BullShooter Magazine July 2019 Number 7 Volume 36 | Page 15

because in the loser’s bracket, it’s
lose and go home.
Pacer: You talk about pressure,
that third game puts a lot of
pressure on the diddle.
Dan: You definitely want to win
the diddle and start the game, but
I’ll tell you it’s even hard to diddle on
the 13 inch board. (Both Laughing)
Pacer: Dan, as luck would have
it, you ended up playing Robert
Bernard (Rook) in the Finals.
He has been one of the top play-
ers in Rockford, Illinois for the
last several years. I saw a couple
of his matches and he was really
playing well.
Dan: Tom, to be honest, I think
both of us missed a few shots those
last two matches, but I was lucky
enough to get the job done and come
out a winner.
Pacer: Anybody who doesn’t
think you need a little luck in
this game, quite obviously hasn’t
played it much. Tell us, how did
Dan Burk became a dart player?
Dan: Back in the mid-to-late 90’s, I
was living in West Allis, Wisconsin,
and I was still playing a lot of ball.
Sometimes after a game, we went to
a place called Rocco’s Trade Winds
for a beer, and a few of my friends
got interested in the game. Once I
tried it, I was hooked.
Pacer: You definitely were in
a dart hotbed. Back in my day,
Lane Helgeson, who I consider
that Babe Ruth of electronic
darts, played in that area and
there are still a lot of great play-
ers to this day in that area.
Dan: In the early 2000’s, when
I started playing league, I got to
compete with and against players
like Tim Tegal, Rick Wnuk, Johnny
Darts, Scott Kirshner, Todd Kurtz
and Carolyn Nessmann. Playing
people like that, it’s hard not only
to get better at the game, but also
learn to play the game the right way.
Now that I’m living in Battle Creek,
I really don’t have much of a chance
to play electronics locally, but I am
playing the CDC (Champions Dart
Circuit). I am really pleased with
the job they are doing. The competi-
tion is tremendous and it is probably
the fastest growing dart event in
America.
Pacer: It’s seems like every-
one I talk to, including my own
son, Dan, has nothing but
good things to say about the
CDC. It just seems there are
more and more opportuni-
ties out there. I would think
this is an exciting time for
dart players. On that note,
what does Dan Burk see in
his future?
Dan: Well, of course I’m look-
ing forward to following my
son’s progress in baseball and
hopefully we will be playing
darts together someday. Tom,
if it’s alright with you, I would
like to add a few thank you’s.
Pacer: This is your article,
go for it.
Dan: First of all, Griffen’s
Pub and Grill, Dart Brokers,
Shot’s Darts who are producing
my signature darts, USA Dart
Productions and L Style.
There is no way I could put
into words how much these
people have helped my prog-
ress as a player. Also, I want
to mention two guys who have
inspired me over the years.
Larry Butler and Darin Young
are, in my opinion, not only two
of the greatest American dart
players, but they are just plain
good guys.
Pacer: Dan told me, “To
play this game at a high lev-
el takes a great deal of time
and money, so sponsorship
is becoming more and more
important.” Knowing this
to be a fact. I have to think
when a darter racks up a
couple World Championships at
the BullShooter like Dan Burk
did, there were some sponsors
out there with smiles on their
faces.

Pacer
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