Thorn interviews Adam Smith

Thorn: What's your name and where are you?

Adam: My name's Adam Smith and I'm in South America, specifically, Montevideo, Uruguay..

T: (gasping) Who told you?!?!

A: Told me what?

T: Oh, my mistake. Sooo, where is that exactly?

A: Pretty close to Buenos Aries, Argentina, across the Rio de Plata-widest river in the world-about a three hour hydrofoil. Uruguay's on the Atlantic coast below Brazil. I think I'm the only SEWA member on the continent. Seriously.

T: Well.that's kinda cool. Ummm, 'Smith' doesn't exactly sound Spanish-they do speak Spanish there right?-where'd you come from?

A: Si, espaņol. I grew up in Portland, Oregon and moved here with my wife last Christmas.

T: How long have you been a SEWA member, and how good are your dart skills? Any big accomplishments?

A: Well, started playing a couple years ago with a friend, found a bar and got into the PADA leagues about a year ago. Joined SEWA about then. Yeah, I've got a few. A couple dozen T80's, gotta T70 out once. Went undefeated in B league and Doubles, won a dozen minor shoots in Portland, but the biggest highlights were winning at the BD first night at the Oregon Open, and getting to play against Bob Anderson.

T: Bob Anderson?!?! The former 1988 world champ? The Limestone Cowboy?!

A: Yep, it was great-just missed the DB on a 161out to beat him. D'oh!

T: Oh, Simpsons fan eh?

A: Hey, I'm from Portland-I actually grew up a few blocks from Matt Groening's house, and went to the same schools as him. You wouldn't believe how popular The Simpsons is here in Uruguay-one of several things it has in common with home.

T: Really. Like what?

A: Oregon and Uruguay are really similar-both have about 3 million people, half in the only big cities, Portland and Montevideo-the rest mostly farms and cattle. Both are mid-latitude and have similar weather-plenty of rain, but great summers and lots of beach. Both cities have that big city/small town combo feeling, anywhere you go you find someone you know, people are welcoming and have a common cultural pulse. I'm baffled how more Americans don't know how great it is-all the rich South Americans come here for summer break! It's everything you've ever seen about Rio but better, with lower prices, no crime, no malaria or dengue, great healthcare systems and the highest literacy rate in South America.

T: What's your favorite thing about living there?

A: Well, the food is amazing-it's all Italian and barbeque-so the pasta, pizza, bread, desserts, and the steaks, oh man, they're amazing-huge, cheap, incredible-I don't know if I could ever buy an American steak again. And the beaches, gorgeous- and the people, gorgeous too, and super friendly. Everything about Uruguay, really, like I said, I'm baffled it's off everyone's radar. Plus, it's central to the continent making travel to more famous places easy...

T: What kind of work do you do?

A: The plan was to teach-which I am, at an English institute-I'm still learning Spanish. But, believe it or not, my wife and I, got gigs as soccer commentators, and we're looking into other business ende-

T: WHAT?! Professional soccer?! You mean like "GOOOAOAAAAAOAOAOAOAOOALLL!!!!!" and stuff??!

A: Well, sort of. We work for a company that has international clients that want live commentary in English-but really simplified-we just tell them conditions, where the ball is, possession, score, stuff like that.

T: Who are these clients?

A: Well, actually, there odds-makers in casinos taking live bets. Mostly in Asia somewhere, like the Phillipines or Singapore.

T: Whoa. Cool. And it pays well?

A: Yeah, it's a pretty cool part time job-we get a lot of jealous looks when locals find out. It's pretty awesome, because we get to experience such a real cultural side of life. People are crazy for futbol.

T: Sweet. Your wife too huh? You ever see any riots or fights? Does it ever get dangerous?

A: Well, I've seen one fight, but they have tons of cops in riot gear at the ready, and fans are separated in the stands by team. And, although they get crazy for futbol, and sometimes there's fights-especially during international matches with Argentina or big national league games-serious violence is not tolerated here-murders are extremely rare and really shamed. But, the fans often bring their own flares and fireworks to the games and play drums and wave flags and chant constantly and stuff! It's fun!

T: Ok, Pele, what about the darts-how's the comp?

A: What comp? There's no darts here, no pubs or bars with boards-only kids play it, with those paper boards and plastic darts from China.

T: What!? So, what do you do? Just read SEWA?

A: Well, they do have leagues in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Sao Paolo, Brazil-those cites have 12 and 20 million people each...but here, it doesn't really exist. But, I decided to try and start the sport here. So, I bought four boards-they come with 6 darts each-and I started holding a little shoot the last few weeks. It's pretty cool, the way people get the fever when you show them how to play right. Our first shoot had 10 people including me and about 20 Dollar in cash prizes, which i s pretty good down here. More importantly, the kids-a few 14 year olds and a few more 18 or so-they had a blast. And showing them the pictures on SEWA, along with comments from folks like John Part and the site founder, Erik McVay, really amazed them

T: But.how do.how can you.play with plastic darts?

A: It ain't that bad-I used to whoop people back at SlabTown with the warped yellow bar darts. But, my wife made a trip to the US and surprised me with a new NODOR board she smuggled back-she's the best! And, I found one store that sells pool and ping pong stuff that had some 'real' darts-Halex semi-pros with plastic shafts. I'm trying not to break all the prongs because they don't sell flights or shafts separately, just whole sets of darts-another indicator that no one here plays seriously. But, I got some really nice offers from several SEWA members to ship me some real darts, shafts and flights. So nice, the folks at SEWA. Best dart site I know-super supportive.

T: Well, thank goodness. So, you're basically trying to start darts in Uruguay all by yourself?

A: Basically. You want to help me Thorn? I mean, what choice do I have? I love the game, and here, they don't know it the way we do. It's better than playing alone forever. Plus, it's a thrill just trying-seeing their eyes light up when they hit a Bullseye. I think if I cultivate enough young players, and they bring in their friends, I think I could get a simple league started in a month or two. I definitely have several of them hooked.it's just a matter of adding something new to a culture.I mean, where else can you play darts while having a live tango concert outside?

T: Very cool. I know everybody is wishing you success.

Adam: Thanks Thorn.

Thorn: Ok, thanks Adam. Adios Uruguay! Next trip we'll be going...uhhh.to...uhhh...somewhere else! So, stay tuned! Over and double out.










Contact © Global Darts. All Rights Reserved. Impressum