Off-topic Sid Wadell

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 14 Jan 2006, 07:35

Just read in the times that Sid Wadell is about to publish his memoirs, they had a few extracts in there, looks like it is going to be fornicating hilarious.

I would have to say Wadell is along with Stuart Hall probably the most entertaining commentator ever.

Always wondered where Wadell got his many and varied references from

One of my favourites was

'This man walks into town with a set of darts, clint Eastwood walks out the other end.'

Think that was about Eric Bristow.

Another one they printed.

'At 33 Alexander of Macedonia wept salt tears because there were no more worlds to conquer, Bristow is only 27.'

Sheer fornicating genius.

Apparently Jocky Wilson is living in an old people's home, and used to be, of all things, a pole vaulter!

Did anyone here know that he wrote 'Jossie's giants?'

Apparently he also penned a soft porn novel about a Geordie girl who shages hells angels called 'bedroll bella'

Is there no end to this mans genius?

dondada · Post by **dondada** » 14 Jan 2006, 07:55

Good spot, Jimbo.

Sid Waddell is a fornicating genius and the best commentator on telly by a country mile. Indeed - I remember Jossy's Giants well, though could never quite get into it as it was about Geordies.

Sid's a Cambridge graduate I believe - he's a clever, well-read bloke.

"TALK ABOUT DRAMA...SHAKESPEARE COULDN'T HAVE WROTE THIS!"

One of the very few people in this world I'd go out of my way to buy a pint.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 14 Jan 2006, 08:41

I'll never forget when Jockie won the world championships....Sid Wadell's commentary reached a fever pitch...

"Jockie...at the ockie.....dooble top to bring the hoooose doon."

Jockie took out his false teeth and lobbed his darts into the crowd as I remember...

Indeed Sid is a Cambridge Graduate and was a researcher for an emminent psychology professor, what a strange road his life has taken....the road less travelled and all that.

There's a hilarious story in the times about when Sid used to be in a double act that played the working mens club circuit.

Apprently they played a notorious place in Middlesborough and the crowd were less than impressed at their act, and Sid's wingman turned to sid and said 'Sid, things aren't going to well I think we should fornicate off.'

Unfortunately the Mic was on reverb, and so the words 'fornicate off...fornicate off......fornicate off..........fornicate off........ peeled out over the PA.

The place went mental and Sid and partner were forced to vacate the presmises.

When watching the darts, Sid's commentary is just hilarious, and adds so much

I think they should include darts in the olympics, I think it's a fantastic sport and one of the most watchable.

There's a lot of snobbery about darts, but I fornicating love it, the drama is unbelievable, and the tension and intensity is incredible

They may not be atheletes but they are definetly sportsmen.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 14 Jan 2006, 08:44

oh AND they are making a film about Jockie Wilson's life....how fornicating good is that, apparently Sid is co-writing the screen play.

Loynesy · Post by **Loynesy** » 14 Jan 2006, 09:28

The legendary anecdote is of course when "Jackie Wilson, says" by Dexy's Midnight Runners was in the Top 10. They appeared on Top of the Pops and as Kevin ROwland started the first few vocal bits (where he goes der-der, de ,de etc), a large picture of Jocky Wilson at the oche was lowered down.

I love darts. Its quite amusing that Phil Taylor is great friends with Hatton.

dandantheweatherman · Post by **dandantheweatherman** » 14 Jan 2006, 10:29

Only one 'o' in Middlesbrough James!!

A mate of mine was stood behind Sid in a queue for pie and chips at the darts once. Didn't speak to him though, so it's not much of a story.

My favourite Sid quotes (that I can remember) involve him banging on about 'the milk bottle principle' when someone hit the wrong double. Apparently 'milk's no good when it's delivered next door'....als liked his quite about someone 'sweating like a swampdonkey in a heatwave on Blackpool beach'.

Achybreaky · Post by **Achybreaky** » 14 Jan 2006, 10:32

Wadell is a legend.

Tungsten ticking - class!

ebeneezer · Post by **ebeneezer** » 14 Jan 2006, 12:01

"This is the creme de la milk" is one of my favourite sid-isms.

Tony Lumb · Post by **Tony Lumb** » 14 Jan 2006, 13:58

"He could've threaded that through the eye of a maggot".

dandantheweatherman · Post by **dandantheweatherman** » 14 Jan 2006, 15:07

Should have made a pun about Middlesbrough only having one 'o' because we can't keep a clean sheet.......the good ones always come to you about a week too late don't they!

I think Sid Waddell ghosted Phil Taylor's autobiography.

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 14 Jan 2006, 17:56

Loynesy wrote:The legendary anecdote is of course when "Jackie Wilson, says" by Dexy's Midnight Runners was in the Top 10. They appeared on Top of the Pops and as Kevin ROwland started the first few vocal bits (where he goes der-der, de ,de etc), a large picture of Jocky Wilson at the oche was lowered down.

I love darts. Its quite amusing that Phil Taylor is great friends with Hatton.

That was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I remember it live (only being small) and I thought Kevin Rowland was singing "Jocky Wilson" - it was only years later on one of these cock up shows that I re-remembered the f up.

states · Post by **states** » 14 Jan 2006, 18:03

Sid is a legend. What other commentator will yell out "SWEETER THAN MOLLASSES IN A CONDENSED MILK SANDWICH!!!" when some decent action happens?

