The Guardian | Tuesday 10 April 2012

Obituaries

Luke Tapps Slinging Career

The second half of the
sports greatest rivalry and
affectionately known as
the hardest trier in the
business

Friends and family close to Tapp

would often talk of his closet
admiration for Cartwright and
often pondered if, from an earlier
age hed been mentored by the
reigning champion, hed have
made it to the elite level of slingers.
A failed challenge for the Drinking
Committee chair in 2004 plus a let
off from an unsavoury incident
outside a North London pub 2
he hearts of those
that admired him will years later saw Tapp begin to fall
tell a different story
begin his competitive set.
to the history books.
It wasnt under the competition
Tapp, raised in
went international that his will and
Warwickshire before
drive to success took another turn
leaving for university
and one critics would later define
as one ultimately for the worst
in mid Wales aged
18, always aimed for the stars whilst
Yet it was on home soil that
wearing his heart on his sleeve. Despite Tapp first began to feel the
never becoming an official champion, he pressure of high level competition.
will remain in hearts and minds as a
At a Peterborough invitational in
peoples one
2006, he cried foul play when
Rare for someone who had never
former champion James Chandler
won silverware of his own, Tapp
pipped him to take first place. First,
obsessed over his legacy and constantly wild demands of the integrity of
sought reassurance of his status vs. top
the judges before calls for an
rival Philip Cartwright. The tempestuous independent body to be
relationship between the two often
summoned to affirm the validity of
boiled over in pre-match weigh ins
the stopwatches used. As the
Tapp keen to pursue the mind-game
slinging scene was beginning to
route, taunting Cartwright with the
take shape around him, Tapp was
failures of former England football
already tearing down walls and
manager Kevin Keegan. Cartwright
distancing himself from eventual
though almost always saved his best for glory. Later in 2008, he was taken
the ring, delivering a number of
under the care and guidance of fan
knockout blows and subsequent blots in favourite David Posh Wilson.
Tapps notebook across the years.
Rumours from the camp at the

time were that a new Tapp was

emerging the same confidence,
but this time with a renewed
vigour and thirst for success.
Critics look favourably on Poshs
work, citing him as one of the
games most underrated folk
heroes. Reports were confirmed
as Tapp made a number of
impromptu festival appearances
across the summer and began
racing with a new intensity. A
minor blip at 2009s V Festival
which saw him officially cautioned
by festival organisers for continued
indecent exposure, meant he was
unable to capitalise on his newfound form and suffered one too
many embarrassing losses at the
hands of nemesis Cartwright.
It would be two singular
moments in time though that
would come to define Luke William
Tapps slinging career. Bratislava
in 2009 and Nantwich in 2010.
The latter reads for a woeful
story; the painful summit of an
eight year journey in which Tapp
was never quite able to develop the
career defining foundation on
which to build the legacy he fought
so hard to attain. The pretournament hype around Nantwich
was unprecedented. Out of favour
ex-champion Chandler was touted
by social commentators as
favourite (a title Tapp felt should
have been afforded to himself) and

the games top names, Wilson,

Cartwright & Antoszkiw seemed
out of sorts in the lead up. For all
Tapps pre match bravado, he was
blown away in the first round by a
jaw-dropping display from the
tournaments eventual winner
James Chandler. Tapps reaction to
the loss harked back to 2006 in
Peterborough this time citing a
new Irish referee as the unlikely
pantomime villain.
But it will forever be Bratislava
(dubbed Tappislava) one year
earlier that will haunt Luke Tapp
until his final days. Desperate and
without a glimmer of silverware in
years Tapp remains accused of
smuggling a non-certified glass
thought to be 20% smaller than
the sanctioned pint, into the
country which he then used to
win the Champions League
tournament. A callous act, premeditated and planned for months
ahead of the trip that is still missing
an admission and apology. Further
complications in the citing process
initiated by Philip Cartwright, have
made Tapps position untenable to
the extent that he will sail these
shores for pastures new to setup
and part-fund a new Middle
Eastern league operating out of
Dubai.
The public may never get their
apology and Tapp will maintain his
Bratislava crown but in the eyes
of the those who love him and hate
him, he will be remembered as one
of the sports biggest personalities.
His duals over the years with
Cartwright have added an
unpredictable sparkle to
proceedings and his outbursts
inside the ring and out have always
provided fodder for even the most
disapproving of critics.
His slinging career is survived
by mentor David Wilson, and
apprentice of 4 years Gavin
Thomas.
James Chandler

Luke William Tapp, solicitor and

drinker, first slung September
2002; retired April 2012