Raymond van Barneveld made the sport of darts popular in the Netherlands, but he sometimes experienced the downsides of that.
However, Van Barneveld never started to walk beside his shoes. "I never felt better than anyone else," the 55-year-old Dutchman told De Telegraaf.
"But sometimes you have to protect yourself. I always say, 'Raymond van Barneveld doesn't exist anymore, I'm Barney 24/7'. Everyone recognizes me and somehow wants something from me. I've had to learn to deal with that."
Respect
Van Barneveld always respects his fans. "My maxim is that you can ask me anything, but of course then you have to understand that I can't always respond to it, it doesn't always come out. Suppose I'm at the airport at 4 a.m. after a bad game and people come up to me to ask for a picture, sometimes I'll refuse. That people then find me arrogant I gladly take it."
