ATHENIAN DARTS

I know everyone who comes to my Wednesday night poker game. Some people I'm familiar with more than others. I found out that one of them threw the javelin in college.
On my personal ranking of things to do with one's time, that ranks just in between jazz piano and professional golf. It's in the top ten -- in any case.
So we come to a showdown where I shove everything all in pre-flop and he calls me for about $25. I'm confident today. My Q8 might hold up, I thought.
"Have you ever played Athenian darts," I asked.
"What's that?"
"it's a cross between darts and the javelin. It's played outdoors. Players stand forty yards away from a dartboard the size of a ferris wheel and throw javelins at it."
"Bullshit," he said.
"No -- seriously -- it's big in Australia. There was a big movement to get it in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics."
He just looked at me -- with eyes like a badly bred dog. No laugh, no grin, no response -- nothing.
I was glad to take down the hand, but the win was like aerosol cheese -- tasty, but artificial and lacking the genuine fulfillment that comes with the real thing.