Product Description

"Bellies and Bullseyes" is simply the greatest account there will ever be about the sport of darts - as told by one of its most legendary characters - Sid Waddell. It mixes Sid's own personal journey from the coalfields of the North East with the entire history of the sport. What is revealed is a hilarious yet epic Darts Babylon, covering every significant event and every character to walk the oche from Eric 'The Crafty Cockney' Bristow to Phil 'The Power' Taylor. In words as ripe as his commentaries, Sid brings an authentic whiff of fags, hard drink, hot tungsten and moist polyester to the whole cabaret. Sid has been friend and confidante to most of darts' stars over the years as well as being instrumental in the game's progress himself. Nobody is equipped to tell the story quite like he is. From the early days of hustling in bars and the 1960s money-race pub competitions that spawned the likes of John Lowe and Leighton Rees, to ITV's brilliantly daft The Indoor League and the glory days of BBC's coverage; from the bling of Bobby George and the belly of Jocky Wilson to the awesome professionalism of Phil Taylor; from smoky Northern working men's clubs to the Houses of Parliament; this is the complete, incredible story of darts.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9537 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Review
'[Sid's] knowledge is legendary... If you're a fan of darts, this is one of the year's must-reads' --The Sun

About the Author
Sid Waddell, 'The Geordie Lip', the Moses of the game, was born in Northumberland in 1940, the son of a miner. Having graduated with a degree in History from Cambridge University, he started out as a TV producer working on Indoor League in the early 1970s. This led to him receiving the back-handed compliment of being asked to be the BBC's lead commentator on all their major BDO televised darts tournaments. He worked for them in this capacity from 1978 to 1993 during which time he also penned the highly successful children's television series Jossy's Giants. Since 1993 he has worked for Sky Television and commentates on all major PDC televised darts tournaments.

Customer Reviews

Sweating Like A Swap Donkey
As a casual darts fan I bought this out of curiosity rather than dedication to the cause but I am so glad I did. Waddell briefly tells us about himself and as soon as that is over it's onto the story of Darts from the seventies to where it finds itself today. From the stories of the 1970's TV show the Indoor League to the ultra professionalism of the modern day players this is an engaging read. Sid doesn't go into too much detail so the average fan would get bored but he highlights the main events in every chapter. From Jocky Wilson, through to the split between the BDO and PDC and Phil Taylor this is a well written, great account of darting history.

Too Much Sid, Not Enough Arrows
I enjoyed darts coverage in the late seventies and eighties, when the "sport" was full of characters and the atmosphere was so well conveyed on the TV. The book promises an insight into these early days of excess, and it does deliver to some extent, telling the sad tale of Jocky Wilson with poignancy. Where the book fails for me is that it's much more an autobiography of Sid Waddell than the story of darts. Sid gets a little too caught up in the myth of his own brilliance, peppering the book with quotes from newpapers, especially broadsheets, which praise his unique style. The book's other failing for me is its focus on the later PDC years. Admittedly I don't have Sky, so haven't followed this coverage and am only aware of a few of its characters. Sid is keen to score a few points and praises both Sky and the PDC at the expense of the BBC and the BDO. That's predictable, bearing in mind his current employer, but the story he tells of these more recent years does seem to be bereft of characters and tales after darts cleaned up its act. So, an interesting read, but I'd only recomend it to fans of Sid Waddell's commentary style as opposed to the sport of darts.

Sid Waddell. Not quite a bullseye.
This is a fascinating insight from Sid into the history of darts as a television sport. He tells of some great memories from the early years of Indoor League and of how some of the games great characters burst onto the scene such as Alan Evans, Leighton Rees and Eric Bristow.

His tales of some classic wind ups whenever Evans and Bristow played each other are quite hilarious at times. He goes into great detail about the careers of the games legends - Eric Bristow, Jocky Wilson and Phil Taylor - and gives the reader useful information from their early days into what made them become household names.

Sid also reflects on the bitterness that evolved in the dispute between the BDO and the PDC that threatened to destroy the sport completely. This is where, I feel, that the author somewhat lets himself down. He is too ready to belittle everything that the BDO now do and cannot accept, it seems, that the BDO World Championship is still going strong. He ranted and raved when Phil Taylor became the first player to achieve a 9-darter on live television only to be told the following day by a Dutch TV producer that Shaun Greatbatch had actually achieved the feat shortly before. Sid's response was that it was only some BDO bloke hitting a 9-darter in a tatty tuppeny ha'penny do in a village hall. Hate to tell you Sid but a 9-darter is a great feat no matter who achieves it or where, whether it's done by a Taylor, a Greatbatch or a Barney it still counts the same.

Had he been a little more self restrained as to the thoughts he has about the BDO and the players who now play within their ranks then this book would have been given a 5 in my view however because he plays too much on this aspect of the sport he does somewhat let the reader down as when he has gone into great detail about the games legends it has made for fascinating reading.