Ladies Doubles 501 - Lost first round to Marcia Loche and Melissa (?)
Ladies Singles Cricket - Lost Top 16 to Nicole Smith of Va Beach
Mixed Triples - Lost Top 16 to "I Forget"
Ladies Doubles Cricket - 2nd Place - Winners Stacy Bromberg and Frannie Frederick
Ladies Singles 501 - Lost Top 32 to Melissa (?)

Amazingly enough my darts in the singles events were incredibly on when I was out in the open, then they stuck me in a corner and I lost those matches. Trust me the people that I beat prior to losing wouldn't believe that I shot so horrible in the matches that I lost. As a matter of fact, they probably would have taken me outside and beat me with wet noodles.

I'm looking forward to the annual team of "MAD" (Mick, Anthony, Doreen). LOL! Hey guys, seriously, I just came up with that as I was working on this page. Remember that! HEY WHAT ABOUT SYRACUSE??? GET IN TOUCH WITH ME!!!

NATIONAL CRICKET CHAMPIONSHIPS AND LAS VEGAS OPEN - JAN. 27th - 29th
Ladies Doubles Partner - Tracy Feiertag
Mixed Doubles Partner - Mike Abboud

Palace Station, while off the strip, is still a nice hotel at reasonable rates. Frequent shuttles to the strip are available, so you aren’t limited to Palace Station activities only.

The venue for the dart tournament was across the street from the hotel, well, through the parking lot and then across the street in a “sports complex”. The building is set up for basketball games, mainly. The tournament and the nationals were set up in ½ of the “gym” and a curtain was dropped in the middle, so that the other side could still host basketball players for the weekend. Now there’s a new distraction to practice with if you can get a basketball net and a couple teenagers (or grown men thinking they are teenagers) in your practice area OR set up a standard outside at the local playground and hope that someone decides to play basketball that day.

The nationals didn’t go great for me, but I really wasn’t as disappointed as I should be or perhaps it just hasn’t sunk in yet. The women had to re-draw due to an omission of clubs and spades for the first draw. The 2nd draw put me in the same bracket with Marilyn Popp and Stacy Bromberg. The particular card I drew set me up to play Marilyn first and Stacy second. I dropped 3 legs to both of them. Now it was time to just relax and go through the motions. I finished with a 10-8 record, so it’s obvious I still DO know how to play darts, BUT Stacy and Marilyn play better. Marilyn went on to win the national title defeating Carolyn Mars in the finals. The top 8 bracket for the women was reduced from a best of 5 to a best of 3 based on time restrictions.

Johnny K won the title for the men defeating Scott Wollaston in the finals. Johnny also won the men’s singles cricket on Saturday.

Darin Young won the men’s singles 501 on Sunday, defeating Davis Snyder in the finals. Since Vegas was also a WDF ranked event this will give Darin some good points on the international scene.

I teamed up with Tracy Feiertag for this tournament and we even entered the open doubles cricket b/c this tournament still does not offer a doubles cricket for the women. We did lose first round to Kurt and Isen but I was really pleased with the way I shot. We finished top 8 in the ladies doubles 501, losing to Gail Payne and her partner.

I lost first round singles cricket, Sherri Benton handed me my loss.

Mike Abboud and I finished top 8 in the mixed doubles cricket, defeating Johnny K and Marilyn Popp in the top 16 but falling short against Ray Carver and Trish Wright.

Sunday saw me finish in the top 16 of the singles 501, odd that just as I felt my darts were coming on and I could win this event I was wiring doubles and blew it in the 3rd leg.

Mike and I didn’t make the money in the mixed 501 but not for lack of trying. Once again more oddities, the match against Gary Mawson and Gail Payne, we won. During that match I had some crucial darts fall out of the board but we still managed to pull it off with me hitting the double 5 in the 3rd leg. We then fell short, especially me, against Mark Mears and Julie Heckman. I want to say my darts felt good, but they certainly didn’t look good and the score wasn’t assisting in the cosmetic department either. Mike was shooting very well but I was a heavy load this time. We’ll get ‘em next year. Love ya Mike!

