Cap on 30+ boards.
My early guess is that we had a record turnout at least 10% bigger than any recent Air Cap and probably 20% bigger than a "typical" recent Air Cap.
The huge majority of players I talked to loved the event and had a great time. A few complained about long waits between when an event started and when they got their first board calls. This is a legitimate concern for them and needs to be a concern for us.
We got all but 3 events started on time with board calls for preliminaries made within about 5 minutes of closing the events. The first board calls for the Saturday Blind Draw (9:00) were made at 9:30. We didn't have boards available and we didn't have matches available because the participants were playing in events still running. Open Singles Cricket (7:00) initial board calls were made at 7:20 for the same reasons. The other event that didn't start on time was Youth-Adult, the first event Saturday morning. That event started 40 minutes late when entries were held open to even up the Adults and Youth. Between the late start and the number of entries, we still had 8 Adults in the Youth event at 10:30 when Mixed Trips board calls started.
Another problem was slow play and long matches. The general plan is to allow 30 minutes for a round of play and sometimes a longer round. To demonstrate this, the Saturday league is handicap and a 2 of 3 format. In handicap we have players starting in the 800's and 900's in '01 games and players starting at 400-500 in Cricket and we chalk our own games. Those matches finish in about 30 minutes per round. From early Saturday afternoon into the evening matches, we had matches going 45-60+ minutes. To make matters worse, those matches tended to group into one bracket leg, which seriously extended the length of multiple events.
By the time we got to the 4th event Saturday we were running brackets and board calls for 3 events simultaneously. It wasn't because we weren't filling boards, it was because most events had an extra round due to the turnout. The extra round meant we had more people playing in earlier events and fewer matches to call in the event that was starting.
Women's Doubles 501 began on time at 2:30. At 5:00 when we made the first board calls for Women's 501 Singles, we still had 8 women playing in Doubles. That eliminated a lot of possible early board calls in Singles. It also meant there were the semi-finals and finals still to be played in Doubles before we could call those Women in Singles. That led to some Women getting their first board call in Singles 2 hours after the first board calls were made. That has to be dealt with.
Some tournaments minimize problems by intentionally setting up players in previous events against each other and making sure they aren't in preliminary rounds. I'm strongly opposed to that. It makes the tournament run smoother, but it's at the expense of an honest draw.
In one instance we called a Ladies preliminary about the same time we called the Finals in an earlier Ladies event. The preliminary match finished, which gave us a board and a match to play, so we called the next round for the winner of the preliminary. That match ended before the Finals from the previous event finished.
On the lighter side, we had someone pick up 2 board call tickets and mix them into the winners tickets - and no one called for the matches noticed their tickets were missing. Someone saved a losing 501 entry from the round of 32 and turned it into the round of 32 winners in Cricket. One person in Mens Singles nearly got called to 2 boards in the same group of board calls because he entered the event twice.
In Men's Singles there were 65 entries. That put the preliminary match in the 128 bracket. I don't think that's ever happened at an Air Cap in over 20 years. Maybe at the old $10K+ Air Caps in the early '80's when we played the Air Cap on 30+ boards.
My early guess is that we had a record turnout at least 10% bigger than any recent Air Cap and probably 20% bigger than a "typical" recent Air Cap.
The huge majority of players I talked to loved the event and had a great time. A few complained about long waits between when an event started and when they got their first board calls. This is a legitimate concern for them and needs to be a concern for us.
We got all but 3 events started on time with board calls for preliminaries made within about 5 minutes of closing the events. The first board calls for the Saturday Blind Draw (9:00) were made at 9:30. We didn't have boards available and we didn't have matches available because the participants were playing in events still running. Open Singles Cricket (7:00) initial board calls were made at 7:20 for the same reasons. The other event that didn't start on time was Youth-Adult, the first event Saturday morning. That event started 40 minutes late when entries were held open to even up the Adults and Youth. Between the late start and the number of entries, we still had 8 Adults in the Youth event at 10:30 when Mixed Trips board calls started.
Another problem was slow play and long matches. The general plan is to allow 30 minutes for a round of play and sometimes a longer round. To demonstrate this, the Saturday league is handicap and a 2 of 3 format. In handicap we have players starting in the 800's and 900's in '01 games and players starting at 400-500 in Cricket and we chalk our own games. Those matches finish in about 30 minutes per round. From early Saturday afternoon into the evening matches, we had matches going 45-60+ minutes. To make matters worse, those matches tended to group into one bracket leg, which seriously extended the length of multiple events.
