BORN out of a sense of impending doom with regard to our game’s tradition of colourful characters, opinions and even plain speaking, Treble T intends to say things as we think them to be. Hopefully we’ll be informative, funny or even thought provoking as we go.
Let Peter Wright speak for heaven sake! The colourful double world champion knows a thing or two, but doesn’t often speak out bluntly. He does however seem to have a habit of attracting a lot of ‘pearl clutchers’ when he does hold forth. A while back he upset folk by saying there were no true greats playing at that time. More recently he said he did not care about lower ranked players and their European tour/ranking issues and that he deserves his place in the Premier League over Chris Dobey who had won nothing…
Face it folks, he was at least arguably correct each and every time. It is not his job to care about the fortunes of those yet to reach the heights he has managed. The colourful Scot had to cope with very tough criteria in his qualifying days- no Euro Tour at all and a horrid system to get into the European Championships – and it’s for the PDC/PDPA to correct any genuine error made within the system.
His inclusion in the Premier League should not be even vaguely controversial. When selected he was in the top 10 in the world and had won a major ranking title within the previous 3 months. Sure some other players might be said to have been in better form but they had either had their chance already or really not done nearly enough to compare with Snakebite.
Oh and Peter’s older point about greats is also at least arguable. His point was that there is no great dominant force such as Bristow or Taylor et.al. who have dominated all comers for a decade or more. Even MVG hit a peak in 2016/17 and has never reached such dominance again.
The wider point that Peter, among others, managed to stir up was that our game gains a huge amount if it is discussed – preferably by people who play or watch it, or those who might do so – whether at work , in the pub or even at the gym! A little dose of opinion or colour gets things going.
Whether it’s Scott Williams’s ‘Two World Wars’ interview or Wrighty defending his honour, we need more of it, not less.
Poor ‘Shaggy’ Williams ends up being the illustrator of more than one point within this Treble T opener. The World Semi-finalist’s interview, along with many others, is such clear evidence that alcohol still fuels many players that to pretend otherwise is sheer folly.
Darts doesn’t have to include alcohol and many modern settings, such as academies etc. certainly don’t. But, let’s be honest now, it will be at least another generation until we see a Premier League with the majority of players genuinely drinking nothing but water or energy drinks.
And finally, The Lakeside. Two things can be true at once: it’s good that the WDF got back on their feet and that this event is becoming a true World Amateur Championship and feeder event for the professional elite. But, it was too long, with too many poor games for TV, and the venue is dated and stuck in the past. Things must change.
And that’s The Tungsten Truth
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
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