Boy HOWDY, people. We thought the Monday season went through a lot of changes this year but then we looked at the Wednesday landscape and said “What in the world??”. SO much change and movement to talk about with teams and venues and players.
First, some administration. We love to drop folders the night of Week #1 when possible. We get to see the captains, say hi, address concerns and start the season off well. Sometimes we can’t make it and have to leave the folders for pickup. This season, assume that folders will be left at Parsons the day of the match and if we’re able to drop them we’ll reach out and let you know not to worry about it and just go to your match.
As for the divisions, we’ll start at the end and work backwards… in the end we wound up with 16 teams. Looking at the competitive landscape, that means we went A-B1-B2 in a 6-5-5 rather than make two 8 team divisions. Having a Bye in the B-divisions was better than having two teams languish in the bottom of A without a team truly hungry to do so. So we’ll have 3 divisions that will all be competitive. Whot makes up those divisions? Well lets go from the top down…
A Division
TeeDees from last season has moved to Parsons and will be known on the website as “Queens Boyz”. On the schedule they’re Parson’s #2 so people know where to go, but their darts aren’t going to be any less potent at a new location! So they’re still the gold standard and the team to beat.
Their biggest competition last season, Parkside, remains largely unchanged with one major exception, the addition of Hector Perez. That further extends an already deep lineup and, on paper, really makes them the crown jewel of challengers.
But no-one in this division is a slouch which is what makes it so fun to watch. Ben Califano and Sean Iacovone (last seasons Leaguewide Allstar Leader) have put together a brand new powerhouse A-team our of Rebar so that’s a total wildcard and the B-DIVISION GRAND CHAMPIONS out of Kellys move up to see if they can make some noise.
A disappointing season out of Emerald has JT ready to go and Keion has been added to their roster who, like Hector to Parkside, really helps round out a roster. Emerald has the raw talent to win any given night versus any given team.
The only team that is really unchanged from their traditional roster is Parson’s #1… though this team has just plain always done well when it counted. Regardless of their place in the regular season, when they make the playoffs they do some serious winning. Sean and Ben may have left for Rebar, but they picked up Edgar and Dio to add to their core so their roster is far from limp.
It’s actually been quite a while since the Queens A has had so many potential new champions, even with a champion sitting on the throne. It’ll be incredibly interesting to see where things stand here after week #10 and the first Home/Away cycle has been completed. Then stock will be taken for the playoff runs. Stay tuned everyone!
B-1 Division
The B-divisions in general had a ton of turnover and movement. Mike Curleys team out of CJs and the Emerald #2 team (minus Keion but adding Diana as a captain) are the teams that are most similar to their iterations last season. The rest of the division is crazy different. Kellys moved up to the A, Nonos moved down a division, Parsons #2 moved to Monday night, and Tori’s is taking a season off. I mean WHAT???
So what does the division look like now? Great question! Lets take a look
Recovery Room #1 has a team led by Timmy Honeyman that, while they moved to A last season, is back in its traditional role in the B-1 division. Likely he’ll have a few roster moves, but that team is always a battle.
Breifne #1 also moves into the Division, so Robby and Adrianna will have their first shot at the higher level B.
Parsons # 3 from last season has been massively changed and moved up. Remaining? Debby, Maureen, and Russell. Gone? Anthony Pagillo, Chris Rodriguez, and most of the roster. New? Adam Hartz and a whole lot of brand new dart shooters pulled out of cubicles and off of bar stools. Who knows if they’ll be good at darts, but chances are that’s going to be a fun team (minus Adam – he’s awful).
B-2 Division
Another division with seismic shifts. The top two teams, Parsons #3 and Celtic Cove are gone… one moved up and changed and the other taking a season off. That leaves JDs, who came in third last season, it a prime position to make a run for the division lead. Moving down from B-1 is Danny Bels Nonos team, and how the competitive levels will mesh is totally up in the air, they could easily be a solid rival fo the division.
A Breifne team with a lot of new names and a Kellys squad (largely from the old Breifne team) are both wildcards.
Lastly we have Recovery Room #2, led by Gloria. Always a fun time to play and ruthless when needed, that’s just never a team you can count out.
Of all of the divisions, this is easily the one with the largest variability. A strong run, even late in the season, could be all that’s needed to top the division and gain a high seed in the playoffs.
Schedule – 2020 Spring Wednesday
