Gary Anderson/RVB exbo 27/5/11
Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 10:23 am
Well, that was an adventure!
After a hectic few days sorting tickets, I managed to prise 3 billets on a table for the evenings festivities.
The delightful mr frog and his aunt decided to join me, and after guiding them through the maze that is the concrete metropolis one way system of my home town, we headed to the boozer to warm up and meet the rest of the party.
Pleasantries were exchanged, even after frog found out our host for the evening was a DAB, and after 2 swift pints it was time to move on to the main event of the evening.
Upon arrival, and finding out our table was spitting distance from the stage, we proceeded to abuse the open bar, and throw some darts before the players arrived. Frog obviously thought it was time to wheel out his A game and proceeded to batter in 2 180s and be denied a 3rd because his last dart fell out. I thought better of following that and concentrated on my pint and watching intently for the arrival of the 2011 PL champion, and the 5 time champion of the world.
First impressions of the two, Gary isn't the tallest, and barney isn't as rotund as he seems on camera. Flash photography mayhem ensued, and I snared a pic of frog kneeling for a pic with Gando. The first disappointment of the evening swiftly followed, barney refused any photo opportunity, preferring to wait for the paid photos later. This attitude was not well received, but Gando was more than happy to pose with any and every one who asked, between hitting blind T20s!!!
My learned friend frog attempted banter with both players, with mixed results, and I stuck with the tried and tested 'how good did it feel to GIRFU Lewis last week?' greeted with a very satisfied smile and 'should have won it by more!'.
After a good 45 minutes mixing from Gando, it was time to head through to the tables for the exbo proper to start. The MC came on and gave it big licks and wound the crowd up very well, with lots of "chase the sun" making the atmosphere mongtastic! Once one of the king minds was ritually humiliated on stage for being a twat, the players were brought out through the crowd. The reception for barney was loud and colourful in places with 'barney army' chanted ad nauseum. A quick photo op later and it was time to bring out the man they had really all come to see! House of pain hit the speakers and bedlam broke out. Without doubt, having been in some of the biggest and most populated football stadiums and music venues there are, the noise here was unparalleled, even Gary looked a bit shocked.
It was then time for the darts to start, and barney was up first. I would live to break down how good/bad he was, but I had nipped to the bar to top up our refreshments, and didn't return for almost a full hour!!! Suffice to say I wasn't in the best mood when i actually got to the bar, and froggy came to find me, fearing I had been removed from the premises!!
Fear abated and suitably refreshed, we returned to our seats and avoided paying obscene amounts for Taylor tat in the auction, though due to the actions of an over enthusiastic Hun, a few items were re-auctioned. I'm going to behave and not suggest god got his own back by making him a spesh. The raffle rolled on and frogs auntie cleaned up!
Signed pic, signed shirt and a rather fetching(!) barney watch later, Gando was brought back out to play his selection of locals, led on by a piper to a raucous rendition of Flower of Scotland again raising the roof. It was garys first public appearance since winning the PL apparently, so MH, you didn't see him in Crawley, it was your imagination.
First up to play Gando was our host for the evening, the main sponsor of the event, and it's fair to say jonny didn't disgrace himself at all, whilst still losing comfortably. The next Mong was not so lucky, having listed Lewis as his favourite player he got dogs abuse from the crowd and pretty soundly humiliated on the board. 5 more locals later, a barrel load of abuse and banter had been dished out and Gando even fixed a leg (!) for a lucky local, who was too drunk to notice...
The official photo op came round and frog and I waited for the moment when the line dipped below 100 before making our move, having our pic taken with Gando & barney while holding the original embassy trophy, a very special moment. It was tempered by having to stand beside a clearly grumpy barney, but frogs bigger than me, so if he wanted to stand beside Gando, that's what happened! Upon receiving the pic later, it is apparent the barney has a "photo face" as his "smile" was identical in EVERY photo. The finale was a barney/Gando face off, and Gary had had a few by now! Still popped in a couple of 180s and some great showboating from both for their finishes.
End of the evening came round all too quickly, after nearly 6 hours of great entertainment and fantastic company.
