View from the Oche

Late again this week after no View from the Oche last week – I really need to organise my weekends better. Unfortunately we have have no Who Are Ya? this week either sorry but we have match reports from last Tuesday and Gypsy Pat tries to improve his predictions which at present are worse than the Phukkers doubles results and that is saying something  [ 2 wins from 15 attempts] and a little bit of news and gossip too.

Jim T’ s early experiences of playing darts

As we approach the half way point I am hopefully going to get in touch with team Captains next week and get their half time reports on how their teams have done so far.

Division 1

Those Guys v Buccaneers

It is as tight as Chairman Lee’s sphincter in a Bangkok ladyboy bar, at the bottom of Division 1 and these two played out a match that unfortunately left them filling the last two spots. However promising performances from both sides and Those Guys will still see plenty of hope in picking up their first win of the season soon. The draw specialists went toe to toe with the Buccaneers, claiming the draw in the team game after what looked a real team effort. The Buccaneers ,or should that be Sherdians old boys plus Brett, saw a great performance from Matt, who helped himself to five checks and five tons.He was aidied by visiting Alan ,who showed he still has it and also got five tons – all we need now is Tim Russell to make an appearance ,with Kris dribbling ice cream and it will be 2010 all over again. For Those Guys, Odi and B-Lo went ton crazy, while Pete and Matt got vital checks ,with three each. Do not know what happened to my old mate Mario , with no tons – must have been a lot of triple ones eh Mario!!!

Really Rottens v Team Viet

The second draw in Div 1 was fought out between the vastly improved Really Rottens and Team Viet. The result keeps them in both in the top three but already a long way behind Mabuhay ,who look well on the way to the reclaiming their title ,even at this early stage.It was a closely fought match that went to and fro ,with the Rottens winning the team game to get a point. A surprisingly low number of tons for the Rottens with Tom and Roch getting two a piece.Team Viet were a little more successful ,especially Xu with seven.He also top checked with four while for the Rottens, Tom and Guppy were the main danger men. Tom also got an 81 high finish.

Ice Blue v Mabuhay

The Champs and the Runners Up from last season took to the oche with contrasting form so far, as Mabuhay have consolidated top position and Ice Blue ,after the uncertainty of actually competing, have fallen back into the main pack and are missing Rick on a regular basis.  Ice Blue though they lost this match, went down fighting and can be proud of their efforts.Tam continues to be the form player for  them and on the night got himself five tons and four checks, as well as defeating the dangerous Jonel. Matt was the only player apart from Tam to get a Singles win and that proved costly. For Mabuhay , three players with 7 tons ,the likely suspects of Jun and Jonel ,joined this night by Adrian. These three dominated the checking for the champs with a little help from Joeart.

Division 2

Phatty Phukkers V Alayah

These two teams were reunited and went into the game in contrasting positions . Alayah have had a solid start and are one of the favourites to return to Div 1 ,however  the Phukkers are on a losing run and players are showing no consistency in their play and the team are struggling to stay in the division at this stage. A game that looked over at one stage as Alayah held a 4-1 lead ,developed into quite a tense affair and a 7 -5 win for Alayah. Captain Lee  looked nervous going into the crucial team game but his sides experience and determination resulted in a comfortable checkout by Huck to claim the match. Phukkers won 4 of the six Singles but lost the match again in the doubles where pairings are just are not working. Paul and Huck did most of the damage for Alayah with Huck getting 5 checks to go alongside his 3 tons and Paul 4 checks and 4 tons. In the large Phukkers squad there was a good night for Jamie who got three checks and a 107 high finish and Jimish helped himself to 5 tons to go with his three checks .

Where do the Phukkers go from here ??

Nomads v Madhouse

A real see –saw battle between Nomads and Madhouse last Tuesday, where Madhouse won the first three games ,lost the next six and somehow got the last three to snatch an unlikely draw. Yet again Nomads just don’t seem able to close the match from winning positions [except against my team]. It would be an interesting reading to see exactly how many matches they have drawn in the last three seasons. After a terrible start in the triples and doubles, they roared back and with Singles wins for their top 4 performers ,they looked poised to finish the night joint top , but wins for Zach and Sam gave Madhouse hope going into the team game and Coach got the all important check. I believe two of the Nomads got 180 ‘s –well done to Glyn and Jeff. They both dominated the tons for their team,on a quiet night for Chad in that area. He made up for his lack of tons though with the top gun check wise with four. Few checks for Madhouse, for whom Zach got two and also four checks.

Black Magic v Baan Thai

Baan Thai achieved  their first win of  the season with a narrow 7-5 win over what seemed an understrength Black Magic. The win is not quite enough to lift them off the bottom of the table but will give them great encouragement for the coming weeks and their likely relegation battle with the Phukkers.It actually should have been an easier match for the D2 team as they raced into a 5- 1 lead, no doubt leaving Rob1 in a bewildered mess. However Black Magic are a fighting team if nothing else and Rob does not give up lost causes and a strong Singles performance ,winning four out of the six ,gave them the chance of a well earned draw. But alas all their efforts were to no avail as Baan Thai clinched the game in dramatic fashion ,getting the team game check from the outstanding Rey. The young man had a great night getting the full Monty of 6 checks and 4 tons. He was supported well by his team mates too. For poor Black Magic ,a measly two tons were scored by the whole team and I am sure Rob and Drama take no pleasure in being the top dogs with one each!!!!! White Barry White topped the checking charts for them with three.

What was that darling ?Black Magic’s top tons scorer scored how many?!!!

