Yesterday we had the end of the season dart league banquet, awards ceremony, and tournament. Dolce Vita was packed as we had 50 people sign up for the tourney, plus many others who came out to support the league. Congrats to the outgoing SIDL officers, Petro, Tom and Max who did an outstanding job in organizing a great event.

So Young, one of the Dolce bartenders, is laid up with a broken foot, so YJ brought in a replacement to help with the tourney crowd. It was a nice surprise to see Ji Young, my buddy Duke’s girlfriend (and soon to be wife) again. Duke will be in town for a couple of weeks in February and we are all looking forward to seeing him again. The purpose of his visit is to have a pre-wedding celebration reception for his friends and family in Korea. Ji Young will be returning to the States with Duke for the long awaited nuptials.

The pool table was converted to a buffet stand. Great food from three different vendors with a nice mix of Korean and Western delicacies. I chowed down on bulgogi and turkey, a surprisingly good combination.

Unfortunately, Take it Easy did not qualify for any team awards this season. I did earn pins for my 9-mark, high ton, 5-marks, and league elite (finishing in top ten). This photo shows some of the players admiring their hard earned pins.

The Arctic Division Champions, Cake Mix from Wolfhound Pub. Congrats guys on a great season.

The Sliders, Dolce Vita’s “A” league team, won the Pacific Division Championship. The entire Dolce Vita family shared in the pride and bragging rights they brought to the “best damn dart bar in Itaewon”.

I finally got off the fence last night and made the decision to play in “A” division next season with the Sliders. I do want to take my game to the next level, and I’m thinking the challenge of playing in the top division will push me to play more consistent darts. We shall see.

Tough to leave Take it Easy, the only team I’ve ever played for and great bunch of guys. The decision was a little easier because Dan will be joining T.I.E. and with Sliders needing a fifth player, it works out best for both teams. We are also doing some recruiting in an effort to put a third team in the bar, and I think that is going to come together.

Time to register for the tourney. Max, the outgoing secretary-treasurer collects the entry fees and sells the raffle tickets. This year they raffled a complete home dart setup that was really fantastic. I don’t know why I didn’t take a picture of it, but the lighted board was really cool. The whole set-up was worth over $500. I really coveted that prize and spent W20,000 on raffle tickets, but alas, my teammate Rick had the winning number. I did get a nice board as a door prize. Since I have a rarely used board at home already, I donated this one to Dolce Vita.

Here’s dead-eye Colin showing his winning form during warm-ups…

The format for the tourney was blind draw, double elimination. Basically, all the entrants names are placed in pool and drawn for partners. The “A” players are in one pool and everyone else in another to avoid having two “A” players paired up. The top “B” players are moved into the “A” pool to balance the numbers, so I was included with the “A”s.

My partner last night was Hanna, the owner of Bless U Pub, and a solid “C” player. To be honest, I didn’t think we would have much success, because quite a few teams were “A-B” or “B-B”. It is always the luck of draw, but my attitude is whoever your partner you still have play hard and hope for the best.

Let me tell you, Hanna was a pleasant surprise. We wound up going 3-2 on the night, but we beat some teams that were statistically better than us and our two losses went all three legs and we were in a position to hit the out dart in every match. I didn’t have anything in the first couple of games, but Hanna picked up the slack and carried me. I got stronger as the night went on and we almost made it to the money rounds. Best part was we had a lotta fun and that is really what matters most (ok, that’s the loser lament, but I think it is a fine consolation prize).

Speaking of consolation prizes, there was a drawing to pick one team from the group that didn’t place, and Hanna and I won that. Woo Hoo!

Jim and Petro played for the Championship, but wound up short. If you can call second place and W150,000 each coming up short. Way to go guys!

After the tourney, eight of us headed over to Don Valley for beer, soju, and samgyapsal (pork belly). During the meal the manager came to our table and said customers were complaining that we were being too loud. We probably were. But, there was a group of Koreans having a birthday party who were certainly every bit as loud as us. And anybody who has been around Koreans who have been drinking can attest that they tend to be quite boisterous. So, I think our crime was being loud in English. Anyway, no big deal. Just a reminder that us foreigners will always be viewed as second class citizens here. Just a fact of life. You accept it or spend your time being angry.

And that’s about all I have to say about that. Or anything else right now.