No wonder why everyone thinks dart players are a bunch of drunks...

No wonder why everyone thinks dart players are a bunch of drunks...

"At a TV recording the other day I bumped into Sid Waddell, the darts commentator, who turned out to be an exceptionally nice bloke, with a dry wit you don't always associate with his chosen sport. I asked if it was true that darts players were permanently drunk, and he said that it was, literally, often the case that the only people at the match who weren't drunk were the commentators.

The players cannot do their job without several pints inside them. If they were stone cold sober, their hands would probably be shaking too much to throw. He mentioned one player who drank 23 bottles of Heineken before playing a match for £100,000, and another - very famous - player who began a match so drunk that when his opponent held out his hand in greeting he missed it altogether and fell flat on the floor.

Sid is generally described as 'excitable' for his commentaries on Sky Sports, and he certainly uses the language to vigorous effect. 'Jockey Wilson, ah what an athlete!' he once said. Or his admiring: 'That was like throwing three pickled onions into a thimble!' And 'it's like trying to pin down a kangaroo on a trampoline'. Or 'under that heart of stone beat muscles of pure flint' and, of a losing player, 'he looks about as happy as a penguin in a microwave'. My favourite is his description of a very close match: 'The atmosphere is so tense, if Elvis walked in with a portion of chips, you could hear the vinegar sizzle on them.' Well, you see what he means.
A shocking sight at the theatre | Backbench | Guardian Unlimited Politics"