THE PEOPLE WHO say darts isn’t a real sport are the same kind of bores that will tell you winning the FA Cup no longer matters.
Apathy is OK if it’s not your thing, but derision only highlights ignorance.
It’s one of the reasons why it took about three seconds to switch off one radio station’s phone-in this week when talk turned to whether the exploits at Alexandra Palace could be considered as sport.
It is a mindless debate that succeeds in simply filling dead air or, erm, webspace.
You only have to watch darts and get caught up in the tension and drama to appreciate the exacting nature of the game.
To dismiss it shows disregard for the mental and technical capacity required to perform on a stage that challenges competitors in a way that others simply don’t.
It is a test of both endurance and arithmetic, the need for instantaneous problem solving amidst a drunken din a prerequisite for any success.
The chaos of the crowd, condensed and intimate and mostly inebriated, is constant.
Yet when the players turn on the oche to let fly they are detached from the madness. In an instant their focus must switch, performing while thousands of eyes are fixed on them from behind.
The sights are stag do chic while the sounds transfer from football terraces. In the midst of it all it must feel like there is no escape. Yet for the TV viewer the backdrop is easily ignored as you watch those on stage perform with such exquisite precision.
Luke Littler (16 in case you’ve been living under a rock or a bed of Celebration wrappers over Christmas and New Year) captured the imagination of a world beyond Alexandra Palace with his run to the final of the PDC World Championship.
There was no fairytale ending to a story that has enthralled so many.
The teenager was beaten by world no.1 Luke Humphries, who rose to the top of the rankings with his semi-final win. It was a contest that displayed the true hallmarks of sporting greatness as two competitors engaged in a battle of nerve and ability that tested them to their limits.
All set to the backdrop of 3,500 raucous and riveted fans.
More than that, Sky Sports confirmed that the peak of 3.71 million people (4.8m in total) who tuned in made it the most watched non-football event in the station’s history.
Littler’s emergence has been the main reason for that.
Over the last few weeks, the teenager’s technical ability has been as impressive as his mental fortitude. At first it was the story of an underdog before quickly morphing into what feels like the genesis of the sport’s next great champion.
His age, of course, has captivated a hardcore support as well as so many more fleeting fans.
Sky, whose coverage of sports with far greater reach and appeal borders on parody at times, do a great job of packaging a product that they have helped transform alongside Barry Hearn and his Matchroom Sports company.
I CAN'T SPAKE
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) January 3, 2024
A year ago today, the greatest leg of darts was played 🎯 pic.twitter.com/pomsNxvZIb
The revelry of the darts is now replaced by a sense of routine with the third round of the FA Cup, a competition which, just to strengthen this flimsy segue, Littler has only been alive for the finals at the redeveloped Wembley from 2007.
From Thursday night’s 0-0 draw between Crystal Palace and Everton, 32 ties will take place, concluding with Manchester United’s visit to League One Wigan Athletic on Monday.
Some will roll their eyes at the prospect as weakened teams from Premier League to even National League take part.
There are legitimate concerns for the game’s elite players who will soon face unprecedented demands given the expanded Champions League and Club World Cup formats, not to mention more international requirements.
In Britain, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association, Maheta Molango, told Sky News that some members were prepared to take legal action as a result of the increased strain put on their bodies.
A breaking point is closer than ever and plenty would be quick to point to the FA Cup as a relic of the past worth sacrificing; a competition that has lost its lustre over the past 25 years as the Premier League grew into a behemoth.
But to denigrate the worthiness of the FA Cup is to misunderstand some of the things which are most important in sport, how a sense of tradition and history are worth maintaining.
And even now, hundreds of thousands will pay into matches this weekend. Millions will watch on TV. Before dismissing the Cup as anachronistic, just observe the crowd reaction at the final whistle of any close contest today. Are all of these supporters wrong to be moved? Should they check the bottom line for the winners before dreaming of glory? Just maybe they have a more fulsome understanding of the sport than those who take a reductive view of one of its oldest knockout competitions.
So, as one staple of the season ends at the Ally Pally, another begins as the road to Wembley gets going with the January ritual of the third round.
The arguments about their merits are misplaced when there is still so much joy to be found in both.
