Dartoid’s Column

Monday, September 28, 2026
Column 726
The “Colonel” Who Wasn’t

There are nicknames you earn. There are nicknames your friends give you. And there are nicknames you adopt because you would like people to associate you with something impressive – even though you never did anything to earn it.

Imagine that a fellow in the …

Friday, September 25, 2026
Column 725
The PDC Needs to Take Control of the Crowds

Imagine Rory McIlroy at the top of his backswing. Just as his driver begins its downswing a section of the crowd loudly boos and whistles. Would PGA officials shrug and say, “That’s just the atmosphere”? Would they tell McIlroy to …

Monday, September 14, 2026
Column 724
The Soulger. the Showman and the Man Behind the Dance

Let’s get the uncomfortable part out of the way first.

I have said Leonard Gates should be banned from darts. I said it publicly. I meant it. But how Gates’ behavior might be dealt with is up to the …

Monday, August 31, 2026
Column 723
Darts in Nepal

Sadly, it seems now is an appropriate time to rerun this 20-year-old column…

The Indian Airlines Airbus A-340 touched-down gently at Tribhuvan Field outside Nepal. The temperature was a welcome 75 degrees, downright chilly compared to my last stop in the sweltering New Delhi heat. Around …

Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Column 722
Celebrating the life of Kelly “Rags” Ragland

I’ve written far too many of these – columns about people from the darts world who were here one day and, suddenly, weren’t. This is one I never expected to write.

Kelly “Rags” Ragland died on August 5. He was only 58 …

Saturday, August 1, 2026
Column 721
The Absurdity of Banning Lawn Darts While Celebrating Holidays with Explosives

Every Independence Day, millions of Americans celebrate by setting off – or gathering to watch – explosives. It’s a tradition so familiar that few people question it. We simply accept the injuries, deaths, fires, pollution, terrified animals, sleepless …

Thursday, July 30, 2026
Column 720
Beat Luke. Win a Half-million Quid!

On October 30, Netflix will give twenty ordinary British darts players the opportunity of a lifetime… or, depending on your point of view, the opportunity to be publicly humiliated.

The concept is gloriously simple.

Beat Luke Littler in a single leg of 501… …

Saturday, July 18, 2026
Column 719
John Lowe MBE – the Classiest Man in Darts

I first met John Lowe in the mid-1990s at an exhibition he and Cliff Lazerenko staged on Cape Cod following the Witch City Open. Like just about every player in the room, I was a little awestruck.

At the time, …

Wednesday, July 1, 2026
Column 718
Darts in the Olympics?

Recently, I woke up, poured a cup of coffee, and learned – somewhere between the second sip and my dogs demanding breakfast – that flag football is now an Olympic sport.

Flag football!

In the Olympic Games!

Now, I don’t want to sound unreasonable (at …

Monday, June 29, 2026
Column 717
John Part – a memory for your birthday (has it really been 23 years!)

In 1999, I sat down in a bar outside of Toronto to interview John Part. He’d won the Embassy in 1994, was ranked 6th by the World Darts Federation and was holding down the number …