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Barry Twomlow
Houston Darts Exhibition & Shoot-Out
July 31, August 1, 2 & 3, 1995
Previous Barry Twomlow articles
From July 31st to August 3rd, Houston area darters were treated to the amazing skill of world class darter, Barry Twomlow. Killing time between a trade show in Las Vegas and a tournament in San Francisco, Barry spent the week teaching, talking... and cleaning up.
After giving lessons and lectures in the afternoons at Rick's Darts & Games, Barry visited 3 of the local pubs in the evenings.
Photo: Owner of BJ's Sports Pub, Betty Vogt & Barry First to play against the mighty Barry were the members of the Houston Darts Association. Betty Vogt, owner of BJs Sports Pub in Southwest Houston, was pleased by the 30 to 40 people who turned out to challenge Mr. Twomlow. The women played 301 to Barry's 501 while the men played straight up. Three sets of darts were awarded to the winners: Cathy Allison, Kym Morales and Roger Pankau.
To give everyone a fair chance, throughout his Houston visit, Barry gave many of his opponents a "head start" of 100 to 300 points. Of course, the eager local "A" players played him straight-up, usually at 501 or cricket.
First on Barry's hit list was Mark Sawatzki who had beaten Barry when "the man" toured our area two years ago. Mark was not a fan of the dart god this night.
The people who played against Barry were: Mark Sawatzki, Pat Lamb, Greg Hanson, Artie Lane, Soozie Pearson, Daryl Montgomery, Karl Kuening, Rick Marshall, Dennis Aitken, John Burris, Cathy Allison, Michael Silvestain, Mick Emmett, Chuck Reynolds, Dan Cauthorn, Rich Soukup, Kym Morales, Roger Pankau, Chuck Swindall and Robert Baumgarner.
Throughout the evening, Barry took breaks from his matches to make comments on the wide variety throwing styles that he encountered. Using his British humor to sooth the sting of criticism, he made it clear that many darters need to work on the basics... solid stance, smooth follow-through. With the advice coming from a player who was demonstrating exceptional skill, many watchers made the suggested changes and were rewarded with improved games.
Photo: Barry and Bill Quiroga, owner of Unitversity Sports Pub
On Tuesday, August 1st, Barry traveled to Galveston island, "near" Texas, to challenge the members of the Galveston Area Darts Association. An enthusiastic crowd welcomed him to the University Sports Pub and were all hyped and ready to take on this darts "Ambassador".
University Sports Pub is located just one block from the beach, near (guess what) the Univ. of Texas teaching hsopital. The owner, Bill Quiroga not only was one of three people to beat Barry this night, but also drew Barry as his partner in the Blind Draw that followed. The other two successful players were Gary Jones who beat Barry at Cricket and Paul Helm who triumphed in 501. Roger Pankau, who had beaten Barry the night before in Houston, was not so lucky this night. (However, Roger refused to give back his Barry Twomlow Gold Titanium Unicorn darts he was awarded on Monday night.)
Photo: Barry and Paul Helm in Galveston
The complete challenge list included: Sharon Berryman, Thomas Mehoney, Paul Helm, Delores Popovich, Chris Trost, Roger Pankau, Woody Bekkema, Chuck Etheridge, John Berryman, Doyle Williams, Ronnie Blizard, Mike Jones, Cindy Mehoney, Gary Jones, John Termini, Mike Teel, Jerry Wylie, Doug Bekkema, Judy Blizard, Bill Quiroga, Lee Lightfoot, Donnie Anderson, Cole Sylvester, and Donna Agrella.
A large percentage of the Galveston contingent throw with very long points installed on their darts, and it was obvious as dart after dart dropped to the floor. Barry "pointed" out that the extreme points are not usefull for the majority of players, and do often cause the dart to fall out if not thrown perfectly flat & straight. Long points are a permanent source of controversy, however, and the pros & cons will likely be argued over for many more years.
Photo: Manager, Mike McGinnis of Molly Maguires in Spring, TX
By Wednesday night, Barry was warmed up and still taking on all comers. This night he traveled to north of Houston to challenge the members of the Spring Creek Darts Association. No darts were won this time but the 18 to 20 players at Molly Maguire's seemed to enjoy their games just the same---hey, they were smiling! With fewer players on hand, Barry was able to spend a little more time talking about the history of darts, and how the game is played in England. A few personal lessons were given & greatly appreciated.
Photo Left: Barry Talks To Players at Molly Maguires
On Thursday, Barry visited the ITT Technical Institute to give his inspirational talk and to demonstrate the game of darts to a group of students,most of whom didn't have the slightest idea how to play. After some quick lessons, one man, Mike, managed to end triumphant against "the man who taught the world to play darts" (with a large handicap, of course).
On all three nights Barry Twomlow was super friendly, informative, and the big winner. He took first place in each of the Blind Draws that followed his exhibitions and Rick Osgood, owner of Rick's Darts & Games and the host of Barry Twomlow while he visited Houston, twice came in 2nd.
Photo Right: Anne Geraldi says that's all for tonight folks
Barry's lessons apparently "took", as several area darters have reported improved scores after playing Barry and listening. to his lessons. A future CyberDarts article will cover his tips on throwing darts.
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