How to Make an Office Dartboard That Won't Destroy the Walls

In case you have a ton of free time at the office, this article will show you how to make an "office dartboard" that won't destroy the walls. Of course, it isn't really darts (nice attempt at drawing a board, by the way...) and if you were any good you'd hit the board and not the walls.

O Turner Where Art Thou?

This week we are playing the first place team (we are second), but without our ace.  How will we fare?  Follow all the action right here.

Two Great Books

All you really need to know right here.

BBC Sport - BBC and ESPN will share coverage of BDO World Championships

BBC Sport - BBC and ESPN will share coverage of BDO World Championships:

'via Blog this'

Dog Tired

A full night of darts is not for the feint of heart.

George and Hooch (by Turner)

The Longest Dart

It has been quite a while since we've done a regular weekly update, but this week's "match" was so unique that it deserves to be memorialized.

The Society took to the boards this week as an optional match.  We were scheduled for the second of back-to-back bye weeks, but we opted to play a friendly game, with the chance to hang out at our home away from home, Society Billiards.  So, we accepted the invitation from The Gaf to join us for what we thought would be a casual night of darts, and to battle for the single extra point awarded to the bye week winner.  And what a battle it would become....

Things started out inauspiciously, although we should have realized that there was the potential for a problem when we split the first three matches of the night.  In the race to nine points, nothing had been decided, until Dave stepped up in the last game of S501 and swept both games.  5-3 for the Society, and things are looking good.

Cricket brought about more parity, as Rich / Scott split their first two games, and Dave / Andrew split their two games, making the score 7-5, heading in to the last round.   Luckily, the games were lasting a long time, as well, so not only was nothing being decided, but it was not being decided slowly.

Things started to run off the rails when Dave / Scott were swept in the first round of D501.  Suddenly, the score was tied, and someone got the brilliant idea to ponder what might happen if we ended the bye week match tied.  Who would get the extra point?  Wouldn't it be a waste of time to play, and have both teams end up with the same 8 points they would have had anyway?  So, texts were send in to the league, and the official NYDO rulebook was consulted, and it was determined that the official way to settle a tie was with a four-on-four 1001 battle royale.  But, there was still some work to be done before we knew if this would be necessary.

Despite looking good in the beginning of the game, Rich / Andrew dropped the first of their D501 matches by a slim margin.  High Society was now down 8-7, with one game left to play.  Coming out blazing hot, Andrew hit 60's left and right, and he nailed the win with a double-3, to send the teams into the Octagon to settle things once and for all.

After midnight, the teams lined up their rosters.  High Society was left to play with only three players, as Scott was the the only sensible, responsible person who went home to be with his family.  (We had not yet decided to play the 1001-off when he left.)  So Rich, Andrew and Dave lined up to take their lumps in what should have been a (long, drawn-out) formality to determine a winner for the night.

Quickly, High Society was on the ropes, down by over 200 points, as we were not only spotting the other team an extra player, but they were nearly throwing Ton-80's when they played.  Our string of Breakfasts was not quite getting it done, and we still had over 500 points on the board while they were nearly doubling out, creating the potential for a "virtual midget tossing".

But the beauty of '01 is that it ain't over till it's over, and when the other team stalled out on double-2, High Society had the chance to make up some ground.  Suddenly, we found ourselves actually "ahead," as we were facing double-1 to their double-2.  After many more rounds of anguish as both teams couldn't manage to put the game away, Rich managed to double out and put an end to the long evening. Hopefully the single extra point we received will be the deciding factor that will launch High Society into the playoffs at the end of the season.

I need a nap...

Phil Taylor wins Champion's League Title

Phil Taylor's Champion's League Glory

New Home

On March 11, 2011 I received one of the most shocking and upsetting emails I have seen in a long time.  It was a relatively short note from Glenn, the owner of Ship of Fools, telling me that April 1st would be the last day the bar would be open.