Darin Young and Marilyn Popp, as far as I know, split the MVP for this tournament.

We’ve been told the venue will *not* be the basketball court next year, but we haven’t been told where it will be.

WSOD VA BEACH QUALIFIER, FEB 4TH, 2006

My first round saw me shooting on the finals board. No, really, honestly.... also known as board 32. The board needed to be used due to the number of entries (144, I think less than what was expected). So I played this guy James (Jim) T. (don't know the last name) from Newport News. I won the first game, the 2nd game was mine, when lo and behold John Straiton comes walking in the room in his loud usual self, and announces "It sure is quiet in here. Where's my water?" This as I'm releasing my dart. Scares the living crap out of me and I miss my mark. Opponent takes it out. Well I won the next 2 legs so obviously the effect was only for that dart. Or was it? Kicking myself KNOWING it should have been a 4-game sweep I lost legs 5 and 6 and now it's a tie ball game. UGH! My opponent has found the triple 20 and I have lost it. Never one to say die, I'm plugging away and get within reach. My opponent sitting on 12 I bank a 117 to leave myself 26. He hits it and advances, thereby crushing my dreams of being the top female placement. That award went to Roxanne Henderson, finishing in the top 32. Deb Parker, Michelle Clegg, Missy Parzow, Sharon Borgeson and many other great female shooters also were in attendance. Some of us got by that first round (NOT ME!) and some of us didn't (ME ME ME, and Deb ~ but at least she lost to John Adams of Indiana, who finished in the top 4)

More information on the top 4 to be posted soon. Stay tuned! I had a front row seat for the action! Yes, you're still waiting. LOL

SYRACUSE OPEN - FEB 17th - 20th

OK... I don't even know where to start on this one. First, Friday night. Shall we say.... OH MY GOD! Happy Birthday Trish! The bar made out well. I got sick. And went to bed, without my darts. Dayton is my buddy. I can argue with him, Suzanne can argue with him... but if anyone else says anything bad about him FORGET it! He has earned a serious place of respect from me and he will always have it. Even when he pisses me off! Which is whenver he loses. LOL Oh yeah and I lost second round of LOD.

Saturday... a slow start but it developed well. Tracy and I lost in the top 8. Another round and I think we would have been better but it was tough to get started.

I did finish top 4 in the cricket singles, losing to Marilyn Popp. The lady is on fire this year. AND last year she gave me something (LEGAL) for my knees and this year I needed her for decongestants. Who knows what it will be next year, I just hope she's there. Along the way to the top 4 I had to beat Jeannie (?), Tracy Feiertag (yes, my partner), Tammy Moran, and eventually (about a 90 minute wait) Tina DiGregorio.

The mixed trips... well let's just say I need to practice 54 more, ESPECIALLY in the 3rd leg. However, shooting with Mike and Ed, with Jim chalking, well what more could a girl ask for? So yeah, we lost first round.

I had dinner with Brenda Roush, Bill Anderson Jr and Jeff "Love These Ribs" Steinberg. I so enjoyed the conversation, even after Brenda left me there with the men. I dallied back to the dart hall for a bit but by 9:30 Saturday night I was feeling really bad (head cold) and ended up in bed and asleep before 11:30.

Oh yeah, that's right. I did have my darts for Saturday. Bill Bell "found" them on the table where I left them in the bar. I was still in the bar but evidently didn't answer the call that went out to claim the "found" darts. All that matters is they left the bar in safe hands, were turned into the control desk and EVERYONE that knew anything knew on Saturday morning that they were mine. BUT THEY WEREN'T LOST!

Sunday was a difficult day. It was a bad warm-up. Tracy and I got a tough first call in the ladies doubles 501 (Trish G and Kim W from Canada). Neither one of us could really find a rhythm. UGH! Hate it when that happens. And so we were finished doubles early.

