📈James Wade is the most reliable player in 2023 so far with three darts in hand at double, finishing 123 times in 149 of those situations. 📊@DartsOrakel
"If you want the real truth, I’m playing darts for the money": Wade open and honest on darting motivations after over 20 years
PDCFriday, 16 June 2023 at 12:30
In the podcast Up Front with Simon Jordan, James Wade gave a wide-ranging interview about his career. For instance, he looked back at the much-discussed incident with Seigo Asada at the World Darts Championship and admitted he only plays for the money now.
Wade has been active on the darts circuit for over 20 years. How come he's lasted this long?
“If you want the real truth, I’m playing darts for the money,” the 2009 Premier League winner said to William Hill. “If I had earned enough money to have retired from darts, would I still be playing? I possibly would have walked away by now. But I would never know because I am not in that position.
“I think the older I get, the more I struggle with the pressure of the job. I love working on cars, that’s my passion, and it always has been. It’s in a workshop, on my own, and I can work out what is wrong with a car, whereas I can’t work out what is wrong with people.
“I fall in and out of love with the game – perhaps I should lie sometimes when people ask me, but unfortunately, everything that comes out of my mouth, at that time, is how I genuinely feel.”
Annoyance at political correctness
Another part of life that annoys him as well as darts is political correctness and how life has changed in recent years.
“Everything has changed; the players, the organizations, and the game as a whole – some of the players now have an ‘I should be here’ attitude, a sense of entitlement.
“I just think we were all a bit more humble a few years ago, and perhaps that’s why the game has moved on. It’s hard for someone like myself to change my outlook and the way I perceive the game and the players.
“I think political correctness has come into the game and that does my head in; you have to be polite at all times, even if it’s when you shouldn’t have to be.
“If someone has upset or offended you, you should be able to say you’re not happy with it. If you say these things at the wrong time and in front of the wrong people, you get ridiculed for it.”
Not a fan of World Championship
Also annoying to Wade is Alexandra Palace with 'The Machine' always struggling at the venue and he likens it to a racing driver having tracks he doesn't like.
“I think one of the big things is it’s a long time for me to keep a good mindset – three weeks is a bloody long time for me to keep straight – and secondly, the venue doesn’t feel that exciting to me,” the four-time runner-up said.
“It doesn’t matter what is at stake, it is the venue; lots of players say the Alexandra Palace holds the best atmosphere, but for me, the best atmosphere in any darts venue is Winter Gardens in Blackpool because it is close, intimate, and you can feel the pressure.
“When you go to Alexandra Palace, it just feels cold to me – you get drivers who perform well at certain tracks and some that they don’t, and you get certain venues where darts players do play well at and some where they don’t.”
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