By the time we got to the 4th event Saturday we were running brackets and board calls for 3 events simultaneously. It wasn't because we weren't filling boards, it was because most events had an extra round due to the turnout. The extra round meant we had more people playing in earlier events and fewer matches to call in the event that was starting.
Women's Doubles 501 began on time at 2:30. At 5:00 when we made the first board calls for Women's 501 Singles, we still had 8 women playing in Doubles. That eliminated a lot of possible early board calls in Singles. It also meant there were the semi-finals and finals still to be played in Doubles before we could call those Women in Singles. That led to some Women getting their first board call in Singles 2 hours after the first board calls were made. That has to be dealt with.
Some tournaments minimize problems by intentionally setting up players in previous events against each other and making sure they aren't in preliminary rounds. I'm strongly opposed to that. It makes the tournament run smoother, but it's at the expense of an honest draw.
In one instance we called a Ladies preliminary about the same time we called the Finals in an earlier Ladies event. The preliminary match finished, which gave us a board and a match to play, so we called the next round for the winner of the preliminary. That match ended before the Finals from the previous event finished.
On the lighter side, we had someone pick up 2 board call tickets and mix them into the winners tickets - and no one called for the matches noticed their tickets were missing. Someone saved a losing 501 entry from the round of 32 and turned it into the round of 32 winners in Cricket. One person in Mens Singles nearly got called to 2 boards in the same group of board calls because he entered the event twice.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Captain's Meetings Are On WEDNESDAYS Now
Yes, that's right. Captain's Meetings have moved from the first Tuesday of the month to the first Wednesday. That means the January meeting will be January 2, 2008 at The Detour.
That works out great since no one wanted to have a meeting January 1, but...
...this is not a one-time change. All future meetings have been changed to Wednesday instead of Tuesday.
This is an important meeting. We hope to hash out the details on some rules changes - nothing major - just some clarifications, simplifications and some changes that make the rules easier to understand. We hope to get all the details worked out and be able to approve the proposed changes without lengthy discussion at the General Membership at Post 4 in February (date to be determined at the January meeting).
It's also the last meeting before the Air Cap. Show up and let your voice be heard.
That works out great since no one wanted to have a meeting January 1, but...
...this is not a one-time change. All future meetings have been changed to Wednesday instead of Tuesday.
This is an important meeting. We hope to hash out the details on some rules changes - nothing major - just some clarifications, simplifications and some changes that make the rules easier to understand. We hope to get all the details worked out and be able to approve the proposed changes without lengthy discussion at the General Membership at Post 4 in February (date to be determined at the January meeting).
It's also the last meeting before the Air Cap. Show up and let your voice be heard.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Jim Dunham Is the MAN!!
Last Thursday night, Jim Dunham became eligible for the Jerry Hat Tricks League. Yes, Jim turned 50. It was a memorable night. 50 helium-filled balloons were released to announce to the world north of Post 4 that Jim had managed to survive to reach that milestone.
Jim's performance in darts is probably a first in the history of all darting. He threw his age on his birthday. OK, lots of people have done that. Jim did it twice. Still, lots of people. Jim was 50. He shot his age by hitting a double bull - twice Well, not so many people but still a bunch.
Jim threw 2 double bulls that ended 2 different games on the day he turned 50. We're narrowing the field down quite a bit, but still nothing earth-shattering. There's got to be a kicker and here it comes.
Jim threw those darts backwards. Yes, backwards - as in flights first.
The day that Jim turned 50, he threw his age twice with a single dart that ended the game by hitting a double bull "flights-first". It is believed this is the first time this has happened in the entire history of darting.
Jim is also the darter who called a "double-loop" on the 8 (one dart in each loop of the number 8 displayed outside the scoring area) and hit it while throwing both darts at the same time.
Jim Dunham is THE MAN!!!eleventy!11
Jim's performance in darts is probably a first in the history of all darting. He threw his age on his birthday. OK, lots of people have done that. Jim did it twice. Still, lots of people. Jim was 50. He shot his age by hitting a double bull - twice Well, not so many people but still a bunch.
Jim threw 2 double bulls that ended 2 different games on the day he turned 50. We're narrowing the field down quite a bit, but still nothing earth-shattering. There's got to be a kicker and here it comes.
Jim threw those darts backwards. Yes, backwards - as in flights first.
The day that Jim turned 50, he threw his age twice with a single dart that ended the game by hitting a double bull "flights-first". It is believed this is the first time this has happened in the entire history of darting.
Jim is also the darter who called a "double-loop" on the 8 (one dart in each loop of the number 8 displayed outside the scoring area) and hit it while throwing both darts at the same time.
