My new favourite 'sport'

As you may have noticed, the World Darts Championships are on at the moment. It's on the BBC every year but I've been tuning in for the first time ever in the last week or so and have discovered the joys of this unique sport. Granted, my present interest in the game will almost certainly end with the close of the tournament and is probably just a function of my chronic inability to get back down to work after the Christmas break.

Some reasons why darts is fantastic:

1. The Nicknames - Currently there are professional darts players with the following rather delightful sobriquets:

Wolfie

The Assassin

The Limestone Cowboy

(And my favourite)

The Prince of Dartness

Has the darts world been infiltrated by a horde of tabloid sub-editors, perchance?

Wolfie (civilan name:Martin Adams), whom I witnessed in action the other night, has a cartoon wolf emblazoned across the back of his shiny darts shirt.The same cartoon wolf is pictured on the flights of his darts (the fin-type thing on the end of the dart, for those non-darts aficionados among you). Rather wonderfully, visitors to Wolfie's website are greeted with the sound of, yes, a howling wolf. I kid you not, my friends.

2. The hair - Hair-wise, it's still 1985 in the darts world. Check out the picture of Steve Beaton (aka The Bronze Adonis; I'm not making this up) above. This is mulletry of the very highest order. This man takes his mullet seriously, no question about it. See how he complements his hair with an equally impressive 'tache. Steve is the leading champion of mulletry in the darts world but many others are following in his follicular footsteps.

3. The jewellery - The sovereign ring, much-maligned accessory of the Dublin scumbag, is an essential component of the darts player's outfit. Thick, gold chains, the likes of which you see worn in films about London gangsters, are displayed beneath the open necks of shiny, shiny shirts. The careful selection of gold jewellery can give a player a crucial psychological edge over his opponent by out-blinging him, or quite possibly blinding him, thereby reducing his accuracy with a dart.

4. The fact that the world championships are held in what appears to be an enormous pub - Every sports fan's dream.