And we shall go for it

I carry around dart pins just about wherever I go, even if the chances of a pick-up dart game is close to nil. It is part of my commitment to the sport where I shall become world champion, or die trying.

It was about a year ago, when my work partner and I decided to go for it. I am nearing forty, and he, not too far behind. So no more excuses. We have been coasting along in life, doing the job-thing, paying the bills, and all the other necessary stuff that life entails, which was just fine. We were young. There was room enough in the future for all the other things we want to do.

But last year, was the year when we decided to take stock of our lives. We decided to go after all the things that we wished we could look back in old age and say to ourselves "Yeah, I did that!" We were young enough still, but this may be our last realistic chance.

And so began our serious training. We bought the necessary equipment, dart board and dart pins and quickly set it up in our housing unit, where we spend at least three days a week. That’s four hours north of Manila near the jobsite where we were tasked to maintain high-tech equipment.

I had an old set myself, having played the game 12 years previously. I've won a championship in the only tournament I've entered, in fact, but that was at the inter-barangay level and the game was killers. We were aiming for more. We were going to train for the international game of 501, and we were going to go after a national tournament title at first, a world title next.

My partner was really good -- for a complete beginner. I teased him that he will not win one game against me, for at least a year. He won one game in three months, and a best-of-five in six. This is a big deal. I've had a few regular opponents that have not won one single game against me -- forever.

And so the training continued as planned. We were shooting 180s, that’s a perfect 3 dart pins in triple 20, maybe once every two weeks. 140s come by more regularly, at least once every other game. And 100s and 120s are no big deal.

We download international dart tournaments videos from youtube, and we study that intently. And from these videos, we realize, we have ways to go still. We are nowhere near making a perfect 9-pin-finish. My best is still stuck at 14, highest check-out at 140 (that's triple 20, double 20, double 20).

But our task is not completely hopeless. And our quick progress gave us much confidence. This is essential. You cannot check-out a double anything from seven feet nine and one quarter inch away from a target half an inch wide without believing in yourself. You believe, or you miss. And the game is unforgiving. No such thing as a near-miss in 501. A miss is a miss, a hit a hit.

When throwing a dart pin, you commit yourself fully to the process. Nothing else matters. Not even the previous throw or the throw after that. What matters is the moment -- the throw at hand. You empty yourself. No self-doubt.

Then came the big day when we decided that it was time to get ourselves wet and just go ahead and jump right in at the deep-end of the pool. A national darts tournament was one weekend away, the third leg of five for the year.

Our expectations were realistic. We were unrated, and it was our first real tournament. The big guns of Philippine darts were going to be there, except for the number one, Lourence Ilagan, who was away competing in the world tournaments.

And so we entered the tournament thinking it is a nice chance to get some experience notched onto our belts. And the competition format, at least, was friendly to newcomers like us. Doubles blind draw. Rated players will be blindly partnered to unrated players. It was the perfect chance to scout the field and get a feel of the real thing.

But to our dismay, even before the tournament started, we found ourselves in a pickle. The dart boards were two inches too far! We had wrongly measured our seven feet nine and one quarter inches from the back of the board and not the face. This boo-boo would cost us.

I was partnered with Allen Macalino, ranked somewhere in the top 16 nationally. He would carry our team to two victories in the winners' bracket, and one in the losers'. Not bad for a first-timer. My personal performance, however, was a bit of a disappointment. The two inch error, all the noise, the waiting, and the first-tournament-jitters all hit me like a ton of bricks. I couldn't even make 100. Best made was 85. Busted once on check-out 80 even as I had tripled 20 on the first pin! But made up for it by checking out 19 with a single 3, double 8.

“Surely we will do better the next time around,” we salved our wounded egos. If nothing else, we will be better prepared.

And so quickly, upon our return to our housing unit, we corrected the two-inch error, and worked on our check-out skills. We made 140s and 120s like it was getting out style. We were serious about doing better the next tournament, two weeks ahead.

But alas, typhoon Ondoy would wash out the next leg of the tournament calendar. Marikina suffered major damage and thoughtfully the organizers decided to donate the cash-prize to the relief effort.

That’s okay. There are always other tournaments. And the reprieve gave us more time to prepare. And nothing like the present to start preparing.

However, one week being in stuck in Metro Manila with no practice and rust has ruined our darting arms. We were shooting 20s and 40s all morning.

As we were struggling to shake the rust off, a body builder was on TV promoting an upcoming competition. My partner kidded, we should just enter that and forget darts altogether. I quickly made 100, a perfect 180 two turns after, and checked-out double 12 on the very next pin.

No way am I going to suffer the embarrassment of signing up for a body building competition, even as my partner pressed his point by explaining, “Langis lang yan kaya mukhang malaki ang katawan.” He would have been more convincing if his belly didn't stick out too much.

Of course he was just kidding. The sheer foolishness of any of the two of us becoming body builders is completely and utterly beyond brainless. Trust me, it is.

And so we shall continue on with darts. We shall go for it. No excuses, no fear of failure, no regrets. If we have to go down, we shall go down kicking and screaming, both arms flailing. And it is not just darts. It shall be, in everything else in life that we do.

That, for me, includes writing again, my single passion in life, and sharing that to the world.