Lewis vs Adams in September, too good an opportunity to miss.....
After a hectic few days sorting tickets, I managed to prise 3 billets on a table for the evenings festivities.
The delightful mr frog and his aunt decided to join me, and after guiding them through the maze that is the concrete metropolis one way system of my home town, we headed to the boozer to warm up and meet the rest of the party.
Pleasantries were exchanged, even after frog found out our host for the evening was a DAB, and after 2 swift pints it was time to move on to the main event of the evening.
Upon arrival, and finding out our table was spitting distance from the stage, we proceeded to abuse the open bar, and throw some darts before the players arrived. Frog obviously thought it was time to wheel out his A game and proceeded to batter in 2 180s and be denied a 3rd because his last dart fell out. I thought better of following that and concentrated on my pint and watching intently for the arrival of the 2011 PL champion, and the 5 time champion of the world.
First impressions of the two, Gary isn't the tallest, and barney isn't as rotund as he seems on camera. Flash photography mayhem ensued, and I snared a pic of frog kneeling for a pic with Gando. The first disappointment of the evening swiftly followed, barney refused any photo opportunity, preferring to wait for the paid photos later. This attitude was not well received, but Gando was more than happy to pose with any and every one who asked, between hitting blind T20s!!!
My learned friend frog attempted banter with both players, with mixed results, and I stuck with the tried and tested 'how good did it feel to GIRFU Lewis last week?' greeted with a very satisfied smile and 'should have won it by more!'.
After a good 45 minutes mixing from Gando, it was time to head through to the tables for the exbo proper to start. The MC came on and gave it big licks and wound the crowd up very well, with lots of "chase the sun" making the atmosphere mongtastic! Once one of the king minds was ritually humiliated on stage for being a twat, the players were brought out through the crowd. The reception for barney was loud and colourful in places with 'barney army' chanted ad nauseum. A quick photo op later and it was time to bring out the man they had really all come to see! House of pain hit the speakers and bedlam broke out. Without doubt, having been in some of the biggest and most populated football stadiums and music venues there are, the noise here was unparalleled, even Gary looked a bit shocked.
It was then time for the darts to start, and barney was up first. I would live to break down how good/bad he was, but I had nipped to the bar to top up our refreshments, and didn't return for almost a full hour!!! Suffice to say I wasn't in the best mood when i actually got to the bar, and froggy came to find me, fearing I had been removed from the premises!!
Fear abated and suitably refreshed, we returned to our seats and avoided paying obscene amounts for Taylor tat in the auction, though due to the actions of an over enthusiastic Hun, a few items were re-auctioned. I'm going to behave and not suggest god got his own back by making him a spesh. The raffle rolled on and frogs auntie cleaned up!
Signed pic, signed shirt and a rather fetching(!) barney watch later, Gando was brought back out to play his selection of locals, led on by a piper to a raucous rendition of Flower of Scotland again raising the roof. It was garys first public appearance since winning the PL apparently, so MH, you didn't see him in Crawley, it was your imagination.
First up to play Gando was our host for the evening, the main sponsor of the event, and it's fair to say jonny didn't disgrace himself at all, whilst still losing comfortably. The next Mong was not so lucky, having listed Lewis as his favourite player he got dogs abuse from the crowd and pretty soundly humiliated on the board. 5 more locals later, a barrel load of abuse and banter had been dished out and Gando even fixed a leg (!) for a lucky local, who was too drunk to notice...
The official photo op came round and frog and I waited for the moment when the line dipped below 100 before making our move, having our pic taken with Gando & barney while holding the original embassy trophy, a very special moment. It was tempered by having to stand beside a clearly grumpy barney, but frogs bigger than me, so if he wanted to stand beside Gando, that's what happened! Upon receiving the pic later, it is apparent the barney has a "photo face" as his "smile" was identical in EVERY photo. The finale was a barney/Gando face off, and Gary had had a few by now! Still popped in a couple of 180s and some great showboating from both for their finishes.
End of the evening came round all too quickly, after nearly 6 hours of great entertainment and fantastic company.
Lewis vs Adams in September, too good an opportunity to miss.....