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Great Lakes Dart Classic / NDHOF Induction Sept 28-Oct 1 2006

We stay solid through the next rounds eventually landing in yet another quarterfinal. This time our opponents are the same, Darin and Gary, and unfortunately so is the result. It was a tough match and despite having darts at both 118 and 120 to win the match my triples fell short and so did we. In a repeat effort, Darin and Gary ousted Johnny K and Ray Carver in the semi-finals and took another doubles title.

The final event of the weekend is singles cricket. Normally, this is my bread and butter event. But as the first rounds are being called my shoulder cramps again and I find myself nearly unable to move my arm. Luckily, I draw a late round call and after some emergency physical therapy I am somewhat mobile again.

Amazingly enough I struggle through the early rounds and eventually land in yet another quarterfinal. But this time my opponent is fellow World Series of Darts competitor Isen Veljic. This is not my day and despite my best attempts Isen rolls over me on his way to the semi-finals.

As the events rolled on without me I resigned myself to playing pranks. Earlier in the weekend someone had pointed out how Darin Young has a resemblance to Dr. Phil. For some reason this struck me funny. So I set ex GRDL president Rocky Johnson on a mission. His job was to ask Darin for an autograph and once done look at it and say, "Oh, I'm sorry I thought you were Dr. Phil!” As you can imagine it created quite the chuckle. So special thanks to Darin for not punching me or anything and being such a great sport. The professionalism he showed throughout the weekend is second to none. And I for one am damn happy he is out there representing our sport.

So there we have it another weekend in the books. A couple bumps in the road but all and all a fantastic time. Special thanks to all that attended especially Peter Citera, Jim Askham and the entire Windy City contingent. I know all had a great time and I look forward to seeing everyone back in February for the Shoot the Rapids tournament.