And Soccer once again...
While I sat in my hotel room on Saturday afternoon preparing psychically and mental for the first evening of the Grand Slam my eyes fell on a parking place across from my hotel window which had been completely empty in the morning and now was more then full. At the same time I realized a buzz quite near. It took time before it finally sunk in but when loud cheers could be heard I realised: the Wolverhampton Wanderers - the Wolves - had a home game!!!
A short while after that the crowds from the stadium rolled by my window - in the last minute the Wolves had managed a 3:3 draw against the FC Brighton.
The stadium is just across the hotel, it's quite a new building though the Wanderes reside there already since 1898. Founded was the club a few years earlier in 1877 when two local clubs joined. It was still the time when soccer was played according to Rugby rules and it was impossible to define the limits between the two sports. Like Bolton Wolverhampton was one of the founders of the English soccer league and later had some influence in building up the Europe Cup which developed into the UEFA Champions League.
Between 1949 and 1960 the Wolves were on their peak and won more or less everything one could win. In those years always a lot of Wolves were part of the English national team. It's now a few years the Wolves started to recover though till now they didn't reach the same heights again.
The Wolves were one of the first teams to use sport scientific methods in practice and one of the first teams which played under floodlight.
Sport Science immediately brings me back to darts, where some pioneers now-a-days start to use the methods as well.
I joined the crowds and let me float by them directly to the Wolverhampton Civic Hall to follow the first group matches of the groups A - D. I had no problem finding the press room which is larger and much more crowded then the one during the World Grand Prix. I always ask myself what all those photographers do with their pictures.
The first match between Kevin Painter and Dean Winstanley was exactly to the liking of the crowd. Kevin Painter looked very nervous before the match, it was almost impossible to take a picture of him before the walk-on - he was too fidgety. Dean Winstanley took some time to really get into the match but then it was rather close and Kevin Painter needed a 14-Darter to rescue himself over the finishing line. Mark Webster showed against Scott Waites he's back in form.
Mervyn King dominated his match against Jan Dekker from the beginning. Despite his impressive Dracula outfit Ted
Hankey had no chance against Robert Thornton. Thornton's wife meanwhile was engrossed at the outline (the wall
of the venue) trembling like a leaf - which proved to be unnecessary as her husband is really strong at the moment. Probably she has some memories of Ted from the old BDO times.
There never was a doubt Michael van Gerwen was the boss in the match against Steve Beaton who never really was in
the game. The last three matches of the evening turned out to be rather one sided - James Hubbard was the one of the losers to
make an impression nevertheless while the real James Wade never turned up - he definitely is not yet back. Phil Taylor achieved the
second best average of the evening and won against Co Stompe.
The both BDO players of the first evening played disappointing. We'll see what the four BDO players of groups E - H will show on Sunday.
Due to the rather short format I managed to be back in hotel not too late. But there I then I wondered all night whether Gary Anderson really would wear his new shirt the next day..
The stadium is just across the hotel, it's quite a new building though the Wanderes reside there already since 1898. Founded was the club a few years earlier in 1877 when two local clubs joined. It was still the time when soccer was played according to Rugby rules and it was impossible to define the limits between the two sports. Like Bolton Wolverhampton was one of the founders of the English soccer league and later had some influence in building up the Europe Cup which developed into the UEFA Champions League.
Between 1949 and 1960 the Wolves were on their peak and won more or less everything one could win. In those years always a lot of Wolves were part of the English national team. It's now a few years the Wolves started to recover though till now they didn't reach the same heights again.
The Wolves were one of the first teams to use sport scientific methods in practice and one of the first teams which played under floodlight.
Sport Science immediately brings me back to darts, where some pioneers now-a-days start to use the methods as well.
I joined the crowds and let me float by them directly to the Wolverhampton Civic Hall to follow the first group matches of the groups A - D. I had no problem finding the press room which is larger and much more crowded then the one during the World Grand Prix. I always ask myself what all those photographers do with their pictures.
The first match between Kevin Painter and Dean Winstanley was exactly to the liking of the crowd. Kevin Painter looked very nervous before the match, it was almost impossible to take a picture of him before the walk-on - he was too fidgety. Dean Winstanley took some time to really get into the match but then it was rather close and Kevin Painter needed a 14-Darter to rescue himself over the finishing line. Mark Webster showed against Scott Waites he's back in form.
Mervyn King dominated his match against Jan Dekker from the beginning. Despite his impressive Dracula outfit Ted
Hankey had no chance against Robert Thornton. Thornton's wife meanwhile was engrossed at the outline (the wall
of the venue) trembling like a leaf - which proved to be unnecessary as her husband is really strong at the moment. Probably she has some memories of Ted from the old BDO times.
There never was a doubt Michael van Gerwen was the boss in the match against Steve Beaton who never really was in
the game. The last three matches of the evening turned out to be rather one sided - James Hubbard was the one of the losers to
make an impression nevertheless while the real James Wade never turned up - he definitely is not yet back. Phil Taylor achieved the
second best average of the evening and won against Co Stompe.
The both BDO players of the first evening played disappointing. We'll see what the four BDO players of groups E - H will show on Sunday.
Due to the rather short format I managed to be back in hotel not too late. But there I then I wondered all night whether Gary Anderson really would wear his new shirt the next day..