trends
Lawrence dart fans aim at old-fashioned horse-hair boards with steel-tipped darts
Mike Mader, a member of the Lawrence Dart Association and Great Bend graduate student, takes aim during a dart game at The Sandbar, 117 E. Sth.
James J. Reece Kansan staff writer
glance at its participants could reveal some clues as to why the bustling barroom sport of darts is enjoying a surge in popularity and has rescued the Lawrence Dart Association from near extinction. The association has a he
by eight local bars and has a diversity which mirrors that of Lawrence itself.
the association has a league made up of 12 teams sponsored
"You名它, we've got people playing — detectives, lawyers, accountants, students and unemployed people," said Victor Schillne, a league member who has been playing darts in Lawrence and Kansas City for 18 years.
Schmille, who plays on one of two teams sponsored by Rick's Neighborhood Bar and Grill, 623 Vermont St., said the sport was not exclusive
"It's not divided up any way. It's just four warm bodies on a team," he
said. "It's not a gender thing. Any given day you can get your ass吮bed by anybody."
But the league is exclusive in the equipment it uses and will sanction only the use of horse-hair boards and steel-tipped darts, said Mike Mader, a KU graduate student who currently coordinates the league.
The league was started in 1984 by Schmille and other dart players who had been traveling to Kansas City.
"From 1988 to 1991, they had a real sporadic showing." Mader said of the league.
Mader, who plays on the other Rick's team, was instrumental in revitalizing the league, including the recent computerizing of league statistics.
"I imade it part of my job," said Mader, who is one of about 15 KU students in the league.
The league's membership was drowning about four years ago, Schmille said. It had only 10 or 12 members, which is roughly two four-person teams with three alternate players between them.
Now, however, Schmille said that the Monday night league is thriving with almost 60 members and alternates. He said that people often asked about getting into the league which, this season, lasts 26 weeks compared to 20 weeks last year.
Monday night, Mader and his team play a league match against the Dart Sharks at the Shark's home, The Sandbar, 117 E. Eighth St. Before the match, Mader described it's basic elements.
A match includes three different games. Two of
these games are Singles 301 and Team 1001, which are count-down games where the first player or team to reach zero wins the game.
The third game played in the match is Doubles Cricket, in which players must throw a dart three times into each of the 15 to 20-point spaces and the bull's eye, while keeping the lowest score. But once a player hits a space three times, any dart the player throws in that space scores points for the other play.
The rules are similar to the electronic version that the league has banned from competition, Mader said. But he said it was ironic that the electronic game may be responsible for the late surge in league members.
for the late stage in wage method.
The players gave many reasons for their strong stance prohibiting the electronic dart board. Their biggest complaint is it's automatic score keeping.
The Lawrence dart league requires players to call their shots when playing Cricket. If the called shot is not hit, the throw does not count and the player loses his or her turn. But with electronic games the scores are
registers whether the shot is called or not.
"If's slop, said Mike Whalen, a York, Penn, first-year law student. Whalen has played darts for seven years."
He said Lawrence ranked between the two east coast cities in the area of darts.
"D.C. was really big as far as being organized." Whalen said. "They had three leagues going at one time. Boston was more of just pick-up games."
Mader said another cause for dislike of automated dart games involved esthetics.
"The darts make a nicer sound when they hit a natural horse-hair board." said Mader.
Another Rick's player, Steve Conley, added arguments.
"The darts always deflect on an electronic game," said Conley. "And you don't feel like you are playing a vending machine when you play with steel-tipped darts."
But faith in the steel-tipped dart was not the only help Mader had in reinventing the league.
He said bar owners took the initiative in getting teams into the league when they committed to buying a dart board, house darts and lights and paying the $50 league entry fee for their team.
"The bar owners have been great," said Mader.
The league will not end until March. Mader said anyone interested could play in open tournaments on Wednesday nights at Rick's and could use the opportunity to learn the rules of the league.
Uh-huh! Clear cola attracts consumers
By Ezra Wolfe
Cola drinkers get ready, there is a new six-pack on the shelf.
Crystal Pepsis is a clear cola with a taste different from regular Pepsis. Most Lawrence grocers already stock the product along with its sibling, Crystal Pepsis (help).
It's Crystal Pepsi, and the media blitz begins Super Bowl Sunday.
Why a clear soft drink? What's wrong with the brown gunk?
Brad Allen, director of marketing for Pepsi general bottling in Kansas City, said that flat soft drink growth and consumer drove the quest for a clear cola product.
"If you look at all the health conscious people out there, you'll understand why there's a tremendous increase in water fluoride. It refers to sparkling water, tonics and
sparkling fruit juices.
Pepsi is marketing Crystal Pepsi with the health-conscious drinker in mind, but hoping for crossover sales from all cold drinkers. The product has no preservatives, no artificial flavors and no caffeine. Pepsi will not release the sugar content, but a representative said it was less than Pepsi's 40.8 grams of sugar and carbohydrates. The amount of sugar and carbohydrates vary in each batch.
Joanne Murray, consumer relations specialist at Pepsi headquarters, said that Pepsi was fielding about 100 calls a day from curious consumers.
"I had a long-distance truck driver call who wanted to know which stores on his route carried it so he could bring it home to his friends and family," she said.
Murray said she had taken several calls from hard-core Pepa drinkers who expect her to be their leader.
"It's not meant to taste like regular Pepsi, but to be a product unto itself," she said.
Some cola drinkers found the taste to be strange.
Barbara Gainer, Shawnee sophomore,
said she tasted Crystal Pepsi in Colorado
"It didn't taste right," she said. "I thought it would taste like SevenUp. It tasted like Pepsi mixed with Sirite. It was weird."
Alvin Schmidtberger, owner of Alvin's
301 Iowa St. and Sand, Crystal was selling well.
"It's doing good for a product without promotion, moving right off the shelf," he
Allen said Crystal Pepsi did well with college students during product testing.
"Today's kids are more innovative and willing to try new and different things," he
Murray said she hoped the new Pepsi product would knock Coke dead, but Coke has no plans to release a clear coke. Coke is working on another drink that could be a different beverage from regular Tab
Photo illustration by Andrew Amoret / KANSAN
Issues and trends at the University of Kansas.
Lead Story
Three days apart in November, a 40-year-old man in Taylor, Mich., dropped dead of a heart attack minutes after bowling his first-ever perfect "300" game (12 strikes in a row), and a 33-year-old man in Fremont, Calif., had his bid for 300 interrupted by a fatal heart attack after bowling his 11th straight strike.
Police Blotter
James MacDonald and William Shoesmith, both 26, were sentenced to five years in prison in London in December for bank robbery. According to his lawyer, MacDonald hated his robbery work and had to drink before each job. For what was to be the pair's last job, he got fall-down drunk and had to be carried by Shoesmith into the bank to pull off the heist. The two were soon captured.
■ Richard Shane Collins, 22, escaped from a police holding cell in Manassas, Va., in November by squeezing through a 10-inch-by-10-inch opening used to pass food and papers to prisoners.
■ Police in Key West, Fla., were called to a house in September to quell a loud argument in which a 28-year-old woman was accusing her female friend, 29, of attempting to steal her "strap-on deluxe model" vibrator, which she said was valued at $80.
An attempt to rob the Household Federal Savings Bank in Reston, Va., in September ended when a teller, after reading the robber's holdup note, reached across the counter and punched the man in the face, sending him fleeing the building.
An extensive survey of home burglars' work preferences published in Whittle Communications' Special Report magazine in September revealed that 32 percent like to browse through
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