New year, same old story

Last night Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor once again became world darts champion. There simply aren't enough superlatives to describe this man.  I’m not even sure which is my favourite Taylor stat – 16 world titles, the highest ever three dart average in a match (118.66), his world championship semi-final record (played 19, won 19) or the fact that, out of 82 major final appearances, he has lost only eight. Surely the next BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award (an accolade which has previously been given to Frank Bruno) must go to Taylor - the greatest living Briton.

Never too old?

A great weekend for 'old timers' - Phil Taylor at the age of 50 finally received some of the recognition he deserves at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards, whilst Bernard Hopkins, 46 next month, outboxed a 27-year-old champion in his prime. Still, it would have been nice to see both of these legends declared the winners - they were clearly robbed.

Maximum Power

Lat night, in winning the final of the Premier League, Phil Talyor hit the first nine-darter in a major final. A few legs later he did it again, becoming the first player in history to hit two nine-dart finishes in one game. I don't think there's any argument now that Taylor is the greatest competitor this country has ever produced.

New Year Wishes

1/ Philadelphia Eagles or Arizona Cardinals to win the Superbowl (or at least get through the first round of the play-offs)
2/ France to win the FIFA World Cup (further devaluing an already tarnished competition)
3/ Mayweather and Pacquiao to stop bickering and have the damn fight (which Mayweather would win easy)
4/ David Haye to fight (and beat) one of the Klitschko brothers
5/ Phil ‘the Power’ Taylor to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year

Shurely shume mistake?

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year top-10 shortlist has just been revealed:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/sports_personality_of_the_year/8386162.stm
Unbelievably the current (and 14 time) world darts champion Phil Taylor is not on it. This year, besides reclaiming his world title, Taylor has won over twenty other titles - his match record is 190 wins against just 11 losses - earning prize money of over £760,000 (he has also won 36 of the last 44 tournaments he has competed in). During a match in April he recorded the highest ever 3-dart average for a televised event – an unbelievable 116.01. Yet the BBC doesn’t think he’s one of the top ten sportspeople of the year? Back in January, I declared Taylor to be the greatest living Briton:
http://floatlikeabutterflysting.blogspot.com/2009/01/hes-got-power.html
Since then, he has simply become even greater. Last time Taylor won the world title, in 2006, he was nominated for the BBC accolade. His achievements this year make 2006 look fairly average (by his amazingly high standards). So I can only assume his omission from the shortlist is some kind of administrative error which will be corrected shortly. Either that, or the BBC intends to reward him with their Lifetime Achievement award. Or possibly the Unsung Hero award?

He’s got the Power

Last weekend Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor became world darts champion for the 14th – yes 14th - time. Forget about the argument that darts isn’t really a sport – which I expect is only made by people who haven’t actually played it (or those who do play, but can’t manage to score more than 26). Frankly, I don’t care if you’re talking about tiddlywinks or knitting – to be the best in the world at anything on 14 occasions is simply extraordinary. Taylor’s record at the world championships is phenomenal – he’s lost only four matches at the PDC event since its inception in 1994, failing to reach the final just once. In fact, forget about calling him the greatest sports person in the country – I hereby declare Taylor to be the greatest living Briton.