Controversy and darts seem to go hand and hand in 2018. This year's Grand Slam of Darts has seen some peculiar encounters and claims involving Scottish darts player Gary Anderson.
Not only did he eventually face a controversial opponent in the final rounds -- leaving many opinions floating out in cyberspace -- he had a smelly controversy to overcome before even getting to that point.
Anderson went down in controversial fashion at the Grand Slam of Darts final -- something which is far more popular than you'd think on a first glance. But we'll get back to that.
It was a bit before this matchup that actually created controversy of a different brand for Anderson.
When facing off with Dutch dartist Wesley Harms, the Scotsman faced accusations of a flatulent nature:
“It’ll take me two nights to lose this smell from my nose,” Dutch player Wesley Harms fumed after getting blown away 10-2 by Scotland’s Gary Anderson at the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton.
Harms chalked up his foul play to a “fragrant smell” — which he deduced came from the Scotsman’s bowels.
This would typically be enough for a funny headline, but Anderson was asked about the accusation and gave what might be the interview of the year according to The NY Post:
“If the boy thinks I’ve farted, he’s 1,010 percent wrong,” said Anderson, who’s ranked the world’s No. 4 dart player, and moved on to the quarterfinals. “I swear on my children’s lives that it was not my fault. I had a bad stomach once on stage before and admitted it. So I’m not going to lie about farting on stage.”
He continued: “Usually if I fart on stage, I s—t myself, I’ve told you that before,”
The head of the Professional Darts Corporation didn't seem to want to take the situation too seriously according to the BBC:
"We've got to get to the bottom of this," joked Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) chairman Barry Hearn...
"I guess people wonder if blowing off might constitute advanced gamesmanship. Then again, Russ was just about within farting distance," said Hearn.
"Something doesn't smell right. There is nothing worse than a silent fart. This could run and run."
Anderson wasn't out of the woods yet, but he also wasn't at fault for the latter controversy. It was his opponent from Wales, former rugby player Gerwyn Price. He ruffled more than a few feathers for fans of darts and a few on Anderson himself according to Wales Online:
But the match will be remembered as a feisty affair with words exchanged between the two players.
Anderson became increasingly frustrated with Price's exuberant celebrations during the match and what he saw as a failure to clear the oche quickly enough.
At various stages he was seen mouthing angry words at the Welshman, even making an unsavoury hand gesture at one point.
Gerwyn Price didn't share too much sympathy for Anderson and hadn't shared much with anyone in the past.
One thing that is certain, the guy does not lack confidence:
"Five or six years ago I was a rugby player, and now I'm pinching money out of the professional players' pockets."
As for Anderson, the farting question still lingers. Now that he's lost, the attention on his interview and the smell might take over again. Maybe they'll get to the bottom of it -- or craft some rule banning it.
An official rule change would be the best, funniest, most absurd way to deal with illegal farting.
