As the late great Sid Waddell would have said in the commentary box- There's only one word for that- magic darts!.
The Geordie voice of darts would have been almost lost for words this year if he had still been around to commentate on the major PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) tournaments this year. That's because one man like so many other years, Phil Taylor, has simply been too good almost of all of the time for his darting rivals.
Whilst Andy Murray will surely walk away with the award for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2013 after his memorable Wimbledon triumph, Phil Taylor is more than deserving of a nomination for a third time. He was nominated in 2006 and 2010 and in the latter year he secured a memorable and richly deserved second place.
However, the thing is that remarkably after over 20 years at the top, 'The Power' as he's affectionately known looks to be in the form of his life at 53 years old having won all but two of the Major titles in the darting circuit this year. Over the last few months in particular, nobody has been able to get near him even when they are playing their best.
Before anyone shudders at the thought of darts being recognised at the Sports personality of the year award, darts has been officially categorised as a sport since 2005 by all the Sporting Councils in the UK and as pointed out, Taylor has already been nominated twice before by the esteemed panel who decide the Sports Personality shortlist.
The criteria for this years BBC award sets out three clear categories to decide their 12 person shortlist. It will reflect UK Sporting achievements on the national/international stage, it will represent the breadth and depth of UK sports and it would take into account the impact over and beyond the sport/sporting achievement in question.
Now in my eyes, Taylor clearly ticks all the boxes for this year for the judges. He started off the year by winning the pinnacle title in his sport, the World Championships for a remarkable 16th time by beating young Dutchman Michael Van Gerwen in the final, 7-4. That comeback from 4-2 down in the final on New Years Day seemed to give 'The Power' the surge to go and dominate the 2013 world of darts.
Since then he has won the World Cup of Darts, with Adrian Lewis, the UK Open, the World Matchplay, the Sydney Masters, the World Grand Prix, the Championship League, The Masters and yesterday, the Grand Slam of Darts.
Only Michael Van Gerwen by beating him in the Premier League Final and Ronny Huybrechts by inflicting a shock 10-5 defeat on him in the second round of the European Championships in July (Taylor's last televised defeat) have stopped him claiming a clean sweep of the 2013 PDC titles.
It's not just his sheer desire to win or the sheer consistency, it is Taylor's utter domination of top, top quality darts players in all these tournaments. If this was Lionel Messi, Roger Federer, Usain Bolt or Tiger Woods, Taylor would be the talk of offices, pubs and text messages across the land. But darts still struggles to transcend stereotypes unfortunately despite Taylor and others incredible efforts.
Just look at those final wins. He won the UK Open beating former World Finalist and world number five Andy Hamilton 11-4. He beat Adrian Lewis 18-13 in the Matchplay final averaging a record 111.23 for each three darts thrown. He thrashed Lewis, the two time world champion 10-1 in The Masters in Edinburgh. Van Gerwen was demolished 10-3 in the Sydney Masters and 10-3 in the Championship League Final.
Former World Finalist and a man who knocked him out of the world Championships in 2012, Dave Chisnall only managed to get one leg off him in a 6-0 sets thrashing at the World Grand Prix. And last night he thumped Scotland's Robert Thornton 16-6 at the Grand Slam, having managed to defeat Lewis in the semi-finals earlier in the day, despite Lewis averaging 111 and hitting 18 180's.
You have to wonder where this run will end. At 53 years old, Taylor is a multi-millionaire who has won over 200 tournaments, including 80 majors. Yet everytime he steps up to the oche he wants to win. Somewhat bizarrely names like Eric Bristow (perhaps helped by an appearance in the I'm a Celebrity jungle last year), Jocky Wilson and John Lowe are still more revered than Taylor, but they wouldn't have got near Taylor in this form.
Taylor is a true master of his sport. As soon as the latest young 'upstart' arrives on the scene whether it be Van Gerwen, Lewis or even more experienced rivals like Raymond Van Barneveld or John Part, the man from Stoke-on-Trent makes it his mission to take them down and he has being doing so for the best part of almost 25 years now.
For his longevity, dominance and putting darts on the map as a global game which is played to pack arenas, Phil Taylor is more than worthy of getting a nomination for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2013 when the shortlist is revealed next Tuesday night on The One Show.
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