Jim Dunham is THE MAN!!!eleventy!11
Sunday, December 16, 2007
"Official" Ruling On Payouts To Youth
There has been an ongoing question about the effect of cash payouts to Youth players and their amateur status. It was reported that the ADO does not consider cash payouts in eligibility criteria for playing in ADO Youth events.
Past that, the only consideration for amateur status appears to be college scholarships for competition events. Colleges allow non-amateur status in areas other than the area where the scholarship is offered.
There are no known college dart scholarships. If darts becomes a competitive college event and scholarships are offered, then amateur status is a factor.
Past that, the only consideration for amateur status appears to be college scholarships for competition events. Colleges allow non-amateur status in areas other than the area where the scholarship is offered.
There are no known college dart scholarships. If darts becomes a competitive college event and scholarships are offered, then amateur status is a factor.
Recap of Air Cap Planning Meeting
Setup at the Broadview (or whatever the name is by now) starts at 6 PM. A group will meet at Post 4 at 5 PM with pickups and trailers to get the standards to the hotel.
The list of tear-down volunteers has 13 people. The WDA will be providing 15 steak dinners at the After-Air-Cap Party and Die-Hard Blind Draw at Post 4 after tear-down is completed. The free dinners will go to those who worked the stage all weekend and those who helped with tear-down. Dale and Rose are in charge of the free dinner coupons.
The Legion will have ample steaks on hand for all who want a great meal after eating "dart hall food" all weekend. The Broadview has good food, but many find a good steak to be a welcome change of pace Sunday evening. The Legion will likely order more steaks than needed. If there are any uncooked steaks left after everyone is served, the Legion will offer them at cost to anyone who wants to take them home.
After 15+ years of busting what's left of her butt, Juanita will be manning (or womanning) the bar instead of cooking steaks. She was asked if she wanted to cook steaks. I think you can guess her answer. There will be Legion volunteers freezing their butts off this year instead of Juanita. Looking for a charcoal-grilled steak in January? Come on down after the Air Cap and you got it.
WDA sponsors have priority buying Air Cap boards. The price to WDA sponsors is $25. Steve at Mary's already asked for 4 boards. Please contact your sponsors. Sponsor boards need to be known no later than Thursday at set-up so out-of-town purchases can be handled.
Organization, planning and implementation of the Air Cap was surprisingly advanced. I can overANALyze anything and I'm rumored to be picky about details. Everybody - and I mean everybody - has their areas covered and well-planned. The only area needing attention is volunteers to help Missy with the Youth Wheel. Dan Zimmerman will be contacted to encourage Youth League participants to assist.
The list of tear-down volunteers has 13 people. The WDA will be providing 15 steak dinners at the After-Air-Cap Party and Die-Hard Blind Draw at Post 4 after tear-down is completed. The free dinners will go to those who worked the stage all weekend and those who helped with tear-down. Dale and Rose are in charge of the free dinner coupons.
The Legion will have ample steaks on hand for all who want a great meal after eating "dart hall food" all weekend. The Broadview has good food, but many find a good steak to be a welcome change of pace Sunday evening. The Legion will likely order more steaks than needed. If there are any uncooked steaks left after everyone is served, the Legion will offer them at cost to anyone who wants to take them home.
After 15+ years of busting what's left of her butt, Juanita will be manning (or womanning) the bar instead of cooking steaks. She was asked if she wanted to cook steaks. I think you can guess her answer. There will be Legion volunteers freezing their butts off this year instead of Juanita. Looking for a charcoal-grilled steak in January? Come on down after the Air Cap and you got it.
WDA sponsors have priority buying Air Cap boards. The price to WDA sponsors is $25. Steve at Mary's already asked for 4 boards. Please contact your sponsors. Sponsor boards need to be known no later than Thursday at set-up so out-of-town purchases can be handled.
Organization, planning and implementation of the Air Cap was surprisingly advanced. I can overANALyze anything and I'm rumored to be picky about details. Everybody - and I mean everybody - has their areas covered and well-planned. The only area needing attention is volunteers to help Missy with the Youth Wheel. Dan Zimmerman will be contacted to encourage Youth League participants to assist.
Officers, effective March 1 - with one exception
The nominations are closed. President is the only contested office. This should allow time to address some other issues at the February meeting and still have a short and pleasant meeting.
President: Rich Pike - Mike Durham. This is the only contested office.
