But just to play the devils advocate for a second - and to preface my comment, I LOVE watching the WSOD... but...
Most people can't stand watching sports when they know the outcome. The thrill of sports is 'what's going to happen next?' and 'How will the athlete perform?'
In my opinion, the downfall of the WSOD in ratings was due mostly to two factors:
- those who watched and were introduced or re-introduced to darts got interested and started cruising darts web sites and maybe even subscribed to BEN (I know I did!). This invariably brought you to the fact that the WSOD was held in May, the Americans got trounced, and Phil Taylor won. End of suspense.
- The fact that an American did not win took all the steam out of this for many viewers.
Playing the tournament in May, breaking it up into 8 1 hour episodes that air over 3 months is ridiculous. This should have been aired in June at the latest- before most people knew of the outcome. (Heck, they do drag racing that way. They condense a weekend of racing into an edited hour broadcast and show it the following weekend.)
The tournament was flawed in one respect, suspense wise- they needed to whittle this down to the best Brit vs. the best American- that would have kept the suspense up for the American viewing audience through the whole tournament. If it wasn't for Johnny K., it was over in the first round for many. And as far as suspense goes, his first round win was the most exciting part of this show.
I loved watching, will continue to watch (and record) the remaining episodes of the WSOD. It has reinvigorated me to set up a board and start practicing again. Maybe this time life won't get in the way and I can stick with a game I've loved for over 25 years. So, in that respect, the WSOD has done its job at least in my house.
Monty"
This is a post from a first time poster to the forums that really hit the mark!
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