USA Dart Classic / 510 National Championships
Aug 11-13 2006

Well, once again its time to head over to Stamford CT for the USA Dart Classic and the 501 National Championships. The week started out normally enough, but that would soon change.

Tuesday I get a call from a reporter in Ft Wayne Indiana requesting an interview regarding Dan Brown, a National Youth Championship hopeful. If you haven't met Dan let me tell you he is a gifted player and truly just a classy young man. Its nice to see darts reaching the point where the mainstream press is now recognizing the accomplishments of these young people. Well-deserved Dan!

It is Thursday morning and its time to start the road trip. My partners in crime for the weekend will be Sue Cherry and Steve Hertzfeld. We have traveled to quite a few tournaments together and I have to say I couldn't ask for better company on those long trips. The ride was very smooth and we made it to the Marriott in Stamford around 8pm.

After checking into the room and setting up the dartboard upstairs its time to head down for the meet and greet. Steve Brown is the first person I see and he promptly informs me that we will be matched up Friday in the preliminary round robin. This wasn't best news for me considering the last time I beat Brownie in singles he didn't have a beard. Wonder if they sell shaving kits in the gift shop... just a thought.

Next I run into Scott "Man-o-lantern" Wollaston. Apparently along with his singles victory in the America's Cup he also picked up a massive sunburn on the beaches of Barbados.
Pulling up his shirt to reveal the damage it was a very similar look to the waxing scene in the movie the 40 year old virgin. So a new moniker was coined. I would share the rest of his accounts but I don't want my website slapped with an NC-17 rating. As always a conversation with Wollaston is anything but boring.

After spending a few hours on the practice board I decide a good nights sleep is in order.