VP: David Garrett
Sec/Treas - Ron Diel
Publicity: Jennifer Holley
Sgt-At-Arms: Shelley Hein
Awards: Rose Casey
ADO Rep: Sany Diel
Sandy is also running for Regional ADO Rep. Early indications are that she has the support of the Associations in the Region for that position. We might be able to "eliminate the middle man" on things that need to go to the Regional Rep.
The date for the February meeting is not decided. There's a tournament in Joplin on Feb. 15, 16, and 17. Those dates are out. We will check with the Legion for available dates and have a firm date at the January Captain's meeting. That will be Wednesday, January 2 at the Detour.
President: Rich Pike - Mike Durham. This is the only contested office.
VP: David Garrett
Sec/Treas - Ron Diel
Publicity: Jennifer Holley
Sgt-At-Arms: Shelley Hein
Awards: Rose Casey
ADO Rep: Sany Diel
Sandy is also running for Regional ADO Rep. Early indications are that she has the support of the Associations in the Region for that position. We might be able to "eliminate the middle man" on things that need to go to the Regional Rep.
The date for the February meeting is not decided. There's a tournament in Joplin on Feb. 15, 16, and 17. Those dates are out. We will check with the Legion for available dates and have a firm date at the January Captain's meeting. That will be Wednesday, January 2 at the Detour.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
More Hot Darts Saturday Night
It doesn't pay to throw at your average in the Saturday night league. I managed to average 15.38 ppd in 8 matches while playing as a 13. That was good for 3rd because Katherine threw 2 16 ppd games against me while playing as an 11.5. It's a tough league. The only thing I really accomplished was to raise my ppd's to 14 for the rest of the season, which is unfortunate since I throw Cricket like I was a 10 ppd player.
Ian continued his streak of never finishing below 2nd and now has a commanding lead. The battle for the remaining payout spots is heating up and will go down to the final Saturday night.
Speaking of Ian, he managed to get 2nd place Saturday while actually lowering his ppd's in a match he won! Dang! The game Ian lost (while winning 2 of 3) Ian threw 87 darts for 499 points. I think I'll review the scoresheets for evidence of sand-bagging.
11's Rule
It's long been thought that 11's are the hardest players to beat in Handicap leagues. There's proof in this league. Check the standings and the ppd's.
* Kraig still has a makeup match against Sherry which will give him 7 or 8 points.
** We've got the bloodhounds out after Sherry, but in her absence we are grooming a new dart player who is rapidly improving. Thanks, Monica.
With 2 weeks remaining there are first round matches of Kraig against Ian and Jimmy against Katherine. The other first-round match of interest pits Katherine against Ian.
Stay tuned. It's going to be a wild and crazy finish for the last 2 payback spots in this league.
Ian continued his streak of never finishing below 2nd and now has a commanding lead. The battle for the remaining payout spots is heating up and will go down to the final Saturday night.
Speaking of Ian, he managed to get 2nd place Saturday while actually lowering his ppd's in a match he won! Dang! The game Ian lost (while winning 2 of 3) Ian threw 87 darts for 499 points. I think I'll review the scoresheets for evidence of sand-bagging.
11's Rule
It's long been thought that 11's are the hardest players to beat in Handicap leagues. There's proof in this league. Check the standings and the ppd's.
Points PPD
1 - Ian 35 10.99
2 - Katherine 28 11.76
3 - Jimmy 27 11.39
4 - Merlin 23 13.83
5 - David 21 11.33
6 - Kraig 17* 19.48
7 - Sherry 17 9.00**
8 - Lisa 11 9.23
* Kraig still has a makeup match against Sherry which will give him 7 or 8 points.
** We've got the bloodhounds out after Sherry, but in her absence we are grooming a new dart player who is rapidly improving. Thanks, Monica.
With 2 weeks remaining there are first round matches of Kraig against Ian and Jimmy against Katherine. The other first-round match of interest pits Katherine against Ian.
Stay tuned. It's going to be a wild and crazy finish for the last 2 payback spots in this league.
Friday, December 07, 2007
Proposed Rules Changes for the February General Membership Meeting
There are currently 2 changes to the Rules of Play proposed for the February meeting.
Both are pretty straight forward.
There are already rules that require play to start no later than 7:45 and that matches must be started within 10 minutes of when they are called. If the opposing team isn't there, the team that is there can call matches and claim forfeits 10 minutes later. This is currently in several rules scattered through the rules and will be placed in one rule to make the situation more clear. In addition, 3 forfeits when the opposing isn't present will result in the forfeit of all games for the night.
I would like to add a comment. If matches must start at 7:45, wouldn't that include the 10 minutes allowed for a team to answer the board call? In that event, the first match could be called at 7:35. That would allow the 10 minutes to respond to the board call and the first match would begin no later than 7:45.