Singles didn't give me much more luck. I played against Kelly-Ann first round and that was tough enough. Just when I thought I couldn't possibly lay anymore darts on the wire shooting for a double, I'd lay 3 more on the wire. It was the 2nd most frustraing experience I've ever had with wires. I lost the next round (top 16) to Nikki Passenti. This was Nikki's first time beating me in an event and she deserved it. She was solid on her doubles and never got discouraged by any of her darts. She knows that sometimes the doubles don't go and you just have to hang in there. It's been a while since I've had THAT hard of a time with doubles and I hope it's A WHILE more until it happens again.

And now... once again.. I can't emphasize enough what a FANTASTIC tournament to attend. These people are so dang friendly it's silly! They welcome anyone and it's not that sappy welcome. It's a true hardcore welcome. I don't know how to describe it except to say it's like your mother being really upset with you b/c you came home late and didn't call but she's glad you're alive. She's not sure whether to strangle you or hug the life out of you. All I know is I LOVE it in Syracuse and if I decide to quit doing tournaments this is a tournament I won't EVER miss!

They had an awesome youth format on Sunday. AJ did a great job of running that smoothly. They run it from the belief that for the kids the darts should be fun! And they are so right. EVERY youth participant receives a trophy. I loved the format they came up with for the younger players, a blind draw format involving cricket. And IF a player blanked (missed 3 darts) that player received a mark anyway right up until the last bull, they were required to hit that last bull on their own. More on this format to come later as I'm not 100% sure of the entire format and I want to mention the winners and runners-up also.

I REALLY REALLY REALLY ENCOURAGE people to attend this tournament if they get the chance. The venue is really great. OH YEAH and there has been a pyschic fair at the hotel for 2 years running now. The hotel is really great! I get a king size room all to myself and it's great. I haven't been in a double room but I haven't heard any complaints either. The bartenders are awesome (those for the dart hall and those for the lounge)! The DJ is good, lots of great dance music. I was sore from Friday night dancing until Tuesday. Honestly, the tournament staff, they LOVE everyone. They welcome everyone. Everything is great!

SIDE NOTES: Chairs, make sure it's still there in the final seconds before you sit down. (No, really I'm smiling, but it wasn't my head). Need tums? I'll point you in the right direction. Friday night, bar! Saturday night, sleep! Syracuse is NOT for lovers but it IS for darters. Sleeping in a king size bed is comfortable but lonely. Syracuse tournament is fun, fun, fun.

Region V-3 Masters Regionals

I'm sure someone out there is wondering about this. The first regional was scheduled for Feb 12th, I woke up to 3 feet of snow and the storm was moving East, the direction I would have to drive, and it was still snowing at my house, so I didn't make it.

You know that saying, "you win some, you lose some"? Well here it is in a nut shell.

You win some:
As luck would have it the decision was made to reschedule the women for March 12th. I was very glad to hear this.

You lose some:
Saturday, March 11th, I went to a birthday party with my son and it was a roller skating party, which I'm very good at. It was his first time, he fell down behind me, kicked my skate, I went down and broke my fall with my right hand. Immediately there were 2 bulges in my wrist and it was swelling up quickly, and I wanted to vomit (like I've never done that before, right Syracuse?). A fireman/emt was on the scene (the b'day girl's dad) and he felt around as I moved my fingers, thumb, and my wrist ever so slightly, and he felt nothing broken. I got home from the party (we stayed for all but the last 1/2 hour and this mishap occurred in the first 30 minutes) and attempted to throw a dart. Upon releasing the dart, an incredible pain shot from my wrist up to my elbow. Therefore, if I couldn't throw Sunday morning, I would not be able to attend the regional. The swelling increased over night and the regional was out of the question. :-( I had emailed David, my regional director, on Saturday to give him advance warning.

I'll fill you in on what the doctor's said later.