It seemed like a big April Fool's joke, but it wasn't.  The bar that we called home for the past 10 years was shutting its doors.  Simply put, Ship of Fools was truly a second home to me, and I was sad for Glenn to be losing his business and for myself and the team for losing our bar.

We were lucky enough to land at Blackstone's to finish out the season, but somehow we all felt like we were destined for someplace else.  So, we put together a committee, made a plan, and looked for a new place to call home.

Last night we found our new home in Society Billiards + Bar, at 10 East 21st Street.  For many reasons, we are psyched to be playing here.  First and foremost, it is not a typical "darts bar," but a classic and classy pool hall.  There is a darts section that we will use which is very cool.  A little nook that is ideally set up for our weekly game.  Plus, there are TV's everywhere, a stocked bar, and a menu full of paninis.  Not to mention that it is right around the corner for Fred, Turner and Braley.

So, thanks to Doug the owner, for hooking us up.  I haven't been this excited about a new darts season for a long time.

BBC Sport - Phil Taylor wins 12th World Matchplay title

Congratulations to Phil Taylor on his 12th World Matchplay title.

Is This a Real Sponsor?

Remember to stay stupid loose.

Optimistic Bias

I'm totally guilty of ignoring the misses and focusing on the hits.

Second City, Second to Last

The last week of the season, and The Ship needs a big week to make the playoffs. Can we do it? Will Rich eat ten Chicago dogs? Find out here.

Monkey!

Back in the UES

Nowhere better to wash away the sins of last week than the cleansing waters of the UES. Watch us cleanse our souls right here.

Art Thou Bored?

Tip a forty of Slim Jims to the Macho Man today.

Blogging the Last Game Before the Apocalypse

If you haven't heard, the world is supposed to end in Saturday. This, of course raises many questions. Who will be saved? How will the rapture go down? If the darts season is aborted, do the stats still count?

Join us for one last match before we all go up in flames.

Shipwreck Fever!

Live Blogging Live Scoring

OK, so the truth is that this isn't "live blogged".  The first night of live scoring can unequivocally go down as a moderate to neutral pseudo-success.   The "live-scoring" piece went OK, although it was tough to do truly live on the Android.  This did not stop Rich from being on the phone all night.

The bigger issue is that it is potentially impossible to do both live scoring and live blogging.  Perhaps when we are on the road, but when you mix in needing to keep score for reals, as well as actually playing darts, it is a little much.

The good news is that Fred picked up the slack, both by throwing a Ton 74, but also by Facebooking it real-time.

The best news is that The Ship / Outs finally posted a win this season, so there were no ill effects of all this technology.

Stay tuned for more...

Fred's Ton-74

We are collecting Ton-74's this season:

Passover Darts

While you are drinking four cups of wine tonight, ask yourself this: "Why is this night different from all other nights?"  Answer: On all other nights, only one Levin plays darts, but tonight we have two Levins.


Watch The Ship drop some plagues on the competition tonight, right here.

Objets D'Art

New team name?

Back In Black

And we're BAAAACK! 

Welcome to the first night of the rest of your dart lives. The Ship (news on the name coming soon) is playing its first game at our new bar, Blackstone's. 

See how the new confines treat us right here.

Coming Soon - A New Website

In a season of change, the web presence of The Team Formerly Known as Full of Ship will also continue to change.
In the near future, the blog will be incorporated into a new team website.  Unlike the old site, this one will be easier to update, more dynamic, and more flexible.  Plus, the blog will be an integral part, so updates will continue to be on the blog, but team statistics and data will live through the website.  My hope is that the two will co-exist completely seamlessly.

Ship is The New Black

What is in a name? I don't pretend to know, but I do know that we had a good brainstorm on Tuesday kicking around possible new names for The Ship and The Shipwrecks.

So, let's put it to a vote. I have compiled a the leading candidates from last night in a poll over there on the left (<--). Vote for your favorite, or put any new ideas in the comments section. Looking forward to what all you 'Stoners think.

