By MONTE DUTTON

Perhaps there is some consolation in Furman’s 3-8 record in football.
The Paladins are hardly alone in upward or downward mobility.
Arizona State improved this year from 3-9 to 11-2. Florida State fell from 13-1 to 2-10. The Seminoles are a poster child of talented transfers unable to play together.
The Paladins fell from 10-3 to 3-8. They weren’t alone in FCS. Eastern Kentucky fell from 7-4 to 2-9. Northern Arizona plummeted from 8-4 to 3-8.
It happens.

Northwestern State of Natchitoches, La., hasn’t had a winning season since 2008 and hasn’t won a game since 2022.
Furman men’s basketball went 17-16 last season and lost four of its top five scorers to the transfer protocol. So far the new and improved Paladins are 9-1.
Adversity is a temptation. So is transferring.
If Bob Richey can pull it off, Clay Hendrix can, too. Charles Johnston, Nick Anderson and Tom House are significant transfers. I didn’t think anyone could replace J.P. Pegues. PJay Smith Jr. can.

Richey and Hendrix are adroit at what they do and uniquely suited to the demands of Furman’s rigorous academic standards.
It won’t be easy, but Arizona State suffered extreme injury problems last year. A lot of young players saw action.
Sounds familiar.

Not only did the Furman women’s basketball team defeat Charleston Southern, 58-42, on Sunday at Home Sweet Tigerville.
Not only are the Paladins 8-3 after going 15-16 in Pierre Curtis’s first season. They’ve won four straight games and 17 of their last 18 games against Charleston Southern (3-8).
They outscored the Buccaneers 16-9 in the third quarter and 20-8 in the fourth.
Tate Walters scored 17 points and keyed the second half-surge, and stout Furman defense helped the Paladins subdue Charleston Southern, which has played a backbreaking schedule and defeated Charlotte, North Dakota State and South Alabama.

Trailing 29-24 with six minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Paladins fashioned a 14-2 run on the strength of eight points from Walters, whose 3-pointer at the 4:18 mark gave Furman its first lead (31-29) of the game. The graduate guard, who tallied 10 of her 17 points in the period, capped the Paladin surge with a jump shot in the lane with 54 seconds remaining for a 38-31 advantage.
Teammate Niveya Henley continued Furman’s rally by scoring the Paladins’ first six points in an 11-2 spurt over the first five minutes of the fourth quarter to put Furman in control, 51-36. The junior forward registered 11 of her 14 points in the final period.

Sydney Ryan added 12 points and eight rebounds, and Kate Johnson finished with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Furman’s second-half comeback was fueled by sticky defense that limited Charleston Southern to just 8/28 shooting (.286) over the final 20 minutes. Furman also gained control of the boards in the second half, forging a 25-11 advantage in rebounds to finish with a 44-30 differential.
The Paladins harried the Buccaneers into 21 turnovers in the contest that led to a 24-12 scoring edge off miscues.
Walters connected on 7/14 shots from the field and tacked on five steals and three rebounds in 28 minutes of action. Henley enjoyed 6/11 shooting, which she combined with seven rebounds over 29 minutes.

Furman committed only nine fouls, and CSU was 0/1 at the free-throw line … for the game.
Calean Ellis topped CSU with 10 points.
The Paladins visit UNC Asheville (1-7) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., then fly to Seattle, Wash., to compete in the Husky Classic against Boise State and Washington on Dec. 18-19.
Take a look at the stats here.

I had a rigorous Friday, a hectic Saturday and a worthless Sunday.

Friday night was the occasion of Clinton’s 32-21 victory over Fairfield Central in the Upstate Class 2A football championship. The Red Devils attempt to win their ninth state championship in Orangeburg on Thursday at 2 p.m.

I watched intently the Paladins’ 69-63 win over Princeton while commiserating the inability of my truck to start. The Georgia overtime win over Texas was a great game, as was Clemson’s nail-biter over SMU.

About all that was accomplished on Sunday was a great film noir, Act of Violence, starring Van Heflin and Robert Ryan, not to mention Mary Astor and Janet Leigh, in the morning. The rest of the day was sketchy. I dozed off to sleep during the entire second half of the Eagles’ victory over the Panthers. I was footballed out. I just saw the end of the Rams’ upset of the Bills. At the moment, I’m faintly tracking the Chiefs-Chargers game.

I love old songs and old movies. It’s a sign of age, I reckon. Another highlight was the Great Performances tribute to Patsy Cline. To quote Jimmy Buffett, There’s just no one who can touch here, hell, I hang on every line. “Miss You So Badly” was written by Buffett and Gregg Taylor.

“Every mile or so a sign proclaimed that Christ was coming soon, and I thought, well, man, He’d sure be disappointed if He did.” – Tom T. Hall, “Trip to Hyden”

Wellpilgrim.com is adjusting to the winter chill. The bounces of the balls are getting truer, and soon it’ll all be indoors.
Times are changing. I am aware of how irrelevant what I do for a living has become and thus how unimportant my efforts are. The readers appreciate them, but there aren’t enough of them. I doubt there ever will be again.

It’s what I do. It’s what I know.
Support the advertisers. They are all fine people who want their businesses associated with honest coverage of local sports.
In the off chance you’d like to read my novels and other books, they’re available on Amazon and many prominent bookseller sites.
You can read them on your phones and other devices for a modest cost. I make a bit more if you purchase the actual books, but what I mainly want is for folks to read them.

Most of the protagonists in my novels are combinations of memories and observations. Duh.

I am fascinated by likeable rogues. I knew a lot of them in NASCAR. The result is my only two novels that are related to each other, Lightning in a Bottle and Life Gets Complicated, both published in 2017.
Photo galleries are posted on Instagram @furmanatt and @laurenscountysports.
Thanks for putting up with me.