The rules clearly state that the matches must start no later than 7:45. If the first match is called at 7:45 and there are 10 minutes to respond to the board call, then the first match could begin at 7:55, which is a clear rules violation. I would not be surprised to see a change to this proposed rules change at the January Captain's meeting.
The second proposed rules change would allow the Captains to change Rules Of Play at Captain's meetings. Currently Rules of Play can only be changed at General Membership meetings by a 50% majority vote of the General Membership.
Both are pretty straight forward.
There are already rules that require play to start no later than 7:45 and that matches must be started within 10 minutes of when they are called. If the opposing team isn't there, the team that is there can call matches and claim forfeits 10 minutes later. This is currently in several rules scattered through the rules and will be placed in one rule to make the situation more clear. In addition, 3 forfeits when the opposing isn't present will result in the forfeit of all games for the night.
I would like to add a comment. If matches must start at 7:45, wouldn't that include the 10 minutes allowed for a team to answer the board call? In that event, the first match could be called at 7:35. That would allow the 10 minutes to respond to the board call and the first match would begin no later than 7:45.
The rules clearly state that the matches must start no later than 7:45. If the first match is called at 7:45 and there are 10 minutes to respond to the board call, then the first match could begin at 7:55, which is a clear rules violation. I would not be surprised to see a change to this proposed rules change at the January Captain's meeting.
The second proposed rules change would allow the Captains to change Rules Of Play at Captain's meetings. Currently Rules of Play can only be changed at General Membership meetings by a 50% majority vote of the General Membership.
Highlights of December Captain's Meeting
Finances are fine and growing. Not cushy, but there's plenty to put on the Air Cap with enough in reserve to give a great start for the new year.
Air Cap volunteers will be contacted and the tear-down group will be confirmed. Those of us working the stage the entire weekend WILL NOT be assisting in tear-down. I know I'm going to go home and try to sleep 10 or 12 hours before showing up Monday morning at 8 and probably working 60 hours the next week. Well, that last part wasn't part of the meeting.
Elections are coming up in Bebruary. The deadlind for declaring for an office is 12-15. David Garrett will be at the Legion that night playing in the Saturday league, so he's easily available for anyone who wants to declare at the last minute. If there are offices where no one is running, then we go probably go back to nominations from the floor at the February meeting. Please, let David know so we don't have that to deal with at the February meeting.
The people who will be on the stage at the Air Cap are having a meeting at Mary's Dec. 16 at 2:00 PM. We're going to run through all the details, make sure we have everything we need and coordinate our efforts to put on a great tournament. Anyone interested in attending is welcome. This is a meeting where the people on the stage look at every detail. If someone not involved in running the tournament is there and hears something we're overlooking or missing, let us know. Other than that the meeting will be mainly those on the stage discussing organization and coordination of the Air Cap.
Missy will be running the Youth Wheel at the Air Cap. She's doing a great job of organizing that part of the Air Cap. There can never be too many volunteers, so let Missy know if you can spend some time at the Youth Wheel.
The Air Cap WarmUp is at Post 256 Saturday, January 5. Most people know this by now. This will be a practice run for the people running the Air Cap to check out the organization and planning in a live environment.
There will probably be 15 - 17 teams in the upcoming Thursday League that starts December 13. There was significant discussion of the preferred way to set up the league. It was decided to play all teams in one league and play each team 1 time.
The Monday night league is not growing. Format changes that might attract more players were discussed. The current Monday teams will discuss their preferred format, which will be the format for future Monday night leagues. Format changes will not affect the Monday League that is just ready to start up with 4 teams.
Air Cap volunteers will be contacted and the tear-down group will be confirmed. Those of us working the stage the entire weekend WILL NOT be assisting in tear-down. I know I'm going to go home and try to sleep 10 or 12 hours before showing up Monday morning at 8 and probably working 60 hours the next week. Well, that last part wasn't part of the meeting.
Elections are coming up in Bebruary. The deadlind for declaring for an office is 12-15. David Garrett will be at the Legion that night playing in the Saturday league, so he's easily available for anyone who wants to declare at the last minute. If there are offices where no one is running, then we go probably go back to nominations from the floor at the February meeting. Please, let David know so we don't have that to deal with at the February meeting.
The people who will be on the stage at the Air Cap are having a meeting at Mary's Dec. 16 at 2:00 PM. We're going to run through all the details, make sure we have everything we need and coordinate our efforts to put on a great tournament. Anyone interested in attending is welcome. This is a meeting where the people on the stage look at every detail. If someone not involved in running the tournament is there and hears something we're overlooking or missing, let us know. Other than that the meeting will be mainly those on the stage discussing organization and coordination of the Air Cap.