The Bull Starts Here

While not a home game, tonight was the first night of the rest of our darts lives.  What would our new team name be, now that we are no longer at Ship of Fools?  What would it be like to play at a new bar after all this time?  What would we name our groupies?  How could we get more people to donate to our worthy cause?

All good questions, and all of the answers will come in time.  But tonight, we play darts.  And a tremendous amount of Legs.

The Ship Has Set Sail

A Sad Night Indeed

Glenn Addressing His Legions of Fan(s)

A Toast To Ship of Fools

There's No Crying In Baseball!

Ship Of Fools Was Cools

Closing The Book

Blogging the Last Night at Ship of Fools

It was a hard night for The Ship, as it was the last time we entered Ship of Fools for our weekly match.  Always ready for some stiff competition, we will do our best to stuck one in the Hootie (or two in the Blowfish).  Follow all the action here, and see if we come out ahead.

Official Farewell to SOF

Spring 2011 Season - Bon Voyage

The Ship has seen a lot of things in the ten years we have been at this.  There have been weddings and a baby boom. People have moved away, and many have switched jobs.  We have traveled, gotten sick, changed apartments, gained weight, lost weight, and all other manner of life events.  
But the one constant in (almost) all that time has been Ship of Fools.  Every Tuesday home game, we knew we'd be in the back room at Ship.  Sometimes we were the only people in the bar, and sometimes it was completely packed.  We have played on the front board, when there were two other games going on, and we have played in the back room in our own private space.  We've had people bumping in to us while shooting pool, UES Democrats running around during games, softball players, beer pong players, and any number of people wandering into our game looking for the bathroom.
We've gone through an uncountable number of waitresses who have put up with us, learned our drink orders, and brought us burritos an quesadillas, jalepeño poppers and grappa, large glasses with small amounts of bourbon, small glasses with large amounts of bourbon, burgers, beers, and the holy of holies - the buffalo chicken salad with the "green dressing" on the side.
Every home game we check the board, get the score table ready, make sure we have seats on "our side" of the room, and we spread out.  We make ourselves at home.  And just like home, there may be little things that bug us, like the temperature, but we still love it.  Surrounded by a room full of friends, more TVs than a Best Buy, eating and drinking and playing a goofy game all night, it is about as comfortable a place as I've ever lived.
So it will be very strange to see it go this season.  We will only have two more home games, and after the March 29 match we will be heading to a new place every Tuesday.  I'm sure we will be able to find a place that will be happy to have our team, and a place where we will enjoy to play.  Of course everything else about our Tuesdays will still be great.  But it will never be home.
Bon Voyage, Ship of Fools.  We will miss you.

Live Blogging Awards Night

Ladies and gentlemen! Your Fall 2010, Division C NYDO Doubles Runners Up!

Turner's Ton-80

What started as just another Ship practice session at Bleecker Street Bar turned momentous today.  Even Phil Taylor's game-used darts were powerless, as Turner tossed a Ton-80 en-route to housing Rich in a game of 501. 

Turner was on fire all day, throwing Tons left and right, and dominating the Legs cash game.

The Power In The House

Live Blogging the Playoffs: Round 1

Yes, I"m talkin' PLAYOFFS!  Once again, The Ship sailed into the post-season, looking to take home a title.  Round 1 is at SOF, so come out sand cheer us on, or follow all the action right here.

Live Blogging Week 13

Welcome to the final week of the Fall 2010 regular season.  Hopefully the impending storm won't knock The Ship off course from its goal of reaching the post-season yet again.  While a fourth-place finish looks like it is locked up, we will play the top team in the division tonight, so nothing is certain.  So stay warm, bundle up, and follow all the hot action right here. 

Live Blogging Week 12

Happy New Year and welcome back!  The last two weeks of the regular season are upon us.  The Ship is currently sitting in fourth place, but can they hold on to their playoff spot?  Find out here, as they play their final home game of the regular season, tonight.