Among the many sports that ESPN's Ray Stubbs has covered during his broadcasting career, darts is one that continues to crop up on his agenda.
Sports Mole caught up with the presenter to talk about the upcoming PDC Darts European Championship, the late Sid Waddell and the famous atmosphere that the fans of the sport generate.
How excited are you to be fronting ESPN's coverage of the darts?
"This is the first PDC tournament that we've been able to cover. The European Championship is a terrific tournament for us to have on our screens. The German crowd are terrific. Then we have the BDO Masters to come. For us it is fantastic as our relationship with darts develops and from a personal position, the more the merrier!"
Would you like to see a bit more of darts on our screens?
"I think down the years it has had an incredible amount of coverage. The Masters and the World Championships have been on the BBC down the years. But that is not our concern in a way. Our concern is that we are just delighted that ESPN get to broadcast these tournaments. We would rather concentrate on saying that we are able to offer darts as much coverage as possible at the start of this relationship. All the other broadcasters down the years have done a fantastic job, let me stress that. Now we are just delighted that we can be involved as well."
Despite always having a solid support, the sport seems to have become a lot more popular and fashionable in recent years. Why do you think that is?
"I'm old enough to remember when it had plenty of terrestrial coverage. It's had a lot of coverage on television down the years. I think you have to say congratulations to Sky television for what they've done for darts and congratulations to the other broadcasters. They've recognised the great entertainment value that there is in darts. So, well done to all the broadcasters because they are not daft and they know when great entertainment is there. At ESPN we are just delighted to be able to join in the party because the atmosphere at all the darts events you go to is terrific."
On a sad note, darts lost a legend in Sid Waddell recently. How much will he be missed?
"It's incredibly sad. I used to work with Sid during my time at the BBC. He was a wonderful man and such a talented, respected broadcaster. It's incredibly sad that we've lost him. All darts fans around the world will want to celebrate what that man brought to the game. When you talk about the atmosphere at darts tournaments being terrific, well that is down to Sid. I smile as you mentioned his name because he used to come up with such incredibly funny stuff and some incredibly descriptive stuff. In terms of sporting broadcasting Sid is right up there. What a wonderful man and what a sad loss."
Who have been your favourite players to watch during your years of covering the sport?
"There have been just so many down the years. There are just too many to pick out. The names just jump out. I may be biased here because I'm a great mate of Bobby George. I've worked with him for many, many years and I feel that he has been a wonderful ambassador and a great entertainer for darts. Then just look at Phil Taylor, look at his record. Andy Fordham too - the time he won the world title at the Lakeside was incredible and so was the atmosphere.
"I don't like mentioning individual names though because the strength of the sport is all of the guys together. All the men and the women that play darts - they generate the atmosphere. There is a great respect from dart player to dart player. Some may hit more doubles than others, but there is huge respect because everyone plays their part. You can pay tribute to the world champions and quite rightly. The bigger picture is though that once you've had a game of darts, you know how hard it is to get to that standard."
ESPN and ESPN Classic are broadcasting live coverage of every session of the PDC European Darts Championship from 20th to 23rd September. For full details visit ESPN.co.uk/tv
Liam Apicella