Missy will be running the Youth Wheel at the Air Cap. She's doing a great job of organizing that part of the Air Cap. There can never be too many volunteers, so let Missy know if you can spend some time at the Youth Wheel.
The Air Cap WarmUp is at Post 256 Saturday, January 5. Most people know this by now. This will be a practice run for the people running the Air Cap to check out the organization and planning in a live environment.
There will probably be 15 - 17 teams in the upcoming Thursday League that starts December 13. There was significant discussion of the preferred way to set up the league. It was decided to play all teams in one league and play each team 1 time.
The Monday night league is not growing. Format changes that might attract more players were discussed. The current Monday teams will discuss their preferred format, which will be the format for future Monday night leagues. Format changes will not affect the Monday League that is just ready to start up with 4 teams.
Monday, December 03, 2007
The Deaf Guy And The Cops
There's this deaf guy taking a bath when the cops show up at his door. The cops knock on his door. Not only is the deaf guy taking a bath when the cops knock on his door - he's deaf.
When the cops don't get anybody to answer the door, they break the door down. Somehow, the deaf guy in his bathtub doesn't hear this and continues enjoying his bath.
The cops move to secure the building about the time the deaf guy finishes his bath, dries off, wraps a towel around himself and wanders out of the bathroom not knowing there's an armed group of police sweeping his house.
Upon encountering the deaf guy wearing nothing but a towel, the cops order him to freeze. I think you can imagine how well that worked. The deaf guy is trying to figure out some way to communicate with the police to ask them what's going on. This involves moving, since he can only communicate with his hands.
The police inform him several times that if he continues moving, he will be hit with a Taser. This story does not have a happy ending. I wish it was a joke, but word is, it happened just that way.
When the cops don't get anybody to answer the door, they break the door down. Somehow, the deaf guy in his bathtub doesn't hear this and continues enjoying his bath.
The cops move to secure the building about the time the deaf guy finishes his bath, dries off, wraps a towel around himself and wanders out of the bathroom not knowing there's an armed group of police sweeping his house.
Upon encountering the deaf guy wearing nothing but a towel, the cops order him to freeze. I think you can imagine how well that worked. The deaf guy is trying to figure out some way to communicate with the police to ask them what's going on. This involves moving, since he can only communicate with his hands.
The police inform him several times that if he continues moving, he will be hit with a Taser. This story does not have a happy ending. I wish it was a joke, but word is, it happened just that way.
Saturday Standings
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Ian is the "Steady As She Goes guy. Ian has never finished below 2nd this season.
Yep, that was me. Crashed, burned and went down in flames.
On my Browser, this looks great. My experience says that your mileage may vary.
I was going to put up a picture of an Angel and put something about Katherine winging up into the lead, but after I got 2 pictures and 2 captions working I thought I'd better not press my luck.
Here's how it stacks up now:
Standings - Through 12-1-07
Points PPD
1 - Ian 28 11.11
2 - Jimmy 24 11.01
3 - Katherine 20 11.26
4 - Merlin 17 13.23
5 - Sherry 16 9.00*
6 - David 16 12.28
7 - Kraig 13** 19.48
8 - Lisa 9 9.50
* Sherry, the next time you don't show up, we're going to have Tucker sub for you.
** Must provide a 20-page analysis of the symbolism employed by Lenin in Das Kapital and it's relevance to Timothy Leary's "Turn on, Tune In, Drop Out" - or play a makeup match against Sherry (or possibly Tucker) to get either 7 or 8 additional points.
Monday, November 26, 2007
The Legion Jukebox
The Legion jukebox has received several comments. One comment mentioned that it caters to only one demographic. Another just said something had to be done.
Let's do it! There are about 40 empty slots on that jukebox. Those slots can be filled.
It took close to a year of asking our vendor to put one in. Then over a year to get one that would actually play songs. When one finally arrived that worked, the song selection was something resembling rancid bacon. We have permission from the vendor to put anything we want on that jukebox. I got about 20 CD's put on the jukebox. Those get most of the play.
What do you want on the jukebox? More important - what would you pay to play? What do you want to listen to when you throw darts? The only way to get the vendor off his butt is if he sees revenue. I'll do ANYTHING to get a better music selection. I've run out of my stuff. What's your stuff?
We're pretty much stuck with the sound quality.