3/20 - The doctor visits: On March 13th I went to the doctor to make sure I didn't do ligament or tendon damage. My doctor looked at my swollen wrist, forearm and hand, with a pinkish tint and immediately said "Common fracture". This was not good news for me. She put her hands on my wrist and asked if the heat was new, to which I responded in the affirmative. She sent me off for x-rays. About 5pm in the evening I received a call from the doctor's office that I did indeed have a fracture.

On March 14th I went and picked up the x-rays and made sure my referral was at the ortho's office for my 8am Wednesday the 15th appointment. I looked at the x-rays and saw nothing of a fracture but I'm not a doctor or an x-ray technician.

March 15th, time for my orthopedic appointment. He looks at the x-ray and immediately says that I did a good one and it's a definite break. HUH? I didn't see anything broke. He explains to me that the large bone in my forearm (the radius?) at the wrist has "shifted" 30 degrees from where it should be. It usually sits at a 10 degree angle towards the "inside" of your wrist, mine is "bent" towards the "back" of my wrist. He states 3 options: pins in my wrist for 6 weeks, surgery to put a plate in place, cast it and prevent further "shifting". He wants another set of x-rays done on my injured hand and a set done on my good hand for comparison. He tells me I will not be able to throw in Va Beach.

Now, here in lies the problem. My hand is feeling better every day and improving every day. The swelling is just about gone, bruising is occurring and I'm able to do more with it everyday. For instance on March 12th, I couldn't type with my right hand, on March 14th I was back up to normal speed. On March 14th I couldn't hold a fork, on March 16th I could eat a meal. On March 11th I couldn't throw a dart, on March 15th I practiced for 2.5 hours. Yes, the very day the orthopedic doctor told me I wouldn't be able to throw darts in Va Beach, I left his office still wearing my splint and ace bandage, came home and practiced. I also threw for 2.5 hours on March 18th and I think about 4 hours on March 19th. Sure there is some pain if I don't pay attention to what I'm doing and it's taking a little longer to warm up but nothing that can't be dealt with.

I will now take 2 days off from throwing darts, give the wrist a break and then throw some more on the 22nd and possibly the 23rd. The 24th is a travel day, so the hand will be resting anyway, and I'll get to the dart hall early on the 25th. I'm looking forward to this challenge ahead of me.

Oh, in case you're wondering about the 2nd ortho appointment and the 2nd set of x-rays. I'm not having the x-rays done and I'm cancelling my appointment. I'm going to do nothing. No pins, which is what the ortho's suggestion is; no surgery for a plate placement; and no cast just to prevent further shifting. The possible effects of doing nothing? Arthritis and decrease in range of motion, two things I can deal with, considering the pain I'm experience when throwing right now.

MARCH 24th to 26th Va Beach Classic

Ok... there IS a reason why this tournament didn't get a write-up until now. I didn't have much to write about. I lost first round of every event except one, maybe two (Mel, can you help me out here? What did we do in the ladies doubles 501?) Mike and I lost first round of the mixed cricket but took a top 8 (?) in the 501, losing to Marilyn and Johnny. If I wasn't playing I was in my room or Mel's (that would be Melissa!) room. Anyway, that's pretty much why there isn't much for me to write about for this tournament. Sorry Mr & Mrs Bender, I still love you and the staff.

CHARLOTTE OPEN (held in Fort Mill, SC)

Lost 2nd round of mixed dubs cricket to Johnny and Marilyn, but shot well. Lost 1st round of mixed dubs 501, to Lisa Sphritz (ladies singles 501 champion) and Jerry Hilbourne. I didn't shoot well, my partner, my husband, Darrell, tried to carry me, but I couldn't get off the 5's. It's the first time we shot together in a while, and I'm happy to say, it went without incident. :-) Love ya babe!

Took a top 8 finish in both ladies singles.

Took a top 4 and a 2nd place finish with ladies dubs partner, Brenda Roush.

