whatever your thoughts on the sport of Darts Phil Taylor is the greatest competitor I have ever seen............

A sheer will to win and not to believe you are beaten that surpasses anyone else I've watched play a competative sport...

How did you go from competitor to competative? That right there must have taken some sheer will.

Comparing the will to compete is pretty hard. It's easy to look at somebody like Taylor and see a great competitor. But he doesn't play in a team sport and plays in a sport that requires very little fitness. I've watched plenty of people in team sports that I personally would consider greater competitors. Michael Jordan, Patrick Roy, Nick Lidstrom, Tim Duncan, countless footballers e.g. Giggs, Scholes, Gattuso, Maldini, etc. as well as the likes of Nadal and Federer. It's great that Phil can maintain such dominance in his sport, but I consider people that remain physically fit and maintain great physical performance over people like Taylor. IMO, Zidane getting France to a world cup final is easily a better achievement than what Taylor achieved tonight, not that that's a slight on Phil.

Odious turd

Very accurate description. As for calling darts a sport, that's just ridiculous. A passtime maybe, but never a sport.

Do you live under a rock?

totally agree..was never a fan of him but after his semi final victory over barny and the way he behaved i was hoping mgv would hammer him into the ground..yes he is a fantastic darts player who we will never see the likes of again but how many players has he wound up on stage,painter,one dart manly,lewis,..just one question,why does he always go on last(well for a good majority of games)and is he allergic to going on in the afternoon..we`ve had his eyesight his weight someone heckling in the audience wrong darts as an excuse when he does lose...rant over

Typical Taylor reactions over the last few days, I've seen it all before over the years. Gets a good win over a big rival, takes offence to absolutely nothing, then gets on interview and says nothing happens, then blames his health, then threatens to quit, then shows what he is made of to come from behind and win, and then says there is no way he is retiring.

Same thing will happen this year at some of the majors if he gets knocked out early. The guy has been the greatest thing to happen to darts, he's helped the sport go global and he is without doubt the greatest darts player ever. His achievements will not be matched.

However, he has the be one of the most unprofessional people I have ever seen. He's petulant when he loses, he's more petulant when he wins, he throws faux praise on opponents yet belittle's them most of the time. The Sky crew are so far up his a*** its beyond belief. When things aren't going his way, he cries illness/stress and wants to walk away.

He goes on last because he is the biggest draw. If he had the power (arf) and influence people suggest he has, he'd surely be going on earlier, given his age. He is a bit of a tw@, evidently, but Manley was a tool and deserved all he got. Only one sportsman measures up to Taylor in terms of longevity at the top of their profession and that's Tony McCoy.

I agree with the original post about Taylor, and don't really understand why people dislike him. He's the most relentless winning machine I've ever seen in any sport and is always hungry for more no matter what he has already achieved. He's a phenomenon.

On saying all that though, I wanted van Gerwen to win last night. That lad is just pure excitement to watch, and his quarter final V Lewis was unreal. I know Taylor is far from finished as winning his 16th World title proves, and even Barney got to the semi and won the last major, so he's still got a bit left in the tank too, but given their ages and the quality of the MVG and Lewis match hopefully those two will be the future of the game and the major rivals going for big honours constantly of the next ten years.

THIS.. really couldn't agree more...

Much prefer Ted "The Count (possible spelling mistake

)" Hankey. A true pantomine villan if ever there was one!

Have we ever had the "is Darts a sport" debate on here? Jamie Peacock commented the other day that anything that can be played in a pub can't be a sport.

Incredibly skillful "sportsmen" though but as a person, yes, Taylor is a nipple.

....Yes, he's a top 'sportsman', isn't he??

I can't wait for him to appear on the next edition of 'Superstars' that the Beeb will undoubtedly do again in the future....That will prove all the Darts doubters wrong, when 'The Power' is seen defeating all comers in the pool, on his bike, around the track, and in the gym test....

I once beat an England bar billiards international at pool, so Jamie Peacock can knob off, I am by virtue of this achievement, unarguably a world class sportsman.

[size=50(The international bar billiards competitions consist of England vs Jersey. And that's it).[/size

Not a big fan of Taylor at all, can tell he's from Stoke, must be one of the most depressing places in the UK and that's saying something.

That said he's one brilliant darts player, and yes it is a sport.

Darts simply is not a sport, end of. Neither for that matter are dominoes, tiddlywinks, bar billiards, shove ha'penny, buckaroo, mousetrap or cluedo!

Quite enjoyed Superstars although not quite as exciting as the good old days (the 70's not the popular old time music hall TV show).

Keith Fielding did really well at it and I've no doubt modern RL players would show up really well if the programme was revived, might do the game some good a national audience?

Oh yes and darts isn't a sport and Phil Taylor is a bell

Didn't Taylor get voted as runner up in the BBC sportsman of the year award the other year? Similar to Jessica this year!! Even coming higher than Murray, Mo Farrah etc



What does Peacock know about anything-He is a neanderthal

I can only imagine it was a dire year for British sport on the occasion that Taylor came second.

Peacock may appear to be a neanderthal, but his criteria for what qualifies as a sport is as good as any argument for or against, than I've heard before.

Darts is no more of a sport than Poker or Dominoes.....Yes, there is a skill to it, but that doesn't make it a sport - I really don't get why people seem so determined that it be recognised as a sport. Does it really matter??

Personally, I'd say that Ballroom dancing, or even the old Gladiatiors TV programme, are more of a sport than Darts, but that doesn't mean I don't acknowledge the level of skill or dedication that people like Phil Taylor show.

Computer games are as much of a sport as darts. Requires skill, hand to eye coordination and no physical ability whatsoever.

So it seems that some people are of the opinion that because you can play darts well into your 40s and early fifties and can also be overweight that it isn't a sport. I would welcome these people's opinions on golf.

I would like to draw your attention to Michelangelo. He painted the Sistine chapel lying on his back for hours, in order to complete his masterpiece. He was fantastically talented and clearly had to endure great physical stress. Now he was a real sportsman.

Here's a dictionary definition of sport:

sport [inoun[/i An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others.

It's the degree of 'physical exertion' which is the sticking point, I guess. You could rule out darts in that there's not a significant amount of physical exertion involved, but the same could be said for golf, bowls, archery and snooker to name a few.

The 'competitive' bit would appear to count against Michelangelo's prowess with a paintbrush.

Nobody mentioned age or weight did they? I've probably missed it.

Golf's not a sport. It's fine - but let's not you and I confuse it with what men do.*

*thats a quote from fictional US President Josiah Bartlet, and a joke by me. Golf is, on balance, a sport.

I think you will find that Michelangelo didn't paint the Sistine chapel lying on his back.