Grand Slam of Darts

Young Kevin McDine is certainly making all the headlines, along with ÔoldÕ Terry Jenkins! Top seed Raymond Van Barneveld is out, leaving the door open for Phil Taylor to snap his year long barren spell.

McDine looks as though he should be sitting his GCSE exams at school but he is enjoying all the attention and plaudits and so he should! Jenkins dabbles in antiques to get away from the sport and his preparation for the win over Barney involved going to an auction and buying a couple of old watches!

The players practice room and VIP guest area behind the scenes, is a constant buzz of activity at the Wolverhampton Civic.

Remember the woes of South African Charles Losper? He had been booked on a flight home on December 19É..well with a bit of help, he was able to go home on Tuesday night and is now back in Cape Town. But he will be back in three weeks, as South AfricaÕs representative at the PDC World Championship.

The merchandising stall at the venue will be mourning the exit of Raymond Van Barneveld. His replica Barney shirts are by the far the biggest selling item on the PDC stall Ð closely followed by the bright green replica darts shirts of Michael Van Gerwen.

And talking of shirts, you will have noticed Wayne MardleÕs new bright orange Hawaii shirt. He normally plays in blue shirts, which are all made in this country. Well, he decided it was time to go up market and his new darts shirts are now made in Hawaii and shipped over to England. I wonder what he has in store for us at the Alexandra Palace next month!

Top level darts isnÕt always about the fame and fortuneÉ..just ask Wolverhampton hometown boy Wayne Jones. He couldnÕt get a lift down to the venue for his final match against Kevin Painter, so took the bus insteadÉ.it cost him the princely sum of £1.40!

You have heard the old joke about how many men it takes to change a lightbulb, etc but how many men does it take to lift a car over a six foot barrier!? One of the sponsors was blocked in on the street outside the venue Ð but this wasnÕt a problem for the PDC security crew. Four of them lifted the ladyÕs Smart Car over the six foot barrier and she was on her way!

It is good to see Keith Deller and Eric Bristow around the place. The former World Champions have been used as ÔspottersÕ for years by Sky Sports for their coverage of darts. The pair have now been brought in by ITV Sport to help them with the latter stages of the Grand Slam.

Finally for now, a tale or two about a couple of the most famous voices in darts Ð top referees Russ Bray and George Noble. Russ of course, is the voice behind the clever Courage Best adverts on ITVÉ.well, he also does a bit of acting in his spare time, having appeared in several films and TV shows.

He has just finished filming his latest role in the highly-acclaimed BBC crime thriller Waking the Dead. Russ plays a drug addict in the episode, which will be screened in the New Year.

And finally, poor George NobleÉ..one of the nice guys in the darts world but he is often the butt of many jokes Ð many brought on by his own anticsÉ..on the way to the tournament, he was travelling up in a shared car and they were doing the crossword to pass the time of day.

The clue for six across was a yellow flower beginning with the letter DÉ..GeorgeÕs response? Sunflower!!!

Priceless! But thatÕs the funny side of the world of darts.