Nelson's Column - To Sledge or Not to Sledge? • Jan/Feb 2011
Nelson’s Column
To Sledge or Not to Sledge?
By Dick Allix
At The World Grand Prix recently, there were some heated arguments (that’s a notch up from debates) about Players behaviour ‘on the oche.’ In the semi final, where Adrian Lewis narrowly beat Phil Taylor, the latter complained that Adrian had tried to put him off, successfully it would seem, whilst he was throwing. In the following final, the same complaint was made again by the victorious James Wade toward the hapless Lewis. There may be charges brought by The Darts Regulation Authority to the door of one of more of the protagonists. Surprised? Horrified? Well, sorry, I just shrug because from the moment I became involved with this Sport, some thirty years ago, this type of ‘activity’ has been a constant.
Who can forget the tussles between Alan Evans, the Welsh firebrand, and Eric Bristow who could always be counted on to lead with his lip. Your own Connie Daniels always had a neat line in ‘on the oche’ chatter, each utterance intended to belittle the opponent and put him off his stride. No Player complained (who would have listened anyway) as it was considered all part of the game. A novice learned very quickly to ‘go deaf’ whilst playing.
Eric Bristow said to me very early on, “If you let them know you’ve heard or that it’s effected you, you’re dead meat.” Through the years, I have seen and heard many players even it up.
What’s that you say? Well, if player A thinks he isn’t quite as good as player B, the former may try to even up the match by some ‘gamesmanship,’ always just on the right side of legal, but only just. Mostly it happens before the game starts with friendly banter which is aimed to hit home at the confidence, ability, and of course, manhood of the opponent.
Like the skill of playing, the skill of banter varies enormously. Eric Bristow and Peter Manley were experts. I have seen the former reduce a worthy opponent to mush five minutes before a game with some very well chosen words, mostly said without malice and with a smile, but with a message as cold as steel cutting straight to the heart. Peter Manley has openly admitted that he regarded this activity as essential to even up a match that perhaps he stood a good chance of losing. It was part and parcel of Professional Darts, and any player intending to be a Pro long term, better get used to it and what’s more get good at it.
Now, before some of you get all prissy about this, trust me, darts is not unique in this sporting department. It’s so commonplace, I doubt there is a sport where it doesn’t happen. Don’t say golf to me either. May not happen out on the fairways and greens of the Great Game, but if you were a fly on the wall in the locker room, I think you would change your mind. It’s a human trait as old as time itself.
When the ancient Brits faced off against the invading Roman hoards (and that was an uneven match), the Brits turned their back on the legions, dropped their pants and bared their hairy……, well you get my drift. Now that’s gonna put anyone off their stroke, but the Brits were just trying to even it up a tad. Humiliate the opposition. It’s no different today. Fast forward to other sports in the present day, do you honestly think the huddle on any given Sunday in the NFL is all sweetness and light?
“Hi Randy, how are you, old chap”
“Afternoon Bill, fine day for the match”
“My, you have some awfully big men in the huddle today”
“Yes, I know, we will be gentle. I hope you have a good match and win”
“No, no. It’s you who should take the day. It’s your turn after all”
Ya think?!
Eric Bristow and Peter Manley were experts. I have seen the former reduce a worthy opponent to mush five minutes before a game with some very well chosen words, mostly said without malice and with a smile, but with a message as cold as steel cutting straight to the heart.
At Baseball, do you think the odd word or sound passes between the catcher and the batter? I would imagine so. Basketball, all quite out there is it? In the pit lane at Nascar? Cricket in the UK, (That’s the cricket played by 22 guys, with two batters on a big open air field and it can take four days with a draw as the outcome.)? Its legendary with what that sport calls ‘sledging.’ Sledging is the epitome, the ultimate in verbal discourse between one team and another on the field of play. Just as the batter is about to receive a ball from the bowler (pitcher), the wicket keeper behind the stumps may say to his teammate just loud enough to be heard that he knew of some sexual titbit about the batters wife/girlfriend/mother. Takes a strong batter or perhaps a deaf one not to falter as he attempts to make the hit. The authorities have tried to outlaw ‘sledging,’ but with little success. It’s too ingrained in the sport.
In darts, there is of course a line in the sand where intimidation or gamesmanship becomes ‘rule breaking,’ but that line, I fear, is blurred. After all, where should the line be drawn? The aggressor will get to the ‘mark’ one way or another be it at the hotel, on the practice board, in the bathroom before the game or as they walk to the board.
I know one very successful player in todays game who, when he sees an up and coming player on the scene, invites said player to practice with him. The young player feels special and readily agrees to participate in what he sees an as opportunity to improve his game. In truth, it’s an exercise in showing the young player who ‘the daddy’ is, who is superior and how far the younger guy is away from being as good as the senior player. They generally come away from ‘practice’ shell shocked and demoralized, rarely returning. Job done by the senior Pro then. That to me is just as harmful as verbal banter, if indeed it is harmful at all.
For me, Pro darts is a Mans Game with no prisoners and no quarter asked or given. The young Pro has a choice where he practices, will have to get used to the banter, and get tough. At the start of this piece, I spoke about Adrian Lewis and the alleged complaints against him at The World Grand Prix. Banter or Gamesmanship for me takes guile, intelligence and wit for it to hit home. Adrian, bless his heart, has none of these three. He is a very naturally gifted player who should win a major during his career, but his naiveté and youth for the moment will hold him back.
If he did indeed do those things he has been accused of then I’m very surprised, as I do not think it would have occurred to him to do them, not unless third parties had suggested it to him and even then, in the heat of battle, he would forget what he’d been told. I could be wrong, but ‘let he who casts the first stone, be without sin,’ if I may borrow a biblical quote or ‘It’s the pot calling the kettle black’ for the non-believers amongst you.
In sport, in my view, the incident of Gamesmanship goes up in direct ratio to the rise in financial benefits. There’s more to win as much as there is more to lose. That makes the less gifted more inclined to ‘even it up’ as they are painfully aware that their skill alone will not get them over the line.
Is it fair? No, but its not a fair world, and trying to stop it completely is like swimming up hill. Put the rules in place by all means when the game starts, but for me that just moves the Gamesmanship to another place, it won’t eradicate it. Players have to get tough, get deaf and get immune. When it’s perceived that it doesn’t work on a player, most times it just goes away. There is a danger that if we sanitize this sport of ours too much we will take the characters away which means far less to write about by the media and commentate upon by television. Heaven forbid we lose either of these two essential elements in our current success which has its roots in the spectacle of confrontation of black hats and white hats, the good guys and the bad guys, winners and losers. As a very famous soccer manager said many years ago about winning, “It’s not about life and death, it’s more serious than that.”
