Sports fans yesterday woke up to the sad news that Sid Waddell, a legend within the Sporting community, had sadly lost his battle with bowel cancer.
Just a day after his birthday, his manager Dick Allix confirmed the Voice of Darts had passed away on Saturday 11th August, aged 72 ‘peacefully with all his family around him’.
Tributes have been pouring in for the commentator most famous for his work on the Darts scene from co-presenters, players and those lucky enough to have met the great man.
Sky Sports Darts host Dave Clark left a message on Twitter saying ‘Goodbye my friend and thanks for all the laughs” whilst co-commentator Stuart Pyke claimed ‘A sad, sad day – when they made Sid Waddell, they broke the mould – the king of the commentary box, who made millions smile…..’
Current PDC World Champion Adrian Lewis joined in with the tributes posting ‘Rip Sid, a true legend and gent, thoughts are with Sids family at this sad time’ and former World Champion and Sid favourite, Eric Bristow, was quoted as saying ‘There will never be another Sid, he was a one-off’.
But it was not just those within his sport that Sid Waddell’s commentary touched, with celebrity comedian Stephen Fry affirming the sense of loss, ‘I had the moving honour of sharing a commentary box with Sid two years ago. A kinder, funnier more passionate man you couldn’t find’
The news of Waddell’s passing will provide further mourning in Darts in a year that former icon of the game, Jocky Wilson, has also departed the world. Both individuals brought much popularity to the sport with their character shining through and promoting the sport, attracting Darts to the masses.
Waddell will always be remembered most for the library of famous and affectionately remembered quotes during his commentary. He was a talented linguist, able to manipulate language in the most surprisingly brilliant turns.
Fan favourites include ‘There’s only one word for that: magic darts!’ and ‘On the wiiiire!’ as well as ‘He’s hitting that lipstick like an outsourced Avon lady’. From a personal point of view ‘Like a Jehovah’s Witness on a Sunday morning, he just won’t stop knocking at the door’ is a quote that will go down as one of the greatest pieces of commentary in my memory and truly showed Sid’s top class sense of humour at it’s best.
Sid’s passion for darts was contagious and he received the ultimate prize from his fellow Sport contributors when he was awarded The Sports Commentator of the Year prize in 2002.
An internet forum poster summed Sid up perfectly saying ‘It was always more than a job to him. He cared passionately about the players, he wanted the game to succeed, he wanted people to share his passion for the sport”. We have been lucky to have witnessed such a pro in action and Darts will struggle to replicate such a character again. Waddell is a true legend of sport and his affable personality will be remembered forever.
image: © richard_of_england
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
