one hundred and eeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiighty

Darts.  That ever so popular pub game is now a global super sport.

Over the past few years, Sky TV have brought all their sports broadcasting know-how to the game, elevating it to stratospheric proportions, with the players catapulted into the highest echelons of earners.

It hasn't always been this way though.  Before Sky came along, the only tournament you'd see on the television was the World Championships, initially coming under the control of the British Darts Organisation.  They were held in a small nightclub called Jollies in Stoke.

But then the top players, disgruntled with the lack of coverage and money in their sport broke away from the BDO to form their own organisation.  Well, the BDO is now dead, and the Professional Darts Corporation rules.

Players can now play in competitions every day of the week throughout the season, and the bigger tournaments are shown live - mainly on Sky but other broadcasters have nudged in as well.

Prize money has increased along with the sport's profile.  And perhaps this increased profile is most visible in the Premier League - a competition held over seventeen weeks in late winter and the springtime.  Weekly contests are held in indoor arenas around Europe, with the top four players competing for the title in a play-off held at London's O2 Arena in front of thousands of spectators.

a bit different from a Tuesday night at The Dog & Duck

The crowds are often as entertaining as the darts, with many turning up in fancy dress, and singing songs normally confined to the football terraces!  The beer flows, and the cheering follows as the players dish up seemingly unbelievable skills to hit the smallest of targets.

If you haven't watched a game at this elite level then you really should.  I guarantee you'll be hooked!