Division 3

Featured match

The Rusty Spear Chuckers v No Star Where

No Star Where have struggled to overcome their disappointment about not getting promoted last year after topping the league before the playoffs and their form has been a little inconsistent. They made no mistake in this match though against the Spear Chuckers who remain firmly at the bottom of the table ,with no points. Spear Chuckers registered two new players ,so it may be that they are struggling a little to get enough players on any given Tuesday and this may account for their indifferent form thus far. A comfortable 10 -2 victory for NSW ,with only Hoa and Rob W losing matches.Rome managed 2 checks for the Chuckers [and a Singles win] ,alongside a new player ,but there wasn’t much else to shout about for them in all honesty.  A real team effort for NSW ,with all players getting checks and tons. Mal C and El Tel the standout performers.

In the other matches the  tense battle between Charmed Assassins and Buddha was as close as expected ,with the Assassins coming out with a 7-5 victory, due in the main to an impressive 5 out of 6 Singles victories. Finally , a rather surprsingly comofrtable victory for the Patriots over ACDC , 9-3,which sees them stay in touch with the top two of the Assassins and The Prixx. it promises to be a very interesting second half of the season in this Division.

Division 4

Featured match

Bernies Best v Tavern

In a Division where there will only be 10 games played ,after the Lunatics withdrawl , teams will need to grab as many points as they can early on. These two teams have been around a long time and will no doubt fancy their chances of finishing at the top of the pile, though both have had inconsistent starts . The match ended up with a narrow 7-5 win for the Tavern. A strong Singles performance gave them the upper hand ,with wins for George, Robert , Brendan and Josh. Thanh Tiger scored an impressive 5 tons for Bernies and Kalvin got three checks but it just wasn’t enough and losing the last three matches was fatal.Brendan was the outstanding performer for the Tavern ,with five tons and four checks. Nice to see my old mate Xuan get a Singles victory as well for Bernies!!

In the other match The Udder team romped to another win and must fancy their chances of getting close to top team G-Force in the coming weeks.An impressive 11- 1 win ,over Game On’s Dreamtime , who experienced a nightmare and as mentioned below are also maybe struggling for regular players. One does not hope they go the same way as their stable mates Lunatics.Captain Andy led well from the front for his team from The Spotted Cow.

Gypsy Pat’s Predictions

Well our resident Romany had atrocious predictions two weeks ago so let’s see if a week’s rest has helped him get his psychic vibes sorted with this week’s predictions.

Division 1

 

Really Rottens v Those Guys

RR are having a good season so far and are in 2nd place, while TGs languish at the bottom of the table, there is only one player from each team in the top 10, Big Pete from TG is 6th and Tom from RR is 9th, RRs have won 2 lost 1 and drawn 1, while TGs have no wins, 1 loss and 3 draws, I think it will be a tight game, but, RR will overcome TG to clinch a 7-5 win.

Division 2

 

Nomads v Black Magic

The Nomads currently hold 2nd place while BM are 4th, both teams have 2 wins, but BM have lost 2 whilst the Nomads have drawn two, its in the individual players where the difference in teams lie, with the Nomads players occupying 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th places, only Rob1 makes it into the top 10 at 7th. I think the Nomads are going to be too strong for BM and I predict: Nomads 8-4 BM.

Division 3

 

Buddha Bar v No Star Where

There is not much between these two teams, both have won two games, Buddha having lost 2 whilst NSW lost 1, drew 1. NSW are 4th and Buddha 5th, only one player from each team make the top 10, Fudgie sits in 6th place and Scotty 10th. We only scraped a win against Buddha Bar last week, both teams are strong, I think this game is pretty evenly matched, prediction: Buddha Bar 6-6 NSW.

Division 4

 

Tavern v The Udder Team

There is not much separating these two teams, Udder sit in 2nd place and Tavern 3rd, George from Tavern tops the table and two players from Udder make the top 10, I know Tavern signed a couple of decent players, so this is goig to be close, although Udder are a new team and are getting stronger, this will be a tight game but I think The Udder Team will scrape a win, prediction Tavern 5-7 The Udder Team

The last couple of guys to place bets on Gypsy Pat’s predictions have fallen on hard times

News and Gossip

Well I expressed my concern in the last edition that Lunatics could be in trouble having only completed one match and thus it came to pass and they have probably gone down as one of the shortest lasting teams in SIDL history. It basically came down to not having enough committed players and so fair enough .I like the guys at Game On but looking at Dreamtime’s line up this week they too seem to be a little short on numbers and it has to be hoped that the venue doesn’t see another team fold because the darts area has some real potential and were plans to provide more darts space upstairs –I guess watch this space.

Some interesting talk on the website regarding the developments at Red in regards to darts provision. It has been the premier darts venue over the last few years hosting most of the finals of tournaments and quite rightly so, with three floors with dart boards on them but times they are a changing. I mentioned in my last edition about the rise of soft tip darts in Saigon [though I don’t actually know anyone who plays myself] and Brian from Charmed Assassins has pointed out that Red ,having put soft tip machines downstairs and also upstairs may not now be the automatic choice for finals now. He may have a point and other venues may well be capable of holding finals now ,such places as Universal and Harry Casual [ both of which I will visit for the first time this season -so I cannot really comment on their suitability.]

I was rather ill when we played Madhouse at Phattys a couple of weeks back and one thing that i haven’t really noticed before but certainly did that night is how much some guys actually smoke on a darts night. It wasn’t just the numbers of guys who smoked ,which surprised me but some were literally chain smoking. Our darts nights are fun but bloody hell they certainly ain’t healthy!!!!!

As I lay on my sick bed on the holiday weekend it was great to see LIVE DARTS and the Sydney Masters on TV ,won in clinical fashion by The Power -hopefully we will get to see more and more of this on Fox – [hope so cos they show fuck all else!!]

Cheer

Jimish