Another switch to pdc

big dar

This week tony eccles has switched to the pdc. In another blow to the bdo whose world championship i consider to be the real world championship. Having seen other lakeside regulars who switched to the pdc and promptly disappear it surprises me that players still make the switch. However while wishing tony all the best i hope its a decision he doesnt come to regret

DFD

Tony is a good player who has the potential to do well in the pdc.I know what you mean he could get caught up with a lot of other good players who end up in the shadows so to speak.Just a question for you. . . . why do you consider lakeside as the real world championship?just asking

big dar

Well the reason i think lakeside is the real world title is simply because its the original and i grew up watching it. Maybe i look at it through rose tinted specs and while i do watch and enjoy the pdc events i suppose my loyalty will always lie on the bdo side. It has to be said though it doesnt look like the bdo has much of a future at world level which for me is sad.

TheBigEvil

big dar wrote:

Well the reason i think lakeside is the real world title is simply because its the original and i grew up watching it. Maybe i look at it through rose tinted specs and while i do watch and enjoy the pdc events i suppose my loyalty will always lie on the bdo side. It has to be said though it doesnt look like the bdo has much of a future at world level which for me is sad.

Yea the Lakeside is the original, but thats all its got going for it now. As long as Phil Taylor is able to throw a dart in anger, the only world championship worth winning is one where he is in the field. And with Barney there too, I'm afraid trying to beat jobbers like Grizley Adams , Mr Hankey the Xmas poo and Andy Fatman Fordham makes the title worthless.

The PDC have the best players now, and the best young players. Van Gerwin and Klassen could have stayed in the BDO and mopped up titles between them against journeymen players, but they want their game to improve and to test themselves against the best players in the world. And these players are all in the PDC, Taylor, Barney, Llyod, Terry Jenkins, Priestly, Part etc.

Plus put into the equation that you have a guaranteed 7 TV tourneys every year, including 14 weeks of the Premier League, means there is plenty of money and prestige to be won. And you get proper coverage of the events not 90 minutes on a Saturday evening on BBC2 and then the rest in highlights at midnight.

No wonder the players are jumping ship.

Kingp35

Couldn't have said it any better TheBigEvil.

The BDO is a poorly run organisation. I used to prefer the BDO myself because I grew up watching the lakeside Championships and I didn't start watching the PDC until about 2002. From then on though the PDC has get better and better where as the BDO has got downhill. It all comes down to TV coverage and money. It's very hard to make a living on the BDO circuit but the PDC offers so much more. That is why all the best players now play in the PDC and I can never see the BDO catching up. Expect more players to jump ship this year, especially with the BDO moving one of their tournaments to clash with the Grand Slam of Darts.

The BDO is the original but the PDC is the best.

big dar

Yep have to agree with all the points you guys have made. The pdc has provided me with two of the greatest nights in sport when part beat taylor and barneveld beat taylor for their pdc world titles. It would be hard to find matches of this quality in the bdo these days. Maybe the bdo should hook up with setanta now the channel has some muscle these days