BunglesFingers · Post by **BunglesFingers** » 14 Jan 2006, 18:59

I heard Phil Taylor saying the other day that darts is now the number 2 sport on Sky Sports after football. They have taken it to another level this past 12-13 years after the BBC let it rot for years (what a surprise eh).

Wadell is a huge part of that success but he doesn't seem to do as much commentating as before, although the other guys on Sky are pretty good too, unlike silly arse Tony Green on the Beeb.

Can't wait to read Sid's memoirs.

Is Jocky really in an old people's home? I though he was only in his fifties?

Oh BTW it looks as though Ray Barneveld will be joining Taylor & Co next year in the PDC. Ladbrokes and some other bookies have him in as 2nd or 3rd favourite in the betting. If I start practising now I could be ready for the 2012 olympics!

ebeneezer · Post by **ebeneezer** » 14 Jan 2006, 20:18

Sid even would have been better on Bullseye than Tony "take yer time son" Green.

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 14 Jan 2006, 20:55

Like Sid, but Tony Green is a god.

"Nice and Steady".

ebeneezer · Post by **ebeneezer** » 14 Jan 2006, 21:37

One hundred and one or more for tonight's star prize (usually a speedboat).

Loynesy · Post by **Loynesy** » 15 Jan 2006, 01:56

ebeneezer wrote:One hundred and one or more for tonight's star prize (usually a speedboat).

Always used to love it when two blokes from a council estate in the West Midlands used to win a speedboat....

dondada · Post by **dondada** » 15 Jan 2006, 07:37

I was gobsmacked when Sky put on a PPV darts match between Taylor and Fordham (what a total shamer when the latter behemoth had to pack in because he was fucked) but apparently it sold incredibly well.

James is right - there's a lot of snobbery about darts but it is class. Waddell seems totally sincere in his belief that Taylor is the world's best ever sportsman. A crazy claim but when he's in the zone he's as good at his sport as the likes of Kasparov was at chess, etc.

hitman_hatton1 · Post by **hitman_hatton1** » 15 Jan 2006, 08:26

stujones wrote:Like Sid, but Tony Green is a god.

"Nice and Steady".

good to c we have some darts fan on here.

barney in the pdc would be great and give it another lift. i reckon he'll win his 5th bdo title tonight.

taylor-barney is already getting the blood pumping.

archery is an olympic sport and so should darts. it's a fornicating difficult game to get good at and isn't just a fornicating game. phil taylor spends hours a day practicing.

dondada · Post by **dondada** » 15 Jan 2006, 08:29

stujones wrote:Like Sid, but Tony Green is a god.

"Nice and Steady".

Tony Green is a good lad but there's no comparison in quality. You might as well compare Ali to Danny Williams.

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 15 Jan 2006, 09:09

Did anyone see Helen Chamberlin crack up when interviewing Peter Manley when he was talking about "the survival of the fittest" and claiming he was fitter than Taylor.

Bless, she tried her best to keep a straight face but just couldn't.

BunglesFingers · Post by **BunglesFingers** » 15 Jan 2006, 10:33

Come on no be fair, they are all fine athletes.

But seriously, have you ever tried to play darts for a couple of hours or more? The old legs soon start to get tired.

Kilburn · Post by **Kilburn** » 16 Jan 2006, 09:18

stujones wrote:Did anyone see Helen Chamberlin crack up when interviewing Peter Manley when he was talking about "the survival of the fittest" and claiming he was fitter than Taylor.

Bless, she tried her best to keep a straight face but just couldn't.

I believe Manley said "You've got to keep yourself fit in this game, and that's where I come in.."

Sky really do a great job with the darts, the walk-ons for the likes of Manley, Hawai 501 and The Power are absolute class, if there's a group of you watching at home you can really get into it.

The guy who makes me laugh is Dennis "The Heat" Ovens, he looks like he should be polishing shoes for a living but the commentators are always in complete awe of him - "When Ovens cranks up the temperature he can roast anyone!"

The Beebs final last night was a great match too.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 16 Jan 2006, 09:36

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:I was gobsmacked when Sky put on a PPV darts match between Taylor and Fordham (what a total shamer when the latter behemoth had to pack in because he was fucked) but apparently it sold incredibly well.

James is right - there's a lot of snobbery about darts but it is class. Waddell seems totally sincere in his belief that Taylor is the world's best ever sportsman. A crazy claim but when he's in the zone he's as good at his sport as the likes of Kasparov was at chess, etc.

It is hard to think of another sportsman who has dominated their game the way Taylor has....

Don't know how long Bradman was at the top of his game, but it seems a fair comparison.

Imagine Sampras winning wimbledon 13 times, that's the kind of achivement you're talking about. Obviously more difficult as tennis players get lots of inuries as they get older, but it gives you an idea of how staggering Taylor's achievement is.

Wales · Post by **Wales** » 16 Jan 2006, 09:37

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:I was gobsmacked when Sky put on a PPV darts match between Taylor and Fordham (what a total shamer when the latter behemoth had to pack in because he was fucked) but apparently it sold incredibly well.

I eckon taylor against that young dutch kid would sell well too, from what ive seen he'd give taylor a good run for his money.