Step 1 is to get the CD's to the legion you want to hear. It can be individual songs made into CD's. Step 2 is to get the vendor to come out and put them on. I'll fight that fight and Juanita will join in. I pity the fool who ignores Juanita.
We've got to know what you want to hear and will pay to play before we can do anything else. What do you want?
Let's do it! There are about 40 empty slots on that jukebox. Those slots can be filled.
It took close to a year of asking our vendor to put one in. Then over a year to get one that would actually play songs. When one finally arrived that worked, the song selection was something resembling rancid bacon. We have permission from the vendor to put anything we want on that jukebox. I got about 20 CD's put on the jukebox. Those get most of the play.
What do you want on the jukebox? More important - what would you pay to play? What do you want to listen to when you throw darts? The only way to get the vendor off his butt is if he sees revenue. I'll do ANYTHING to get a better music selection. I've run out of my stuff. What's your stuff?
We're pretty much stuck with the sound quality.
Step 1 is to get the CD's to the legion you want to hear. It can be individual songs made into CD's. Step 2 is to get the vendor to come out and put them on. I'll fight that fight and Juanita will join in. I pity the fool who ignores Juanita.
We've got to know what you want to hear and will pay to play before we can do anything else. What do you want?
Some greaat darts thrown Saturday night
I just finished up the results sheet and saw some great stuff. It was a tough night. Kraig came into the night as an 18.5. He played 9 501 games with 20.23 ppd - he lost 2 of 3 matches. Throwing above the "expected" ppd's didn't win many games Saturday. It was tough as nails - hit your outs darts the entire night.
When the handicap league was first set up those of us who set it up concluded that players at 11 ppd were the hardest to beat. An 11 ppd player can hit outs and can usually score enough to win a lot of games. That's still proving to be accurate.
Katherine Fitch and David Garrett hit Red Bull Outs. Jimmy Dinsmore chipped in a 97-out - against me - GRRR! - Oh, wait, I'm supposed to say Congratulations, Jimmy! I'm starting to be real glad I've got Jimmy lined up on my team for the next Thursday session.
Here are the latest standings and ppd's - and some proof that those danged 11's are tough to beat - especially if they can throw some Cricket.
(League points) are based on 8 for 1st, 7 for 2nd...down to 1 for 8th and accumulate each week.
1 - Ian (20) - 11.11 ppd
2 - Jimmy (19) - 11.01 ppd
3(tie) - Merlin (15) - 13.23 ppd
3(tie) - Sherry (15) - 9.00* ppd
5 - Katherine (13) - 11.26 ppd
6 - David (12) - 12.28 ppd
7 - Kraig (7**) - 19.48 ppd
8 - Lisa (6) - 9.50 ppd
Scores marked with * are awaiting the results of tests for performance-enhancing drugs. In the Seniors league on Wednesdays "roid rage" usually means someone forgot their Preparation H.
Well, not really
* Sherry has had a sub for every 501 week so far, so her 9.00 is still her "starting" point that was assigned. She's throwing WAY better than that, so this will be corrected.
** Kraig has a makeup game against - yep, Sherry. Kraig will get either 7 or 8 points in that match, so his point total will put him among the leaders as soon as the makeup match is played.
When the handicap league was first set up those of us who set it up concluded that players at 11 ppd were the hardest to beat. An 11 ppd player can hit outs and can usually score enough to win a lot of games. That's still proving to be accurate.
Katherine Fitch and David Garrett hit Red Bull Outs. Jimmy Dinsmore chipped in a 97-out - against me - GRRR! - Oh, wait, I'm supposed to say Congratulations, Jimmy! I'm starting to be real glad I've got Jimmy lined up on my team for the next Thursday session.
Here are the latest standings and ppd's - and some proof that those danged 11's are tough to beat - especially if they can throw some Cricket.
(League points) are based on 8 for 1st, 7 for 2nd...down to 1 for 8th and accumulate each week.
1 - Ian (20) - 11.11 ppd
2 - Jimmy (19) - 11.01 ppd
3(tie) - Merlin (15) - 13.23 ppd
3(tie) - Sherry (15) - 9.00* ppd
5 - Katherine (13) - 11.26 ppd
6 - David (12) - 12.28 ppd
7 - Kraig (7**) - 19.48 ppd
8 - Lisa (6) - 9.50 ppd
Scores marked with * are awaiting the results of tests for performance-enhancing drugs. In the Seniors league on Wednesdays "roid rage" usually means someone forgot their Preparation H.
Well, not really
* Sherry has had a sub for every 501 week so far, so her 9.00 is still her "starting" point that was assigned. She's throwing WAY better than that, so this will be corrected.
