Dartoid’s Column

Monday, June 9, 2025
Column 689
I miss you, Howie

There are voices in this game that have echoed longer than most of us have stood at the oche.

Howie Reed – known to many of you as The Old Dart Coach – was one of them.

For decades, Howie chronicled the world of darts …

Friday, June 6, 2025
Column 688
There’s a New Dart in Town

Well, not new exactly. The Dodge Dart has been around since the 1960s. It’s the kind of car your granddad might’ve done donuts in behind the drive-in theater – revving his tiny 4-cylinder like it was a ‘Cuda, hoping no one noticed he …

Monday, June 2, 2025
Column 687
Sangkhlaburi, Thailand – Dogs, Doing Good (and Darts?) at the Edge of the World

You don’t expect to find a dartboard at the edge of the Thai jungle. You definitely don’t expect to find it surrounded by rescue dogs, with the deafening hum of cicadas ringing through the trees. …

Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Column 686
The Darts Discussion Group is Dead.  What Happened?

It’s a mystery…

From January 1 to May 13, 2025, the once-thriving Darts Discussion Group (DDG) has recorded just 99 unique posts and a paltry 61 comments.

It wasn’t always this way.

In its heyday – especially in the early years …

Monday, May 12, 2025
Column 685
There’s More to Life Than Darts

In the wild, electrifying world of darts, it’s easy to lose yourself in the moment – the roar of the crowd, the pressure of a double, the rush of a comeback. For those of us who’ve lived it, breathed it, and traveled the …

Thursday, May 1, 2025
Column 684
Trump vs. Putin at the Great Darts Summit 

It was the showdown no one saw coming: Donald J. Trump versus Vladimir Putin in a darts duel at a Moscow dive bar named The Red Bullseye (no relation to the energy drink, though the bartender was suspiciously twitchy. (More on …

Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Column 683
An Open Letter to Eddie Hearn 

Dear Mr. Hearn,

With the utmost respect, I urge you – and the leadership at the Professional Darts Corporation – to consider inducting the late Houston Hartwell “Howie” Reed into the PDC Hall of Fame.

Over the course of his distinguished career covering …

Thursday, April 10, 2025
Column 682
Howie Reed – The Most Unforgettable Character I Ever Met 

This may be the most difficult column I’ve ever written…

The crazy thing is that the “plan” was not for me to write it.  Over the years, Howie and I often discussed this effort and reached the conclusion that …

Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Column 681
Darts in Cuba 

“Entering a totalitarian state,” wrote a recent traveler to Cuba of his arrival at Havana’s José Martí International Airport, “I expected more militaristic security. Instead, I was warmly welcomed by female immigration and security agents wearing uniforms that included shorts and patterned fishnet stockings. It was …

Saturday, March 15, 2025
Column 680
Darts players are generous – but BEWARE OF GRIFTERS!

One constant about dart players is they are generous – they support each other and causes they care about.  Leagues all over the world regularly run events to raise funds for various charities or to help players and families in …