By MONTE DUTTON

Practice is about to start, not just at Furman, other colleges and high schools, and not just football but a wide range of other activities involving men and women, boys and girls, sticks, balls, helmets, clubs, racquets, mats, nets, etc.

As a direct result, less of my time will be occupied by a retrospective of Richard Egan’s memorable roles. I’ll watch less of Norm MacDonald, David Letterman, Rodney Dangerfield, James Gregory, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Emmylou Harris and Ernest Tubb on YouTube.

At press time, only Dave and Emmylou remain among us. I’m less thoroughly modern Monte as age slowly corrodes me.

It’s soon to be that Dan Scott time of the year. Oh, Doctor.

Before the deluge, though, I watch the USA thrash chest-high Japan in women’s basketball.

Furman football reports on Tuesday and opens camp on Wednesday with a 9:30 a.m. workout at the Bob King Practice Facility.

As best I know, it has been the practice facility since King’s teams rehearsed there. The Paladins then played at serene Sirrine Stadium.

The Paladins will practice in shorts and helmets and repeat the schedule on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, weather permitting. Partially on account of said weather, times are subject to change.

A total of 117 players make up this year’s squad, at least at the outset.  Furman has three graduate players, 10 seniors, 18 juniors, 23 sophomores, and 63 freshmen.

Eight Paladins earned preseason all-conference recognition, including four-first team selections.

Furman’s Fan Fest is Saturday, Aug. 17, at Paladin Stadium. The opener is in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday, Aug. 31, at Ole Miss in a 7 p.m. EDT contest.

See the schedule here. 

Furman bandit Luke Clark – he plays bandit – is a member of the Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America team.111

Clark, a 6-3, 253, redshirt senior, is on the third team.

Last season the Louisville, Ky., product is was first-team All-SoCon in balloting by league media and second-team laurels by the coaches.

Clark finished the 2023 season with 53 tackles, including seven for loss, and a team-leading six sacks. He has started 26 consecutive games and played in 43.

United States defender and former Furman standout Walker Zimmerman scored in the 12^th minute to help the USA to a 4-1 men’s soccer victory over New Zealand on Saturday afternoon at the Paris Olympics.

After Djorde Mihalovic put the Americans in front from the penalty spot, Zimmerman followed a Mihalovic free kick by punching in the rebound from inside the six-yard box to double the USA’s lead.

The United States concludes group stage play on Tuesday, July 30, versus Guinea. The match is at 1 p.m., live on USA Network.

The squad for the under-23 competition allows for three “wild-card” over-age players, which include the 31-year-old Zimmerman, Miles Robinson, and Mihalovic.

Zimmerman was inducted into the Furman Athletic Hall of Fame in February.

As football season approaches, I expect to streamline the site name. Since the coverage – Furman and Laurens County – is difficult to convey in a word, I may stick with Wellpilgrim (com, net, et al.). Or, if anyone thinks of anything snazzy, I’ll take it under advisement.

A shorter name makes it more likely that readers go directly to the site without linking through social media (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Advertising alone will not keep me going, but there’s room for a few more. Every ad is inset in every story.

Support the advertisers. They are all fine people who appreciate my attempts to restore coverage of local sports. They are dependable, and not too long ago, I sold a couple ads to folks who weren’t. I am thus cautious.

I rely on readers who like the coverage I provide to make contributions. Several ways work.

Please donate whatever you consider appropriate via Venmo at DHK Sports. You may also reach me by mail at 11185 Highway 56 North, Clinton  29325.

If you choose, make a monthly donation via Patreon. The Laurens County site is here. The Furman site is here.

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