** Kraig has a makeup game against - yep, Sherry. Kraig will get either 7 or 8 points in that match, so his point total will put him among the leaders as soon as the makeup match is played.
Monday, November 19, 2007
The disappearing marker tip mystery solved
You know how it works. A new marker gets broken out and before the night is done the tip of the marker is just showing past the end of the plastic.
You start looking at who chalked with it and wondering how they managed to press so hard that they shoved the tip into the marker. Rumors spread that some players ruin markers, then you try to see if you can press hard enough to shove the tip into the marker - and you can't.
I did it last week. I shoved the tip of a new marker right down to the tip of the plastic. I was putting the cap back on the marker and got a solid piece of plastic instead of the opening in the lid on the tip of the marker. I was pushing hard enough to get past the "click" you get when the cap is firmly replaced.
When I took the cap back off to chalk the next score, the tip was buried.
It's not people pressing too hard, it's just an accident of bumping the tip with the cap.
You start looking at who chalked with it and wondering how they managed to press so hard that they shoved the tip into the marker. Rumors spread that some players ruin markers, then you try to see if you can press hard enough to shove the tip into the marker - and you can't.
I did it last week. I shoved the tip of a new marker right down to the tip of the plastic. I was putting the cap back on the marker and got a solid piece of plastic instead of the opening in the lid on the tip of the marker. I was pushing hard enough to get past the "click" you get when the cap is firmly replaced.
When I took the cap back off to chalk the next score, the tip was buried.
It's not people pressing too hard, it's just an accident of bumping the tip with the cap.
Saturday Night League
Here's the standings (8 points for 1st each night, 7 for 2nd, etc.)
Ian - 14
Sherry - 14
Jimmy - 11
Merlin - 11
Katherine - 8
David - 5
Kraig - 5*
Lisa - 4
*Kraig has one more makeup match and he's playing for 7 or 8 points in that match.
Sherry has an interesting strategy. Sherry started as a 9 (lowest ppd since we don't play 301). It seemed fair since she hasn't played in a while. It seemed reasonable after watching her in a Round Robin we held before the league started.
Sherry missed the first 501 night. Joan subbed for her and came in second, earning 7 points for Sherry.
The next week was Cricket and Sherry showed she's back with her competetive spirit intact. Sherry is not a 9 in Cricket.
Here's where if gets better. Sherry can't make it next week for 501 and Missy is going to sub for her. That's great except that's going to give Sherry 2 Cricket matches without ever throwing a 501 in the league to set her average above 9. I don't think that's going to happen. If we have to switch a Cricket and a 501 week, we'll do it.
Since it's a payback league, accomplishments and trophies aren't in the mix, but I'm still going to recognize *ahem Kraig* great shooting when a player *ahem Kraig* does well.
140 - Kraig
133 - Several
Hat Trick - Kraig
9-count - Kraig - I think I'll turn that in for a pin
7-count - Kraig
The 9-count was against me. I had a small, but not comfortable lead. A 9-count on 20 can be overcome. There are a lot of numbers left. A 9-count on 15 is different. There's usually nothing other than bulls left.
Ian - 14
Sherry - 14
Jimmy - 11
Merlin - 11
Katherine - 8
David - 5
Kraig - 5*
Lisa - 4
*Kraig has one more makeup match and he's playing for 7 or 8 points in that match.
Sherry has an interesting strategy. Sherry started as a 9 (lowest ppd since we don't play 301). It seemed fair since she hasn't played in a while. It seemed reasonable after watching her in a Round Robin we held before the league started.
Sherry missed the first 501 night. Joan subbed for her and came in second, earning 7 points for Sherry.
The next week was Cricket and Sherry showed she's back with her competetive spirit intact. Sherry is not a 9 in Cricket.
Here's where if gets better. Sherry can't make it next week for 501 and Missy is going to sub for her. That's great except that's going to give Sherry 2 Cricket matches without ever throwing a 501 in the league to set her average above 9. I don't think that's going to happen. If we have to switch a Cricket and a 501 week, we'll do it.
Since it's a payback league, accomplishments and trophies aren't in the mix, but I'm still going to recognize *ahem Kraig* great shooting when a player *ahem Kraig* does well.
140 - Kraig
133 - Several
Hat Trick - Kraig
9-count - Kraig - I think I'll turn that in for a pin
7-count - Kraig
The 9-count was against me. I had a small, but not comfortable lead. A 9-count on 20 can be overcome. There are a lot of numbers left. A 9-count on 15 is different. There's usually nothing other than bulls left.
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