Some problems with the hotel, which is under renovation and I think very recent new ownership. The problems were addressed in a professional manner and as immediate as could be. There is a Shoney's and a Mexican restaraunt w/in walking distance. I didn't have much free time to check out the hotel in detail. The tournament was, as always, run in an efficient manner. Sunday was a long day, but mainly b/c there was a long way home attached to the end of that day.

Not much to write about from Richmond or Houston. I didn't play singles at either tournament. The best finish I had, for either tournament, was a top 8 finish with Amy Newman in the doubles 501 in Houston. I also did not play in my East/West regional. The expense of darts has caught up with me and darts takes a back seat to several other things in my life. So pursuing my dream of placing in the top 3 will probably not happen any time in the near future. I'll be around, but don't expect much. It could be as long as 5 years before I really hit the circuit again.

WAY back in August I attended the Maryland States tournament. Once again, nothing much to write "home" about. I actually did play singles at this tournament and had a top 8 finish in 501 (losing to Marcia Loche) and a 2nd place finish in cricket (losing to Marilyn Popp). I enjoyed shooting doubles with Alison Gurwitz, even though we didn't make any money. We hadn't seen each other for a while and so it was fun. OMG LOOK... I used the word FUN. Scott Cook and I hooked up for mixed doubles, but unfortunately neither of us could connect WITH the doubles. :-( NEXT TIME BABY! Scott and I shot with Marty Schilling in the mixed trips... oops guess what? You know it! Once again, double trouble! :-( BUT it was great to be with the two of them, and I hope we can do it again in the NEAR future! LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!

September 9th and 10th I attended the WADA Open in Herndon, VA. I shot ladies doubles events with Nancy Huntoon (ooppps... secret's out, she's playing "some" tournaments again... look for her in Colorado). Nancy and I had a top 4 finish in the 501 (losing to Mary ??? -sorry it's honestly a name I would have had to write down and Michelle Clegg), we had a 2nd place finish at 8:30PM on Sunday losing, to Mary Jo Chesney and Terry (I'm gonna spell this wrong)Marciela. Which I probably should have gone on vacation with them after the tournament, but that's ANOTHER story. Mixed trips... I was shooting with Johnny K and Ray Carver ... we lost in top 8 :0( I lost 2nd round of ladies singles cricket to Nancy (yes my partner). (It's not her fault she was there; she should have been at a football game, but her friend's back was hurting. hehe) I lost 1st round of ladies doubles 501 to Rhonda Farmer. The first leg went well, and the bottom of the 2nd leg went well, but not the VERY bottom. You know, the bottom where you have to hit the double? The third leg I managed to get down to an out again and still not hit it, even after Rhonda gave me MANY MANY chances. LOL Mixed doubles.... Steve Oberti (OMG this sounds like old times) and I hooked up, but lost first round to Scott Ingram and Candy Watkins. I think that's the only time someone that knocked me out of an event advanced past the next round. That'll teach people to beat me. LOL

Saturday I got the "drama" out of the way early. (Public Apology to Michelle Clegg and the WADA tournament staff, as well as to anyone that was within hearing range.) Managed to make a complete a$$ of myself (AGAIN!). So look for me to be much more quiet over the next 6 months. Actually, I'm hoping I can just keep my mouth shut, period! So if you see me and all I do is nod, don't take it personally, it's probably better I don't talk to you. Flat tires are the new trend. The tournament ran later than I expected and it was a looooooooooong ride home, but I managed to make it home by 12:30am w/out crashing my van. I think everyone attending the tournament and staying at the hotel got plenty of exercise. I forgot to eat Sunday, couldn't find a Taco Bell (good healthy eating.. LOL) right off an exit on the way home, so at 12:30am standing in my kitchen I'm eating 1 piece of bread w/2 pieces of low fat tavern ham a thin layer of mayo and a strip of yellow mustard. I needed SOME food to sleep. That wraps up this post. Next post? I'm not sure, could be October, could be November, just keep checking back. Don't forget, if you need a partner, I've got the Need A Partner page. It can be handled anyway you want.

Thanks for reading and shoot well! Return to main page.