Book description
Bellies and Bullseyes is simply the greatest account there will
ever be about the sport of darts - as told by one of its most
legendary characters - Sid Waddell. It mixes Sid's own personal
journey from the coalfields of the North East with the entire history
of the sport. What is revealed is a hilarious yet epic Darts Babylon,
covering every significant event and every character to walk the oche
from Eric 'The Crafty Cockney' Bristow to Phil 'The Power' Taylor.
In words as ripe as his commentaries, Sid brings an authentic whiff
of fags, hard drink, hot tungsten and moist polyester to the whole
cabaret. Sid has been friend and confidante to most of darts' stars
over the years as well as being instrumental in the game's progress
himself. Nobody is equipped to tell the story quite like he is.
From the early days of hustling in bars and the 1960s money-race pub
competitions that spawned the likes of John Lowe and Leighton Rees, to
ITV's brilliantly daft The Indoor League and the glory
days of BBC's coverage; from the bling of Bobby George and the belly
of Jocky Wilson to the awesome professionalism of Phil Taylor; from
smoky Northern working men's clubs to the Houses of Parliament; this
is the complete, incredible story of darts.
Sid Waddell, 'The Geordie Lip', the Moses of the game, was born in
Northumberland in 1940, the son of a miner. Having graduated with a
degree in History from Cambridge University, he started out as a TV
producer working on Indoor League in the early 1970s. This led to him
receiving the back-handed compliment of being asked to be the BBC's lead
commentator on all their major BDO televised darts tournaments. He
worked for them in this capacity from 1978 to 1993 during which time he
also penned the highly successful children's television series
Jossy's Giants
. Since 1993 he has worked for Sky Television and commentates on all
major PDC televised darts tournaments.
